Renee Andrews's Blog - Posts Tagged "devotional"

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (NIV)

My family has a Labor Day tradition. The entire gang gathers at my parents’ home on the river for jet skiing, swimming, good food…and homemade ice cream. My mother makes the BEST homemade ice cream. This Labor Day we were waiting for the ice cream, but the ice cream maker just kept spinning. It went on for what seemed like forever, while we all waited, bowls and spoons in hand, to have our favorite treat. Then my dad remembered that the last time he’d cleaned and rinsed the ice cream container, he accidentally tossed the tiny part in the bottom out (and into the river, no less). That one little part ended up being important and without it, the ice cream took much longer to get firm.

Like that tiny part in the ice cream maker, each part of Christ’s body is important to the livelihood of Christ’s church. We may not feel like our tiny part matters, but in the entire scheme of things, we could be the reason the church doesn’t stand firm. He needs our part.

For me, I sometimes feel I don’t offer anything overly impressive to the growth of the Kingdom. I can speak, but I’m sure not great at it. I can sing, but it’s nothing to write home about. And it took me YEARS before I gathered the courage to pray aloud. But I do have a few things I can do and enjoy doing. I can write and share God’s message with my readers. I can be willing to attribute my good mood to my Good Lord whenever asked why I seem particularly happy. I can also let others know that God will see me through when I’m having hard times.

No, the things I bring to the table do not seem like a whole lot when you look at what Christ has given for me. But that tiny part of the ice cream maker was important to the final product, and my tiny part is important to Christ’s final product too.

Faith Step: Eat a bowl of ice cream today and think about all of the parts that were necessary for that delicious taste, and then thank God that you can be a tiny part in His Kingdom.


~Renee Andrews

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“And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” Romans 11:6 (NIV)

Growing up, my sister and I shared a room. One night I woke to her screaming, “He’s got me! He’s got me!” I just knew someone was in our bedroom and had my sister so I joined in, “He’s got Gina! Someone’s got Gina!”

My parents busted into the room practically falling over each other, ready to save us. Daddy turned on the light and saw Gina’s hand covering her face. Her arm was asleep, so she didn’t realize the hand suffocating her was…her own.

We laugh about it now, but the instance reminds me of my first years as a Christian, when I never believed I would be good enough for Heaven. I didn’t pray enough, didn’t study enough, didn’t give enough. Quite honestly, I was miserable, because like my sister that night, I couldn’t see past the hand on my face. Grace was something I didn’t understand and definitely didn’t study. I had a fear mentality that controlled my every thought and every action.

Finally, after years of study and a better understanding, I realize by God’s grace I no longer have to worry about being “good enough”. I will never be “good enough,” but through Christ, in God’s eyes, we are all good enough. Christ wants to set me free, in the same way Daddy lifted Gina’s hand and showed her she was okay, that she was indeed free.

Faith Step: Place your hand on your face covering nose and mouth. Feel your struggle to breathe. Now move it away…and remember Christ’s grace sets you free.

Author Renee Andrews

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“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 (NIV)

“God bless you.”

I waited, thinking someone sneezed. Then the woman on the other end repeated, “God bless you.”

“Oh, hello. You called about my son’s car.”

She excitedly asked if we could bring it to their home, because they didn’t have a vehicle. I said yes, and she gave me directions to housing projects an hour away. The area where she lived was often on the news, but I said, “Okay.”

We arrived at the home and stepped on a welcome mat that read, “I am blessed when I go in. I am blessed when I go out.” She had a single sheet-covered couch and a television. They had nothing. I fought tears.

“Keisha got a basketball scholarship but doesn’t have a car.”

Her daughter squealed when she saw the restored BMW. Kaleb had put several months and all his money into the vehicle.

While Kaleb took Keisha to drive the car, the woman said, “I have $200 and can give you $800 later.”

Kaleb purchased the car pre-restoration for much more. “Oh, he was asking for more.”

The woman pulled out the paper and showed me an ad for a car 15 years older with a phone number one digit off from my cell. “This isn’t our ad.” I turned the page to show her ours, for $5,500.

The kids returned, and Keisha wanted the car, but her mom explained they couldn’t afford it. We left and drove a couple of miles before my 16-year-old broke down in tears. “I can save and get another car. I just want it. She needs it.” Then we turned around, and he gave her…all he had.

