Easter Memes and Graphics – Christian Devotional

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Easter Memes and Graphics – Christian Devotional

This Christian memes about Easter are free to use now or whenever. The Easter message is good to use year around.

easter_cw_dev_3

The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ

easter_cw_dev_4

The first thing Christ did when he was resurrected was appear to three women.

easter_cw_devotional_1

Because Christ was resurrected, we will also be resurrected.

Filed under: Christian Devotionals, Memes: Christian | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

Christian Daily Devotional For Easter

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Christian Daily Devotional For Easter

As I have been preparing some Easter messages about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have been reading up each of the four gospel’s accounts of the resurrection. Of course the number one message is that Jesus was resurrected but one message I felt like I should mention in addition to the resurrection is that when Jesus Christ was resurrected, he appeared first to women, then to the Apostles and other saints.

easter_cw_dev_4If Christians really read the Bible and followed its teachings then there would never be any question of women in the gospel. So many women are mistreated and abused under the name of Christianity. This is terrible and should never happen.

Everyone, men, women and children all have their role to play in the gospel of Jesus Christ. No one is loved more or less by the Redeemer. He loves us all the same. I think, as a testament to that message, that is why he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary, the mother of James. We should always treat each other, children, women and men with love and respect as we follow the example of Jesus Christ. Let’s let the Easter season remind us of how important we all are to Jesus.

Troy Wagstaff ©

Filed under: Christian Devotionals, Memes: Christian | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

I Want To Know What Love Is

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

I Want To Know What Love Is

Christian Devotional

Since the dawn of time men and women have been searching for love. Adam and Eve loved each other and they taught their children about love. But as the population of the earth grew ever bigger, not everyone could feel the love their souls desired.

Men and women began looking for love in all the wrong places trying to feel a void that could only be filled with love. Countless songs have been written about looking for love. Mostly they are talking about the love of a man or women.

know_what_love_isMarried love is one of the greatest loves of all, but the greatest love of all love is between a person and their Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

One of the great rock songs about love was written by Mick Jones. I’ve enclosed seven lines from his song “I Want to know What Love Is.”

“I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me.”

I saw this un attributed quote on Pintrest recently, it says “Jesus died for you knowing you might not love Him back. That is love!”

If you want to know what love is then look no farther that Jesus Christ. If you read about his life and study his teachings you will know what love is, what real, eternal love is.

Mr. Jones goes on to write:

“In my life there’s been heartache and pain
I don’t know if I can face it again
Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far, to change this lonely life.”

No love, except the Saviors love, can really ease heart ache and pain. With Christ you can face anything. Through Christ you will never need to feel lonely again.

Troy Wagstaff

Filed under: Christian Devotionals | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Are You Wearing The The Whole Armor Of God Correctly?

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

PUTTING ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD

There is a world at war going on and has been since Adam and Eve. It is a war of good verse’s evil. This was manifested when Cain killed Able. Ever since then the battle of good over evil has been a prevalent theme throughout the Bible.

It’s no wonder that the Apostle Paul admonished the Ephesians to put on the whole armor of God in the war that has been going on for thousands of years.

THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” (Ephesians 6:11-18)

The whole armor of God is described metaphorically as having your loins girt about with truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit. But the armor of God is not all, Paul goes on to say that we should put on the whole armor of God and then pray always and watch for the evil enemy with perseverance.

Doing this will ensure our victory against the evil one. Let’s look more closely at the whole armor of God and see how each piece of the spiritual armor will protect us. The spiritual pieces of armor are truth, righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the spirit, praying and watching.

whole_armor_god_labeledSome of the spiritual armor makes sense and is somewhat obvious like truth, faith, and prayer. Some not so obvious like the preparation of the gospel of peace and helmet of salvation.

Let’s look at all of these pieces of armor individually and in doing so we can also do an inventory check to see what we need to do to make sure our spiritual armor is on and ready to use against the powers of evil.

TRUTH
Truth comes from the Bible and the better we know it, the less likely we are to be lead astray by what other people think is truth. For example, if we are firm in our understanding of the book of Genesis and the creation, the floods etc. then we can understand the truth about how the earth was formed and not be lead astray by false science.

FAITH
Faith is to believe in that which is true but not seen with the naked eye. Faith is to believe something by feeling it, not by seeing it. You can feel the wind but you can’t see it. You can even see the effects of wind but you can’t see the air blowing in all its fury. You can feel faith by the whispering of the spirit of the Holy Ghost and you can see the effects of faith but you can’t see it with the naked eye.

In the case of Jesus Christ and his gospel we see with our hearts, not our eyes.

RIGHTEOUSNESS
With the help of the dictionary, “righteousness is the state or quality of being righteous. Righteous is characterized by uprightness or morality. Acting in an upright, moral way, a righteous and godly person.”

