Kristi Burchfiel

VERSE: Malachi 2:7–For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. TRUTH: People in positions or authority have a greater responsibility as messengers of God. According to Hebrews 5, each and every one of us who has committed our lives to Jesus Christ hold this role and responsibility. Are we taking our responsibility seriously? Do we seek to influence others as a messenger of God? RESPONSE: Lord, as I go through the day today, let You words be my words. I want to serve and lead people in Your way so that…

VERSE: Malachi 1:13b–“and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering? Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord. TRUTH: At this time, the people worshipped God by sacrificing animals, but these people were bringing sick animals or animals they had stolen. The Lord had commanded that they give Him their best. Now, through Christ, we are to bring ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. Are we giving God the first and best o our time and talents. Or are we giving God the leftovers and the half-efforts or our lives and expecting Him to accept that…

VERSE: Philippians 4:8–Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. TRUTH: What kinds of thoughts fill our minds on a regular basis? Would our thoughts fit in with this list? Do we discipline our mind to only dwell on these qualities, or do we allow our mind to roam to other things that are not as praiseworthy? We must guard our mind, for only by actually monitoring our thoughts will we be able to ensure that we are dwelling on the…

VERSE: Philippians 3:20–For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. TRUTH: It’s important to remember that we hold dual citizenship. We are citizens of a particular country or countries on earth. But even more important than that, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are citizens of heaven. In the United States right now, there is much talk about the upcoming election for President and as a citizen of this country, I have a responsibility to be informed and vote. As citizens of heaven, do we spend as much energy talking about the upcoming…

VERSE: Philippians 2:14–Do all things without grumbling or disputing TRUTH: At first thought, this may not sound so difficult. Then I start thinking about how many times we complain about something during the day. We grumble to people about the weather, about traffic, about our job responsibilities, about our home responsibilities. It becomes so easy to grudgingly agree to be obedient to what God asks us to do that we fool ourselves into thinking that being obedient is the only thing that matters. Our attitude is of great importance as well, and we are to do all the things we do without grumbling or complaining to others about them. RESPONSE:…

VERSE: Philippians 1:6–For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. TRUTH: We are all works in progress. Every day we are made more and more like Christ as we allow Him to have more and more control of out lives. We can know that God does not do His work only part way. God will perfect us and make us whole and complete in Him. RESPONSE: Father, I look forward to the day when I will be fully perfected, but I wait, knowing that the things I go through now are intended to chip…

VERSE: Job 42:10–The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold. TRUTH: After all that Job had been through, God allowed him to see his house restored. But first, Job had to help restor his friends to a right relationship with God. Imagine if Job had held a grudge and told his friends, “No, I won’t pray for you, you made me mad and hurt me while I was already down. I can’t forgive you and you deserve to stay in God’s anger.” Not only would his friends not receive God’s blessings, but Job would have missed…

VERSE: Job 41:11–“Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.”TRUTH: Sometimes we get the mistaken idea that God owes us. We look at things we’ve done and start to feel entitled to God providing us happiness and contentment. Nothing could be further from the truth. God owns all things and He is indebted to no one. He does not owe us anything. We owe Him everything. We must keep things in the right perspective and worship God for who He is. RESPONSE: Lord, forgive me when I start to think that You owe me. I will praise You and thank…

VERSE: Job 40:4–“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.” TRUTH: God came to see Job and revealed Himself. As a result Job immediately saw the contrast between who God is and who he is. The God of the universe did not answer Job’s questions, but after seeing God, Job found that his questions really didn’t matter anymore. Job became silent as he waited to hear more from God. Do we see ourselves as God sees us? Do we recognize the great love He has for us, along with His great power and holiness? RESPONSE: Lord, compared to You, I am nothing.…