I saw much joy in Keisha’s face when Kaleb gave her the keys, but I’ve seen more in Kaleb’s life as a result of his unselfish gift. Christ said give all. Rarely do you see it, but when you do, it’s beautiful.

Faith Step: Follow Kaleb’s example, follow Christ’s example, and give something away today. Don’t give of your leftovers, but give something you love, something the recipient will love. Experience the exquisite joy of giving.

Renee Andrews

Order autographed copies of Mondays with Jesus 2015 for $9.99 (same price the book sells in stores) with free U.S. shipping and free personalization at www.MondayswithJesus.com

Mondays with Jesus 2015

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:25 (NIV)

Ben, my friend’s young son, suited up in his football gear, helmet and pads and all, and informed his mom that he was going out to play. After a few minutes, she looked out the window and saw him standing in the backyard alone. Feeling sorry for her little boy, Jana went outside. “Do you want to play something else?” she asked. Ben turned and grinned from within his helmet. “Nope, I’m playing football.” Confused, Jana asked, “You are?” Ben nodded the bulky helmet. “Yep, I’m offense. The defense is on the field now.”

Jana couldn’t see the game Ben visualized, the one obviously still entertaining him while he waited for his turn. But Ben knew that part of playing football involved waiting patiently on the sidelines. He also had the ability to hope for what he didn’t yet have, a chance to play.

Often we are the little boy on the sidelines wanting a chance to play. We want to shine for Christ. We want to be needed, have purpose. However, every now and then we need that reminder that contentment may also be found in letting someone else have their time on the field. We should try to be like Ben, quite happy waiting his turn.

Faith Step: Remember what Christ said in Luke 14:10 and find Ben’s joy in waiting your turn.

Author Renee Andrews

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“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)

About eighteen years ago, a homeless woman walked into the emergency room of an Atlanta hospital in labor. Shortly after, she delivered a baby girl. She said she wanted the child to have a better life than what she could provide, and she specified that she wanted the baby to be raised in a Christian home. A social worker from the Christian foster agency Agape met with her in the hospital and learned of her wishes. She held the baby before she gave her to the social worker, named her little girl and told the baby that she wanted her to have a good life, a life in the Lord.

That precious baby was born with a mother’s hope that she’d be raised loving her Lord and Savior. And then God blessed our family by putting that sweet baby in our home when she was merely two days old.

When I think about her mom showing up at that hospital in labor, I think about Mary arriving at the inn in Bethlehem. She and Joseph wanted their child to be loved. Christ’s Heavenly Father also wants His child to be loved.

Today, on Christmas, remember the birth of our Savior. Remember how precious it is to raise a child to grow up loving Him, knowing Him, adoring Him. Even though her mother couldn’t take care of her child physically, she took care of her spiritually by placing her in a Christian home. She knew how important it was for her little girl to know her Lord.

Faith Step: Today, while the world celebrates the birth of our Savior, take a moment to explain the miracle of Christ’s birth to a child. Raise your children the way that mother wanted her child to be raised, loving Our Lord! Merry Christmas!
Mondays with Jesus 2015

Mondays with Jesus 2017: Devotions to Begin Each Week of the Year

“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:2-4

A dear friend is traveling this week and sent a photo she took from the window seat of the plane. She titled it, “The view above the clouds.” I was amazed at the beauty, at the way the white clouds looked golden beneath the sun, the way the sky positioned between the sun and clouds mirrored Caribbean blue water and at the way my heart felt peace, simply by admiring the perfection of God’s beauty.

I don’t fly as often as I used to, but I always thought that picturesque view probably resembled the scene in Heaven. I imagined those streets of gold, transparent as glass, pearly white gates, city walls covered in precious jewels. That was surely the best way to describe the beauty of Heaven.

But then I realized…I was so very wrong. The true beauty of Heaven won’t have anything to do with pearly gates, golden streets or jeweled walls, and for me to equate it to such things—things—devalues the magnitude of beauty God has planned for us at His Home. Because the true beauty of Heaven isn’t described in the verses that center Revelation 21. It’s described in those verses above:

There will be no more tears, no more death, no more mourning, no more pain. And the ultimate true beauty of Heaven is that God will dwell among His people. He will dwell among us! Praise God! I can’t imagine anything more beautiful than that!

