Inspirations from the Funny Farm

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We all have our own personal habits. A habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. We get into the habit of doing things a certain way, and soon we fall into a routine. Some habits are really good, but some are not so good. So just how do we develop a habit? A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that patterns, or habits, form as people “perform a behavior over and over again.” The researchers confirmed that the brain uses “stored behavioral routines that are triggered by an event and then ‘run’ automatically.” when a new habit is learned, “nerve cell responses in the brain are reorganized.” Therefore new habits can be learned, and old habits can be “unlearned”.

One habit that I have “learned” over the past couple of years is sitting down with my Bible, reading, researching, and writing a daily devotional each morning. I started out just sharing scripture, but God put it on my heart to expand a bit and share some encouragement as well. I was only going to do it for a few weeks, and then I settled on a goal of 90 days of devotionals. However, my dear husband and my sister, Chandra, insisted that I write a devotional a day for a year. Well, here I am more than 2 years later still writing, and I will continue as long as God gives me the words.

You see, I’ve developed a habit of spiritual discipline, and it’s hands down, the very best habit that I have. But you don’t have to write a devotional to have a habit of spiritual discipline, you can develop a habit of reading your Bible daily, journaling, gathering for worship, gathering for small group Bible studies, and setting aside prayer time to really strengthen and deepen your relationship with God. Pick out a good spot. I either sit at the kitchen table or out on the back deck to do my morning studies. Make that your spot for your time with God. Add some structure. Pick out a time that works best for you. At first, it’ll seem hard to carve out the time, but soon you’ll find it easy to make the time. I find first thing in the morning works best for me, but you may be an evening person. Find what works for you. And most importantly, pray. Seek God’s guidance and ask Him to help you develop this new habit of intentional spiritual discipline. But be careful what you ask for. If you ask for a habit of spiritual discipline, I’m pretty sure you are going to get it! I crave time with God each day, and by spending time with Him on a regular basis, all my bad habits are much easier to break as new habits of spiritual discipline take their place!
KK Hodge

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Psalm 107:19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

One of the meanings of the name of Jesus is rescuer. The Bible speaks volumes on this. As children of God, we are not promised that life will be easy. Yes, we would all love a life full of roses, but the truth is, we can’t have roses without the thorns. The great thing about a relationship with Jesus is that we know that we can face whatever comes our way because we don’t have to face it alone.

I read a devotional by Billy Graham once in which he told how a girl shared how she handled things. She said when the devil comes knocking at her door, she doesn’t answer the door. She sends Jesus to answer it.

Oh, if we could only be so wise. We try all to often to rescue ourselves, and we come up short. But Jesus has already rescued us. We only have to accept the fact that He did, and reap the benefits of having been rescued.
I know that society tells us that we are in control of our bodies and our minds, and that we don’t need anyone to rescue us. But actually we do! We can not make it through this crazy thing called life on our own accord. We just can’t. I do not know how anyone can get through even one single day with Jesus. I can’t even imagine a life without Christ!

Jesus is our refuge. He is a mighty warrior for us in our time of need, and He is a reassuring friend when we feel down. He lifts us up, and He holds us in His hands. He comforts us when we grieve. He rejoices with us when we are joyful. He’s a loving Father who gently cares for His children. He is our strength when we are weak. He is our rescuer! Recline in that today.
KK Hodge

Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

I Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

In the movie “War Room” there is a precious little lady named Miss Clara who speaks volumes of great wisdom. She’s a cocky little thing, but she is a true warrior for Christ. If you search the internet you’ll find many of her wise quotes, and I came across this quote this morning: “You need to plead with God to do what only He can do, and then you need to get out of the way and let Him do it.” That, my friends, is easier said than done.

