Tag: devotionals

Photo Courtesy of Artur Rutkowski

Photo Courtesy of Kyle Smith

Photo Courtesy of Jack Catalano

Proverbs 17: 3 provides this reminder, “ . . . the Lord tests the heart.” God created the human heart to love Him exclusively. And with loyalty to the Creator the heart could steer the mind with right thoughts of God and direct the soul to rest, be one, in the Lord.

Sin shattered the heart, filling it with thousands of rival loves and unfaithfulness towards God. Devotion for God became deception towards God (Jeremiah 17: 9; Hosea 10: 2). The erring heart misled the mind and frustrated the hopes of the soul in order to satisfy its desires for carnal lusts. God comes to test the heart. He comes with a white hot poker to purify it of all deceit, unfaithfulness and treachery. He sets the heart ablaze with the Holy Spirit until the impurities of sin and its rival loves have been burned in the fire of holiness.

God will keep the fire of the Spirit burning until purification is complete and the heart is steadfast in Him. Pray for a burning heart.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Photo Courtesy of Geovanny Velasquez

Isaiah 8: 18, “Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me . . . ”

Consider that any person God impresses upon your heart to pray for is a spiritual child He has given you. Perhaps your labor is not in a hospital but in the prayer closet; God desires to deliver all His children safely home. “Let the little children come to me” (Luke 18: 16).

Pray a path to God for your children. The task is daunting but the Spirit empowers spiritual parents to “train up a child in the way they should go” (Proverbs 22: 6 KJV). Many spiritual children will be rebellious children” who will choose not to “honor your father and mother” (Deuteronomy 5: 16) or seek counsel from God. They are walking the wide road of destruction. So, as parents, we work in prayer with the Spirit until the way of righteousness is made plain, and God sets their feet on the solid ground of Christ the Lord.

As our children are born into life with Christ, our parental responsibilities go forward. We are to feed them “pure spiritual milk” (1 Peter 2: 2) of wisdom and knowledge of God. We are to nurture and protect them from false gods and idols. We are to teach them the commandments and the ways of Christ so they can grow up in their salvation.

May God bless you with many spiritual children.

“Happy is the man whose quiver is full of them” (Psalm 127: 5).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Image Courtesy of Hunter Newton

Matthew 11: 3 asks, “Are you the one who was to come?”

On the family tree, John was the crazy cousin whom everyone tolerated at birthdays and holidays. He was such a curiosity that people traveled to the desert just to hear him and watch him. He had been consecrated to the Lord and spent his ministry teaching and offering a baptism of repentance to the people.

As odd as he was, God used him to “make straight paths” (Isaiah 40: 3 NIV 2011) for Jesus. Then word came that he was in prison and his ministry ended and his life would soon be over as well. Doubts battered his soul, and he needed confirmation that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus’ report to John affirmed that He was exactly whom John had been expecting.

His words of healing and preaching were testimony to God’s prophecy and the promise to Isaiah was fulfilled in Him (Isaiah 35: 1-10). Jesus verified His identity through Scripture, so John would know God had kept His promises.

When God makes a promise, nothing stands in the way of its fulfillment. He promised and delivered His Son of Promise and the frailty of the flesh, the cruelty of mankind and even death couldn’t thwart the salvation that comes to us through Him. The Son of God arrived in the manger, to reveal to the world that God kept His word by giving us His Word.

“Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing: O come, let us adore Him . . . ” (O Come, All Ye Faithful, John F. Wade)

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

This morning, like last evening, is dark and cold. If I were a caribou, polar bear or snow monkey I would be thrilled with the current weather conditions. But I am a human being, a very cold, wishing-for-summer human being.

As I snuggle more deeply under the covers of my warm bed I think that the bears have learned how best to cope with the cold. Sleep through it. But I can’t sleep through my days. There is work to do. I don’t mean my job or the laundry or the dishes. I mean the critical work of prayer must be done. People are suffering, and we need to bring them to God in prayer.

This world has some very cold, harsh moments, and those people hit by those moments need prayer warriors to rise each morning and pray. If God has graciously given you a vibrant prayer life, let nothing stop you from going before Him. We need to pray for our friends, family and strangers. We need God to show us for whom and what we are to pray. We must pray so that the suffering of others is lifted and they can find faith, hope and love in God.

It may be cold outside, but get up and get to your job of prayer. Someone’s day depends on it.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

My gymnasts occasionally run into difficulties during training. Unfortunately, the girls rarely express the reasons for their troubles. They remain silent when asked about the problem; they do not want to admit weakness.

We are the same with God. We have a troublesome time confessing our sin. We hold on to it, because we don’t want to admit our weakness before God. So, instead of admitting our transgressions we vow to abstain from sin in the future.

This deal with God is really our attempt to satisfy the requirements of God’s law apart from Him, to show Him our strength. We quickly fail. We have no strength to combat sin. It is an enemy so potent and diabolical that even if all humanity linked arms against it, we would not prevail. Sin snaps human strength with the ease that one person can snap a toothpick. Only omnipotent, omniscient God can battle and defeat sin. And He did it through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sin could not withstand Christ’s indomitable will: He battled on the cross. And, yet, as His human strength was draining, His divine strength was gaining.

At last the gates of hell collapsed and heaven’s gates stood secured. Christ battled in our place.

Christ is our strength to overcome sin. “It is finished.” (John 19: 30).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

And God said, “Let there be quiet.” He didn’t say that, but He would have if he had spent this weekend at the gymnastics meet I did.

We humans are loud. We think the louder we are the more energy we can create, the more convincing our argument and the more powerful our words. Loud is nothing more than exceptional volume, and it drowns out the gentle whisper of God’s calling.

God is in the quiet. He doesn’t have to shout or be loud or increase His volume. In fact, Scripture says that if God raises His voice the earth melts (Psalm 46:6). And the earth is not melting so that means God has kept the sound of His voice at a barely audible level. Scripture also reminds us that God “leads me beside quiet waters” (Psalm 23:2) and that “He will quiet you with his love” (Zephaniah 3:17).

