Devotionals for Women

 

 

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Get Your Hopes Up!

I must have been twelve or so—the age when most girls start to worry about their appearance and whether or not they will fit in with their friends. I had asked for a certain kind of sweater for Christmas and literally didn’t care about receiving anything much besides it.

Christmas Day came with the usual excitement and anticipation. Our family celebrated and gave gifts—and, after opening my gifts, I was shocked to realize that I had not receive the greatly desired sweater.

As a mopey teen, I clearly showed my disappointment. I even have a photograph to prove it! How could my parents have heard my distinct request and not fulfilled it?

Two days later, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins got together for our annual extended family Christmas dinner and gift giving. Our large table was filled with all sorts of delightful dishes. We enjoyed lots of laughter and conversation. Once the dishes were done—it took so long in those days because we had no dish washer—we sat down to open presents.

Imagine my delight and surprise when the person who had drawn my name gave me the sweater. And not just the sweater, but the exact style, color, and size I had wanted! How foolish I felt for ruining my Christmas Day feeling sorry for myself and for doubting my parents’ careful love for me.

Many years later, I read the verses from Lamentations that I have quoted above. I realized then that God doesn’t want us to think of Him as an indulgent Santa Claus who promptly gives His children everything for which they hope. Instead, He wants us to place our hope in Him and leave the actual details of meeting our genuine needs to His great wisdom.

The Scriptures tell us in Romans 15:13 that God is a God of hope:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This kind of hope is an amalgam of joy, peace, and trust in our God. This kind of hope produces in us a much deeper sense of belief than just a child-like expectancy that comes when a girl blows out all her birthday cake candles wishing for something very special.

During this Christmas season, and throughout the year ahead, whether you receive from God all you for which you hope or not, may you learn to hope in Him and be at peace with the decisions He makes in your behalf.

—Posted: Monday, December 29, 2014

 

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Ready or Not, Here I Come!

As recorded in Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus told his disciples a story about ten bridesmaids waiting to greet the bridegroom when he came. They were to greet him with torches (or lamps) lit. Five wise bridesmaids took a jar of extra oil with them, as the torches needed frequent refueling. The other five only had their torches. All fell asleep waiting, because the bridegroom took a long time getting there.

At midnight, the call went out that the bridegroom had arrived. The foolish bridesmaids thought they could get extra oil from the wise bridesmaids, but as it turned out, the wise bridesmaid did not feel it was prudent to give away any of their needed fuel. While the foolish bridesmaids went off to buy more oil, the bridegroom came. When the foolish bridesmaids returned, they found the door to the banquet had closed, shutting them out.

Jesus told this parable to warn all of us that He will return suddenly at a time known only to God. Unless we prepare ahead of time, we will not have time to get ready for His coming. Therefore, we must diligently stay on watch for Him and remain prepared and ready for His return.

During this time of Advent when we tend to focus more on the first coming of Jesus, we must not forget that Advent is also a time when we remember and celebrate the fact that He has promised to return in power and glory. He has not told us when or how long we will have to wait—whether we will die waiting, or actually see Him come back ourselves.

Some women know all too well the experience of not being fully prepared for the arrival of new baby when he or she suddenly decides to be born. Thinking the delivery will still be several weeks away, they have the crib on order, the nursery not quite painted, all the new clothes unwashed and laying on the bassinet. But, the baby will not wait!

In Revelation 22:7, 12, and 20, Jesus made the statement three times:

“Behold, I am coming soon!”

Jesus wants us to prepare, to watch, and to hope for His soon arrival. While we wait, we must prepare our hearts, we must keep aware of our sins, and we must look forward with anticipation, but with great care. Scripture says in 1 John 3:2-3 that:

“When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

At Jesus’ first coming, many did not believe. Yet, we read in Luke 2:25-38 that the day Jesus was presented for his circumcision at the temple, Simeon, a man waiting for the “consolation of Israel,” took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God. Also, an elderly prophetess, Anna, who had waited all her life for this day, also recognized the baby Messiah and “gave thanks to God.”

As we celebrate the first coming of Jesus, let us remember to prepare ourselves, as the five wise bridesmaids for the second. Let us say with John in Revelation 22:20:

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

—Posted: Monday, December 22, 2014

 

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Arise, Shine!

What would Christmas be like without lights? We string the lights on our eaves, in our wreaths and garlands, and of course, on our trees. They brighten the night at this most gloomy time of the year.

Light as a metaphor shows up throughout Scripture. In fact, the first words God spoke in Genesis 1:2 were, “Let there be light!”

When God led the Israelites in their escape from Egypt and through forty years in the wilderness to the Promised Land, He directed their way by means of light. As it states in Exodus 13:21:

“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, so that they could travel by day or night.”

And where do we get the idea of lighting the night at Christmas? From Jesus Himself, and His birth. Luke 2:9 records how the angels filled the sky with light to announce His coming to the Shepherds.

Years later, when Jesus began His earthly ministry, He proclaimed in John 8:12:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

But to what does this figure of speech refer? “Light” refers to revelation.

When Jesus came to earth—and when He comes to us today—He reveals Himself to be the representation of God on earth. When we look at Him, we see the character of God, and hear His will revealed through the words of Jesus. We also see for the first time our utter sinfulness and need for a Savior.

A more astounding miracle happens when we open our lives to acknowledge the presence of Christ’s light and bend our wills to accept His revealed will. When we acknowledge His gift of forgiveness through the sacrifice He made in His death on the cross, He makes us “lights” in this dark world as well—as if we were a string of lights around the world.

In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said:

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Jesus came into this world in a very “dark” time in history. In the darkness of our own sinful culture, He wants to walk into this culture through your life. He wants to show His light to others.

Enjoy the Christmas lights of this season, and let them remind you that, in the darkness of our current age, Jesus continues to shed His marvelous light.

Glory to God!

—Posted: Monday, December 15, 2014

 

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Road Work

If you live in Pennsylvania, you know something about crooked roads. The phrase “You can’t get there from here!” truly expresses the sentiment of one trying to travel from east to west in this Keystone State—especially with the Allegheny Mountains that split the Commonwealth, northeast to southwest.

