Devotions Archives - Amplify Christian Church

Quit Window Shopping!

Posted on Jan 25, 2017 in Devotions |

Not long ago in Charlotte, N.C., judges dismissed a total of 27 drunken driving charges in a matter of months. The reason: it took too long to process suspects. Time is crucial in such cases because an illegal blood-alcohol level can vanish after just a few hours.

As these judges pointed out, time is a precious gift. Once time has expired, you can never get it back. When you waste time, it can’t be recycled. Yet, when you have been hurt, time can redeem itself with healing qualities that can’t be found any other way.

Furthermore, time equally offers everyone something that cannot be disputed: the sacred window of opportunity.

Everyone, at least once in life, comes face-to-face with an opportunity to do something great, rewarding and out of the ordinary. However, we can find ourselves squandering these opportunities because we are too preoccupied with the comfort or security of what we are presently doing.

Consequently, we end up watching others seize opportunities while we become bitter because we failed to stretch outside of our cozy comfort zone.

When a window of opportunity reveals itself, we have two choices. We can climb through or we can simply stand at a distance and “window shop,” only to realize that time will eventually shut the window, possibly forever.

Taking advantage of a potentially rewarding opportunity is simply an open or shut case, and you my friend are the judge.

May all of your decision-making be fruitful,

Corey

Sep '16

A Fool and His Feathers Will Soon Part

Posted on Sep 29, 2016 in Devotions |

Sep '16

There is a story about a bird that was known for its beauty and great singing. It would sit at the top of a tree and make beautiful melodies. One day a man walking through the woods passed by the tree and heard the beautiful bird singing. The bird saw the man, and saw that he was holding a box.

“What do you have in the box?” the bird asked the man.

The man replied that he had large, juicy earthworms in the box. “I will sell you a worm for one of your beautiful feathers,” he offered.

The bird pulled out a feather and exchanged it for a worm. He then reflected to himself,

Why should I work hard to get worms when it is so easy to get them this way?

The bird and the man repeated this process over the course of many days, and soon the bird no longer had any more beautiful feathers with which to pay for worms. Furthermore, he could no longer fly, nor was he beautiful. Therefore, he did not feel like singing beautiful songs anymore, and he was very unhappy.

Like this foolish bird, we are always tempted to look for shortcuts to get what we desire. The foolish bird tragically learned that there is a tremendous price to pay for taking shortcuts.

Shortcuts rob us of valuable lessons that we need to learn along the way. One of the hidden truths of life is that the journey to the prize is just as valuable than the prize itself. In addition, it is a scientific fact that the longest distance between any two points is a shortcut.

So unlike our featherless friend, don’t look for the way that is most easy, but the way that will prove to be most edifying.

Enjoying the Journey,

Corey

Sep '16

Fishy Leadership

Posted on Sep 6, 2016 in Devotions |

Sep '16

I realized that what it takes to become a successful leader is really no different from what it takes to become a successful fisherman. So I decided to do some in-depth research on fishing and found the top 7 fishing tips given by the experts. These tips are just as useful for leadership as they are for fishing!

Fishing Tip #1 – Go where the fish are biting.

Don’t wear yourself out by trying to lead people who are not ready to follow, but center your energy and focus on those that are “hungry” for leadership.

Fishing Tip #2 – Know what bait to use.

Find out the things that make people around you happy (besides money), and reward them as often as possible with those pleasures.

Fishing Tip #3 – Know the weight limit of your fishing line.

Realize that you can’t do everything by yourself, so practice the art of delegation and empowerment to really get things done.

Fishing Tip #4 – Know that there is no limit to the amount of fish that can be caught.

Your leadership doesn’t just have an impact on those that you immediately come in contact with, but it also affects everyone that THEY come in contact with, therefore, making your influence (positive or negative) limitless.

Fishing Tip #5 – Fishing in the same spot, in the same way, with the same bait can cause you to catch many fish or none at all, depending on the environment.

Keep your communication fresh and vibrant. Just because something worked well once, does not mean that it is going to work all of the time.

Fishing Tip #6 – Clean the fish before you cook it.

Make sure that the people you empower have been properly trained and have clear instructions before they take on assignments.

Fishing Tip #7 – Enjoy the process!

Having fun while you lead will take you a long way.

Keeping my line tight (Matthew 4:18-20),

Corey

Aug '16

Living Outside The Box

Posted on Aug 26, 2016 in Devotions |

Aug '16

William James, the founder of modern psychology, once said, “Most people live – whether physically, intellectually, or morally – in a very restricted circle of their potential being. We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream.”

I must agree with Mr. James. If you ever caught just a glimpse of how powerful you truly are, you would more than likely astonish yourself. So take the time this week to do a little self-discovery. Find out what motivates you the most and then determine how you can turn that passion into a rewarding fulfillment. There is more to your life than what you are currently doing. I personally dare you to find out!

Living Outside The Box,

Corey

Aug '16

You Don’t Know Jack!

Posted on Aug 19, 2016 in Devotions |

Aug '16

In the TV series “24,” Jack Bauer seemed to make the most of his day. Jack would fight a group of terrorist, get kidnapped, be tortured beyond human comprehension, fake his own death, escape captivity, fly a plane with a nuclear bomb aboard with the intent to sacrifice his life, wind up in China on a secret mission, rescue the President of the United States from mayhem in the White House, and experience the birth of his grandson…all in 24 hours!

Now it is not my expectation that anyone would have a whirlwind day like Jack Bauer. That would be totally unrealistic. However, we must all question whether or not we are making the most of the 24 hours that we have.

– Do you spend most of your “24” complaining? …Jack wouldn’t.
– Do you spend your “24” being afraid to take a risks in order to avoid failure? ….Jack wouldn’t.
– Or, do you spend your “24” doing things that are not important, while wishing you had an additional “24” to do things that are really important? …Again, Jack wouldn’t.

You see, in real life, all successful people have something in common – they know how to make the most of their 24.

There is no doubt that God has blessed us all with an equal amount of time each day. Every human being on earth has the same 24 hours to work with. The question is what are you going to do with yours?

If you choose to waste your 24, then you don’t know Jack!

Corey

Aug '16

Follow The Kneeler

Posted on Aug 14, 2016 in Devotions |

Aug '16

praying-gopher

As a leader, don’t ever expect someone to effectively follow you, if you have never learned how to effectively follow the Ultimate Leader (God). Many leaders make the mistake of trying to make decisions on their own without true counsel from God. As a young child I used to play a game called “Follow The Leader.” In this game, you were “out” if you did not do what the “leader” did. Therefore, the key was to watch the leader very closely to make sure that what you did was exactly what the leader desired to be done.

Whether we realize it or not, God is our leader, and if we desire to stay in the game of life, we must make sure that we are following His lead. One of the key ways to find out where He is leading you is to spend time in prayer. Now I know that some of you may be saying, “I really don’t have time to seriously set aside for prayer because I’m very busy.” Well, it was Charles Spurgeon who said,

“Sometimes we think that we are too busy to pray. That is a great mistake, for praying is a savings of time.” A. J. Gordon said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”

It has been said that there are four ways that God answers prayer:

1. No, not yet.

2. No, I love you too much.

3. Yes, I thought you’d never ask.

4. Yes, and here’s more.

I simply want to say that you may not always get the answer you want, but He will always give you the answer you need.

Every time we pray, our horizon is altered, our attitude is altered, and our outlook on life is altered, all for the better. The amazing thing is that we don’t pray more!

Frequent kneeling will always keep you in good standing with God.

By the way, people tend to always “follow the kneeler.”

Kneeling More,

Corey

May '13

Get Me Off This Island!

Posted on May 10, 2013 in Devotions |

May '13

Recently, I heard a story about three people who were asked this question: What would you like to have with you if you were stranded on a deserted island?

The first response was…

(Read the rest of this Blog by Pastor Corey by clicking on the following link: http://coreykennardblog.wordpress.com/ )

Jan '13

It’s Time To Execute

Posted on Jan 2, 2013 in Devotions |

Jan '13

Notre Dame will be playing for a football national championship this upcoming Monday against the University of Alabama. With this, I was reminded of coaching legend Knute Rockne. He is considered one of the greatest football coaches who ever lived. But what’s more fascinating than his ability to win games during his coaching career at Notre Dame (he only lost 12 games in 13 years) is the fact that he never had a secret practice. He would even go as far as to invite his opponents to his practices and would welcome them to bring their notebooks. As a matter of fact, one opposing scout missed an opportunity to cover a Notre Dame game and coach Rockne obligingly sent him the plays that he planned to use against them. He explained his action by saying, “It isn’t the play that wins, It’s the execution.”

What coach Rockne understood is that the key is not in what you know, but it is in how well you are able to execute what you know.

Think about it. Everyone in the world has access to the same information that you have access to. Most people can absorb the same amount of information that you can absorb. But No One can execute what you know better than you!

My friend, your success in all that you do in 2013 and beyond, will be purely based on your desire and ability to execute what you know better than anyone else!

Defeating the opposition,

Pastor Corey

Dec '12

FYF – FACE YOUR FEARS

Posted on Dec 4, 2012 in Devotions |

Dec '12

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark.

The real tragedy of life is when an adult is afraid of the light.” ~Plato

Why have you allowed fear to hold you back from ____________? (you fill in the blank and have an answer by the end of this week). Oh, by the way, the answer you give will not be good enough!

This week, work on conquering your fears.

Pastor Corey

Nov '12

What’sYour Sign?

Posted on Nov 26, 2012 in Devotions |

Nov '12

There was a strip mall owner that had three spaces for lease. A business owner approached him one day and said, “I would like to lease the space on the left.” The strip mall owner said, “That will be fine. What would you like on your sign?” The business owner said, “I sell men’s clothing, so the sign should read: Men’s Wear.”

A couple of days later, another business owner approached him and said, “I would like to lease the space on the right.” The strip mall owner said, “That will be fine. What would you like on your sign?” The business owner said, “I sell men’s clothing, so the sign should read: Men’s Wear.” The strip mall owner then said, “I don’t think that will be wise. Can’t you see that my tenant on the left has that on his sign?” The business owner then replied, “It doesn’t matter. That’s what I want on my sign!” The strip mall owner saw that he was not going to change his mind and had the sign printed.

Finally, a few days later, a third businessman approached the strip mall owner and desired to lease the space in the middle. After finding out that he also sold men’s clothing, the strip mall owner reluctantly asked him what he wanted on his sign. The third businessman looked at the sign on the left, then he took a look at the sign on the right and turned to the strip mall owner and said, “Simply put the word “Entrance” on my sign!”

Remember, it’s not what you know, who you know, or what you do that will determine the level of your success, but rather how you present yourself that can make all the difference in the world. According to Psalm 139:14 – You are Uniquely andWonderfully made by God, so why not show it!

Setting myself apart,

Pastor Corey