This Week: Get up early enough to see the sun rise, at least once. Plan your evening to see the sun set, at least once. Imagine that the night never comes, and neither do tears, of suffering or pain. Thank God that, in your future, you will encounter a day where the sun never sets!

Mondays with Jesus 2017: Devotions to Begin Each Week of the Year
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39

My husband likes old cars, particularly old Mustangs. He has a ’67 Mustang (that’s about all I know about it, but he could give you a ton of car lingo that would mean something to car enthusiasts). Recently, he bought a ’92 Mustang convertible that had seen better days. It didn’t run. In fact, we could hardly find anything on the car that worked. However, it was priced at $300, so my sweet Cajun decided it was worth the investment. He tinkered with it for months, rebuilding an engine to get it running again and replacing almost every part that formed the car.

Eventually, I needed to run errands, and that Mustang was my car of choice. I was impressed at how well it ran, given we’d had it towed to the house. But I quickly learned that the vehicle was still a work in progress.

After completing my errands, I started home. That’s when the skies turned dark, and rain poured down. Not an ordinary rain, but the kind that comes with a severe thunderstorm of tornadic proportions. Unfortunately, this was when I realized my husband had yet to put the wipers back on the car. The air, heat and defroster also hadn’t been fixed yet, and the windows started fogging with the changing temperature. Luckily, I was able to roll the windows down, but that only caused the rain to dump all over me as I squinted through the storm and attempted to find a shoulder on the side of the road where I could park the car until the storm passed.

The biggest problem? I had just started across a bridge with no shoulder when the rain began. I couldn’t see the lines on the road. I couldn’t tell when the bridge ended. My hazard lights didn’t work. I slowed the car to a near crawl as I tried to see, which only caused other cars to zoom past and send more water through the window.

Years ago, I would have yelled. Or cried. And I did cry, but my cries were to my Father. “Lord, don’t let it happen this way. This isn’t how I want to die.” An eighteen wheeler passed me, and I honestly could no longer see. The windshield was completely fogged over. And I continued praying. I put one arm out of the window and began waving it up and down, as if this might let the other cars know my dilemma. And maybe it did, because they all slowed and stayed behind me, allowing me to marginally see the path ahead well enough to tell when the bridge ended, and when I could safely ease over to the shoulder.

But even then, as I came to a standstill, I prayed. I thanked God for being there through the storm, and I thanked Him for answering my prayer. I did think there was a chance I’d be hit, that my car would be pushed over the side of that bridge or that an eighteen wheeler would crash into me at any moment. But my Lord granted my request. I didn’t want to die that way, and I didn’t.

And then I thought about Christ’s request, when He prayed to His Father at Gethsemane. He asked for the cup to be taken from Him. He asked God not to die that way. But unlike me, when I prayed through my journey across that bridge, Christ didn’t merely ask not to die that way. He also prayed that God’s will be done. And unlike me, He wasn’t facing a mere death that would lead me into a blissful eternity. The cup He asked God to take away was my sin. And all sin. The sin of the world. Placed upon Christ, the Perfect One, the only man who had never sinned.

The pain of what He bore that day is unimaginable. And He knew it would be. Unlike me, in my pitiful trek with the Mustang, Christ knew what would surely happen. He knew what would come and the agony He would face at the cross. But He still prayed…Thy will, not Mine.

And He still went to the cross.

This Week: Reflect on the cross, on the pain that came with the weight of our sin, and on the prayer where Christ asked for that cup to pass…but also asked that His Father’s will be done. End each of your prayers this week with, “Thy will be done.”

Renee Andrews

Mondays with Jesus 2017: Devotions to Begin Each Week of the Year

“Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:21, 23-24

Growing up, I remember a worn brown grocery sack as a steady constant on our dryer. Though Mom often exchanged the bag with a fresh one from the grocery store, the smell of its contents lingered in the small laundry room next to our carport.

The scent of rubber or, more accurately, of a tire plant.

My Daddy, James Bowers, worked at Goodyear for thirty-seven years. He began building tires at merely twenty years old, working third shift for years before finally moving to days. The work was labor intensive, to say the least. Back then, we had one car, and Momma would drive us to the plant to watch the men pouring out when their shift ended. My sister and I would search for the familiar walk of the man who provided everything we needed, the man who loved us unconditionally…and never complained about the position that would send him home with the potent scent of the tire plant on his clothes.