My father used to say that what began as simple cow paths later became wagon trails. The wagon trails then became roads. That’s how the tangled highway system of our state began.

Apparently in Jesus’ time, the roads of Israel bore a resemblance to Pennsylvania roads. Whenever a dignitary made his intentions known to travel to a destination, those living in the region would get to work on the roads, making them level, smooth, and straight.

In similar fashion, John the Baptist spread the Word of God ahead of the coming of Jesus, just as the Prophet Isaiah had foretold in Isaiah 40:3 (as quoted by Dr. Luke in the passage at the beginning of this blog post):

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

However popular the tradition of road repair may have been, God had a different kind of preparation in mind here. He was much more concerned about the “heart condition” of the people who called themselves faithful followers of the One True God. Over centuries, and lifetimes, their lives had become crooked and going in wrong directions.

John the Baptist said to them, “Take a look at your lives. Are you ready to receive the Messiah when He comes?” John the Baptist preached repentance, a turning from sin. He said that things needed fixing in order to hear correctly the Word of the Lord and know His salvation. Things needed to be straightened out—the people needed to take a spiritual inventory.

But what about you and me in this Advent season? In Philippians 2:15-16, the Apostle Paul told the Philippians they should take account of who God wanted them to be:

…blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.

The Messiah has come, but still calls us to make heart “inspections” and “inventory” from time to time, to check the “roads” on which Christ wants to come to us. He wants to come in new ways and with fresh applications of His Word to us.

In this Advent season, let us examine what may have become “crooked” in our lives. Then, let us prepare for a Christmas visit from our King!

—Posted: Monday, December 8, 2014

 

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Prepare

Christmas preparations seem to begin earlier every year. If you’re like me, you would rather have a more leisurely time to get ready than become swept up in a last minute rush. After all, the point of the trappings, gifts, decorations, baking, and carol singing is to create an enjoyable anticipation, right?

We prepare for Christmas by shopping and gift buying, putting up the tree, baking all those special cookies and treats that our families love, and gathering with friends to sing carols. The day itself, for which we have so carefully prepared, comes and goes before we know it. But, the warm glow of the anticipation of it seems to last much longer.

If we think in spiritual terms, the holiday that celebrates the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, also requires a careful preparation. We consider Advent as that time of anticipation and readiness for both the celebration of Christ’s incarnation and also for His ultimate return. We sing hymns that reflect a poverty of spirit and humble consideration of how desperate we are without the new life that Christ came to give us.

One image that often gives me pause is that of the desert. We prepare for the Lord while we wander “in the desert.” We can think of this in terms of our dry, lifeless hearts coming in expectation to God. We can also reflect on the “desert places” of our circumstances. Perhaps the year has brought distress and sadness through grief or sickness or loss. God asks us to make this “desert” a prepared place for Christ to come to us.

John the Baptist was sent to prepare the people for Jesus’ first coming. John lived in the desert and preached repentance of heart to those who so long had anticipated the coming of the Messiah. The scriptures tell us in Luke 3:2-3:

…the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

So, how should we prepare our hearts for Christmas? Contemplation, repentance of sin, viewing our trials as a place for God to come and do new work in us, and considering with thanksgiving all He has done in sending Jesus to be our Savior, Lord, and King. In the words of Psalm 50:23:

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.

As we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth and spend time making our homes welcoming places for family and friends, we would do well to remember to do the same in our hearts. Let us truly make a welcoming place in our hearts for our Savior. Let us, indeed, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”

—Posted: Monday, December 1, 2014

 

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Simmering

How many pots do you have simmering at the moment? Oh, I don’t mean literal pots on your stove. I’m referring to the “spiritual pots” of your unanswered prayers.

On-line cooking professional, James Peterson, says this about simmering:

Unlike the French, who are gifted with a vocabulary that describes the stages of a liquid about to boil (such asfremir, which means to tremble or shake), we have no equivalent words to describe variations in simmering. But for most purposes, a simmer is the stage when the water is in motion but almost no bubbles break the surface; they’re trying to, but the water's surface tension holds them in place.

Some days, when we spend time in prayer, we feel that God will break through with an answer at any time. We can see the “bubbles” on the surface. Yet sometimes when we have laid our petitions before the Lord for many weeks and months, there comes a time when our simmering liquid seems at the point of “boiling dry.” We become tired of praying for the same things and have lost our zeal. We find ourselves at the point of giving up.

Yet God’s Word encourages us not to give up. Notice this instruction from Hebrews 6:12:

“…imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

We simply cannot rush God’s sovereign plan for us and His plan for those for whom we pray. He knows just how long the “simmering process” must continue.

The verse at the beginning of this blog post tells us to watch the “pot”—and be thankful while doing so—believing that God will answer according to His will and because of His incredibly all-knowing love for us. He has a feast planned for us that requires the long, slow-cooking process.

When you are tempted to feel that God isn’t listening to your prayers, know that He watches over you with pleasure as you “watch” for His answers and wait on Him. He smells the fragrance of your prayers. He sees and knows the best time to bring that “dish” to completion.

With great anticipation, thank Him for His amazingly wonderful answers, even before you see any indication of them!

—Posted: Monday, November 24, 2014

 

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Taste Test

I am always heartened to see the professional cooks on television taste their food to see if they like it. As a rather insecure cook myself, I must frequently use the taste test.

This Psalm 34, from which I quoted above, was written by David when he was in trouble. He had no one to trust but God Himself. Here David urges those who have difficulties like his to test the Lord and to find out that that the “taste” proves His goodness.

So, how are we to do this particular kind of “taste test”? We perform the test by putting our trust in God when we need protection or provision. David tells us we won’t be disappointed. The test of our faith will reveal so much more nourishment and enjoyment than we could even imagine or expect.

We can also “taste” the goodness of our God by the reminders of His power, grace, and love through His word. Another psalmist tells us in Psalm 119:103:

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”

Like a savory meal or a rich, satisfying dessert, we can dine on God’s revealed truth to us in His precious Word.