How often do we go to our heavenly Father and unload the burdens that are on our hearts? We cry out to Him. We tell Him our troubles. We beg, we plead, and we say we’re giving it all to you God. We then feel a great relief, but it’s all too often short lived. Why? Well, I can tell you it’s not because God quit working on the problem. It’s usually because after giving our burdens, problems, and worries to God, we don’t leave them at His feet. We snatch those troubles right back away from God and start worrying over them again and trying to fix something that we aren’t capable of fixing. That’s just craziness. We’ve given something to the Master to take care of, but we snatch it back thinking that we can do a better job solving the problem than the Maker of the universe. That’s absolute nonsense, but we are guilty of it all the time!

Think about it in a different way. What if you inherited a very expensive, very old grandfather clock. This clock was worth a pretty penny. It was beautiful to look at, but there was a problem. The clock didn’t work. It wouldn’t keep time. So you did your research and found the finest, most reputable clock maker and took the clock to him. You left this beautiful, priceless clock in his capable hands. He said he would have it fixed within the week if he didn’t have to order parts, but it may take a little longer depending on how long it would take to correct the issue. You go home feeling good, but then a couple of days go by, and the clock isn’t fixed yet. So you go pick up the clock, bring it home, and begin disassembling it and trying to fix it yourself. You know nothing about repairing clocks and can not get it to work again. Now there is a beautiful clock with pieces all over the floor. It’s wrecked. So what do you do now? Take if back to the master horologist, and he repairs the clock. You take it to the master, leave it, and get out of way.

We have to do the same thing in life with all of our troubles. God wants us to bring our burdens to Him. He knows what is best for us, and He knows the solution to every problem that can possibly come up. We only need to trust the situations into His very capable hands. Don’t go grabbing your troubles back and trying to fix things on your own. Leave them at the feet of the Master! Give it to God, and get out of the way!
KK Hodge

1 Corinthians 2:9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Hebrews 11:16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Revelations 21:2-4 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.”

Do you ever stop and think about heaven? I’ve always wanted to go to heaven, but I confess that during my youth I prayed and asked God to wait a while before He took me home. Oh, you know how it is. I was a girl with plans…lots and lots of plans…and I’m still a big time planner today. I had lots of talks with God, and told Him that I wanted to finish school, get married, have children, and a career. Well, then, I had to see my children grow up…and now there are grandchildren. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Lately though, my conversations with God are more like, “this place is a mess! You can come get me any time you want me now!” I can hardly wait to get to heaven!

It’s human nature for us to cling to the material things in life, but we also have a spiritual nature, and our spirit desires our permanent home. Seriously, our spirit longs for heaven!David Jeremiah has been preaching a series on heaven this week, and one of the topics was “heaven won’t be boring.” He explained that we wouldn’t get bored because we would be in the presence of almighty God, we would be serving daily, and we would be with friends and loved ones. I can’t wait to reunite with those who’ve gone before me: great grandparents, grandparents, Mama, aunts and uncles, and friends. He also reminded me that when we get to heaven we can become friends with our ancestors. Can you even imagine having the opportunity to sit down and have breakfast with David or Joseph, or maybe lunch with Ruth and Boaz, and then supper with Esther? Oh my goodness, I can’t even imagine the conversations that we’ll have!

But with all of my excitement over heaven comes great heartache. I have only an inkling of knowledge of the splendor of heaven. It excites me to the core of my being, yet at the same time I feel distressed because everyone that I love won’t be there. Yes, the bible speaks of heaven, but it speaks even more loudly and clearly about hell. Hell is real. We aren’t living in hell right now, no matter how bad things look. Matthew 13:42 is just one of many scriptures that tell about this awful place. “They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” It’s a never ending, continual blazing furnace. The agony will be unbearable. There will be no quenching of thirst or putting out the fire. Hell sounds incredibly awful, but what would be even worse than that would be eternal separation from our Father. I can’t even fathom it!