Oh what peaceful, restful promises those are. Quiet is that wonderful moment when the noise of the world is silenced so the gentle voice of God is heard. Escape into the quiet; escape into God.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

We were at a gymnastics meet today. Between sessions I ran for some provisions for my friend. She wanted a mineral water and a bag of potato chips. Anyone see the discrepancy here? She drinks healthy but eats unhealthy.

I laughed at the many ways we make inconsistent choices. In our relationships with each other we also make inconsistent choices. We decide whom to love, whom to be mad at, whom to befriend, and even whom to make an enemy. However, there appears to be no particular standard for our decisions other than what someone has done to us, or what we think they may have done or what we think they may do. Or it could be based on how we are presently feeling, how we have felt in the past or how we think we will feel in the future.

In addition to these inconsistencies with our fellow human beings we act on whims in our relationship with God as well. God has noticed, “These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me” (Mark 7:6). God does not return our shabby treatment of Him, which is what makes Jesus such a remarkable man. His devotion to God and His devotion to man were consistent. Here is both the miracle and the mystery of Jesus the man: He loves God and man totally and unconditionally.

There are no inconsistencies in His actions or thoughts towards His Father or those His Father sent Him to save.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

As I was packing for a trip recently, it occurred to me that I had very few details about where I was going, when I was going to arrive or even where I was going to stay. It didn’t particularly alarm me that I had limited information.

My good friend had the itinerary, and, eventually, I trusted that she would tell me it was time to go and then disclose the destination. As long as I knew that she was going, I knew that I was going to get to the intended location. I don’t get too worried about travel details.

I rather like the adventure and the surprise of the unknown, which is what I like about the Christian life. I am never absolutely certain where I will be going. I pray that I am traveling with the Lord, my good friend, and that He will guide me through the specifics of this journey.

There are a few times, however, when, like Peter, I have to ask, “Lord, where are you going?” (John 13:36) And He gives me the same answer He gave Peter, “Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later” (John 13:36).

You see, it doesn’t really matter where I am going. What matters is where Christ is going. Then when the time is right He will reveal the next phase of the journey. “Later” is in the details, and so long as I trust Jesus Christ, my itinerary is planned, and I will get to my intended destination.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

I am flying tomorrow. I absolutely enjoy my time in a plane. No matter what the circumstances are on the ground, at 30,000 feet the world, the heavens, and life look gorgeous.

My favorite place on the plane is any window seat. I like peering out that portal and staring at the ground below. Everything is so tiny. It’s like viewing Matchbox City. The smallness of the world is apparent up in the clear blue, endless heavens. It offers a terrific perspective on how small we really are. God, however, is in those endless heavens.

I have no idea where God really is. I know He dwells in the hearts and minds of the believer. But, I like to think of His being in that cloudless expanse. The endless light of the skies makes me think of His holiness and purity. Yet, if God doesn’t live in the heavens, then the heavens certainly still reflect His essence.

Scripture says that one day, “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). Boy I hope I am flying that day.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Today I learned that slow feet plus concealed ice equals staples.

I had just finished my morning walk and was strolling leisurely down the sidewalk, when my feet left the ground. Fortunately my head stopped my fall. I went down so fast that I am certain that I could have achieved Guinness World Record status.

With the back of my head feeling as though it had been pushed through my forehead, I pulled myself off the ground and made it home. My husband saw the blood and off we went to the Quick Care. Before leaving the house I did two things: called a co-worker, which I don’t totally remember, and prayed.

I can’t tell you what I asked God at that point either. He may still be laughing. Anyway, at that moment I discovered that, after years of faith, God gives you spiritual instincts. I knew I had to pray. So whatever I said, the Spirit interpreted. And I am sitting comfortably at home writing this.

The other thing I learned is just how fast the “twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52) really is. That is how long it will take for our Savior to make His second entrance and finish history. “In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52), I hit the ground. That is the same amount of time it will take for Christ to bring me home.

On that day, like today, I will hope that my spiritual instincts will kick in, and I will be in prayer when He returns.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Escaping the crowds, Jesus and His disciples got in a boat and started for the other side of the lake. Jesus fell asleep in the stern of the boat. He was still sleeping when a “furious squall came up” (Mark 4:37).

As the waves were swamping the craft, the disciples woke Jesus, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38) Jesus responded with an unexpected action to show the disciples the depth of His care: He stopped the storm. Yet, the calming of the storm did not calm the disciples. They stared wide-eyed at Jesus and then at the calm waters. Maybe they had expected Him to start baling water out of the boat. But Jesus spoke, and the storm stopped. Now their fear of the storm was replaced by a fear of Jesus.

We are not so unlike the disciples; we too often wonder how deeply Christ cares for us. In this case, Jesus performed a miracle to make His concern for the disciples tangible. Other times, He uses the intangible avenue of faith to reveal His concern. Faith means letting Jesus be Jesus and God be God and accepting whatever the Triune God does to show us His deep concern for us. His ways may seem terrifying, but contained within our fear is the element of awe.

When God cares for us He reveals Himself in a new way, and we are allowed to glimpse more of His character. At first we are terrified of this unexpected discovery. Still, the more God reveals who He is, the more we grow in awe of Him and recognize His care for us.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Weather—have to live with it; can’t do anything about it. Or can we?

The disciples ran into a weather issue one night as they were crossing a lake. As they reached the middle of the lake a mighty squall hit and swamped the boat. Afraid of perishing in the storm, the disciples woke Jesus and begged him to do something.

Jesus, of course, did the logical thing. He simply insisted that the storm stop. He said, “Quiet! Be still” (Mark 4:39). It never occurred to the disciples to pray for the storm to stop. And Jesus observed and commented on their lack of faith. He was rather blunt when he asked, “Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

Ouch. Sometimes we fail to pray for the most obvious things. We are like the disciples and lack the faith it takes to pray for the rain to stop, the snow to quit or the wind to quiet. We lack the confidence in God that it takes to go out on a prayer limb and boldly ask for the simplest request. We don’t mean to lack faith. We just need to learn from the Holy Spirit how to have unwavering faith in God.