When I have guests coming for a meal, I am especially nervous about the right balance of the food. When we share our favorite dishes, we want those who we’ve invited to enjoy them as much as we do.

But, what about those who have never “tasted” our God through Jesus Christ, His Son? How should we prepare and season the food of God’s Word for those we hope to invite to the meal?

We want our feast filled with the zest of Christ. We desire those who have never tasted Him, to smell the aroma, to be drawn to the table prepared by the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus told us that, as Christians, we have the effect of presenting the world with His savory goodness. In Matthew 5:13, He said:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”

Pray that God will allow you new bites of His goodness. Then pray that He will make your life and the “food” you present to those who need it, tasty indeed, full of flavor and fresh goodness.

—Posted: Monday, November 17, 2014

 

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Change

Too much change makes me crazy! Over the years, I’ve learned in many things to “roll with the punches” but that has been a very long and painful process.

I tend to feel that the formation of any good work a person does takes an extended period of time. Solid relationships take time to develop and nurture. It takes time to learn to trust people and for them to get to know and trust me.

I see the damage that moving a child from school to school and home to home does. While they say children are resilient, I also know that most children need stability in order to learn and to be happy.

Although as an adult I have moved my residence from place to place with some regularity, for 26 of those years, I was able to maintain my teaching position and my church in the same place. I felt established and I put down deep roots.

However, in my maturity, God has seen to it that I more and more must begin to learn to trust Him when changes occur in my life. The stability I once knew, I can no longer rely upon. My jobs haven’t remained the same. Some family members once strong have become sick and weak or have died. Church cultures change and my place in those churches have changed. I have come to accept the saying, “The only thing that stays the same is change.”

Yet, as Christians, we can know for certain that God does not change. The Apostle James writes in James 1:17:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Though our knowledge of God changes as we get to know Him better and better, we can count on Him to always love us and always care for us no matter what changes we may face in life.

Henry Lyte, a pastor from a fishing village in England who lived in the early 19th century, wrote these words:

“Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.”

God wants our security to come, not from maintaining a predictable life, but from trusting in His immovable and unchangeable love and care for us. I urge you to begin to learn, as I am trying to do, to let our unchangeable God be all that you need in this ever-changing life.

—Posted: Monday, November 10, 2014

 

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In Your Hand

Sam Kressler played the saw. This older gentleman in my home church—a farmer and lover of God and His church—didn’t have musical training, but he had a handsaw and a desire to play music for the Lord.

Dorothy Anderson, a single woman in a church in which I was a member as an adult, nurtured fabulous flower gardens and carefully and lovingly decorated the communion table with her blooms every week.

Catherine Winkworth, a Nineteenth Century English woman, had an interest in German chorales. As a personal devotional exercise, she began translating hymns and chorales into English. By the time she had finished she had found and translated 400 hymns. “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee,” “Jesus, Priceless Treasure,” “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” “Now Thank We All Our God,” are among those which we cherish in our congregational singing today.

Moses only had a staff to offer to the Lord. Oh, but how God used it! With that staff and the direction of the Lord, Moses brought about the plagues on the Egyptians, parted the Red Sea, brought water from the rock in the wilderness, and defeated the Amalekites.

Young David had a slingshot and five smooth stones. Yet God used those to defeat a giant and his mighty army.

What has God put into your hand? He can use it for His glory if He also has your willing heart. Never think anything is too small or too insignificant for Him to use for His glory.

As you give yourself to God today, let nothing seem out of reach of His mighty use. You will be surprised what He draws on for His purpose.

—Posted: Monday, November 3, 2014

 

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Beware!

At Halloween’s Trick-or-Treat time, we tend to overlook any danger that might arise from dressing children in ghoulish costumes. To many, using such costumes represents innocent fun and simple make-believe. In fact, any notion that such characters are real and can pose a threat to anyone, doesn’t really occur to people, even some sincere Christians.

Yet, Bible writers apparently had a different view of things. Witchcraft is condemned in both the Old and New Testaments. Acts 8:9-24 tells the story of a sorcerer who had a large following for a long time until the Greater Power of Jesus came to these people.

And, of course, we have the record of Jesus praying in what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” these words in Matthew 6:13:

“Deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13).

Trifling with evil through Ouiji boards, séances, physic readings, or even the reading of Astrology carries dangerous consequences. Make no mistake. Our enemy is too powerful for us when we try to meet him by ourselves. We can only defeat him through the power of the living Christ in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

In John 8:44, Scripture calls this enemy a liar and a murderer.

“He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

The Apostle Paul calls this enemy a masquerader in 2 Corinthians 11:14:

“Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”

Even without indulging in the practices of the magical arts mentioned above, as Christians we wage a difficult battle with this enemy. Even though it seems we fight on every side against the evil of our culture and those who hate the gospel, Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12:

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Yes. We need to know our enemy and have a healthy fear of his power, But, we can conquer the evil he throws at us through the strategic weapons of our spiritual warfare listed in Ephesians 6:10-18. We also can take comfort from reading 1 John 4:4:

“…the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Be aware of the subtle tricks of the Evil One. He loves to see God’s children in masks mocking him, while at the same time he masquerades himself as one who is an angel of light and good.

How appropriate that hard on the heels of Halloween, we can sing with gusto on Reformation Sunday the words written by Martin Luther in 1529:

A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name,
from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,
no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

—Posted: Monday, October 27, 2014

 

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A Place of Springs

Have you ever struggled with a problem from which you had no way out? Has the road been dry and unyielding, going on much longer than you ever imagined it would? Do you have no strength for the fight, no tears left to shed, no prayers you haven’t spoken a thousand times? Then this deevotional is for you.

I remember one school year during which I was assigned to teach in a school with poor discipline and with an age group to which I had trouble relating. It was a very bad “fit” for me, but I was plugging a hole in the schedule and the administration had shuffled teachers around so that I had room in my week for the classes there.

I remember how poorly the students treated me, even though I did my very best and spent hours and hours looking for materials I thought they would enjoy. Nothing worked. It was a very long school year.