I don’t want to be separated from my heavenly Father, and I don’t want to be eternally separated from anyone reading this. So today I ask you with all sincerity and seriousness, do you know where you will be spending eternity? Do you know without a shadow of a doubt that you will be joyfully running through the pearly gates? If you don’t know this for sure, now is the time to know. Ask Christ into your heart today. We aren’t promised tomorrow. I’m ready to run through those pearly gates as soon as the good Lord decides to let me in. I pray you’ll be running through them some day as well. Run with joy and peace to Christ!
KK Hodge

Roman’s 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Am I ever going to be enough? I know I’m not the only one asking this question because there are hundreds of posts on social media that echo these words. There are thousands of self help books to teach us how to better ourselves. Television commercials pitch anti-aging miracle creams, magical weight loss remedies, and even those awful Spanx like girdles! No wonder we are a nation full of insecurity. Everywhere we look, we are told that we aren’t good enough!

We walk by our mirrors and notice the hairs that are out of place, the crown of gray peeking through, the wrinkles, and oh yea, don’t forget those few extra pounds we put on lately. At our jobs, we work hard and give it all that we have, but then wonder if we could’ve done a little bit more. With our families, we worry that we aren’t spending enough one on one time with the ones we love. Are we teaching them the things they need most? Do they know how much we love them? Are we ever going to be enough?

Well, Peeps, I’m here to tell you that if you are living life asking these questions day in and day out, you have become the victim of identity theft! Yep, identity theft! You’ve gone and let the world steal away your identity. All of those insecurities are NOT who you are. You are a child of God, a child of the Most High, King of Kings, Lord of Lords! I mean really y’all, it doesn’t get much better than that!

Insecurities of self leads to worry and doubt, and when we are full of those two evil things (worry & doubt), we will never be enough. However, with Christ, we don’t have to be enough. In fact. We could never be good enough to deserve salvation, and once we realize this, we can really truly rest in the grace and mercy of our blessed Savior. Jesus knows who you are. He knows all the good, bad, and ugly in your life, and no matter what you have done or haven’t done, He loves you just the same. We can’t do anything to make Him love us more, and we can’t do anything to make Him love us less. Because of His love for us, we are enough. It’s through His righteousness that we become right with Him.

Quit worrying about being enough. If you’ve got Christ in your heart and you are living for Him, you are enough because of who He is in you! The One that is in you is greater than the world. You are enough!!
KK Hodge

Matthew 28:20 And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 49:16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands

There is way too much bad in our world today. Evil lurks around every corner. COVID cases are rising again. People are fighting and even rioting. There is sickness among us…physical, mental, and emotional. We’re all drained and weary after watching the news for less than 30 minutes a day. Goodness, we were watching the New Orleans news last night and the reporter was listing off all of the shootings and resulting deaths that occurred over the holiday weekend. The numbers were shocking, although, I shouldn’t be shocked by anything anymore.

With all of the chaos, sadness, sickness, and just the day to day messes that we find ourselves in, we have to have something to keep us grounded, to keep us focused on the bigger picture, and to keep us moving forward. Thankfully, we can lean on our Lord and Savior and rest knowing that He’s got us right in the palm of His hand. We can rest on Matthew 28:20 knowing that Jesus promises that He is with us to the end. That means He is always there through thick and thin, good times and bad times, and whatever life is throwing at us. He never leaves. Isaiah 41:10 has become my stand on verse lately. There is no reason to be dismayed and get all catawalpus. We have the promise that God will be our strength and and that He will hold us up with His righteous hand. God has never broken a promise so I know with all that I am that I can trust in those words.
Jeff was talking to the kids this week, and trying to be the encourager that he is during these challenging times. He told them, “Me and God spoke about it. Its gonna be okay either way so I’m gonna go with that.”
Knowing that God really does have us in the palm of His hand is so very reassuring. With that knowledge, we can approach the day knowing that either way, it’s gonna be okay. God’s got this!
KK Hodge

Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 3:6-7 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Merriam-Webster defines freedom as “liberation from slavery or restraint from power of another.” Today, we celebrate freedom as a country. That freedom was won a very long time ago after battle and bloodshed. Since becoming a free nation, brave men and women have continued to go into battle to protect our country so that we can continue to live in freedom. We are not slaves to other nations or powers that be. We live in a democratic nation that allows us the freedom of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Unfortunately, we as Americans seem to be pushing our liberty of freedom to the limits.
God created the most beautiful garden ever designed and placed the man and woman that He created in the garden to care for it. He told them that they could eat of any fruit in the entire garden EXCEPT for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That old evil satan got to Eve. He talked her into tasting the fruit, and she shared it with her husband, and well, you know the rest of the story. Men knew no sin before that first bite, but that action brought sin into the world. We’ve been struggling with sin ever since.
We, like Eve, long for freedom to do whatever we want. We too often take that “pursuit of happiness” thing to the limits. When we are constantly pursuing a lifestyle of doing what we want, we become slaves to self and to sin. Then, we aren’t free anymore.
Thankfully for us, our freedom was purchased not just a little over 200 years ago by soldiers as we celebrate today, but rather our freedom was purchased by the blood of Christ on that old rugged cross over 2000 years ago! And when Christ ascended to heaven, He left a comforter: the Holy Spirit. With the precious Holy Spirit, we are empowered to say NO to things of this world, and YES to Christ! The Holy Spirit guides us ever so gently and helps us to choose what is right and desire what is godly.
Our freedom was purchased and paid for in full by the One who loves us most. We are no longer slaves to sin. We are children of Christ. Are you really experiencing freedom today? If you have Christ, you have been set free. If not, what are you waiting for? He’s already paid the price in full. You only have to accept the gift of freedom of salvation and be free, free indeed!
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, PEEPS!
KK Hodge

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Job 22:26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

What do you want out of life? Oh, the answers to this question are too numerous to count. What we think we want now doesn’t look like what we wanted this time last year. We’re always wanting something, searching for more, trying to attain the next goal. There seems to be a never ending void in our hearts that we just can’t satisfy. Well, I’m here to tell you that there is only One that can fill that void, and His name is Jesus!

I read a story about a man seeking wisdom. He went to the great and mighty philosopher Socrates, and asked Socrates how he could get great wisdom. Socrates walked the man out into the sea. When they got out about chest deep, Socrates pushed the man under the water and held him there. He let him up, and asked, “what is it you want?” The man replied, “I want wisdom.” Socrates continued to dunk the man under water holding him longer each time, and each time the same question was asked and the same answer was given, until finally, Socrates held the man under until he was fighting to get up. The man came up gasping, and Socrates again asked, “what is it you want?” The man gasped, “Air, I want air.” Socrates then said, “when you want wisdom as much as you wanted air, you will get it.”

We are motivated by the desires of our hearts and minds. We set our sights on something, and we go after it. Psalm 37:4 tells us how to get the desires of our heart. We must delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will give us the desires of our heart. That hole we feel, that emptiness we are trying to fill up, that eternally, empty black hole can only be filled by Christ. He designed us that way. He designed us to want Him, to crave Him, to yearn for Him, to desire a close relationship with Him, and until we allow Him into our hearts and we need and desire Him just like we crave air to breathe, that black hole of emptiness will never be filled. Our hearts will not be satisfied. We will continue to search for things of this world to satisfy us until we nearly drown ourselves.

I know that Jesus is my heart’s desire. I want a lot of things in life. I do. I’m human. But I know that Jesus is in my heart and rules my life, and because of that, He gives me the desires of my heart. My needs are always taken care of, and many of my wants are too. He always gives me just what I need, when I need it most, and always right on time. So what do I want most in life? Just give me Jesus!!
KK Hodge

“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up. No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person. I Corinthians 10:23-24

“May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” (Peter Marshall) I read this quote after studying my Sunday School lesson for this week, and I found it to be very fitting. With Paul’s teachings to the Corinthians fresh on my mind, I couldn’t help but ponder our ideas of freedom.

