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HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

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ONE MINUTE ALONE WITH GOD FOR MEN

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-5081-7

ISBN 978-0-7369-5082-4 (eBook)

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my loving parents, J.K. and Gertie Barnes. They gave me the early training to believe and trust in the Lord Jesus. They were farm people in their early years, so we didn’t have many material provisions, but they were rich in family love. As three boys, Billy, Kenneth, and I never knew we weren’t rich because Mom and Dad made us worthy.

Though they have been long gone to heaven, they are still alive in who I am. Thank you both.

Why One Minute Makes a Difference

We are so busy trying to keep up the hectic pace required to get things done that we often miss out on receiving the strength and leading we need from God in order to live our lives. Our short attention spans make us restless, and we want to move on to the next subject or the next show or the next activity. This is so common that many of us don’t stay focused on God for more than a fleeting “help me” prayer.

If I told you that you had to commit to fifteen minutes a day, you might not want to give that much time to God. However, who doesn’t have one minute? God sacrificed His Son on the cross for us; certainly we can sacrifice one minute of our time and attention. My desire is that you’ll be so caught up in the versatility of the topics that you can’t put the book down. You can skip around to various topics or read it in order. Either way, if you make this a regular commitment for at least 21 consecutive days, you will be forming a new healthy-faith habit. Hopefully a habit that will last a lifetime.

Men often ask me, “How do I live out my Christian faith?” The answer is found when you seek stories, wisdom, and insight from men who have experienced the ups and downs of the Christian walk. I’ve attempted to make this book very practical by using stories out of my life experiences or those that men can identify with. Enjoy your journey as you grow in learning how to live out the Christian faith.

Bob

Contents

Why One Minute Makes a Difference

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Have You Left Your First Love?

Lasting Joy

Love Without Measure

A Father’s Open Arms

Your Sins Will Find You Out

Have a Pure Heart

What Is in Your Heart?

Honoring Fatherhood

Becoming a Father to Honor

Building on the Cornerstone

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Godly Money Guidelines

Cultivating Intimacy

Protect Your Mind and Heart

Stand Tall in Your Walk

Be Strong in Grace

Knowing the Voice of the Lord

The Struggle of Being Tough and Tender

Team Player

BC (Before Christ)

AC (After Christ)

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Stay Flexible

Be a Hero

A Marriage Made in Heaven

Labor for God

Faithful Steward

Where Is Your Treasure?

Rules Give Freedom

Why Read the Old Testament?

God Teaches Fathers to Walk in His Light

Be Sure to Check Your Oil

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

It’s Good to Have Your Car Washed

Restoration

Just Like New

What I Do with Money

Dollar Dos

Dollar Don’ts

Developing Strengths for Our Lives

Growing When You Least Expect It

Godly Traits Training: Part I

Godly Traits Training: Part II

Messes Are a Blessing

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Thoughts to Lift Your Spirits

Excellent Marriage Principles: Part I

Excellent Marriage Principles: Part II

Be Humble in Spirit

Be Afraid, but Go!

Play by the Rules

Sexual Love

Phileō Love

Agapaō Love

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Pageant of the Masters

Be in the “In” Crowd

Your Value Through Grace

Be a Man of Integrity

Know God’s Ways

Knowledge in Motion

Fitting Together the Puzzles of Life

The Power of One

Be an Encourager in Life

Drive-Thrus Not Allowed

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

How to Meditate

Parenting Principles: Part I

Parenting Principles: Part II

Think Small

Find Rest for Your Souls

Give Your Burdens to God

What to Do with Time

Good Advice

Remaining Humble in Success

“Do You Love Me?”

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Grace Is the Word

Soul Friends

A Father Who Trusts

Two A.M. Friends

Keep Your Ways Pure

Remembering PaPa’s Prayers

More Good Advice

A Friend Who Goes the Extra Mile

“Get Up”

How Good Is Good Enough?

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Even More Good Advice

Be a Road Builder

We Are the Church

Money Matters That Matter

Your Mighty Creator

Filled Up

Partnership

When You Want to Ask “Why?”

What’s Number One?

Be Transformed

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Remember the Great Moments of Life

Find Your Target

What to Put On First

Spiritual Wardrobe: Part I

Spiritual Wardrobe: Part II

I Am the Clay

Be a Home Builder

She Touched Me

Job—the Hero

Time for God

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Do You Really Believe?

Renewed Spirit

How to Talk to God

The True Source

Don’t Keep Worrying

A New Creation

Time to Move On

Things Not Seen

The Power of the Cross

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Wait on the Lord

Learning Curves

What Do You Chase After?