Then we can pray as Jesus taught us to pray: With absolute trust in the Father. And who knows? Maybe then we can tell this crazy weather to “Quiet! Be still!” Wouldn’t that be nice?

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

I have hit my limit tonight. Fatigue, which is generally absent from my mind and body, has arrived. I am human, a tired, weak, ready-for-bed human.

That is a disappointing discovery, except that I could probably use my languor as an excuse to watch Castle and Big Bang Theory.

But I am reminded that being weak is a gift from God. It’s a strange gift. I doubt weakness is ever on the birthday or Christmas list. Yet, it is our human frailty that brings us to God’s strength and power.

As human beings all we know is weakness. Even on our strongest days we can’t make a storm stop, or raise the dead or save a sinner. Scripture says God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

Tonight I am feeling my weakness, but the truth is, compared to my Lord and Savior, I am always weak. That is not such a bad place to be. When I am weak I learn what really sustains me each day—grace. Jesus, who became human so He could experience my weakness, said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

The more I recognize what little strength I have and how weak I truly am, the more I discover that God’s grace is all I need and through that God brings me His strength. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness” (Romans 8:26).

I would rather be weak and receive God’s grace and the Spirit’s help than to be strong in my own right.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Follow Denise Larson Cooper on Social Media!
https://www.facebook.com/OrdinaryDaysDevotionals
https://www.instagram.com/deniselarsoncooper
https://twitter.com/ordinarydaysdev

Check Out Denise’s Books!
Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD
Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASB
Life Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

Rejoice is a word that rarely sees any action these days. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I used it in a sentence. My last recollection of the word in modern language was somewhere just after the leisure suit was banished from fashion runways.

Since it is no longer fashionable verbally, its meaning has also been stored in mothballs. It is time to unpack this word from our attics and crawl spaces and basements. This word expresses joy, delight and pleasure, and it needs to make a comeback.

Look at our verse, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

Take delight, have joy and seek the pleasure of the Lord. When we go to God it is usually with an agenda. We should go to God just to be with Him, to enjoy His presence, to marvel at His beauty and experience His unspeakable joy. We should meet Him every day in the same way we would meet any friend. Whether we are home or working or worshipping, we should be rejoicing. Whether we are grieving, healing or celebrating, we should be rejoicing. According to Paul every circumstance is an opportunity to take delight in the Lord.

Rejoicing isn’t simply a word; it’s a life style.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Over the past couple of days my backyard, which usually is rich with birds, has been unusually quiet, as my feathered friends buried themselves deep in the trees out of the cold. Today, many of the birds—sparrows, starlings, and cardinals—returned to the feeders.

My favorite winter scene is the male cardinal sitting on a snow-covered pine tree branch. The vibrant red feathers pop against the snowy backdrop, and, for a moment, I am mesmerized by nature’s artistry. I had to ask myself why this winter picture is so captivating to me.

After pondering that thought for a few days, I arrived at a conclusion. This scene is rich with theological significance. The bright red color of the male cardinal reminds me of the precious blood that my Savior shed for me on the cross. The white snow is a reminder of the purity of Christ and the beauty of His resurrected body. And the green branches of the pine trees bring to mind the newness of life that I will one day experience in the presence of my glorious Lord.

God uses even the snow and cold and birds to bring His reality to light.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Follow Denise Larson Cooper on Social Media!

https://www.facebook.com/OrdinaryDaysDevotionals

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https://twitter.com/ordinarydaysdev

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASB

Life Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Mark 4:31, “It grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants.”

It takes a faith only the size of a tiny mustard seed to believe in the atoning work of Christ to ensure salvation and secure entrance into God’s kingdom. God made His plan that simple. But salvation is only the start of our journey with God. It is the ground upon which our faith takes root. Yet, too often after realizing the assurance of eternity, people will put their faith on a shelf to collect dust until it is needed at the pearly gates.

Faith is not intended to stagnate, but to flourish and to grow. The Lord reminds us that the mustard seed begins as the smallest seed. “Yet, when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants” (Mark 4:32).

God desires to give us a dynamic life of faith, one that mirrors the life of our Savior. He expects us to drop our mustard seed of faith into the fertile soil of the cross so it can be nourished by the blood of the Lamb and sustained by the Light of the world.

Let God grow your faith into one of the “largest plants” in His Garden.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Follow Denise Larson Cooper on Social Media!
https://www.facebook.com/OrdinaryDaysDevotionals
https://www.instagram.com/deniselarsoncooper
https://twitter.com/ordinarydaysdev

Check Out Denise’s Books!
Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD
Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASB
Life Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Matthew 21:13—“My house will be called a house of prayer.”

Jesus is quoting the prophet Isaiah as a reminder to the chief priests and teachers of the law about their God-given responsibility to the spiritual life of the people. For generations the priests had become terribly sidetracked and negligent in their spiritual duties. (See Ezekiel 34:10; Hosea 4:6-7, 9; Mark 12:14, 38.).

The result of this diminishing attention to the people’s spiritual life was a lack of dependence on God’s Spirit. The people were spiritually stagnant, which was crippling the priests’ spiritual life as well.

How does that work? When the people receive poor instruction in Scripture from the leaders, their spiritual lives shrivel. They become weak and frail and ignore the prodding of God’s Spirit. Faith wavers and soon prayers cease. All prayers for the leaders stop because with a scarcity of faith, people turn their prayers on themselves to try and overcome the sense of hopelessness they feel. Without prayer support, leaders are ineffective.

Strong teachers produce strong students of faith with great knowledge of Scripture and dynamic prayer lives. Through them the church becomes revitalized and energized by the Holy Spirit.

If today your faith is strong and your prayer life flourishing in the Spirit, pray for strong teachers so the Church will become “a house of prayer.”

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

John 4:23—“when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth . . .”

When we live as a worshipper on earth our words and actions must be pleasing to God. We cannot act one way when we are alone with God and another way when we are out in public. Our outward and inward lives must match. Our behavior before God and man must be consistent and this is only possible if we rely solely on the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us.