Yet, amidst all the pain and lack of success with music classes, I had a group of students in my chorus who sang beautifully. They joyfully worked hard on the pieces I gave them and earned us a standing ovation at our spring concert. This group was my “oasis” in the desert during that awful school year.

I know a woman who had been an influential leader in her church, but when a new pastor came to the church, she realized he was not going to use her gifts as she had been so effectively used previously. She was heart sick that she was set aside, yet she felt committed to the church and its mission.

Not long after a new pastor came, she was led to a new para-church organization that needed her leadership skills. Also, she received an elevation at her secular job and was given new leadership opportunities there. Though she continued on at the church and was saddened by the direction things took there, God had given her other things that made her heart sing. This was her “oasis” in the desert in that difficult time.

A devoted Christian pastor I know went through the devastating loss of his ministry and his reputation through no fault of his own. The situation nearly ruined him financially, as well. Yet, in those days, he spent a couple of days a week watching his new granddaughter, who sat beside him in the car—those were days before car seats!—and with her little feet sticking straight ahead off the seat, she happily jabbered and sang in his presence. This was his “oasis” in the desert during a very discouraging time in his life.

While God doesn’t always take away our distressing wilderness experiences as quickly as we would like, in the midst of such a desert, He can provide those times of refreshing that keep us going.

When the people of Israel traveled the Sinai desert for 40 years, yearning for the rich foods of Egypt, and fighting off thirst, Scripture tells us in Psalm 78:19:

“…they spoke against God, saying, ‘Can God spread a table in the desert?’”

This passage of Scripture goes on to say in Psalm 78:23-27:

“Yet he [God] gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels;…He rained meat down on them like dust, flying birds like sand on the seashore.”

The unbelief of these Israelites greatly disappointed God because He expected His own people to know that He could indeed spread a table before them in the desert.

Likewise, God is able to feed us and to give us a cool refreshing drink in our distress. When you go through a long drought you don’t understand, I urge you to put your trust in Him. He can and He will provide an “oasis” in the desert for you!

—Posted: Monday, October 20, 2014

 

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Congenital Defects

We thank God when we see a new baby healthy and strong. Most little ones appear so perfect in every way. Yet, some parents know all too well the reality of a baby born with a defect of some kind, even if she looks perfectly normal on the outside.

Many times these parents spend the early years of their child’s life in and out of operating rooms hoping that doctors can repair the problems with which she came into the world. They wait and watch for signs of normalcy and steady growth. If she progresses well, the parents rejoice that all the pain was worth the path to healing.

Truthfully, all people come into the world with congenital defects of the spiritual variety. We have a “heart defect.” In our natural state, we may look normal to the world, but inside we carry a flaw which will “kill” us in the end, unless we get help.

We are born spiritually blind to the fact that we begin our lives already mired in sin that we inherited from our parents all the way back to Adam. Unless we get the right treatment, we will go through life unable to see our own condition. In fact, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:1 that we are actually “…dead in our transgressions and sins.”

So, what do we have to do in order to obtain a repair for this condition and recover? There is really nothing we can do on our own. Fortunately, the operation has already occurred—the treatment has been completed! Jesus took the pain, the punishment for our sinful condition on the cross, and by faith in Him we can know His complete healing.

Jesus Himself said in John 5:24:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

For our blindness, God has given healing light, for Jesus is the Light of the World because, as the Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 4:4:

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”

Even centuries before Jesus walked the earth, the prophet Ezekiel prophesied about the surgical procedure for our healing in Ezekiel 36:26:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Hallelujah! God has already provided a “heart” transplant, light to heal our blindness, and eternal life in place of the living death with which we came into the world.

Through Jesus, we can walk in His perfection throughout our lifetime and in the eternity beyond.

—Posted: Monday, October 13, 2014

 

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Stagnant Cisterns

“Me do it!” We hear this exclamation from the mouths of “Terrible Twos”—those children who want to show their independence of others. Unfortunately, the trend continues well into adulthood. We find we would rather do it ourselves than accept God’s provisions for us.

The men of Babel revealed this sinful inclination to self-sufficiency when they said in Genesis 11:4:

“Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Sometimes, men and women of sincere faith, like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration, feel they can “help God” by doing something meaningful for Him. Notice what Peter said in Luke 9:33:

“Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

Why do we offer up these stagnant waters from our own “cisterns” and forsake the fresh springs of Living Water that God offers? Not only did God speak to Jeremiah about this kind of sparkling, clean water, but when speaking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus called Himself the Water of Life. He said in John 4:13:

“Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus not only wants us to quench our spiritual thirst by receiving the Living Water, He wants that water to flow from our lives to others. When speaking at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, Jesus told the crowd in John 7:37-38:

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

Anything we offer to others or to God from our own reservoirs will only leave them running for a mouthwash! When we give the Water of Life—our Lord Jesus Christ—through the power of the Holy Spirit, we arouse their appetites, quench their thirst, and stir to life those who live in the land of death.

Let us forever take a sledgehammer to our old cisterns and fill them with cement. Then daily, let us drink deeply from the Spring of Living Waters, so that we might have something of great value to offer others.

—Posted: Monday, October 6, 2014

 

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You Talking to Me?

I was both offended and touched by the little four-year-old boy when he shouted across the room, “Hi, Grandma!” I didn’t know him, and he was merely being friendly. But, the encounter set me back for a moment.

Having never had children or grandchildren, I had never heard such an address intended for me! How did he know my eyes were not focusing well that day, or that my feet were aching more than usual?

All this youngster saw was my gray hair, and assumed I was a woman of a certain age. I guess I am! Our culture so often looks down on the elderly, and most women do what they can to camouflage their true age. Some do better than others!

Our American society seems to have a pecking order: those who carry influence and those pushed aside. Minorities struggle with this constantly. They strive to figure out how they can compete for acceptability and significance.

Yes, age becomes a factor too. You don’t have to look far to see that advertisers aim for those under forty. Even churches spend time trying to appeal to what they think will appeal to that age group, or the even younger Millennials.

