Category: Barefoot Devotions

Barefoot Devotions

What’s Brewing In Your Heart? Lesson One | Pride

Hannah B.

What Is pride and how does it affect your life?

Definition of Pride in the bible:

An inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable feeling of superiority as to one’s talents, beauty, wealth, rank, and so forth; disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing.

Other words for pride: Vanity, conceited, narcissism, self-importance, swell-headedness, self-exaltation, egotistical.

Examples of Pride:

• Looking down on people that are less fortunate than you. Maybe they made bad decisions in life or different decisions than you made.

• Co-worker gets promoted but you feel like you are a harder worker and you deserve it more than they do.

• Putting all your hope in your wealth. Relying on money and stature to make it in this world, therefore you hold onto it and refuse to give to those in need for fear of losing it.

• Overworking and neglecting everything else because making more money is more important to you.

• Refusing to recognize your sin for what it is because you are comfortable and would rather make excuses for it and question God on why you can’t do it.

• Thinking you know better than God and deserve more than he has given you. You get angry with God when you don’t get what you think you deserve.

• Refusing to hear wisdom because you think you already know it all and know more than someone else. You put yourself up on a pedestal.

• Refusing to own up to sin because if others can get away with it then I should too.

• Sinning because you deserve it and are willing to get it anyway you can even if that means breaking morals or laws.

What can pride lead to?
• Separation from God.
• Distrust from people – Death, Fights.
• A harsher punishment.

Bible verses regarding pride to ponder and study:
Proverbs 11:2 – When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 8:13 – To Fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

Romans 12:16 – Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

2 Corinthians 10:17-18 – But, Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

Ezekiel 28:17 – Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Takeaway:

Humility is the opposite of pride. When we are humble, people trust us. When we practice humility we earn respect. Nobody wants to be around someone who only thinks of themselves all the time. Operating in pride causes a life of problems. People will disassociate with you because they think you are selfish so why should they grace you with their presence? Maybe pride caused you to steal and the person or persons you stole from will never trust you again. You lose out on opportunities because of it or worse, end up in prison. Pride can break up a good opportunity to have a friend. If your friend got promoted and you didn’t and you felt that you deserved it more than they did, this can cause there to be a rift there and instead of trusting in the Lord and His timing and celebrating with that friend, you sulk and lose a friendship and miss out on what God had for you. Practicing humility and serving others on a daily basis helps to crowd out humility. Humility and pride cannot co-exist together.

Final Thoughts:

Pride is a signature trait of the devil himself. He wanted to rise above the creator. He thought he deserved to rule the universe. This got him thrown out of heaven. There is no room in the Kingdom for a prideful heart. When we operate out of pride, we grieve the Lord God. He created us. He gives us food and clothing and water. He deserves ALL credit. We have done nothing apart from Him. We have to be mindful when Pride sneaks in and comes out through our actions. We can pray and ask God to deal with our pride and help us to see where it is in our lives and help us to deal with it and kick it out. There is no room for pride to be in our hearts.

Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you now asking for you to reveal any pride that I have brewing in my heart. Help me to see how it is affecting my relationship with you. Please help me to deal with it and kick it out. In Jesus’ Holy name I pray, Amen.

Questions to ponder:

• Can you identify areas of pride in your life?

• Can you identify situations where pride cost you an opportunity or a friendship?

• Has God dealt with you on pride? If so, what did you learn from it?

Barefoot Devotions

What’s Brewing In Your Heart? Lesson Two | Wrath

Hannah B.

What does it mean to brew wrath in your heart?
The sin of wrath is a fit of very strong anger or an uncontrolled hatred towards another person.

Other words for wrath: Rage, Fury, Outrage, Indignation, Vexation, Hot Temper, Short fuse

Examples of Wrath:

• Road Rage

• Screaming, shouting and telling someone what you really think of them by putting them down.

• Child or spousal abuse

• An offended person decides to resort to physical violence rather than calming discussing and dealing with the situation or walking away. (Seeing red)

What can wrath lead to?

• Murder

• Jail/Prison

• Other people fearing the person with the issue of wrath

• A poor Christian example, leading people away from God based on their actions not modeling Christlike behavior.

• No friends/ Uninvited to gatherings because people are afraid the person cannot control themselves.

• Poor reputation

• Loss of job.

• Loss of family

Bible verses regarding the sin of wrath:

Proverbs 29:11 – Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
Proverbs 15:1 – A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:18 – A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.
Proverbs 22:24 – Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered.
Psalm37:8-9 – Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret, it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
Ephesians 6:4 – In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.
Proverbs 14:17 – A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.
Colossians 3:8 – but now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips.