The sinful nature rebels against an inward life and outward life that are consistent. The evil one increases temptations to try and make us look like hypocrites. The last thing the prince of this world needs is faithful men and women manifesting the truth and grace of God on earth.

When believers behave outwardly on earth as they behave spiritually in heaven, then Satan is thwarted. The Holy Spirit is so strong in a consistent life that the enemy has no foothold and is soon vanquished. Pray the Spirit will be the binding force that keeps your physical life and spiritual life one.

“What God has joined together, let man not separate” (Mark 10:9).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Psalm 122:1 (KJV) rejoices, “I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”

God’s house is His “heavenly tabernacle,” His “holy temple.” It is always open and filled with celestial beings and the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who have gathered to “sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in their hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). Through prayer we join the heavenly throng worshipping God on high in “spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Every time we go to our room to pray we enter this eternal worship and participate in this service by offering a sacrifice of praise to our God. Our voice in prayer joins the heavenly hosts in declaring “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come” (Revelation 4:8).

Whenever we come to prayer we are to “give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne” (Revelation 4:9). And then we lay our “crowns before the throne” (Revelation 4:10). Our crowns are all those we labor over in prayer so that they will one day join us before God to sing, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).

Prayer transports us into the heavenly sanctuary and the presence of God for worship. It transforms us so our lives on earth will reflect our worship in heaven.

Live as worshippers in the world.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many rooms.”

Our prayer room is no ordinary room, it is a sacred place bought for us by Christ’s crucifixion and purified by His blood. From our room we witness Christ “offered himself unblemished to God” (Hebrews 9:14) and the tragedy of “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

When we go to our room to pray we are entering the room Christ has prepared for us through His sacrifice on the cross. It is an annex to God’s “heavenly tabernacle” (Hebrews 8:2 NLT) and holy eternal kingdom.

Our prayer rooms aren’t just spaces in our earthly homes. They are moments spent with Christ at the intersection of His heavenly and earthly ministry so He can teach us His will and equip us for His purpose in the world through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told His disciples that He was returning to His Father’s house, “to prepare a place for you” (John 14:3). This was not an exclusive offer to the disciples, but an inclusive offer that is extended to all believers. In our room we are graciously permitted to watch the King of kings ascend to the throne and our Mediator kneel before God to intercede on our behalf.

Praise God, He has given you a room with a heavenly view.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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John 3:19 declares, “Light has come into the world . . . ”

When Christ brought the light of the “dawn of redeeming grace” (Silent Night) into the world “the darkness hasn’t overcome it” (John 1:5 WEB) for this light is the “radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3).

“God is light” (1 John 1:5). The entire being of God is illuminating, revealing light. At creation, when “the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface” (Genesis 1:2), God’s resplendence, His brightness, His effulgence shone forth. He flooded creation with light. On the sixth day, God formed man. And when Adam’s eyes were opened “the glory of the Lord shone around” him (Luke 2:9).

This light of creation shone in the eyes of the shepherds on the night of the Savior’s birth. This immutable light shines in our eyes when we glimpse the Son, lying as a baby in the manger, giving sight to the blind, healing the sick, and saving on the cross.

This light of creation is also the light of redemption, and it comes to us through the Light of the world. The continuous, steady stream of God’s glory shines in the world so we can see the Son and the Father. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Praise God for His marvelous Light.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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1 Kings 3:5b reminds us, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Solomon was young when he became king over Israel. He called himself “a little child” and admitted to God that he did not know how to carry out his duties as king. His lack of experience as monarch drove him into the presence of the Lord. There he discovered the attributes of God that he lacked to be an effective instrument of God to the people.  He discovered his poverty in wisdom and discernment, so God obliged him, “I will give you a wise and discerning heart” (1Kings 3:12).

God equips His servants with a portion of His nature so they can carry out their ordained responsibilities: Moses received the words of God, David a contrite heart, and Solomon wisdom and discernment. Jesus was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). God knows human nature lacks the divine essentials necessary to carry out His purpose; He shows us our lack so we will seek Him. That search will bring us to Christ and Christ will share all that belongs to Him in God with us, so we can participate in the ministry of the Incarnation.

Like Solomon, ask for what you lack of God’s attributes and He will give them to you.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Psalm 27:14 directs us, “Wait for the Lord.” The holiday lull has hit. The anticipation of the coming Christ child is over. Christmas carols have ceased for another year. And the world, which was sparkling with expectation, now seems to be wearing its gray winter coat. So now what?

Because Christ has come among us, we are to share in the ministry of the Incarnation alongside Him. And the first thing we must learn to do is wait. The disciples waited “in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Only after the Holy Spirit filled them were they fit for ministry.

We also have to be fit for the ministry God gives us. This is the purpose for waiting. It is a period of preparedness. We must be spiritually fit so the Lord can tap our lives at a moment’s notice for His purpose. We cannot anticipate when the Spirit will use our lives to influence another life for Christ Jesus.

But what is certain is that an unfit spiritual life will not bear fruit for God. We must let the Spirit of God prepare our lives for His cause of redemption.

We stand “prepared in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2) to share the work of God in Christ.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Revelation 21:3: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.”

The world will crowd back into our lives in the morning. Things will return to normal. But what the world won’t tell you is that this world will never be the same again. “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23). Perfect, Holy God joined the human race in the person of Jesus Christ.

This is no grand illusion designed by dreamers. This is a fact. Invisible God interrupted human history to make Himself and His eternal plan of salvation visible to humanity. Only the divine mind of God could design a plan that included the cradle and the cross.

Sinless God placed His sinless Son in a cradle and on a cross to conquer sin and save sinners. This is the miraculous gift of Christmas.

Tomorrow when the world tries to tell you that today was just another day, remember this: God not only lived among us, He died among us and He still dwells among us.

Those facts have changed the world.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Matthew 22:13, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him . . . into the darkness . . . ”

Life isn’t fair. We have our gracious God to thank for that. If life were fair, all mankind would be thrown into total darkness, “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13). This darkness would be fair compensation and equitable punishment for humanity’s despotic behavior against God.