What of the rest of us? I guess in St. Paul’s day, the tables were reversed. Apparently their society looked down on the young, for he told Timothy, young in the faith, in 1 Timothy 4:12:

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

So, my challenge today for those of us no longer young is:

“Let no one despise your (age or race or gender or socio-economic position or educational status), but be an example in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

God intends us to always, and in all ways and all places, represent Him well so we may make a difference in our world.

St. Paul thought about the older women in his letter to Titus. He told Titus to encourage the older women of Crete to not only be an example, but to teach the younger women. Note what he wrote in Titus 2:1-10:

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

We all have whatever God wants to use in us to benefit other believers. Let no one look down on your gray hair, or, for that matter, anything else!

—Posted: Monday, September 29, 2014

 

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Restored

Have you ever salvaged something from an old barn, or found a treasure at an antique mall or flea market? Or, maybe you have an old tea pitcher or a clock given to you by your grandmother that just has never seemed useful to you. But, when someone with an eye for such things sees it, they can bring a new idea to life from what you may have thought was worthless.

Many of us enjoy picking out pieces that we believe can have a new life. That’s just what God has done with us. From before the foundation of the earth, He saw something in us that He could restore. So, in due season, He sent the Holy Spirit to salvage us and make us over into a new person.

The word “salvation” actually comes from the same root word as the word “salvage.” The Apostle Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Yet, some of us who have become new creations in Christ have also become battered along the way by the trials of this world and by the persistence of sin in our own lives. Like a piece of new furniture that has become water spotted and broken down through years of neglect and wrongful purposes, we have become broken down because of neglect and wrong.

The good news is that just as a talented craftsman can restore that old, battered piece of furniture, so God can restore one of His own dear children who have suffered neglect and misdirection in life.

First, we must see ourselves as God sees us. We must recognize the potential we have and the new function He wishes to employ in us. We must trust Him that when He puts the harsh paint remover to us, or the lye to clean us up, He is preparing us for new, wonderful service ahead.

Once we see the new beauty He brings forth in us, we will only want to praise and delight Him through a new obedience to His ways.

If you desire the restorative touch of God in your life today, let me suggest that you use the following words to instruct your prayers for restoration.

First from Psalm 23:3:

“He restores my soul.”

Next, from Psalm 52:12:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Then, from Psalm 126:4:

“Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev.”

Finally, from Joel 2:25 NKJV:

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.”

Once, we see the lost splendor of our lives given new life and purpose, we will rejoice with the nineteenth century hymn-writer, Henry Lyte:

Praise my soul, the King of heaven,
to His feet your tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who, like me, His praise should sing?
Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him,
Praise Him, Praise the Everlasting King.

—Posted: Monday, September 22, 2014

 

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“The Cows are Out!”

Usually the call came from my dad, frantically yelling into the house, “The cows are out!” That meant everyone had to jump into action and move out into the backyard, or road, or wherever the family herd had meandered.

Cows do not seem to have the intelligence that you would expect from animals that produce so much of our food. So, they quite frequently get themselves into serious trouble.

The cows, when out of the barn, or a fenced in area, have to be corralled and driven back where they belong. If the barn door gets accidently left open, or the gate gets broken down by weather or struck by a piece of farm equipment, the animals take that as an invitation to explore a world they have only observed from afar.

On the several farms my family members own, stray cows have been known to peer into house windows—even licking them repeatedly. They will stand ankle deep in freshly seeded lawns or flower gardens. And yes, they have even ended up in the family swimming pool.

Cows are curious creatures, and sometimes they just want to try new adventures. Sometimes it seems that they believe the grass might truly be greener and taste sweeter outside the fenced-in meadow.

Truthfully, in all too many cases, we’re not unlike those cows. Sometimes we just wander off. For no apparent reason we take advantage of an open gate and launch off into someplace we really shouldn’t go. We just drift away from the safety of God’s best place for us. We, like the cows, don’t see the warning signs—like speeding traffic or a pool of water eight feet deep.

How many times do we get dissatisfied with certain aspects of our own lives and take it upon ourselves to explore new vistas, even sinful ones we know will lead us down the wrong path. Discontent can provoke us to move into dangerous territory.

How do we avoid getting “outside” the boundary lines that God has assigned to us?

First of all, we need to stay close to our Heavenly Guardian. He will remind us, if we ask, that we are getting too near unhealthy and ungodly associations, temptations, or influences.

Secondly, we need to very insistently and very carefully watch out for ourselves. Proverbs 4 instructs us to guard instruction, guard our hearts, and pay close attention to our paths. We do this by staying close to God’s Word, and by remaining vigilant against the suggestions of our culture and our enemy, Satan, who 1 Peter 5:8 tells us:

“…prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

We should gratefully submit to the instructions of God’s Word, to His known will for us, and we should consistently trust His grace when we seem penned-in to some place where we would rather not live.

If we belong to Christ, when we do stray we can be assured that He diligently calls out His heavenly crew of angels to get us back inside the fence of His will. But, how much better for us and for our witness to the watching world, if we stay out of the places where we don’t belong—places of ruin that we can certainly avoid!

—Posted: Monday, September 15, 2014

 

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Out of Ashes

Sometimes it feels like all we have left to give the Lord are ashes. That which we had—that which seemed to be the best offering we could produce—has been burned and now gone. All we have to offer our God is brokenness and the burned up remains of a well-intentioned life.

We can find various stories of the lives of people who thought their world had ended, but then went on to do amazing things despite the burned out remnants of something seemingly lost.

Consider Beethoven, a man with the keenest sense of hearing, who composed exquisite music, but suffered complete deafness when he had so many songs yet to give the world. Despite the extreme loss, he composed the most well known and loved symphony, his Ninth, while totally deaf.

Think of Joni Earecksen Tada, a young girl with a promising knack for painting, who loved sitting next to her artist father with her crayons and imagination, dreaming of producing wonderful pictures. Then, she experienced a horrible diving accident, spent months in the hospital, and ended up a quadriplegic. She could have never known what God saw in her future, of the magnificent works of art created by colored pencils held between her teeth.