Even though it has been decades since that brown bag stayed on the dryer, I remember the scent vividly and would recognize it instantly even now, years later. It’s a reminder of what my Daddy was willing to do for us, every day, without complaining. It’s a reminder of his love for his wife and children.

As I read the verses above, I realize that Daddy never made us feel bitter toward the plant, but instead made sure we knew how thankful he was for the opportunity to work. And Daddy didn’t go to work and leave his Lord at home. The men and women who worked with him through those years knew that he wasn’t there alone; he worked with God in his mind and in his heart and didn’t hold back from sharing his Lord with his coworkers at the plant.

This Week: If your current employment isn’t what you had planned for yourself, or it isn’t as appealing as you would like, look at what it provides, rather than what it prevents. Look at it the way my precious Daddy did, as an opportunity, rather than a hindrance. And remember that you aren’t in that position to serve man, but to serve your Lord.

Renee Andrews

Mondays with Jesus 2017: Devotions to Begin Each Week of the Year

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” Ephesians 2:19

Each year, our extended family gets together for the traditional family reunion. When my Granny Bowers was living, she would organize the event, which always took place at Noccalula Falls, a beautiful park near my hometown that features a 90-foot waterfall, trails and playgrounds for children. It’s a stunning place to visit, but even more so when you consider that your family members will travel from all over to gather together and enjoy a meal, visit and catch up on life each year.

I always enjoy seeing the new babies (grandbabies in my case), meeting those who have recently joined the family through marriage, etc. Occasionally, I’ll have to pull my mom or dad aside and ask someone’s name (everyone changes a little with age, and my memory sure isn’t what it used to be.) But this year, two men joined the event that no one recognized. And I wasn’t the only person pulling others aside to find out the identity of the newcomers.

Eventually, we realized that my cousin Lisa, who now organizes the reunion, had inadvertently tagged the two on Facebook, because they happened to have the same last name as our family. And so they saw the invitation, brought a covered dish, and drove an hour to attend a reunion with a family they had never met. (You can laugh – we all did.) But what was even more interesting is that, after talking with the two for a while, we learned that we really are related…way on down the line.

One day, we will gather, like these men, with a family that we haven’t met before, but a family that shares our name. Christians. And what an amazing family reunion that will be!

This Week: Call a family member that you haven’t seen in a while. Feel the excitement of reconnecting, learning about everything that has happened in their life, and then imagine reconnecting with your family members that have passed on…and with all of the amazing family you haven’t even met! Praise God!
Renee Andrews

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

I had to wait for the tears to stop before I could write this devotion. Sometimes, you read or hear a story that touches your heart so completely that you are moved to tears. That has happened to me this morning.

As an organ donor, I’m genuinely drawn to stories of organ donation, but even more when the story involves a child’s life. Today, I read the story of a family in Alabama whose baby boy had heart failure shortly after birth. He was the youngest patient in the United States to use a Berlin heart, a device that helps pump blood while the infant awaits a heart transplant. His mother said they never prayed for a heart, because they knew praying for a heart was praying for something tragic to happen to another baby.

Four months later, in Louisiana, another family did have something tragic happen, when their six-month-old little boy began running a mysterious fever, and doctors found him to have bleeding on the brain. His parents prayed for a miracle, but during the surgery to stop the bleeding, doctors determined major malformations that couldn’t be repaired. Before the doctors took their son off life support, the couple was asked if they wanted to donate his organs.

Not only did they agree, but they pushed the transplant team to find a place for his heart. The team wasn’t sure they could find a baby close enough to receive their son’s heart, but then they found the baby in Birmingham and rushed the organ for surgery.

My heart hurts for that family. I can’t imagine losing a child in any manner. But my heart also swells with admiration in the Christ-like action, their determination to help others even in the midst of their suffering. Their decision saved another child’s life, blessed another family…and reminded many people, like myself, of what it truly means to live like Christ.

This Week: Search online for stories of organ donations touching lives and remind yourself of how, in a world filled with pain and suffering, there are those who push through the pain and find that some of the most amazing gifts can be given—and received—in the midst of a storm.

Renee Andrews