Before mankind’s insurrection, God had decided to extend grace to the inhabitants of earth. God’s inclination, His divine tendency, His prevailing disposition was to move with prejudice toward man. When man rebelled, God’s disposition did not change. He showed sinners unfair partiality by sending His Son, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), into the world to save the world, instead of sending His vast army to put down its rebellion and destroy it.

The world is guilty and deserving of death but the perfect Son of God “was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5) and the punishment that “our deeds deserve” (Luke 23:41) have been placed on the shoulders of the Man who has “done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41), showing God’s bias toward sinners. The cradle reminds us that life isn’t fair; “born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11 KJV).

Merry Christmas!

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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At the bank this morning the teller and I exchanged a few words about the Christmas season. We acknowledged that it is not only the “most wonderful time of the year” but the most expensive as well.

Thinking later about our conversation, it occurred to me that this was a very expensive season for God as well; He sent His Son into the world knowing the outcome of His arrival would ultimately end in death. That was God’s extravagant gift to us for our salvation. This is the lavish, reckless love of God. He willfully and with unconditional favor toward mankind placed His divine Son in a cradle, in enemy territory, fully aware that the cross would be the conclusion. Jesus’ glory and holiness in the cradle would, by His life’s end, be exchanged for our shame and guilt. As the old hymn says, “What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, what wondrous love is this, O my soul.” (What Wondrous Love is This, William Walker).

This was the goodwill the angels proclaimed. They rejoiced at His birth, knowing that the curse of sin and death would be lifted from the world. God in Christ had made visible His everlasting love toward humanity and He bore the cost of that love.

As Charles Wesley wrote, “Hark the herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the new born king, peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinner reconciled!’” As you tally your Christmas expenses, ponder also the expense this season was to God.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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The transformative work of the Holy Spirit should be so radical in the lives of Christians that an interest in Christ is awakened in those seeking and questioning the reality of God.

To be attractive to others, Christians must live agreeably with God. Our lives are to be “sound in faith, in love and in endurance” (Titus 2:2). If we are to be strong and healthy in our faith we must trust the Father as the Son trusted the Father. Even in His darkest hour on the cross the Son could still exclaim, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15 KJV).

In love we are to submit to the divine will of God with the help of our Savior so we can say, “not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:42).

When with patience and through faith we surrender our lives to the transformative work and teaching of the Holy Spirit we become image bearers of Christ. Therefore, let your attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).

When Christians live transformed lives Christ’s nature abiding in us will attract men. “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Titus 1:8, “Rather . . . be . . . self-controlled . . . ”

We often think of self-control as merely anger management but it is much further reaching than curbing our tempers. Self-control means preventing the flourishing of our corrupt human nature. We should aim to subdue our personal interests, our ego, desires and pride and to allow them to be dominated by the Holy Spirit of God. We spend countless hours discussing the merit of developing self-esteem in a person.

Self-esteem contradicts self-control because it pursues the honor and glory of human nature. Christians are to “put off our old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22) and to live godly lives that bring glory and honor to God in Christ.

Self-control surrenders our old self to the Holy Spirit to be “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). Once crucified the old self no longer lives, but “Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Christians cannot both nurture the divine life of our Savior and appease the corrupt nature of man. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).

Only through the power of the Holy Spirit are we able to put our old self in its rightful place on the cross and give Christ our Lord His rightful place in our life.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Generations of Israelites had been waiting for God to fulfill His promise, “the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

However, the people’s minds were set on a king as great and powerful as David. Finally, they thought the suffering and humiliation caused by their enemies would end. And the shoe of oppression would be on the other foot, and they would dominate their enemies. Expecting the Messiah to reign was, in the people’s minds, a reasonable interpretation of the prophets.

God had other plans. His King would overthrow sin instead. The people looked for a king of power as the means to salvation.

We are not so different from the Israelites. Our first reason for coming to Jesus is not salvation, but empowerment. We want Jesus to help us rise in this world and to trample the enemies of our success. We want the rich brought low, so we can be rich. We want the powerful toppled, so we can be powerful. We want Jesus to be a conquering King. And we believe that our hopes are reasonable.

God seems unreasonable. He made visible His kingdom by sending Jesus. Christ conquered sin but not the sinner; the ruination of sin was the salvation of the sinner.

God sees in the cradle, Jesus, His conquering King and Savior.  God sees on the cross, Jesus, His conquering King and Savior. Blessed are we when we see what God sees.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Matthew 24:44 warns us, “The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” What would you do if you knew when to expect the Son of Man? Would you prioritize your day differently? Would you FB your friends the time of His arrival? Would you let strangers know? Would you spend more time in prayer, the Scriptures and worship?

Sadly, the open-ended return of Christ leaves all of us a bit complacent about our spiritual life. We have been lulled into a false sense of security that Christ will not come during our lifetime and that the only way we will see Him is when we die.

The disciples could not have imagined that they would have been alive when God became man. They had read the prophets and knew that at some point in time the Messiah would arrive. But in their wildest dreams they probably could not have pictured Him arriving in their contemporary times, or their becoming His closest friends.

The fact that God kept His promise of Incarnation makes Christ’s return a done deal. It is as sure as His cradle and His cross. We should expect Him!

Each day brings the hope of His return. Live wisely.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Psalm 149:2b, “Let the people of Zion be glad in their King.” The arrival of God’s king brought “joy to the world” (Joy to the World, Isaac Watts). God’s pleasure at His arrival rushed forth into all the earth.

When Christ the King was born, heaven’s happiness flooded the sad and dreary land. Angels burst into song and the melody of salvation rang through the air. Heavenly hosts praised God’s divine, salvific achievement. Shepherds basked in God’s “radiant beams” (Silent Night, Joseph Mohr).

It was the night of nights as “His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth” (Habakkuk 3:3). The “zeal of the Lord Almighty . . . accomplish(ed) this” (Isaiah 9:7d) and all of creation was filled with the enthusiasm, felicity and exuberance of Holy God. Heaven erupted in jubilation, watching the excitement of God give His gift, His King, His Deliverer to the world.