In these wonderful United States of America, we are free. We are free to do a lot of things. But as our freedom to do as we please increases, our loving for self rather than God also increases. Take a moment to look at the freedoms that are being proclaimed in our nation. We are free to do drugs if we please…many of the drugs are legal so that isn’t against the law. We are free to buy and drink alcohol, even to the point of intoxication…as long as we aren’t driving, we aren’t breaking any laws. We are free to have sex outside of marriage…even with the same sex…we won’t go to jail for that either. We are free to abort our unwanted children…the laws are stricter and some states no longer permit this…but where there is a will, there is a way. We are even free to decide our gender…we no longer have to identify ourselves by our God given sex organs…we can be who we want to be and not break any laws. Yes, we are free to do as we please, but is it good for us? Is it good for our Christian witness to others? Is it good in the eyes of God?

I’m not a Saint, y’all. I’ll be the first to admit it. So if you think I’m pointing a finger, just remember that there are 4 fingers pointing back at me. I’ve made more mistakes in this life than I would like to admit, but praise God, as I’ve made those mistakes, I’ve learned valuable lessons. Each lesson has brought me closer to my relationship with Christ. Each mistake has caused growth in Christ, and each day I continue to learn that I need Him more and more! And as I grow, I learn that the way I live out life really counts.

Let’s get back to today’s scripture. Paul told the Corinthians that everything is permissible. That was likely a familiar saying of the day. It seems to be just as familiar today. Yes, everything is permissible, BUT everything is not beneficial. AND not everything builds up. We can live our lives as we want and think we aren’t harming anyone. Sadly, we are wrong to make that assumption. The way we choose to live affects many. If we are calling ourselves Christians, then we need to walk like Christ. If our choices and lifestyles cause one person to NOT choose Christ because of our actions, then we have sorely failed. It is unfortunately the actions of many “Christians” that have turned people away from the church and from Christ. We shouldn’t live as a stumbling block, but rather we should be living as a bridge bringing many to Christ.

I’m thankful for the freedom we have. I’m thankful for those who have battled for our freedom. I’m thankful that I wake up each day in a free nation. But most of all, I’m thankful that God sent His Son to die for my sins and your sins so that we might have eternal life. We are free to inherit the kingdom of God! There is no better freedom than that. It’s not a freedom we need to keep to ourselves though. This freedom is available to everyone. Let’s take every opportunity to share this good news with others and be cautious not to live life “as permissible,” but rather live a life of freedom that is beneficial to others and build up others!

KK Hodge

Psalm 146 Praise the Lord! Let all that I am praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath. Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them. But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations. Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord…as long as I live…with my dying breath, I will praise the Lord with all that I am. Peeps, this Psalm is a great praise Psalm, and its chock full of good stuff! Verse 3 and 4 remind us that we shouldn’t put our confidence in powerful people. They may be powerful in the here and now, but when they take their last breath, all their plans and power die with them. Look around for a moment. Who are you putting your confidence in? We place our confidence in powerful politicians, winning athletes, movie stars, the top 40 singers or bands. We listen to what they say, and many times we believe a whole lot of misinformation because we feel that the person speaking is speaking with authority so therefore, whatever they are saying has to be true. Sometimes, they speak truth, but more times than not, they’re just speaking.

Thankfully, we have One that we can place all confidence in: our Lord and Savior. We are reminded in this Psalm that we can be joyful and have hope in the Lord. The promises made by the Lord are never broken. He created the heavens and the earth. He gives justice. He feeds the hungry. He protects His children, and He frustrates the plans of the wicked. He is definitely worthy of our praise!

God gave us eyes that see and ears that hear, and He imparts wisdom to each one that asks. We have to view this crazy world through a God lens rather than the rose colored glasses that we so often wear. Be careful not to put your confidence is people of power just because of the position they hold. Listen to what is being spoken. Is it godly or worldly? Watch carefully with your eyes. Is the person behaving in a godly manner, or are they living for the world? Pay attention, and ask God for wisdom and discernment while muddling through each and every crazy day of life. And when you wake up and before you fall asleep at night, you can have absolute confidence in One for sure and can praise His name continually! Yes, Lord, I will praise you as long as I live, with my dying breath, and with all that I am. Praise the Lord!
KK Hodge