To Joni, and many others with severe limitations, these verses from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 must ring very true:

“But he [God] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Maybe something you depended on to give you the means to serve God has been taken from you. Maybe the dreams you had have vanished like smoke. Even so, be aware that God’s plan never gets thwarted. He wants to give you beauty for ashes, and hope where you have despair. He is able to produce in you something of His design.

Stay faithful, and you will soon see the beauty develop in ways you never imagined!

—Posted: Monday, September 8, 2014

 

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Taking Stock

She was about my age at the time, almost fifty, and energetic, efficient, extremely competent. Now she was gone, dying all too quickly of a stroke.

Fran Jones was hired as our school system’s assistant superintendent, but she had served for the past school year as my school’s interim principal. We had often laughed together as we planned events for the school. She had won the hearts of all who worked with her, and said this was one of the happiest years of her career.

She had just begun a second year as an interim principal, this time at the Middle School, for what she hoped would be a short-term assignment. After a staff meeting, she fell ill and never recovered. She died several days later.

I guess that everybody has a clarifying moment like this, a time to reflect on his or her own life. This period in my life allowed Psalm 90 to take on new meaning. I wanted to make a difference, live for Christ as I never had before, to affect lives for the Kingdom. Fran’s death had made me more eager than ever to make certain I did not waste whatever time I may have left in my life.

Moses wrote this 90th Psalm. I wonder at what time in his life he wrote it: when he cared for sheep in the desert; or after the Lord had called him to lead His people out of Israel; or toward the end of Moses’ life, as he struggled with the nation in the wilderness?

Maybe Moses, too, saw someone important to him, vital, influential, and dying. Maybe he, too, wanted more than ever to be God’s servant with a significant ministry to His people.

If God has you pray the kind of prayer contained in Psalm 90, you can be sure that He has blessing ahead for you!

—Posted: Monday, September 1, 2014

 

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The Obi

Usually, when we think of Japanese traditional attire for women, we think of the kimono. As early as the 5th century, these “robes” were worn by unmarried women. The T-shaped garment, traditionally, is tied together using an obi. These can be formal or informal, wide or narrow, and of many various materials, depending on the usage.

On-line research at Wikipedia.com discloses the following:

There were two reasons for the obi: firstly, to maintain the aesthetic balance of the outfit, the longer sleeves needed a wider sash to accompany them; secondly, unlike today (where they are customary only for unmarried women) married ladies also wore long-sleeved kimono in the 1770s. The use of long sleeves without leaving the underarm open would have hindered movements greatly.

A woman's obi is worn in a fancy musubi knot. There are ten ways to tie an obi, and different knots are suited to different occasions and different kimono.

There are many different types of women's obi, and the usage of them is regulated by many unwritten rules not unlike those that concern the kimono itself. Certain types of obi are used with certain types of kimono; the obi of married and unmarried women are tied in different ways. Often the obi adjusts the formality and fanciness of the whole kimono outfit: the same kimono can be worn in very different situations depending on what kind of obi is worn with it.

So, we see that the obi ties everything together with consideration for balance, beauty, and the movement of the person wearing the kimono.

What a perfect picture of unity in the body of Christ. Though we see many different manifestations of Christ’s Body, the Church, God blesses His people with the sash of peace that holds everything together in balance and beauty.

In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ has called us to peace. The Ephesians passage quoted at the beginning of this blog post goes on to say, in Ephesians 4:4:

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all.

Are we married to Christ? Then our “garments” of His righteousness should be evident to all. Just as the obi of a Japanese woman speaks of her marital status, so should the peace which binds Christians together speak of our relationship with our Savior.

In this world of constant noise and strife, peace marks Christians, too. As Psalm 133:1 states:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.

May this unity bind and beautify the body of Christ!

—Posted: Monday, August 25, 2014

 

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Doing Good

Jesus showed His power wherever He went—not for personal aggrandizement, but for the good of everyone He met. We read in the gospels that He never went anywhere but what people with all kinds of problems would come to Him for help.

I find it interesting that the verse above from Acts 10 speaks of power twice. One kind is the power of the devil, and the other that of God. The devil only intends harm with his power. He only brings heartbreak and destruction—of physical, mental, and emotional health. Though we read in Scripture that he masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He cannot be trusted and we should all be wary of his trickery.

In stark contrast with the devil’s activities, before Jesus left earth for His heavenly home, He told His disciples that this same power that He used in going about doing good would be theirs to use in doing even greater good. In John 14:12, Jesus said:

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

He promised the power of the Holy Spirit to His followers so that they might tell others about Him and use His means to do good to others. (Acts 1:8). We have been given all we need to continue Jesus’ work in our world.

I know people who travel the world teaching the Word of God. I know people who befriend friendless people and bless their lives. I know others who constantly seek ways to build people up and supply them with encouragement.

Do you know people of faith who “go around doing good?” Do you see the power of Christ in their works and their words? This same power is available to you, and God expects you, with your unique gifts, to share His goodness with all you know for His glory.

What an awesome privilege is ours to go out each day in Christ’s name and in His power to obey His last wishes on earth! Let us pray that God will use us in this world alongside His other children to bring good to others, and to lift up His name to them.

—Posted: Monday, August 18, 2014

 

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Too Much Help

How often do you run across current opinion that God will accept us if we have “lived a good life, helped others, and done our best?” Most people think that will accrue them enough favor to get them into Heaven when the time comes. They would offer the best “fruits” of a life they have lived trying to be the best they could be.

This kind of thinking reminds me of a child who goes out into the garden and picks green tomatoes thinking she is doing her mother a favor. How God must laugh at our similar offering. We have brought Him what we thought was our best. But, He lets us know through His word that all by ourselves we can’t please Him enough to win His favor. We are flawed and sinful creatures from birth. Our best gifts will never suffice to take away the filth of our sin.

Only Jesus, perfect and sent from the Father, could serve as the “propitiation”—the perfect sacrificing atonement—for our sins. Nothing we can do will ever be enough to gain us entry into God’s Kingdom. He says to us, “Please, friend, I would rather do it myself!” We have but to fall at His feet with gratitude for what He has done for us through His Son and present to Him our plea for an outpouring of His mercy, grace, and love.