My Peace I Give You

A Surprise Gift

Good Old Cowboy Advice

Remarkable Spirit

How Full Is Your Glass?

Keep Filling Up

A Man of God

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Be Alert

Stand Firm in the Faith

Act Like Men

Be Strong

A Blessing or a Curse?

Christian Marriage

Psalm of Praise I

Psalm of Praise II

Psalm of Praise III

Holy Source of Comfort

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Enemies of Peace

Fix Your Eyes on God

Become an Imitator

When Adversity Strikes

Celebrating What Remains

Goodness or Grace?

A Life of Praise

Yet I Will Rejoice

Believing, Growing, Changing

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

About the Author

One Minute Alone with God Prayer

Father God, I am on the journey of life with You. It is an adventure, a challenge, and a privilege to become the man You have created me to be. I’m thankful to have You in my life. As I walk this devotional path in the next days and weeks, I long to get to know You and to be known by You completely. What do You see in my heart, Lord? Where do You want me to go from here? In what ways do You want me to encourage my family and friends in their walks with You?

I want to grow in Your strengths and purposes. I’ve had seasons of feeling stuck. But I’m eager and ready to invest my heart and soul in discovering how I to be a man of God. Amen.

Have You Left Your First Love?

I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

REVELATION 2:4

Can you remember the excitement you felt when you first responded to the call of Jesus? I know I can. I was 12 years old, and it was on Easter Sunday. Our wonderful Sunday school teacher finished each lesson encouraging us to accept Jesus as our personal Savior. On that special Sunday, I responded to the pastor’s invitation to become saved. That decision made it possible for me to make all my other decisions in life.

Many times I ask myself, “Why do I do what I do?” I realize that sometimes I’m doing good things but for the wrong reasons. Jesus taught that we aren’t to do good to gain heaven. Our love for Jesus should motivate our works.

Paul told the church in Ephesus that he’d heard of their love of their faith and the love for all the saints (Ephesians 1:15-16). However, 30 years later, John, the writer of Revelation, was reproving the church for abandoning their first love. They were doing a lot of good things, but not out of love for Him. Do a reality check and see why you do what you do. And then let that powerful love you first had for God guide your days.

Father God, may my actions reflect my first love for You. Guide me in eliminating any wrong motives for doing good works. I truly want to be motivated by faith in You. Amen.

Lasting Joy

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

PSALM 40:3

Now that our children are grown and our grandchildren are almost grown, Emilie and I have time to reminisce about the first days of school, graduation ceremonies, sporting events, birthday parties, holidays, and weddings. What a gift of delight these memories are.

What would life be like without the joy? Even with all the happy occasions you have experienced, God is the one source of lasting joy. When we come before God with an open heart and words of confession, He is just and will forgive us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). In the emptying of our old self, God gives us hymns of praise and a new song, one written just for you. This is eternal joy, my friend.

When the children are gone, or when you are spending longer stretches at home on your own, what will you hear? I hope it’s the echo of past laughter, the ringing in of new celebrations, and the joy of eternal salvation through your sweet Lord.

Lord, let me take time to savor the daily joys with my family. And give me gratitude for Your gift of eternal life. This is my source of joy forever. Amen.

Love Without Measure

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

l CORINTHIANS 13:4

To love as Christ loved is to love without measure. Paul, the apostle, describes the Christian view of love for the Corinthians. Look at the attributes listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

• Love is patient.

• Love is kind.

• Love is not jealous.

• Love doesn’t brag.

• Love is not arrogant.

• Love does not seek its own.

• Love is not provoked.

• Love does not get even.

• Love does not rejoice in sin.

• Love rejoices with truth.

• Love bears all things.

• Love believes all things.

• Love endures all things.

• Love never fails.

This life-changing love will impact all that you say, do, and believe. Love your wife, family, friends, and strangers with this love without measure.

God, let me love without measure. We live in a world that wants to put a quantitative scale on love. I want to love as You love. Amen.

A Father’s Open Arms

I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

LUKE 15:10

One of the great stories in the New Testament is that of the prodigal son, found in Luke 15:11-32. I encourage you to read this story of a father’s great love. The younger son asked his father for an early inheritance so he could leave home and live a life of pleasure without restriction or responsibility. And the result? He lost all of his money and ended up wallowing with the pigs. In the pit of despair, the son realized he was living a sinful life.