Takeaway:
The difference between wrath and Godly anger is that wrath comes from a selfish nature. We are flawed by sin, therefore, our anger does not come from the same place that Godly anger comes from. When we have an issue of wrath, it is an indication that we feel something has happened that is unfair against us or someone close to us and we feel they deserve to be punished for making us feel the way they have. Wrath comes from a feeling of selfishness and revenge. The anger is hair-triggered and violent in nature. This also comes from a place of pride in the heart. When a person has an issue with wrath, they are not making sound decisions. It is not well thought out anger. Since God looks at the heart, we would be very wise to stop and look at what the root cause of the anger is. Is this coming from us feeling as though someone didn’t react to us the way we thought they should? Or that they reacted to us in a way we felt they should not have? Or we didn’t get something we thought we deserved? Did we stop to think about where the other person was coming from? Maybe the other person was in the wrong themselves but does the bible not clearly state Romans 12:19 – Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord”.
Why is it important to allow the Lord to take revenge rather than us handle it ourselves when we feel we have been wronged? It all comes down to the place in which the wrath or anger is coming from. God knows our hearts inside and out and God knows what we need. His wrath is calculated, just, well thought out and God never does or allows anything without an ultimate purpose behind it. We can be assured that God will handle everything appropriately. If we try to handle conflict when we are enraged, we will not be solving anything except blowing off steam. What we are left with after the dust comes off are ruin and broken relationships.
Why is wrath a sin? God knows what is best for us as I said before. The reason there is a line drawn at sin is to give us boundaries. We as humans need boundaries so that we do not completely destroy ourselves.

Questions to ponder:
• Can you identify a time or times where you have allowed wrath to brew in your heart and acted on it?

• Can you identify a situation/s where wrath cost you a relationship, your freedom, your witness as a Christian?

• Has God dealt with you or revealed an issue of
Rage/wrath in your life? If so, what did you take away from it?

Dear heavenly father, I have an anger issue that I know is wrong. I need you to help me learn how to control it and how to give it over to you once and for all. I do not want to live a life where I miss out on opportunities to point people to you because I have a real issue with how to respond to offenses or injustices. Please work in my heart and help me to see people the way you do. In Jesus’ name Amen!

Barefoot Devotions

What’s Brewing In Your Heart? Lesson Three | Sloth

Hannah B.

What is sloth and how does it affect your life?

Definition of sloth:
1 a: disinclination to action or labor
b: spiritual apathy and inactivity

Similar Words:

Laziness, Idleness, Indolence, Inactivity, Inertia

Examples of Sloth:

• The inability to bring to completion what you have started due to lack of motivation or purpose.
• The refusal and rejection of God’s design for human life and the life of a follower of Christ.
• The refusal and rejection of God’s plan for your life.
• Someone who may not help around the home, work, or in other areas where help may be needed.
• Including these phrases in our life: “I’m too busy”, “I’m tired”, and “I don’t want to”.
• Finding excuses to not complete our work or delay your work.
• Neglecting our prayer life, participation in church, Bible study, and active tasks that have Kingdom-minded results.
• Partaking in activities that do not promote you toward your calling or benefiting the Kingdom of God. For example: Binge watching Netflix or scrolling Facebook for far too long.
• When you plan an escape from your relational, financial, work and emotional problems instead of solving the problems you may have. For example: You may decide to change your job or get a divorce because you are looking for something better.

Bible verses regarding the sin of sloth:

Proverbs 12:24 – The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.
Proverbs: 13:4 – The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Proverbs 15:19 – The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.
Proverbs 19:15 – Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.
Proverbs 21:25-26 – The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.
Hebrews 6:12 – We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Hebrews 10:24 – And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Colossians 3:23 – Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
Mathew 25:26 – But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?
Romans 12:11 – Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Take Away

Sloth is a sneaky sin that slowly creeps into your life without you recognizing the immediate harm this sin can cause to your daily life and relationships. Being under the control of sloth gets us to do things based on the way feel rather than doing tasks because we need to, cultivating a relationship, or obey God. We were made to be in relationship with God and to pursue Him with all things. Before the fall, He gave us the dominion over the earth to subdue it. Work existed before the fall and it was created because it is good for us.
In society, we have created an idol out of freedom, and we have neglected the calling God has on our lives. However, this quickly comes to an end when we find ourselves consumed with the freedoms we chose to do over and over with our time.

When we become consumed with everything and anything but God, we lose ourselves in the process. We forget to discover what God called us to do and who He created us to be. Sloth is the rejection of your God given purpose. He placed you in a position to work at your job, to be a student, He called you to be the parent to your children, and He called you to be the husband or wife to your spouse. He placed people in your life for you to cultivate relationships with them.

If you find yourself unsure of what to do and without peace, then I encourage you to seek God and keep seeking Him as long as it takes. If you find yourself, just “killing time” for the sake of doing something, then pick up your Holy Bible and engage in God’s word. To overcome sloth, you must cultivate your humanity and you must do so by first seeking God.

