How Do You Feel About Going to Court?

It’s Monday. Welcome to a new week. Today is the day for “Monday Ministry.” Did you know that Attorney Dean Burnetti went to seminary before he was called to the legal field?  The following is a devotion given to you by Dean…

Psalms 100:1‭-‬5 – Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

I cannot tell you that I’ve never been afraid of going to court. But this is my 37th year of being a lawyer. I have been to court hundreds of times. So, I’m rarely overcome with fear or anxiety. But this has not always been the case in my career.

I remember the very first time I went to appear for a simple arraignment proceeding at the courthouse in Oklahoma City. I needed to memorize certain things to say. I practiced for hours before a mirror making my statements so I would get it right. The problem was that I memorized it too well. I didn’t realize that I was talking faster than those messages you hear at the end of a car sales commercial.

On the day I was to appear before the court, I was ready. When my turn came, I jumped up before the judge, and without prompt, rattled off the words I had memorized, like a machine gun. There was a pause, then the judge and attorneys around me all broke out in laughter.

I was so embarrassed! I turned and immediately exited the courtroom. I ran to the bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I wanted to die, and I was sure that I was ready to quit. The thought of going back into any courtroom caused me to feel fear and anxiety on a level I cannot even describe.  But I went back. Those who had just before been laughing, embraced and encouraged me.

I know that in this passage, the Lord was not talking about a court like our present-day courts. He was talking about God’s temple and court. But all of us have had experiences that have left us afraid and overwhelmed with the thought of returning before God’s presence.

Today, know that God will never laugh, judge, or ridicule you when you return to His presence. And if the people in a church look upon you with laughter, ridicule, or judgement, you need to: present yourself to God, return to your fellowship with Christ, and find a new church. You are His and always will be.

Stay healthy and have a blessed week!

~Dean Burnetti

What’s Your Job?

Acts of the Apostles 1:8 – [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

For the most part, everybody has a job. You may not get paid, but you still have a job. You may be a homemaker, somebody’s employee, a business owner. You may be a professional. A doctor, a lawyer, an engineer. The list can just go on forever. It’s what we consider our job. It’s how we identify ourselves to some extent.

Which also brings me to the question of when do you retire? For some folks, they work until they die. Others work ’til they just physically can’t do their job anymore. But for Christians, we have a special job. It doesn’t involve a paycheck, and it doesn’t have any form of withholdings. Nonetheless, it is still our number one job.

Here, we see Jesus describing exactly what the job was of the apostles and His followers. “Tell about me (Jesus). Tell about all the things you have seen, all the things you have observed, and all the things that you have experienced with the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The really great thing about this job is there is only one way to retire, and that is when we leave this earth. So, you don’t need to sit around and ponder all day long about, “When am I going to retire?” That’s really simple; it’s when you join with Him in heaven. And no matter what, you can’t quit your job, and you can’t get fired. It is an eternal employment.

Stay healthy and have a blessed week!

~Dean Burnetti

Define Blessed

Psalm 1:1 – “Blessed is the one”

The world often assumes that to be blessed means to prosper, to advance in life in a positive material way. If we make more money, we are blessed. If we are promoted in our position at work, we are blessed.

Although these things can be a blessing, it should not be the focus of us as believers. As followers of Christ, to be blessed is a state of mind and heart that arises from our relationship and service to Christ. We are in joy and contentment, whether we are rich or poor. Whether we are driving a Mercedes or a Volkswagen. Whether we are president or janitor.

The Apostle Paul states that whatever no matter position we find ourselves, in that place, we are to be content and at peace.

During your life, you may be rich and then become poor. You may be on the top and then on the bottom several times with no apparent reason. For all of us, life will have hills and valleys. The difference for the follower of Christ is that he or she, despite the hills and valleys, can always be blessed.

Today, your contentment in whatever position or circumstance you find yourself is the gift that will make the difference. That’s the definition of blessed.

Be Blessed.

Stay healthy and have a blessed weekend!

~Dean Burnetti

A Test That Can Define Who You Are

Matthew 26:53-54 NLT – [53] Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? [54] But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”

I couldn’t help myself last night. I had to watch the ‘Man of Steel’ again. I grew up watching so many episodes, even as a young adolescent, of the story of Superman. The ability to do almost anything at any time without limitation.  Only kryptonite could stop him. But otherwise, he could do anything, and nothing was short of his ability to accomplish.

For us as Christians we have great power through the Holy Spirit. But not everything that we are confronted with in terms of challenges in life are met by us without the element of kryptonite. We must first submit and seek what is consistent with God’s will.

I want to build a business to become rich and successful. But the question isn’t can I do it, the question is whether it is consistent with the will of God. Jesus said so many times in the New Testament, “Ask anything in my name and it will be yours.” But that is also with the caveat that it has to be consistent with what God wants to happen in your faith journey.

I could have a confrontation and could strike out at another person. But is that really what God wants me to do? I could ask God to let me win the Powerball so that I could do righteous and great things or build a big business so that I could be a financial success. But is that really what God wants for me? That is really the ultimate question.

God has a path and plan for each of us. The question is, have you submitted? Have you put in order God’s two greatest commands to love the Lord your God with all your heart and to love your neighbor even as yourself?

Only then can you place yourself in the path of understanding and align yourself with God’s perfect will. Only then when you ask, will it absolutely be granted because it’s where God wants you. Simply put, it is perfect faith surrounded in the circle of God’s perfect will. It’s just perfect.

Stay healthy and have a blessed day!

~Dean Burnetti

Do You Really Love Your Neighbor?

Matthew 22:36-40 – [36] “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” [37] Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [40] The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

No one has a hard time with describing the degree we are to love God. With all our heart, soul, and mind. Everything, all the way.

Loving your neighbor as yourself can be a little harder to conceptualize. Especially when so many people, even Christians, hate themselves.

I believe loving my neighbor is best described to involve various actions, such as showing empathy, offering help, being patient, and being kind. My personal test is what would I want my neighbor to do for me in my time of need? I think that’s love in action.

Stay healthy and have a blessed week!

~Dean Burnetti

Purpose In Your Prayer

Matthew 7:7‭-‬8‭, ‬10 – Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

We have all prayed for something that we thought was very important to us. We pray and then we pray a little more, and when it doesn’t seem that we receive the answer to our prayer, we walk away. It may be concerning a job, a career choice, relationships, and even money. But we all have these needs that we bring to God as believers seeking an answer.

For me, I must admit my prayers usually last around a week seeking an answer, and then for some reason, I just more or less accept the fact that the answer is no and just walk away. I cannot tell you how many times that has occurred and then, within a matter of the next week or months, my prayer is answered.

Timing with God answering our prayers is often the hardest lesson for us to learn. The truth is that God always answers our prayers. And so often, it is an answer that we were hoping for but not in the timing that we necessarily choose.

Remember, all that God does for us is with a purpose and that is to conform us to the image of Christ. Our journey through our prayers and guidance of the Bible amounts to experiences that shape us just as the sculptor shapes his work of art.

Christ’s message to us is don’t give up asking. His promise is that for those who ask, they will receive. Those who knock the door will be opened.

Today, don’t forget not only to ask for God to answer your prayer but ask Him to show you how your experience can be used to become more like Christ. There is purpose in your prayer.

Stay healthy and have a blessed weekend!

~Dean Burnetti

Where Do You Live?

Psalms 91:1 “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Fortunately, most of us have an answer to the question of “Where do you live?”. Most responses to that question pivot on the issue of “Where do you sleep?” and “Where is your bed?”.

You have to go many places during the course of the day and rarely are you even in the same place unless it is at work. Most of your meals are in different places. So, that’s probably why most of us identify the place where we sleep and the place where our personal bed is to be as the place where we live.

Psalms 91 is one of my favorite discussions of the promises of God and how these promises reflect on the quality of our lives. The Psalmist says there is a promise for those who live in the shelter of God. I think the operative word is live. The promise isn’t for those who stopped by for a visit. It is not for those who occasionally attend a service at the church but for those who live there. That means a constant walk and presence in the shelter of God. God’s promise in Psalm 1:1 is that those who walk with God will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

You may be suffering, like many of us, with insomnia. An inability to find rest. Today, commit yourself to walk in the presence of God. If you do so, you will find a confidence in God’s presence that creates the ability of rest in a sense of God’s control in your day and night.

Read Psalms chapter 91 and read the whole chapter. You will find joy and rest in His presence. Know His feathers will cover you and provide you rest. God bless.

Stay healthy and have a blessed day!

~Dean Burnetti

Be Still

Psalms 55:22 – “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”

This morning, I was reading an article concerning the principles of successful business practice. It was quite impressive. The individual who authored it has been very successful in his life. I do not disagree with anything that he said. Everything that he described was true as it relates to the practice of business in our world.

One of those principles was that in the world of business, either you are swimming forward, or you are drifting backward. There is never a time that you are going to simply tread water in the middle of the river. When I read that, I had to agree.

But within the hour, I was reading in the Book of Psalms for today’s scripture. I began to realize that not everything in principle that applies to the business world around us applies to our Christian experience. God tells us that as believers, we should work hard but then we are to hand over all of our burdens to God.

God wants us to see Him work in our life. If we are always packing away all the weights of the world into our backpack during our journey, we will never see Him work. Sometimes, just being still in His Holiness is when we move forward the most as believers in Christ.

Today, be still and see God work in you.

Stay healthy and have a blessed week!

~Dean Burnetti

When It is Impossible

Matthew 19:25‭-‬26 – The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

Most of us remember the rich young man who thought he had done all that was necessary to earn salvation. He had it all figured out how to accomplish the impossible answer to life’s spiritual needs. This is why Jesus kept challenging him to do more and more. Plainly put, to illustrate to him and all others listening that he could do nothing in his own efforts to accomplish the impossible.

I am convinced that every week there are goals, answers to troubles, and problems that in my own efforts are impossible to solve. Then why try?

That’s exactly Jesus’s point. Don’t rely on your efforts to accomplish the impossible. Rely on Christ and live in faith.

Only that will answer the impossible. It will bring calmness to your day and peace to your spirit. And that’s not a possibility, it is certain.

Stay healthy and have a blessed weekend!

~Dean Burnetti

What Does God Want for You?

‭2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

I think I have read dozens of books and listened to even more sermons on the subject of how to figure out God’s will for your life. It is a very important subject to everyone who is a believer. If you’re going to follow, you want to know where to go. You want to know God’s plan for you. You want to not just fumble down the street wondering should I turn to the right or should I turn to the left.

Does God really want me to know or is He just making this a mystery journey where I may never really know whether I’m on the right path or not? The truth is that God does have a plan for each and every one of us. That plan is not a mystery. It is simple. That we believe, repent, and follow Him.

Each day we will be confronted with new circumstances in life. But in each and every step, we listen to the Spirit, read God’s Word, and follow in His steps. What God wants for you is to be like Him.

Stay healthy and have a blessed day!

~Dean Burnetti