CameToServe | Kristi's Morning Devotional

January 11, 2026January 11, 2026

Serving with Gladness

We need to be thinking like Jesus – we need to have the same mind set that He did. He came to serve mankind but He didn’t compromise His principles in His service. He was humble and loving but stood resolute in His message of victory over sin and living godly.

“Earth, sing to the Lord! ²Be happy as you serve the Lord! Come before him with happy songs! ³Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him. We are his people, the sheep he takes care of.” Psalm 100:1-3 ERV

Let’s serve others today without compromising our stand for the Lord.

“In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought. 6 He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit. 7 Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God. He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form. During his life as a man, 8 he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death—death on a cross. 9 So God raised him up to the most important place and gave him the name that is greater than any other name. 10 God did this so that every person will bow down to honor the name of Jesus. Everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow. 11 They will all confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” and this will bring glory to God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-12 ERV

Jesus served with a loving heart. He had compassion for those who were weak, hurting, distressed and overcome by wrong deeds and wrong relationships.

“Follow my example: Even the Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people.” Mark 10:45 ERV

Right after He said this Jesus healed a blind beggar. He touched the people of His time that others had ignored or worse yet, that they had shunned and deemed unworthy of common courtesy.

The blind, lame, lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, even a thief hanging next to Him on a cross.

God asks us to humble ourselves and serve. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. He took on the form of a servant and ministered love and forgiveness to those in need.

When the opportunity to serve presents itself, let’s make the most of it and provide service with a smile. We serve God when we serve others.

August 16, 2025August 16, 2025

Good Afternoon Small Fry

This morning Dave and I were up early and out the door to get the storage shed cleaned up and reorganized before the temperatures rose too high.

Sorting through things and then back home to make a big pot of pozole. I just love the taste of a good pozole.

I dished up a couple of big bowls to share with neighbors. Dave delivered one and I delivered the other. Talking with my friend, she said she had wondered if I was feeling ok because there was no morning blog. I laughed and told her it was a busy morning. We sat and talked, sharing the good things the Lord has been doing in both our lives. In the course of our conversation, she mentioned something about fry – you know, the kind of fry that are baby fish.

It brought back the memories of writing this blog four years ago while we were in the mountains.

I hope it ministers to you.

Do you understand the meaning of “small fry”? It was reiterated to me yesterday morning.

Dave and I went out fishing first thing. It was just after daybreak. The hatch of water bugs was in full harvest. At first, we thought we stepped into a swarm of mosquitos. No, not that. We were in a hatch of what appeared to be small dragon flies.

As they landed on the water’s surface the trout began to boil. It had been a long time since I had seen such a sight. Everywhere there were ripples, the trout were coming to the surface to feed on the new hatch.

As we cast our bait we hoped there would be one or two trout that chose it over the freshly hatched bugs sitting on the surface of the water.

At shore’s edge, we observed the hunger of the small fry. Did you know that young fish are called fry?

These little guys, less than 3 to 4 inches long, would come to the surface of the water to feed. Up they’d come, gulp, flip their tails and be gone.

Does it shock you that I would think of a story in the Bible to relate to this adventure?

Jesus met Peter, James, John and Andrew on the shore of the Sea of Galilee after they had had an unsuccessful night of fishing.

“Master,” Simon answered, ‘we have worked hard all night long and have not caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down.’ ⁶They did it and caught so many fish that their nets began ripping apart. ⁷Then they signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. The men came, and together they filled the two boats so full that they both began to sink.

⁸When Simon Peter saw this happen, he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, ‘Lord, don’t come near me! I am a sinner.’ ⁹Peter and everyone with him were completely surprised at all the fish they had caught. ¹⁰His partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were surprised too. Jesus told Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish.’” Luke 5:5-10 CEV

This was a net breaking, almost boat sinking load. But what I find interesting is that nowhere is there any mention to the size of the fish. Surely, some of the fish were small fry.

This is so much like Jesus.

He never makes a distinction between large or small, rich or poor, educated or plain. In fact, Paul says that the Lord uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.

This should be so encouraging.

If you feel like a small fish in a big pond guess what? God knows you’re there. Are you a small fry? Not to worry, God has jobs that only small fry can fill. You won’t find a whale in a mountain lake.

Father, let us realize that you have a specific job for each one of your children. We don’t need to be envious of the bigger fish in the lake. You are willing to use those of us that are small fry!

December 7, 2024December 7, 2024

Mighty God

One of my favorite verses about the birth of Christ comes from the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah, the prophet.

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NLT

…and His name shall be called “Mighty God”.

I still can’t get my mind around it fully. Almighty God came in the form of a baby and subjected himself to a human life. Why? Because of His great love and from that love His desire to see us come into right relationship with Him. He wanted the same fellowship and communion with us that Adam and Eve had in the garden before sin.

“The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his divine greatness—the greatness that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 ERV

Mighty God became man. He lived in human form, and He conducted himself in a truthful and gracious way.

How many times in a week do we complain? It’s not my job. Why should I help out with that? I have better things to do with my time.

Do we take the same attitude that Jesus took?

What if he had said to Father God, “I’ve thought about it and decided I’m not going to earth. Those people won’t appreciate what I’m doing, they will only expect more. They won’t realize who I really am; some of them will really hate me and spend all their time discrediting me and telling lies about me. No, I don’t need that kind of treatment – I deserve better than that.”

“In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought. 6 He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit.

7 Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God. He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form.

During his life as a man, 8 he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death—death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8

When things get hard to handle and you feel underappreciated, remember Jesus, God’s own son left the perfection of heaven to come to earth.

“Mighty God” became a servant to all.