Category Archives: Devos

Sep 10 2017
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Devos

I’ve experienced the truth of Psalm 91… You should give it a read!

Psalm 91[11

Dear Facebook friends…
Just a brief note to explain why I have not posted recently in “Coffee with the Lord”:

As many of you are aware my wife, Sharon Barnett Bartel, and I have had a significant challenge we’ve been facing the past week. Traveling home from a vacation time in Montana we had a serious car accident. On a two-lane road south of Limon, CO, near Hugo, CO, a car drifted into the lane where we were traveling; first it hit a Target Store Semi-truck, and then, struggling with control of his vehicle, came directly at us! I applied my brakes and tried to steer toward the shoulder of the road, but he hit me anyway… He grazed the door on the drivers side, took out my rear corner panel and completely destroyed my rear axle. The impact caused our car, a Honda CRV, to then roll 2-3 times and totaled our vehicle. Thanks to our seatbelts and airbags…AND THE LORD, our lives were spared.

I, the driver, was apparently spared injury. Sharon, my wife, however, experienced, 10 fractured ribs (with multiple fractures in several), a fractured collarbone that required surgery, and a punctured lung that had to be kept inflated with the insertion of a tube. Sharon was driven 100 miles to the Medical Center of Aurora, CO. First ICU for 5 days then 3 days under regular care. Plan is, if progress goes as expected, we will travel back to Waxahachie by car Tuesday, September 12 (air travel is not possible because of Sharon’s lung injury).

All that to say, Sharon and I have discovered the truth of Psalm 91 in the Bible!!! If you haven’t read it recently, let me recommend it to you! My hunch? Like Sharon and I, there will be a time or occasion in your life when you will really need to depend on it’s truth… God your protector and provider! Believe me, we’ve discovered it’s true and are banking on it going forward.

Oh, and after Tuesday, I intend to be back at it with posts from my personal daily time of “Coffee with the Lord.” Hope you understand… and lift a prayer to our wonderful Heavenly Father on our behalf.

Sep 02 2017
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Devos

Wise advice… Listen to your parent’s instruction and warnings!

anne frank - advice of parentsJust sitting here reflecting after reading some great advice – a reminder actually – from Proverbs 6:20-35. Thinking about the great advice my dad and mom, Ewalt and Vera Bartel, gave me as a young man… advice about a lot of different subjects, all grounded in reverence for the Lord, and anchored to the clear teaching of God’s word. I’m much older now, but looking back on what they told me, it has stood me in good stead for the challenges and temptations I’ve faced! If you’ve had parents who gave you godly instruction, you are blessed indeed! And if you didn’t have biological parents who instructed you, but had adoptive parents who did it – or even “spiritual parents” who mentored and taught you, praise the Lord! My advice today? Recall, reflect on, and relish some of that instruction! It will bring back sweet memories, engender deep appreciation, and probably help you in something you’re facing right now!

Here’s how the writer of Proverbs expressed it:

“My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching! Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” (Proverbs 6:20–23 ESV)

Oh, and then what follows is some great advice and guidance (and warning) about moral purity… teaching that I would say, is pretty important in our culture today.

Aug 31 2017
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Devos

Motives matter! Am I seeking Jesus for what He can provide or for Himself – Who He is?

A good meal

Motives matter! It’s so easy to fall prey to seeking Jesus for what we can get from Him – our personal benefit, rather than Him personally. It happened that way when Jesus walked the earth… I read about it this morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord”…

Jesus had just fed a multitude (5,000 men plus women and children) with five barley loaves and a two fish. Everyone had enjoyed a good meal. After feeding the multitude, the disciples gathered up much more than they had started with (twelve baskets of leftovers)! What a miracle! (Read about it in John 6:1-15)6

Free food! How good is that! This guy provides free food! He does miracles of provision! If He can do that – what else can he do for us? Think about it!

So they followed him across the sea of Galilee (from Tiberias) to Capernaum. The Bible says, “When then found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate you fill of the loaves! Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life!’” (From John 6:25-27)

Their motives for seeking Him – for following Him – were what Jesus could do for them, rather than seeking Him for who He was! They wanted more miracles of provision, rather than Himself! He told them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst!” … He told them, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven! If anyone eats of this bread, He will live forever! … Whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of me… Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever!” (From John 6:35-59)

So as I read about this marvelous miracle of divine provision and the teaching of Jesus that followed it, I found myself asking… Am I seeking Jesus for what Jesus can do for me – His miraculous provision of my needs and desires – or am I following Him and seeking Him for Himself; who He is, “The bread of life?” Like I said – motives matter! I want my motives to be pure! If I do that, I think my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ will take care of the rest! And I believe I’ll never “hunger and thirst” again… at the very deepest level of my life!

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