Let the inhabitants of the world, the beneficiaries of the gift, match the joy and gladness of the Lord as they “receive her King” (Joy to the World, Watts). Share God’s delight; sing hallelujah, shout Hosanna and rejoice saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38).

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King.” (Joy to the World, Watts)

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Psalm 102:17 offers the following comforting words, “He will respond to the prayer of the destitute . . . ” Our souls will subsist on a diet of worldly junk food for some time but eventually the weakness of spiritual malnutrition comes.

As our souls faint from hunger, God Incarnate arrives and invites us to eat with Him. He spreads a table “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14) before us and calls, “you who have no money, come . . . and eat” (Isaiah 55:1). Jesus Christ lived in earthly and spiritual poverty during His days on earth. As the Son of Man He is the “poor you will always have with you” (Mark 14:7) to cry for help on our behalf before the Father. He is the advocate for the needy, who are too weak to beg God for sustenance and too frail to reach Heaven’s provisions.

So God the Father sends food for the starving soul in the body of the Son. “Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me” (John 6:57). We, the poor, who have no means to alter our impoverished spiritual condition, receive spiritual welfare from the Father through the Son.

One of the many miracles of the incarnation is that God brings a starving soul all the sustenance required for life and health. Jesus said, “My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink” (John 6:55) for the soul.

We can continue to feed our starving souls snack foods of sin or sit at the banquet table of God with Christ.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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We learn from Psalm 62:1, “My soul finds rest in God alone.” The soul, or spirit, is the immaterial part of man created by God. At the dawn of creation the soul was made. God satisfied the soul of Adam, and Adam was rich in the Lord God. When the exertion of creation ceased, God and man rested together and shared the solitude of living alone; and living as one.

Tragically, Adam wandered from the rest and he allowed the shackles of sin to clamp shut on his soul. All the earth and the souls of the world were in bondage. God’s bounty and rest were lost to the soul of man and it felt the hunger and disquiet of His absence. The soul tramped through the barren land of oppression longing, thirsting and hoping once again for God’s rest. In the weary world, before the Incarnation, the soul sought relief from the troubles, burdens, brutality and hard labor of sin but found none. It held to the promise that God would send a Savior to end the oppression.

Finally, on the glorious night of Jesus’ birth the promise was fulfilled. The Savior appeared, and the “soul felt its worth” (O Holy Night, Adolphe-Charles Adam). Rest, undeniable, unmistakable, divine rest, fell upon the soul and through faith oneness with God was restored.

“Fall on your knees” (O Holy Night, Adolphe-Charles Adam) and let your soul rest in the manger beside the Christ child.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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John 8:11 instructs, “Go now, and leave your life of sin.” This verse comes from the story of the adulterous woman in John 8:1-11 who was about to be stoned by a mob. Of course, the only man who was “without sin” (John 8:7) and could rightfully throw the first stone instead, stooped in the presence of the accusers and “started to write on the ground with his finger” (John 8:6).

It is a peculiar scene of divine irony as the “firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15) fingers the dust mindful of the sixth day of creation when Adam was formed. That day was gone, here He was “bent down” (John 8:6), while sinners stood over Him. Even in this lowly state, He triumphed. No stone was thrown.

He tells the woman to depart immediately and permanently from her sinful life. He knew how quickly this moment would pass from her mind and heart. She had been given life in the midst of pending death. Her reprieve turned her towards God. She felt the euphoria of salvation but any delay in leaving her old life would result in returning to spiritual darkness.

All of us are caught in sin at one time or another and Christ steps in. When Christ shines His light and life into our hearts we experience the elation of salvation. But the great tragedy of sin is that our moments with God fade and are soon forgotten. Mindlessly we return to our old life.

When Christ prompts us to “leave your life of sin” (John 8:11), do not tarry, by all means, GO!

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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1 Corinthians 3:1 describes “ . . . mere infants in Christ.” Sometimes we fixate on a plan or idea instead of fixing our eyes on God. When that happens we find ourselves spiritually agitated and grumbling at God. Suddenly we are kicking and screaming before God, adamant about what we want. We behave like a typical two-year-old throwing a tantrum, at the throne of Grace. We are babes in Christ trying to assert our human will over God’s will.

Still God desires to “quiet you with his love” (Zephaniah 3:17) so He can show us who He is and all He does for us in Christ Jesus. God is pleased to share His heart with us. His desire is that we know Him as deeply and intimately as He knows us.

Christians must grow out of spiritual infancy by kneeling at the cradle of the divine infant. As we ponder the Christmas story and marvel at Immanuel, the Spirit wraps us in the serenity of the sleeping King. As heavenly peace descends, our tendencies for tantrums dissipate and we can “Be still, and know that I am God . . . ” (Psalm 46:10).

“How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given; so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven” (Silent Night, Joseph Mohr).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

I spent the morning writing an evening reflection for tonight and a For the Weekend piece. I saved the documents on my Chrome Book and headed to work. I knew that once I had returned from work tonight all I would have to do is transfer the writing onto my Facebook page. Instead, my account refused to accept my password, and I was blocked, and there was no link to make a new password. The only way I could access the internet to post was to make a new account. So, I did. Only in the process I lost everything that I had saved in Google Docs for the last two weeks, including the writing from this morning.

I’ll admit it; I was irked and my thoughts turned to Ecclesiastes 1:3, “What does man gain from all his labor . . . ” And then I learned this lesson. It does not matter what I gain from my labor. What matters is what I gain from Christ’s labors. He labored in this world to bring us salvation. He came to save. And when He saves one of us, we are saved eternally. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). And He repeats this promise, “My sheep listen to my voice . . . I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).

It doesn’t make any difference that my work was lost. What matters is that Christ’s work of salvation will never be lost. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

One of the most common words heard in a gymnastic facility is shape. It refers to the body posture a gymnast must have while executing skills. Coaches train this shape diligently. Most gymnasts can master the shape in a stationary hold. The trick, is being able to maintain the shape while moving.