This same kind of “helpfulness” on the part of the little girl sometimes also plays into Christians’ lives. We think we can serve God without His direction or without the guidance of His Spirit. We come up with grand schemes to serve Him, which He would also much rather do for Himself.

Take the story of David, for instance. In 1 Chronicles 17, we read that after David was settled in his own palace, he spoke with his friend, Nathan the prophet. He lamented that God was still “living” in a tent—the tabernacle that had been the worship place since Israel left Egypt. David wanted to build a house for God.

David drew up plans and thought he could do something for God that would significantly honor and bless God before David died. However, we read that God had other plans. David’s ideas were premature, not what God wanted at all. Here the story expresses God’s marvelous overwhelming grace to David.

God tells David that his son Solomon will build the temple, and that God has a far bigger plan for David than he ever imagined. This is what God said to him, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 17:8-10:

“Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed…I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you.”

Wow! Like our little veggie picker, God says, “You thought you had a wonderful meal for me. No, just wait awhile. I have a wonderful meal of ripe red tomatoes, perfectly grown and harvested on which you may feast. I know best the time and method to bring about what you wish. Wait on Me!”

—Posted: Monday, August 11, 2014

 

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Overflowing Blessing

Does God’s blessing overflow to others like a cup overflows into the saucer? Apparently it does.

Joseph, son of Jacob, who served in Potiphar’s household, was blessed by God with favor and success in everything he did, but God also blessed Potiphar, as recorded in Genesis 39:5:

The Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

In the life of Daniel, the commander of the king’s guard intended to execute the wise men of Babylon because they could not interpret the king’s dreams. Because God’s blessing rested on Daniel, and because God gave him the answer to the king’s questions, Daniel pled with the commander not to execute the wise men. Instead, as recorded in Daniel 2:24, the king put Daniel in charge of all the wise men of Babylon.

The Apostle Paul, on a ship bound for Rome, found himself in a deadly shipwreck. The crew had given up all hope of being saved. In Acts 27:24, Paul announced to them what God had told him:

“Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.”

Think about times when God has graciously spared you from an automobile accident. Did He not also spare others whom you didn’t even know? Have you been the recipient of blessing because God had His good hand on a Christian employer of yours, or a public school teacher, or someone else whom God placed in a position of authority over you?

Eugene Peterson, in his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, makes this statement:

Blessing has inherent in it the power to increase. It functions by sharing and delight in life. ¹

When Christians live under God’s blessing, those around them enjoy the positive effects of that blessing.

Ask God today for His blessing, and watch to see how He blesses others around you, too!

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1 Peterson, Eugene. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

—Posted: Monday, August 4, 2014

 

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Hide and Seek

“Ready or not, here I come!”

Most anyone who hears those words will remember playing Hide and Seek as a child. On warm summer evenings it was fun to play outside where you could find any manner of wonderful places to get out of sight while the person who was “it” counted to whatever number the group had set.

If you could stump the person looking you felt clever. But, if the search went on too long, you could get bored and wish they would hurry up and find you.

God shows us His mysterious Person by telling us to seek Him. He is not always evident. Yet, He wants us to seek until we find Him. The better we get to know Him, and the closer we stick to His Word, the easier it becomes to find Him.

It was no fun as a child to hide and have no one look for you. It was no fun to desire to play the game and have no one want to play with you. That never happens in this “seeking God” game of life.

God delights to be found. When we see Him in another person, when He answers a prayer for us, or when He brings us a wonderful surprise we know could only come from His hand, we know we have found Him.

The Prophet Isaiah writes these words in Isaiah 55:6:

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

God wants us to seek Him. He invites us to do so. He very much wants us to play this amazing “game.” But, we can only find Him when we live close to Him and search for Him. And, like children, the more we play this special “game,” the more often we will find Him.

—Posted: Monday, July 28, 2014

 

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Family Ties

You could see the shock on their faces. My friend, Carrie, had brought her sixth graders to my music class. She hesitated with her arm around me before she left the room and said, “You know, boys and girls, Mrs. Wilson and I are sisters.”

Now clearly these children had a hard time swallowing this information because of my white skin and Carrie’s brown skin. They looked at me and asked, “Really?” to which I affirmed her statement. Big pause. Then quickly, before she left, Carrie said with a smile and a twinkle in her eye, “Same Father!”

We laugh at such fun with the kids. But, the truth of God’s Word teaches that all who belong to God through the Lord Jesus Christ relate to each other as brothers and sisters in Him. We should carry the same family resemblance as our Father. Those around us should see the special “family ties” when we live and work and worship together.

How often do denominational differences, life-style, political preferences, and, sadly, even racial differences drive wedges between us as Christians. These unnecessary self-imposed barriers keep us from living out what God intended, as reflections of His mercy, grace, and love?

Carrie and I genuinely complimented each other when we worked together. She displayed the qualities of the extrovert and friend to all. While I displayed the qualities of the introvert, thoughtful, and logical one.

Together, we fit perfectly together just like pieces in some great puzzle that God has called together to complete His image in the world. We prayed together, encouraged one another, and, hopefully, gave those who knew our “family connection” a healthy picture of Christ’s work in our lives.

Remember, no matter what kind of natural, cultural, or other differences we may display, when Christ holds first place at the very center of our lives, Christians’ family ties should become evident to all who look at us from a watching world. Christ wants this kind of witness from our lives. As He states in John 13:35:

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

—Posted: Monday, July 21, 2014

 

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The Mysterious Queen of Sheba

This intriguing queen from a story in 1 Kings 10 not only was mentioned in the Old Testament, but also in Ethiopian legends as well. She was known as a searcher for truth, and had heard about Solomon’s fame and his relation to the name of the Lord. She traveled with a large caravan of camels loaded with spices, gold and precious stones to ply Solomon with her questions.

Solomon, traditionally known as the wisest man who ever lived, welcomed this Queen from the area we now know as Yemen. He answered all her questions, welcomed her into the royal palace, and entertained her at his table with all the attention of servants and cupbearers. She also accompanied Solomon to the temple where he made burnt offerings to the Lord and where she saw the worship of the one true God.