Righteousness is a way of living. If you are righteous then you are living and applying the gospel principles taught by Jesus Christ. It’s one thing to read “thou shalt not commit adultery” but it’s another thing to live by the higher law of not lusting after someone.

Living the gospel, not just reading about it . . . applying the gospel not just getting motivated by a Christian meme on Facebook is what it’s all about. If you are busy doing good and serving the Lord then you will be protected against the evil one.

PEACE
The gospel of Jesus Christ as outlined and taught in the Holy Bible is the gospel of peace. If you love the Lord and are busy striving to keep his commandments then you are living the gospel of peace.

Looking up the word ‘preparation’ in the dictionary helps to make sense of the phrase
“the preparation of the gospel of peace” which could otherwise be phrased being prepared with the gospel of peace. This could also indicate that you are a peacemaker to the extent you can be, in a war between good and evil.

SALVATION
The gospel of peace or the gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel whereby salvation comes from. If we know that we will be saved by the gospel of Christ, we can be brave in the fight against evil.

SPIRIT OF TRUTH
The spirit of truth testifies of the word of God which is found in the Holy Bible. If we are filled with the spirit of truth we will not be deceived in this war of temptation, thoughts and ideas contrary to righteousness.

PRAYING ALWAYS
Praying always is not compared to a piece of armor but it is mentioned prominently in this section of scripture because it so important that we talk to God. All the armor in the world and all the armies in the world can only prevail against wickedness if they are directed by the will of God. We find that will and word of God through prayer.

Armies are guided by a commander that sees the big picture and knows if the army should attack head on or in a flanking maneuver. God is our commander in this battle and praying to him makes perfect sense. We will let Heavenly Father guide our armies in defense of truth and righteousness.

Is their anything lacking in your armor that God has designed to protect us? If so, it is not to late to fix that armor and get it back on for your protection.

Troy Wagstaff © Copyright, All rights reserved.

back on for your protection.

Filed under: Christian Articles, Christian Devotionals | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Sacred Is In The Ordinary

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Inspirational Quote – The Sacred Is In The Ordinary

The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends and family, in one’s backyard. – Abraham Maslow

sacred_in_the_ordinary

Filed under: Christian Devotionals, Inspirational Thoughts | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

Just How Important Are People?

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Just How Important Are People?

people_into_life_blessings_lessons

This is a popular and catchy Christian or Inspirational quote by Mother Teresa that says

“Some people come into your life as blessings, others come into your life as lessons.” (Mother Teresa)

To a Christian, people are everything. We are told to love our neighbor as our selves. We are taught that “done it unto one of the least of these my brethren . . .” and so on. But does that mean we need to be around all kinds of people regardless of what their like?

I don’t think so. We do need to love all people and pray for our enemy and serve them etc., but that doesn’t mean we have to be friends with them. If “thy right eye offend thee then pluck it out.” That parable is given to teach us that we should cast away from us any unclean or unrighteous thing that could tear us down and hurt us in any way. But it doesn’t teach us to be unkind to those types of people. We still need to love them and serve them as we are able. Some people come into our life to bless us and help us become better people and to become our friends or family. Other people bless our lives as a teaching aid. That doesn’t mean we have to pal around with them if they tend to tear us down.

So just how important are people to our lives? They are very important to bless our lives with kindness and support while others provide us a chance to serve and grow by our association with them.

We need to keep ourselves uplifted and renewed so that we have the spiritual power to help those in need and live as good examples to those around us.

Troy Wagstaff © Copyright. All rights reserved.

Just How Important Are People?

Filed under: Christian Devotionals | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

New Years Resolutions, Timing Is Everything. Spring Time!

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

New Years Resolutions, Timing Is Everything. Spring Time!

For the Northern Hemisphere, the new year rolls around with dark, cloudy, gray skies. For many snow on the ground and a piercing wind in the air. Instinctively we want to go inside and get warm with a cup of our favorite hot beverage. Perhaps we want a roaring fire, a blanket and a good book to read.

Why then so we think so much about new years resolutions? Why do we have such a hard time keeping these resolutions? With dreary weather who wants to go to the gym after a long day at work when instinctively we want to go home and hunker down and get warm? Or perhaps we want to make a B line to our favorite restaurant and be warm with comfort food and out of the cold.

springtime_newyears_resolutionsI think we should delay new year’s resolutions to spring time or associate the new goals for a tradition at Easter time. Easter always comes in the spring. Spring flowers like daffodils and crocus’s are blooming along with the yellow blossoms of the Forsythia bushes. Tulips are breaking ground.

The grass is turning green and there is a sense of renewal all around. What a great time to start fresh with a newness of life in the air. Let’s use that sense of freshness all around us to renew and improve ourselves.