Spiritually we are also called to hold our godly shape in prayer and in public. When we are in our prayer closets, it’s easy to live the godly life. However, maintaining an attitude that is like that of Christ Jesus when we are moving about in our daily lives is often challenging. It isn’t usually big things that causes us to lose shape. It’s the little things.

We leave our pray time to discover that the dog has strewn garbage all over the house. Without thinking we lose shape. We shut ourselves up with God and then enter our day by stubbing our toe on the corner of the bed. All our prayer shape and Christlike attitude disintegrate as we yell at the bed and hobble on our throbbing toe. Poet John Keble says it well, “Help us this and every day to live more nearly as we pray” (Hues of the Rich Unfolding Morn).

We should follow the example of our Lord and keep our private prayer time and our public life the same.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

We had our furnace replaced today, which meant we had no heat, which meant the house was cold. To combat the chill, I built a fire in our fireplace. I then camped out in front of it for the afternoon, stirring it, adding logs and keeping the blaze going. That small fire transformed the family room from cold to cozy.

As I watched the fire, its red, yellow and orange flames consuming the wood, I was reminded of how God gives us His Holy Spirit to consume our hearts with His love. Let’s face it: we are often cold individuals. Frequently our hearts have been hardened by sin and only the fire of the Holy Spirit burning within us can melt our meanness and sanctify us from our sin.

The flames of the Spirit purify us from our sin and transform us into servants of our Lord. But we cannot take the Spirit of the Lord for granted. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” Spiritually we have to keep the fire of the Spirit burning with Scripture reading, sacraments, worship and prayer. We have to throw the logs of our sin into the flames. We have to keep the blaze going with acts of obedience and stir the fire with prayers asking Christ to continue to purify our hearts and soul for service to God. We have to let the embers of devotion for our Savior grow hot so we can warm the world with God’s endless love.

Paul reminds us, “Be on fire with the Spirit. Serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11 ISV).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

I have been sitting at the computer for close to three hours waiting for the gloom in my soul to lift so I could write. There were many sad things that I heard about today. But, I adamantly refuse to give in to them. It is so easy to get sucked into the pain of this world, and it takes so much prayer to hold it at bay.

We all know the pain this world inflicts upon us. We can be crippled by it at times. Jesus Christ knew this world’s agony better than any of us. Only by clinging to Him can we rise above it. When we grab on to Jesus He takes us to the throne room of the Father for a different view of what is happening. Through His pain, we received salvation and new life.

We can’t escape pain, but at the same time we have to be careful not to live in it. Jesus Christ couldn’t escape pain. What He taught us was how to live with God in spite of the pain. Christ will never leave us to struggle with pain alone. He endures it with us so He can show us the strength of God’s love through it. God’s love is deeper and stronger than our pain. He will bring us through it.

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Today while reading Scripture I came across this verse in John, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (1:18). Other translations interpret this to mean that no one has ever seen God’s face. In fact, someone has seen God: Moses. But Moses could not look in God’s face.

Although Moses and God shared a very personal and intimate relationship, God could not allow Moses to look upon His face. God says to Moses in Exodus 33:23, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Still, since Moses had made a request to see God, God obliged His servant, “ . . . you will see my back . . . ” (33:23). It seems odd that God would show Moses His back. However, Moses, like all human beings, was sinful, in need of God’s forgiveness and redemption.

As I think about the back of God my thoughts turn to Christ who bears the scars of scourging on His back and the scars of the nails of His sacrifice for the world’s salvation. Christ’s back is the back of God. His back is scarred with the stripes of both punishment and healing. It is disfigured from the pounding He took for our iniquities. It is marred with the bruises and blood and lacerations of salvation. On the back of Christ are the reminders of the pain and agony God endured to bring humanity freedom from sin.

One day, believers will stare into the wondrous and glorious face of God, but, today, He shows us His back, so we can all believe and be saved.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

My friend took on the responsibility of becoming a foster parent. Together she and her foster daughter outlined their priorities: the importance of communication, the expectations of completing chores and the importance of attending school. All parties involved agreed the rules were reasonable. Unfortunately, the young ward decided that the rules were made to be broken.

When she was disrespecting the rules, she was also disrespecting her foster parents. Our human nature treats the laws of God in the same manner. We really wonder what gives Him the right to lay down the laws we should have to live by. He can set the rules because He is God. When we disrespect His rules, we disrespect Him.

As sinners we detest the law of God because it reveals our sinfulness. The law reveals our waywardness and shows us how grossly inept we are at keeping the law. God keeps putting His law before us, so we will turn to Him. Once we turn to God and confess our failure to keep the law, God will lavish us with grace and mercy through the Savior. The law teaches that God has every right to judge and condemn sinners for their unlawful acts.

However, instead of judgment God brought forgiveness to sinners for their trespasses. When sinners break the law, the nature of God pours forth from the cross of Christ with the offering of forgiveness. “So then, the law is holy . . . righteous and good” (Romans 7:12 NIV 2011).

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

After a long weekend of work all I could do this afternoon was sit mindlessly in a chair watching television. Coherent thoughts escaped me. I barely had enough mental stamina to fold laundry. And my body could barely move to put a potato in the microwave.

The same thing happens to us spiritually when we spend too much time wrestling in the world and struggling with sin. Our souls grow tired, listless, lethargic and unable to accomplish the work God intends for us to do. Yet, when we are melting with fatigue, God reminds us that He never tires. He graciously draws us to His side and says, “ . . . this is the resting place, let the weary rest . . . ” (Isaiah 28:12).

When we are so weak with weary He “will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint” (Jeremiah 31:25) with His Holy Spirit. And God will deliver His Word “that sustains the weary” (Isaiah 50:4).

When I am at my lowest point, I remember all the times my Lord was exhausted as He walked in the world to bring me salvation. He sat down at Jacob’s well. He slept in the bow of a boat. His human strength was so depleted another had to carry His cross.