When you seek God, He begins to remind you of the sacrifice He made for you, He reminds you of who you are in Christ, and He begins to change your heart and desires to beat with the desires He has for you. When you make a choice over and over, you become that kind of person. Your character is formed by experiencing the demands and even heartaches of life. That why it’s important to always be making the right choices so that we do not become stagnant in our faith journey.

It’s important to remember not to be consumed with freedoms or consumed with always working because creativity and vision happens in downtime. We must be good stewards of our time and direct the time we have wisely and for God’s glory. When we do this, we can ensure that we can reach our potential and live out the purpose God has called us to.

Heavenly Father,

I acknowledge the areas in my life that I have allowed sloth to enter into my life. I ask that through your power, you show me what choices you would have me make so I may glorify you and live out the purpose you have for my life to the fullest. Thank you for knitting in my mother’s womb and setting me apart for a specific work. Give me the strength to work with diligence and joy for You. Show me the areas in my life that I need to change and give me the courage to step out do it without delay.

Questions to Ponder and Life Application Thoughts:

1. If you find yourself too busy, consider everything you have to do and do away with certain activities that do not produce good fruits of the spirit or bring glory to God’s kingdom.

a. In what ways can you reprioritize your to-do’s?

b. How much time do you spend mindlessly scrolling social media or binge-watching Netflix?

c. Take inventory of your time and see where it goes! With the time you discover you have, use that time to continuously seek God during those times!

2. What habits do you continuously do over and over that need to be addressed?

3. Has God revealed any area of your life where sloth may have entered?

4. If you need a vision or a place to start, then ask God to reveal it to you in a way that you will understand and be motivated to work toward the call He has created for you.

5. If you are stagnant in your faith journey and the places God has placed you, then make decisions over and over that will cultivate your character and propel you further into your calling.

Barefoot Devotions

Transforming Brokenness

Hannah B.

Brokenness. A place where we all hope to never find ourselves.

The reality is that we are all broken. We have broken moments surrounded in immense pain, shame, and despair. There are parts of our life that we so desperately want to take back and even the parts we wonder why this happened to me? How did I get here of all places? It’s really not supposed to be this way.

God’s grace doesn’t leave us in our brokenness. He loves us far too much to do that. His grace has carried me through all of my brokenness, despair, and heartache.

Even when I didn’t deserve it.

Even in the midst of the circumstances I didn’t choose.

When we keep our brokenness cocooned in the protection of our own hands, it’s impossible to see the potential it will morph into when we surrender our brokenness to our Heavenly Father.

We must surrender justifying our brokenness to God. This means fully releasing every thought and emotion you are holding onto so tightly into the hands of JEHOVAH ROPHE.

A beautiful transformation happens in your heart when you allow the Holy Spirit to step in and morph your brokenness into healing.

It begins in complete surrender.

It begins when we stop asking why.

It begins when we realize that God didn’t mean for us to live this way.

It begins when we realize that God’s love is greater and His grace is beyond sufficient.

It ignites when you step into your anointed and set apart position IN Christ.

When we are IN Christ, our brokenness is gracefully broken for meaning and a purpose far greater than you can even imagine.

Be brave and surrender everything to our loving Father for transformation.

With all of my love and encouragement,

Hannah B.

Barefoot Devotions

Shaken for Shifted

Hannah B.

Have you ever found yourself standing on the unsteady and shaky ground that life seems to have placed you on?

I have.

It’s unstable, uncomfortable, and feels like you’re on the verge of drowning in a festering pool of anxiety, fear, and panic.  

I heard the Spirit whisper, “Do you not trust me with your life?”

My response was an immediate, “Of course, God… I mean I want to, but I have…”

Oh.

At this point, I knew it was time to sit in the presence of God to let Him have His way with my heart in full surrender. As I began looking for a passage to read, my bible fell open to Psalm 136.

Psalm 136 repeats give thanks to the LORD for His steadfast love endures forever.

His steadfast love endures forever.

The Psalm leads us through His steadfastness as we are reminded of creation.   He spread the earth out over the water.

The moon and stars give us light in the dark. 

Though our enemies surround us, His hand is strong, and His arm is outstretched for us to hold on to. 

He leads us through the wilderness and out of our Egypt, through the midst of it, His love endures forever.

His ways are steady and unchanging.  

All of creation has been in place since the beginning. Through the history of creation and mankind, we can see His steadfast love.  We have a tangible expression of how steady God is.  He parted the Red Sea, He made away even when there shouldn’t have been a way.

We have confidence and trust that His steadfast love endures forever.  We are never without the steadfastness love of God.  It may feel like we are being shaken by the unpleasant and shaky circumstances. Shifting doesn’t come without a shaking.

Perhaps your unanswered prayers are shifting into answered prayers.  

With all of my encouragement,

Hannah B.