Let’s use the spring time motivation to motivate ourselves in making new goals and improving ourselves. We’ve got all the seasons of spring, summer and autumn to get our physical fitness goals into a new habit.

We have the renewal of spring and the Easter season to get ourselves in order spiritually. The Easter holiday reminds us of Christ on the cross, his death and glorious resurrection. Let’s use that motivation to refresh ourselves spiritually.

Let’s use this spring time wisely by making a clean break from failed new year’s resolutions and let the joy of the season motivate us to improve ourselves with a newness of life.

Troy Wagstaff © All Rights Reserved

Filed under: Christian Devotionals | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

With God All Things Are Possible

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

With God All Things Are Possible

all_things_are_possibleWith a humble heart and with God all things are possible. For surely we cannot place any limits on our God who create the world upon which we live in six days.

If He can create the world in six day imagine what he can do with you.

Filed under: Christian Devotionals | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Greatest Hits Volume 1 — Christian Devotionals and Articles

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

Greatest Hits Volume 1 — Christian Devotionals and Articles

CallahanWriter.com has well over a hundred posts. The topics of the CallahanWriter blog are Christian Devotionals, Christian Articles, Fibro Awareness and posts related to my journey with Fibromyalgia. Other topics include collections of free memes, creative writing and short stories. Those last two are yet to come.

Since the post is growing I thought I would share a few of my favorite Christian articles that you may have missed.  This blog comes with a search feature and all posts are archived. Feel free to look around.

The Rose Bush. Lessons From The Rose Garden

Sometimes the trials and tribulations that we will go through are deliberate and under the control of a loving, caring Creator. Other times we go through trials and tribulations as a consequence of our behavior.

Joseph And The Coat Of Many Colors

The story of Joseph of Egypt is a story of hope, faith and perseverance. It’s the perfect story to illustrate the doctrine of Romans 8:28 where it says “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Lessons Learned From the Parable of the Prodigal Son

Lessons learned from this Parable are emphasized in the preceding two Parables. The Lord our God rejoices in the sinner that humbly repents and seeks forgiveness. The father of the prodigal son celebrates the return of his lost son, restoring him with clothing and food in a joyous celebration.

Filed under: Christian Articles, Christian Devotionals | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

How Can We Endure the Temptations and Chaos in The Last Days?

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Troy Wagstaff

How Can We Endure the Temptations and
Chaos in The Last Days?

Are we living in the last days? Read the newspapers and the news sites on the Web, if that doesn’t tell you we are living in the last days then read the prophecies in the Bible about the way things will be in the last days. We are living in a day of chaos, temptation, blood and horror. Wickedness is pouring down upon all people everywhere. How can we endure the chaos of the signs of the times until our last breath?

The Prophet Isaiah speaks often about the last days before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Through his prophecy and those of other Old Testament prophecies we get a glimpse of what things will be like during the Last Days.

In Chapter 40 there is a beautiful verse that is often quoted for its imagery and its teaching of hope, it is Isaiah 40:31 which reads:

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

I love this passage of scripture as much as the next Christian. I want to talk about what makes this passage so special, and why it gives hope to us living in the Last Days.

Let’s look at verses 28-30 which sets up verse 31 and explains some of the meaning of verse 31.

While there are many in the Last Days that will faint with weariness and have no strength, our Lord, the Creator of all things, will have all strength and will never faint. Our Lord will be the one constant to which we can look to for energy as we start to fail. He will strengthen us when we get weary from the chaos and commotion of the wickedness of the last days.

wings_as_eaglesVerse 28 reminds us that “there is no searching of his understanding.” In other words, he is all-knowing which means he can help us better than any other source to which we may be tempted to look.

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths will faint and be weary, and the young men will utterly fall.”

Beautiful imagery. This all sounds great but it’s not as simple as those three verses alone may sound. Their meaning is dependant on what it says in verse 31 where it mentions an important phrase: “they that wait upon the Lord.”

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)

For those who wait upon the Lord will be given power in the Last Days so that we may overcome temptations and have power to overcome the great wickedness and chaos of the end of times.

What does the word “wait” mean in this context? There are a few definitions that apply perfectly for this verse. “To be available or in a state of readiness; To eagerly look forward to; To attend upon (especially as a sign of respect); To perform the duties of an attendant or servant for; to call upon.”

Let’s reread verse 31 with some of these definitions in place of the word “wait” to see how it works.

“But they that are in a state of readiness upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Or,

how_can_we_deal_with_last_days“But they that eagerly look forward upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Or lastly,

“But they that that attend upon or perform the duties of an attendant upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

If we want the blessings of verse 31, and what Christian wouldn’t? We need to wait upon the Lord rather than go it alone in the perilous events of the last days. Always work on your faith that it fails not when needed the most.

Filed under: Christian Articles, Christian Devotionals | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »