Flatwood Baptist Church Decatur, Texas

09/07/2026

The Burning Bush Devotional September 7th
Stop Trying to Hold Everything Together
Scripture References: Colossians 1:15–17; Psalm 55:22; Hebrews 1:3; Psalm 139:23

There are seasons when it feels as though everything depends on us. Someone needs an answer, another person needs help, something needs to be fixed, a decision has to be made, and several problems seem determined to arrive at the same time. We keep moving because people are counting on us, but somewhere along the way responsibility can quietly become something God never intended it to be. We stop faithfully carrying what belongs to us and begin trying to hold everything together.

In one of my favorite passages in the Bible, Psalm 139, David describes how completely God searches us and knows us. Near the end of the chapter, he prays in Psalm 139:23, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” When we reach the place I just described that prayer becomes very personal. We have to surrender our anxiety and trust God to do the work in our lives that only He can do.

Paul gives us a needed reminder in Colossians 1:16–17: “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Read that last phrase again: “in him all things hold together.” Scripture does not say everything holds together because we worried enough, worked enough, planned enough, or stayed awake long enough. Christ is the One holding all things together.

That does not remove our responsibilities. Faith is not an excuse for neglecting what God has placed in our care. There are families to love, jobs to do, ministries to serve, commitments to honor, and decisions requiring prayer and wisdom. The problem begins when we assume responsibility for outcomes that belong to God. We can plant and water faithfully, but we cannot make something grow. We can love someone deeply, but we cannot make their decisions for them.

We can prepare carefully, but we cannot control tomorrow.
Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” Casting something requires releasing it. We cannot place a burden into God's hands while continuing to clutch it in ours. Yet that is exactly what we sometimes attempt. We pray, “Lord, I give this to You,” and then spend the rest of the day mentally picking it back up. Perhaps part of the problem is that being needed can become comfortable. It feels good to know people depend on us, and there is nothing wrong with being dependable.

But there is a dangerous difference between being faithful and believing we are indispensable. Eventually we have to remember that God's work existed before us, will continue after us, and never depended entirely upon us in the first place.
Hebrews 1:3 describes Jesus as “sustaining all things by his powerful word.” The same Christ sustaining creation is fully capable of sustaining the parts of your life that you cannot control. He does not need you to stay awake worrying so He can rest. He does not need your anxiety to remind Him that something matters. Maybe today you are tired because you have been carrying your responsibilities faithfully.

If so, ask God for strength and continue. But perhaps some of your exhaustion comes from carrying things He never assigned to you: another person's choices, tomorrow's possibilities, an outcome you cannot guarantee, or a problem you cannot solve.

Ask yourself what actually belongs to you today. Do that faithfully. Pray about it, work at it, love people well, and obey what God has shown you. Then identify what belongs only to Him and put it back into His hands. You were never asked to hold the whole world together.
That position has already been filled.

Serving Christ Together,
Pastor Doug

09/06/2026

09/06/2026

The Burning Bush Devotional September 6th
Open Your Hand
Scripture References: Genesis 22:1–14; Matthew 6:33; Romans 8:32

There are things we can hold so tightly that we eventually forget who placed them in our hands. A relationship, a dream, a position, a possession, or even an answered prayer can become so important to us that the thought of losing it creates fear. We may thank God for giving it to us while quietly becoming unwilling to trust Him with it again.

Abraham faced that kind of moment in Genesis 22. God had promised him a son, and Abraham had waited years for that promise to be fulfilled. Isaac was more than a beloved child; he represented everything Abraham had been told about generations to come. Then God instructed Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice.

It is difficult to imagine the weight of that journey. Yet when Isaac asked where the lamb for the offering was, Abraham answered in Genesis 22:8, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Abraham did not understand everything God was doing, but he had learned enough about God to trust Him when the command made no sense. At the moment Abraham raised the knife, God stopped him. A ram caught in the thicket became the sacrifice, and Abraham named the place “The LORD Will Provide.” God never desired Isaac's death. What He revealed was that Abraham's faith rested in the Giver rather than the gift.

That distinction matters because God's blessings can quietly become competitors for God's place in our lives. We can hold tightly to something He gave us because we are afraid that surrender means losing it. But surrender is not assuming God wants to take everything we love away. Surrender is trusting that whatever He asks us to place in His hands is safer there than it could ever be in ours.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” The order matters.

God does not ask us to stop loving people, abandon dreams, or become indifferent toward the blessings He has provided. He asks that none of them occupy the place that belongs to Him. Sometimes an open hand is difficult because a closed fist gives us the illusion of control. If we hold something tightly enough, we convince ourselves we can protect it, preserve it, or guarantee its future.

Eventually, however, we discover that control was never ours to begin with. Romans 8:32 reminds us, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” The God asking for our trust has already demonstrated the depth of His love through the gift of His own Son. We are not surrendering our lives to someone whose goodness is uncertain. But we do need to surrender every other aspect of our lives to Him—our emotional, physical, material, and spiritual well-being.

Whatever He asks us to place in His hands, and in whatever order He asks, our responsibility is to be obedient every time. Just as the title demonstrates, we come to Him with an open hand, but most importantly, with the right heart and mind.

Perhaps there is something you have been afraid to place completely in God's hands. You have prayed about it, but you still feel responsible for controlling the outcome. You have told God you trust Him while keeping your fingers wrapped tightly around the answer you want. Abraham discovered on Moriah that surrender did not leave him empty-handed. It revealed the faithfulness of the God who provides.

Whatever you are holding today, remember who gave it to you. Thank Him for it, treasure it appropriately, and care for what He has entrusted to you. But never hold any gift so tightly that you cannot obey the Giver.

Sometimes faith begins when we simply open our hand.

Serving Christ Together,
Pastor Doug

09/05/2026

The Burning Bush Devotional September 5th
Tomorrow Is Already in His Hands
Scripture References: Exodus 13:17–22; Psalm 121:7–8; Deuteronomy 31:8; Ecclesiastes 1:9

There is something about tomorrow that can make us uneasy. We can prepare for it, make plans for it, pray about it, and even lose sleep imagining it, but none of us can actually see what tomorrow contains. We know what we hope will happen, and we know what we fear might happen, but somewhere between those two is a day we have not yet lived. Israel understood that uncertainty when God led them out of Egypt.

They had spent generations in slavery, and suddenly they were walking toward a future none of them had experienced. Exodus 13:21–22 tells us, “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.” They did not receive a map showing every mile of the journey. They received the presence of God showing them where to take the next step.

Notice where God positioned Himself: He “went ahead of them.” Before Israel reached the wilderness, God was already there. Before they encountered the Red Sea, He knew it was coming. Before they became hungry, thirsty, frightened, or uncertain, God already knew what they would need. Nothing Israel encountered along the road surprised the One leading them.

We sometimes live as though God accompanies us into tomorrow rather than going before us. We imagine ourselves arriving at some future difficulty and then waiting for God to catch up. We worry about financial needs that may come, conversations we may have to face, decisions we may be required to make, or circumstances we cannot control. Our minds travel into tomorrow while our bodies are still standing in today.

Deuteronomy 31:8 gives us a better picture: “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” God does not merely promise to meet us when we arrive. He goes before us while remaining with us. Somehow the God who holds tomorrow is also present with us today.

That does not mean tomorrow will contain nothing difficult. Israel's journey certainly did. God's presence did not eliminate every obstacle; it meant no obstacle would be faced without Him. The cloud did not remove the wilderness, and the fire did not shorten the journey. They were reminders that wherever the road led, Israel was not traveling alone. Psalm 121:7–8 says, “The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

Our confidence is not that we know what tomorrow holds. Our confidence is that tomorrow remains under the watchful care of the same God who has carried us through every yesterday.

Perhaps you have something ahead that occupies more of your thoughts than you would like to admit. Prepare wisely for what you can, pray faithfully about what you cannot control, and then remember where God is. He is not waiting nervously beside you wondering how everything will turn out. He has already gone ahead. When tomorrow becomes today, whatever is waiting there will not be waiting there alone. The God who knows the road, sees every turn, and understands every need will already be present. It's time we remember that God is the author of “been there, done that.” What feels completely new to us has never been beyond His knowledge or outside His control.

Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” So, take today's step faithfully and leave tomorrow where it has always belonged. Tomorrow is already in His hands.

Serving Christ Together,
Pastor Doug

09/04/2026

The Burning Bush Devotional September 4th
Finish What Needs Finishing
Scripture References: Joshua 1:1–9; Deuteronomy 34:5–8; Philippians 1:6; 1 John 2:20

Some chapters of life end neatly. Others do not. There are seasons we would gladly remain in longer, relationships we wish had turned out differently, opportunities we thought would last, and people we never imagined having to continue without. Yet eventually there comes a point when we must honor what was, while still being willing to walk into what God has ahead.

Joshua knew that moment. Moses had led Israel for forty years. He had stood before Pharaoh, stretched his staff over the Red Sea, received the commandments on Sinai, and led God's people through the wilderness. Deuteronomy 34:8 tells us, “The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.” Their grief was real, appropriate, and necessary. God did not condemn them for mourning what they had lost.
But eventually the thirty days ended.

Joshua 1:1–2 records what came next: “After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River.’” Those words sound almost abrupt until we remember that God had already allowed a season for mourning. He was not telling Joshua to forget Moses. He was telling him that Israel's future could not remain permanently parked beside Moses' grave. That is a difficult lesson because moving forward can sometimes feel like betrayal. We may believe that releasing a season somehow means it did not matter, or that stepping into something new diminishes what came before it. But gratitude for yesterday and obedience today are not enemies.

We can honor what God did without demanding that He continue doing it exactly the same way. I have recently learned that this is a very hard lesson to learn, but God has been by my side to show me the steps through the examples He gave me in His Word. We have to remember that His Word is always available to us when we need the guidance for our own lives.

There are also unfinished things that need our attention before we move forward. Sometimes an apology needs to be made, forgiveness needs to be extended, a responsibility needs to be completed, or a decision needs to finally be made. Finishing does not always mean fixing everything. Some situations will never end with every question answered or every relationship restored. Sometimes finishing simply means doing everything God has placed within our responsibility and then trusting Him with what remains.

That is where Philippians 1:6 gives us tremendous assurance: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
We are responsible for obedience to His Word and for responding to the “unction from the Holy One” spoken of in 1 John 2:20 (KJV), but we are not responsible for completing God's work. Wisdom is learning the difference. The word “unction” means anointing, and we need to trust God's leading just as Moses did and, when his time came, Joshua did.

Perhaps something from yesterday still needs your attention. If God is asking you to apologize, apologize. If something needs to be completed, complete it. If forgiveness needs to be given, give it. But if you have faithfully done what God asked and are simply standing beside something that has ended because leaving feels difficult, it may be time to move. Joshua grieved Moses, honored Moses, and remembered Moses, but Joshua still crossed the Jordan. Finish what God has given you to finish. Entrust the rest to Him. Then carry the lessons, gratitude, and memories forward without allowing yesterday to become the place where you stop. God was faithful in the chapter that ended, and He will still be faithful when you turn the page.

Serving Christ Together,
Pastor Doug

09/03/2026

The Burning Bush Devotional September 3rd
Don't Miss the Departure
Scripture References: Ecclesiastes 3:1–8; Isaiah 43:18–19; Ephesians 5:15–17

There is a point in preparing for any journey when preparation has to end and movement has to begin. You can check the bags one more time, look at the directions again, make another list, and walk through the house wondering whether you forgot something, but eventually there comes a moment when you simply have to leave. If you spend too much time making sure you are ready for the departure, you may discover that the departure happened without you.

Life has seasons like that. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Solomon then describes the changing seasons of human life: beginnings and endings, planting and uprooting, weeping, and laughing, mourning, and dancing, keeping, and throwing away. None of those seasons lasts forever, and wisdom includes recognizing when one has ended and another has begun.

Sometimes we struggle with that because familiar things feel safe even when God is moving us forward. We know how yesterday worked. We understand the routines, relationships, responsibilities, and expectations that belonged there.

Tomorrow requires faith because we cannot yet see everything it contains. So, we stand between seasons, asking God for confirmation He may have already given because remaining where we are feels easier than stepping toward something we cannot completely see.

God spoke to Israel about that temptation in Isaiah 43:18–19: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” God was not telling them that the past had no value. Their history contained miracles, mercy, deliverance, correction, failure, and countless demonstrations of His faithfulness. But yesterday's testimony was never intended to become today's address.

There are times when we keep asking God to restore something He is asking us to release. We pray for Him to reopen a door He has closed, recreate a season that has ended, or return life to the way it used to be. Meanwhile, something new may already be “springing up,” and we are so busy looking backward that we fail to recognize what God is placing in front of us.

That does not mean every desire for change comes from God, nor does faith mean rushing ahead without prayer or wisdom. Ephesians 5:15–17 tells us, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.” There is a difference between impatient movement and obedient movement. One is driven by our desire to escape where we are; the other comes from recognizing where God is leading.

Perhaps the difficult question is not whether you are ready for what comes next, but whether you are willing to move when God says it is time. Noah eventually had to enter the ark, and Abraham eventually had to leave home. Just like Israel eventually had to step toward the Promised Land and Peter eventually had to get out of the boat. In each case there was a moment when faith could no longer remain an intention; it had to become movement.

Maybe you have prayed, prepared, sought counsel, searched Scripture, and waited for God's direction. If He has made the next step clear, another month of preparation may not make obedience any easier. There comes a time when we have to trust that the God who was faithful in the season behind us will still be faithful in the season ahead. Do not despise yesterday. Thank God for it. Learn from it and carry its lessons and remember His faithfulness, but do not become so attached to what God did that you miss what He is doing now. When God says it is time to move, take the step. You do not want to spend your life standing completely packed and perfectly prepared while watching your departure disappear into the distance.

Serving Christ Together,
Pastor Doug

09/02/2026

The Burning Bush Devotional September 2nd
Check What You're Carrying
Scripture References: 1 Samuel 17:38–40; 2 Corinthians 10:4; Psalm 20:7

Sometimes the things weighing us down were handed to us by people who genuinely wanted to help. Their intentions were good, their advice made sense, and what they offered may have worked perfectly well for them. The problem is that something can be good for somebody else and still not belong to us. David discovered that just before facing Goliath. Saul had finally agreed to let the young shepherd confront the Philistine, but before sending him onto the battlefield, the king tried to prepare David the way a king understood preparation.

1 Samuel 17:38–39 says, “Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.” Saul was not trying to hurt David. He was giving him what a soldier was supposed to need for battle. There was only one problem. David could barely walk in it. David finally told Saul, “I cannot go in these…because I am not used to them.” Then Scripture says, “So he took them off.”

That may be one of the most overlooked decisions in the entire story. Before David could pick up the stones he would use to defeat Goliath, he first had to take off something somebody else thought he needed. We do the same thing. We put on expectations because someone we respect tells us what success should look like. We adopt methods because they worked for somebody else. We carry fears passed down to us by people who learned to expect the worst. Sometimes we even begin measuring our calling against another person's gifts, wondering why their armor seems natural on them while ours feels awkward and heavy. God never called David to become Saul before he could defeat Goliath.

There is wisdom in learning from other people. God places pastors, teachers, parents, mentors, friends, and mature believers in our lives for a reason. We should listen to godly counsel and learn from the experience of those who have walked ahead of us. But godly counsel should help us follow God more faithfully; it should never replace the responsibility of knowing how God has equipped and called us. 2 Corinthians 10:4 reminds us, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.”

David already understood that principle long before Paul wrote those words. His confidence was not in armor, military experience, or physical strength. He had learned in lonely fields with sheep, lions, and bears that the God who had been faithful yesterday could still be trusted today. That is why Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

The issue is not whether armor, chariots, horses, plans, experience, or methods are fundamentally wrong. The question is where our confidence rests. Perhaps it is worth checking what you are carrying today. Are you trying to live up to an expectation God never placed on you? Are you attempting to serve Him exactly like somebody you admire instead of using the gifts and purpose He gave you? Have you accepted another person's fear as though it were your own?

Are you carrying something simply because someone told you that you should? God never said to share your dreams so someone could shatter them. If the counsel doesn't line up with God's Word and what the Holy Spirit has confirmed in your heart, listen to God first.
David took off Saul's armor, picked up his staff, chose five smooth stones, and walked toward a giant with what God had already taught him to use.

You do not need somebody else's armor to accomplish your God-given assignment. Learn from others, receive wise counsel, and remain teachable, but never mistake another person's equipment for God's calling on your life. Before you walk into today's battle, check what you're carrying. If God did not give it to you, perhaps you do not need to take it with you.

Serving Christ Together,
Pastor Doug

09/01/2026

The Burning Bush Devotional September 1st
You Don't Have to Know Everything Before You Leave
Scripture References: Genesis 12:1–4; Hebrews 11:8; Proverbs 16:9

There is something comforting about knowing where you are going before you leave. We like addresses, directions, confirmation numbers, departure times, and some assurance that when we arrive there will actually be something waiting for us. Most of us would never intentionally begin a long trip by getting into the car and saying, “I have no idea where I am going, but I am sure I will figure it out somewhere along the way.” Yet there are times when following God feels remarkably close to that. In Genesis 12:1, God said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you.”

Notice what God did not give him. There was no address, no map, no explanation of every obstacle along the road, and no complete description of what life would look like when he arrived. God gave Abram enough information to obey, but not enough information to eliminate the need for faith.
That distinction matters because we often want God to explain everything before we agree to anything. We pray for direction, but what we really want is an itinerary. We want to know where the road ends, what it will cost, who will go with us, how long it will take, and whether everything will work out the way we hope. Then, after God answers all those questions, we will gladly call ourselves faithful and take the first step. Itineraries don’t require faith…they require reading… But that is not usually how faith works. Faith requires listening and obedience!

Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Abraham's faith was demonstrated not by understanding God's entire plan, but by obeying the part God had already revealed. There have been many times in ministry and in life when I would have preferred God to hand me the entire plan before asking me to move.

I wanted to know how something would turn out before beginning it, how a need would be supplied before committing to it, or how God intended to solve a problem before I stopped worrying about it. Looking back, I can see that if God had answered every question first, very little faith would have been required of me. I would simply have been following instructions with guaranteed results.
Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”

Planning is not wrong. Wisdom prepares, considers, prays, and seeks godly counsel. Faith does not require us to become careless or irresponsible. But eventually preparation reaches a point where another plan will not move us any closer to obedience. At some point, we have to take the step God has already made clear.
Maybe you are waiting for God to answer question number ten while He is still waiting for you to obey answer number one.

Perhaps you have convinced yourself that you cannot move until you understand everything, when God has already shown you enough to begin. The uncertainty ahead does not mean God has forgotten to provide directions; sometimes He deliberately gives them one turn at a time because He wants us watching Him instead of merely watching the road.
Abram left home without knowing the destination, but he knew the One who had called him. That was enough to take the first step, and after the first step came another.

Whatever God is asking of you today, you do not have to see the entire journey before you begin. Pray, prepare, listen carefully, and obey what He has already shown you. God knows the destination even when you do not. Sometimes faith simply means trusting Him enough to leave before you know exactly where you are going.

Serving Christ Together,
Pastor Doug

08/31/2026

The Burning Bush Devotional August 31st
Leave Some Room in the Suitcase
Scripture References: 2 Kings 4:1–7; Ephesians 3:20; Psalm 81:10

There are times when the greatest obstacle to receiving something new is simply that we have no room left for it. We fill our schedules, our minds, our homes, and sometimes even our relationship with God until every available space has already been occupied. Then we pray for God to do something new while quietly expecting Him to fit it somewhere between everything we have already decided must remain.

In 2 Kings 4:1–7, we meet a widow whose circumstances had become desperate. Her husband had died, the creditors were coming, and she had been left without the resources necessary to satisfy the debt. When Elisha asked what she had in her house, her answer was simple: “Your servant has nothing there at all…except a small jar of olive oil.” What looked insignificant to her became the starting place for God's provision. Elisha told her to borrow empty jars from her neighbors, and then he added an interesting instruction: “Don't ask for just a few.” She was told to gather emptiness.

The miracle did not begin with an abundance of something she possessed; it began with available vessels God could fill.
Then something remarkable happened. She began pouring from that small jar of oil, filling one borrowed vessel after another. As long as there was another empty jar, the oil continued to flow. Finally, her son told her, “There is not a jar left.” Scripture then says, “Then the oil stopped flowing.” God's supply had not been exhausted; they had simply run out of available room to receive it. I wonder how often we ask God for more while giving Him very little empty space to work with.

We want greater peace, but every quiet moment is filled with noise. We ask for direction, but our plans have already been made. We pray for God to use us, but our schedules leave no room for an interruption. We ask Him to change something in our lives while insisting that nothing familiar be moved. Psalm 81:10 records God's invitation, “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” There is something wonderfully simple about that picture. God is not asking His people to manufacture what they need; He is asking them to become ready to receive what He provides.

Paul carries that truth even further in Ephesians 3:20, describing God as the One “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” Our God is not limited by the size of our resources, the weakness of our abilities, or the difficulty of our circumstances. Sometimes the limitation is simply our willingness to make room for what He wants to do.

Making room may mean removing something unnecessary from the schedule. It may mean surrendering a plan we have held too tightly, becoming quiet long enough to listen, or admitting that the answer God sends may not look exactly like the one we imagined. Empty space can make us uncomfortable because we prefer knowing what belongs there. Faith leaves some room for God to decide.

The widow could have collected three jars or thirty. We are not told how many she gathered, only that every vessel she made available was filled. As a pastor, I have learned not to stop asking or doing at what I think God is capable of, but to actually believe what His Word says He is capable of. The New Century Version says it this way: “Beyond what we can think or ask.” I don’t know about you, but we need to remember those cattle on a thousand hills the Bible references in Psalm 50:10. He not only owns the cattle but the hills they reside on as well…nothing is too much for Our God!

Perhaps there is a lesson there for us today. As you prepare for whatever God has ahead, don't fill every space before He gets there. Bring Him what you have, trust Him with what you lack, and leave some room for something you never could have planned. God may already have the oil ready.

Serving Christ Together,
Pastor Doug