This image of His humanity puts my own tiredness in perspective as I “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Since I work in sports, I easily recognize how the world views success and failure in terms of winning and losing. If you win, you succeed. If you lose, you fail. It’s all so very black and white to the world.

God, however, does not share this view of success and failure, because in God there is no such thing as failure. He is not influenced by the world’s understanding. He uses failures in the world to bring glory to His name.

Case in point, the disciples were, according to the world, failures. They were uneducated fishermen who followed a rogue preacher. If that wasn’t failure enough, they even abandoned and denied their leader on the night of His arrest. They scattered and hid from the Romans. The world branded them failures.

However, after the death of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit grabbed these failures and turned them into mighty preachers. And what about Christ himself? On the eve of His death He prayed, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you” (John 17:1). Then He was whipped, crucified, and pronounced dead.

His plans according to His persecutors, had failed. However, the world could not see that His apparent failure was actually His ultimate triumph. As He had prophesied, He rose from the dead, opened the gates of paradise for all who believed, and established His church in the world.

As Christians, we should never see our setbacks and trials as failure, but know that we share His divine glory.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Today was a test of my spiritual fortitude. It has taken fourteen hours for the noise of the day to subside. At long last I can hear myself think. My body, has spent this day bracing itself against the noise. I am finally starting to relax. And as silence begins to wash over me, I am aware of God’s presence.

During the day, I could not sense God’s closeness to me. Faith insists that He was as near all day as He is now. The noise seemed to block my spirit from distinguishing His. But He has said, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). And my soul, even though it was wrapped in noise, did not waver from this truth. When I can’t hear God, I have to believe God. I have to cling to the truth of who He is and what He has done. I hold on to what He has said to me in the past. I recite the facts of Scripture. In this way I develop spiritual stamina that allows me to trust Him to be present, even if I am not aware of His presence.

I spent fourteen hours in noise today, but God was present in every second of them.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

I have an editor. This is a milestone for me as a writer. For years I have prayed that God would provide a person who could not only strengthen my sentences, rework my grammar and improve my vocabulary but one who would also be able to identify weak theological arguments in my work.

After talking today we have established a partnership and working arrangement. My editor understands my goals for writing, and her edits have made me stronger as a writer. She shares my goals, and, as a result, I trust her explicitly with my work. I look forward to her questions, changes and remarks.

Even more amazing is God’s remarkable gift of Jesus Christ. I have a Savior. And He has changed everything for me, a sinner. Just when sin was ready to strangle me, my Savior showed me the truth of His atoning cross and offered me salvation. Too weak to conquer sin on my own, He sent His Holy Spirit to destroy sin and reconcile me to God. If I grow complacent of my sinful ways, my Savior convicts me of sin, brings me to repentance and offers me forgiveness. I trust Him and He knows me full well. “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me” (Psalm 139:1).

My Savior, through the power of the Holy Spirit, instructs me in the ways of righteousness, encourages me to lead an obedient life and emboldens me to live faithfully to God.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

In 1839 Edward Denny wrote the hymn “What Grace, O Lord, and Beauty Shone.”

Stanza four reads, “O give us hearts to love like thee, Like thee, O Lord, to grieve Far more for others’ sins, than all The wrongs that we receive.” Until I read this line, I am ashamed to say, that it never occurred to me to grieve the sin in others.

Jesus grieved for our sinful souls. When our trespasses nailed Him to the cross, He mourned our sinfulness more than the wrongs we committed against Him. As His perfect soul was contaminated with our transgressions, He did not cry out against the wrong but was deeply saddened and sorrowed at the strangling hold that sin had on our fallen souls. He was not “counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19) but unleashing almighty love to shatter sin and save the sinner.

For all who believe, sin’s dominion has been destroyed in our lives through Christ’s infinite love. Jesus calls His disciples to a new command, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).

We must exemplify our Savior and grieve the sin in others. We must place a sinner’s salvation above any wrongdoing inflicted upon us. No matter how big or small the trespass against us, we must grieve the sin and love the sinner. It is Christ’s almighty love abiding in us that makes this compassion possible.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

In the last few years we have had gymnasts join us from other clubs. The first thing I tell them is to forget everything they learned at the previous club and train our way.

I ask these athletes to shed any loyalty they may have to their former coach and give that loyalty to our coaching staff. They need to make a clean break from their old club. Training according to both clubs will not strengthen their gymnastics.

Jesus makes it clear to His followers that they could not divide their loyalties. “No one can serve two masters . . . You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24). In other words, you cannot be a follower of Jesus and remain loyal to the world. In our quirky human way we want to stay loyal to the world and loyal to God.

This is not possible. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world are not compatible. The world operates on human standards and thrives on judgment, condemnation and death. The heavenly kingdom operates on divine standards and offers mercy and salvation. The world is disobedient toward God. God’s kingdom is built on the shoulders of His obedient Son.

The world nailed Jesus to the cross in hatred. God approved His Son’s sacrifice of love. As followers of Christ we must make a clean break from the world, immerse ourselves in the life of the Spirit and grow strong in faith. Ask the Spirit to make you loyal to God in Christ.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Adults and children have been planning their Halloween costumes for weeks.

And tonight was the unveiling. Some created extravagant outfits; others were simpler. Ninja Turtles and unicorns joined princesses and strolled down the sidewalk. Super heroes patrolled neighborhood streets, while witches and vampires lurked nearby.

We might view Jesus’ human nature as a disguise, however, His humanness was real and this created untold difficulties for Him and those who questioned His words and teaching. The Pharisees and the chief priest question, “Who are you?” (John 1:22) The people were confused by His appearing. “Thus the people were divided because of Jesus” (John 7:43). God became a man.

He walked the dusty roads of Galilee. He was sprayed by the waves of the Sea of Tiberias. The sun scorched His skin, and the rain cooled His face. The Son of God was all human. The Divine Life of the eternal kingdom of God became a human being. His presence was not a Halloween trick but a heavenly treat come to earth for the purpose of mankind’s salvation.

As you hang up your costume tonight, or glance at pictures of this evening of disguises, remember God put on skin to atone for our sin.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2