The son returned home telling his father that he was no longer worthy to be his son. So imagine his shock and joy when his dad ran to embrace and kiss him with great compassion and forgiveness.

Do you relate to the father or to the son? Maybe you relate to the older son and have remained dutiful to your family or your job while watching another person mess up and then receive forgiveness. No matter who you relate to in this story, we should embrace its message of love’s capacity to overcome human failings.

Lord, help me become a man who seeks Your unconditional love. Protect me from pride or jealousy so that I come to You with my every weakness and am quick to forgive others. Amen.

Your Sins Will Find You Out

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

HEBREWS 4:13

In my morning newspaper, I read that another well-known personality has fallen. Like so many fallen icons before him, he thought he could hide his behavior from his inner circle.

My mother used to tell us boys, “Be careful—your sins will find you out.” I’m sure that this man’s mother told him the same thing. Even if we are able to hide our sin from the people around us for a while, nothing is ever hidden from God’s sight. God sees everything we do and think.

If we find ourselves in an act, a thought, or a lifestyle that we need to confess, I have relied on a great verse that helps me “rebound” from a secret that I am trying to hide from God and others: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Don’t let unconfessed, so-called hidden sins come between you and God.

Father God, I thank You for this revelation that I can escape my secret sins—You are here to give me a way out of darkness and back into the light. Amen.

Have a Pure Heart

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:1-2 NKJV

Purity is becoming rather obsolete in our culture. There was a time when we were challenged as young people and adults to live a life of purity. We could look up to athletes, pastors, and politicians as our role models because many of them embraced a life of purity and integrity. That seems to be less true all the time.

Even those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus often sidestep every scripture that teaches us to seek purity. But a pure heart is the byproduct of living out in real life what Scripture tells us. It’s time for us to be a positive witness for whom and for what we stand.

Humble yourself to recognize the righteousness of God. Be willing to have a pure heart.

Father, I want a heart that knows and loves You. One that is pure in spirit. I want to be a doer of Your Word. Amen.

What Is in Your Heart?

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

JOHN 15:3

After one of my wife Emilie’s speaking engagements, a lady stood in line to have Emilie autograph a copy of her book. As the woman watched Emilie sign the page, she said, “I like your books because they are clean.” Emilie replied, “Thank you. It’s not hard for me to write clean stories because that’s the way I think.”

The computer era has a saying: “Junk in junk out!” You are what you think and take in. Our speech and actions flow from the inside out. Is your heart clean? I recently read a quote from John Wesley from around 1730 on this subject, and he states that believers are “purified from pride by the deepest poverty of spirit; from anger, from every unkind or turbulent passion, by meekness and gentleness; from every desire but to please and enjoy God, to know and love him more and more.” Examine what is going into your heart and mind each day. Immerse yourself in God’s promises and commands. Experience the power of a heart that seeks to know and love God more each day.

God, thank You for Your grace and redemption. Give me a hunger to be filled with Your truth and mercy. Let all that flows from my heart be pleasing to You. Amen.

Honoring Fatherhood

Grandchildren are the crown of old men, and the glory of sons is their fathers.

PROVERBS 17:6 NASB

Fathers play a vital role in developing a child’s awareness of God’s authority. Children learn what it means to honor God by watching their father’s words and actions. As we long to be good fathers, we should also pray that children honor fatherhood through…

• love,

• submission,

• godliness,

• admiration, and

• respect for his leadership.

Children are blessed by honoring their fathers. But obedience isn’t always easy. Many of us probably struggled to respect our parents a time or two, right? But at least we grew up with a bit more reinforcement from our culture to respect others. These days, we see an assortment of father figures on television who fumble around, can’t make a decision to save their lives, and watch with bewilderment as their kids run the house. It’s time to reclaim fatherhood as a position of honor and value. You and I, we need to make a deliberate effort each day to be the men God called us to be. Give your children a reason to honor you, the role of fatherhood, and the authority of God in their lives.

Father God, instill in me a strength to express Your authority and wisdom so that my children respect me and come to know the might of a right relationship with You. Amen.

Becoming a Father to Honor

Honor your father and mother.

EXODUS 20:12

What is a father? In the midst of many demands and worries, it can be easy to forget what a father is or what a father can be. Whether you are a father, uncle, brother, or husband, let this acrostic inspire you to strive to be honorable in every way:

F – Faithful in following Jesus

A – Allows God to make him all he can be

T – Thanks God for all His blessings

H – Holy in his approach to life

E – Expresses love to those around him

R – Responds to God’s teachings in Scripture