by Skybacher | Dec 21, 2016 | Devotions
Luke 2:11 – “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
I am terrible at receiving gifts! If you don’t believe me just ask my family. Too often I ruin the presents people get me. One way I ruin gifts is that I always seem to know what I am getting and so the gifts are no surprise to me. My wife hates this. Another way I’ve ruined gifts is that I think that it’s probably something I don’t deserve. ie. one Christmas my wife saved up all her babysitting money and bought me and iPad. I let it sit there for 2 days before I opened it because I was so shocked and worried about how much she spent. The final way I’ve ruined presents is by thinking that the gift would be better for someone else, so I don’t even really open the gift I just pass it along.
2 Corinthians 2:9 – “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
Christmas time is a time for celebrating the “gift” of Jesus Christ. And unfortunately often times we ruin the gift because of those very same reasons. We think we know all there is to know about Christ. We feel like we don’t deserve his love, and need to get things in order, or we feel like the gift is just for someone else but not for me. Jesus came as a gift for all mankind – so…. receive the gift!!! And thank him and praise him this Christmas for his indescribable gift!
by Skybacher | Dec 11, 2014 | Devotions
Nativity
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for the them in the inn.” Luke 2:6-7
Can you imagine being the person who told the parents of the “Savior of the World” I have no room for you?!? In hindsight it seems crazy to think that Jesus was born in a manger, if anyone knew who he would become he should have had the best facilities available right?
But here is the question. How often do you tell Jesus with your words, thoughts, or actions that you have no time or room for him? See I’m afraid far too often we are like the inn keeper, (or the family of Jesus’ parents, as some scholars believe), who say we are all out of room in our lives. I have work, I have a family, I have exercise, I have school etc. and on and on, but I have no room for Jesus! Don’t you know how busy I am celebrating Christmas? All the parties, all the gifts, all of the shopping? I have no room!
There is hope though! Whether it was the same person or someone different, someone decides to offer Jesus their “mess”. They didn’t try to clean up first and then give it to him. They gave the Savior of the World a dirty manger. A place where animals were kept. And there He was born! Our Savior!
Won’t you make ROOM for the Savior this Christmas, and don’t wait until you get things cleaned up and all put together (That will never happen.) Give him your mess and he can take a dirty manger and turn it into something that changes the world!
by Skybacher | Dec 9, 2013 | Devotions
“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.” Luke 17:15-16
Well it was a rough night at the Mohrbacher household. Three of the 6 were up battling a stomach virus. I was on the clean-up crew. My oldest had the worst of the lot battling all throughout the night. But, in the middle of his battle he uttered two words that changed my whole perspective on the annoying night. He said, “thanks Dad!” The fact was I really hadn’t done much, I was just there, making sure he didn’t go through it alone. He noticed and was grateful.
We just rounded the corner of Thanksgiving and I wonder how thankful people have remained? How often do we forget to utter two simple words to our Heavenly Father, who is always there so we don’t have to go through it alone? How long has it been since you’ve said “Thanks Dad!”?
by Skybacher | Nov 19, 2013 | Devotions
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,where for forty days he was temptedby the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone. Luke 4:1-4
I love a great competitor! My personal favorites are Didier Drogba (points if you know who he is) Hines Ward, Charles Barkley. They were all guys that at one time played hard and at times gave it their all. Many people say that Michael Jordan was the greatest competitor of all time. I beg to differ!
Luke Chapter 4 reminds us of the greatest competitor of all-time, in Jesus. In the wilderness for 40 days without food, his rival saw a chance to defeat him. Only Jesus would not be defeated. He is undefeated! Three times his rival tries to beat him! Three times he fails! He failed because Jesus was prepared and knew the gameplan, and the playbook. All 3 times that Satan tempts Jesus. Jesus replies with scripture. Jesus would continue to defeat Satan and would later have the ultimate victory!
Do you know scripture? Can you speak it when your opponent is trying to take you down? May we learn from the greatest competitor ever!
by Skybacher | May 11, 2010 | Devotions
We just celebrated Mother’s Day this past weekend. I thought I’d share a few lessons I learned from my Mom throughout the years.
Lesson 1: Watch out for the DEW on the road! – It has always seemed like such a silly phrase, every time I would leave to go somewhere at night my mom would remind me to watch out for the dew on the road. This has always been her way of saying drive carefully and know that there are hidden dangers. It always has reminded me of her love and care too as I always knew she was thinking about me as I left the house. 1 Peter 5:8
Lesson 2: There is a death story for every situation. – If I ever argued that there’s no dew on the road or something like that, my mom would have a story of how somebody died from dew on the road. She had stories of people dying from eating hot dogs, people who died while swimming, death from being kicked by a cow, on and on. I took this as her little reminder of just how fragile life is, and it’s sad but so very true.
Lesson 3: Laughter is the best medicine – My mom has never been afraid to laugh at herself. She has always held to Proverbs 17:22 that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. We’ve had a lot of laughter and a lot of healing at our house because of this one!
Lesson 4: There are many treasures on the beach! My mom has actually made a job out of this one. She picks up beach glass and makes it into garden decorations and jewelery. It has always been a reminder of the beautiful creation that God has made. It also is a picture that there isn’t anyone, or anything that God can’t use for his glory. She takes something that began as a broken bottle (trash) on the shores of Lake Erie and turns it into a treasure. I’m sure God can do that!
Lesson 5: Jesus loves you and me – such a simple lesson. Such a lesson the world needs to hear. A lesson I learned early, and my life has never been the same. How many people out there are searching for love? How many people have forgotten or never learned this lesson? Jesus loves you! That’s not a cliche, that’s a fact! John 3:16
Thanks mom! I love you!
by Skybacher | May 10, 2010 | Devotions
“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog it is here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, If the Lord wants us to , we will live and do this or that.” James 4:15,16 NLT
There was a morning fog outside when I drove into work today, and imagine when I go home it will not be there. It’s all gone that fast! That is what our lives are compared to in the book of James.
This past weekend I had a number of reflective events. My father-in-law celebrated his 60th birthday and it was amazing to hear about all of the people, places, and events that had impacted his life. I felt emotional all weekend every time I looked at my kids and my wife and just couldn’t believe the pace at which my life had flown by, but as I listened to my father-in-law speak about his memories, I was reminded of all of the incredible blessings that God stuffs into one brief life. So much good stuff in so little time! Life may fly by fast but it’s all of the blessings that only God can give that are blowing me away today! Blowing me away like a MORNING FOG!
Luke 2:11 – “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