Anyone would have been impressed by the wealth and achievements of Solomon. But as recorded in 1 Kings 10:9, she responded to what she had seen by saying:

Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.

This woman, with her thirst for spiritual things, recognized the Lord God in all of Solomon’s blessings. She hungered for truth and found it. Jesus Himself acknowledged her recognition of truth, and condemned those from His generation who couldn’t see the legitimacy of His kingdom, even when the Truth walked among them.

Jesus welcomes all who truly seek truth. He who is “the way, the truth, and the life” is no respecter of persons. As He clearly said in Matthew 7:7-8:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Just as King Solomon welcomed this questioning woman from a faraway land, Jesus waits to answer your questions and reveal Himself to you. Maybe it’s not so bad to have someone say to you, “Who do you think you are, the Queen of Sheba?”

—Posted: Monday, July 14, 2014

 

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Inky Blackness

Have you ever been in complete darkness? The closest most of us come to that is a tour of an underground cavern or walking in an unlighted tunnel at night. We might grasp for the wall to keep our equilibrium, but we do not know where we’ve been or where we’re going.

Jonah had a most unique experience with darkness. After disobeying God and being tossed into the sea by a boatload of reluctant sailors, a great fish swallowed him alive and he stayed in the belly of this fish for three days and three nights. What’s the difference in night and day in a place like that anyway?

God had Jonah where he could not escape. God must have known that was the only place where Jonah would wake up to the requests his God was making of him and recognize his responsibility to Him. In Jonah’s astounding prayer from the fish’s belly, as recorded in Jonah 2:9, he finally cried:

But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.

Does God also have you in a place where He waits for you to “cry Uncle”? We know from this story that God takes advantage of the places and circumstances that will turn us to Him. I don’t believe God willingly creates circumstances like this, for Jeremiah said in Lamentations 3:33:

He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

You know the famous line parents often give when punishing a child: “This will hurt me more than it hurts you.” God sees your plight if you have found yourself in a dark place with no way out and not a clue what to do. He understands and has compassion on you. Be reminded of Jonah. Though he went through utter distress, God knew all along the circumstances He would use to get Jonah back on track with His plan.

God wants us to trust Him in the dark. He alone has the means to rescue us. He wants us to believe in His power and in His will to do just that!

—Posted: Monday, July 7, 2014

 

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Perseverance

	“ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ”
	—James 1:4

In my many years of teaching, particularly when I dealt with private music students, I found that some children—and parents!—balked at the idea of the necessary time devoted to practice. Some actually thought that they should be able to come to lessons and that would suffice for them to learn to play the piano, or whatever instrument they tried to learn.

This kind of approach for learning how to play an instrument never works. The students make no progress. Every lesson ends up nearly like the first. These students clearly don’t take their music lessons seriously. They do not understand that practice makes all the difference in growth.

Very much like a dedicated music teacher, God wants His children to make progress in the faith. Just as coming to a weekly lesson without practice fails to equip a young person to become a musician, coming to church once a week—or less—never produces mature believers either. As recorded in 2 Peter 3:18 God expects His children to:

“…grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Proverbs 2:1-5 records Solomon, in teaching his son, encouraged him saying:

“…store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

Paul, in teaching young Timothy, spoke these words, as recorded in 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV:

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Paul wasn’t even with Timothy to teach him when this was written in a letter. Timothy obviously had “homework” to do.

Our homework, or “practice,” helps make us mature followers of Christ. Such growth takes place over a very long time—a lifetime, in fact.

There is no short cut. Private Bible study, reading books by wise Christians, and prayer, journaling, fasting, and other Christian disciplines will develop faith over time. We should clearly understand that we must diligently apply our hearts and minds to becoming all God has made us to be!

—Posted: Monday, June 30, 2014

 

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False Advertising

	“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
	—1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

I remember the unpleasant experience of driving behind a small car which spewed a pungent odor into the air. The car sported on its rear bumper a slogan which read, “Protect the Environment!” Years later, while waiting at a stop light, I saw a very dirty white van drive by with the business name on the side, “Compulsive Cleaners.”

Both of these experiences reminded me that, as Christians who shouldn’t be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, we ought always to live according to the brand we carry. When we slip-up or sin, we bring shame on the Lord to whom we belong. Though we often do sin, we should set an example of humility and Christ”s love to others by confessing our sins and seeking to make things right.

Recognizing the tightness of the bond that binds us to our Savior, Paul admonished the Ephesians—and us as well—in Ephesians 4:1-2:

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

People watch Christians to see whether their lives stack up to their confession. Those on the outside of the church like to complain that the Body of Christ is full of hypocrites. We should be careful to not stoke that fire!

We can accomplish the goal of truth in our “advertising” by coming to the Lord in humility every morning, confessing that we can never live the Christ-life without Him.

We desperately need God’s Holy Spirit to indwell and control us throughout every day, so that our lives, like a book that others read, will be lived to the praise of His glory!

—Posted: Monday, June 23, 2014

 

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Slaying the Dragon

	“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
	—James 4:7

David and Karen Mains, in their marvelous children’s book, Tales of the Kingdom, ¹ tell a story of Amanda, a princess, who, despite warnings, takes home a dragon egg, hatches it, and makes a pet of the baby dragon. At first she enjoys playing with the little guy and does everything she can to domesticate it. But, before she realizes it, the dragon has become much too formidable for her to control and she has to kill it to save her own life.

Private sins are like that. We try to housebreak them and keep them under our control. Our secret fantasies, the so-called minor offenses we hide and whitewash, never stay the same. Like the dragon, they grow too large for us. The gossip we share with just one friend becomes too easy to share with many more. The anger we allow to spill out in occasional verbal outbursts at others soon becomes a way of life.

Recently I read this quote from J. C. Ryle in the book, Diamonds in the Dust ² by Joni Eareckson Tada:

“We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself in its true colors. Never when we are tempted will we hear sin say to us, ‘I am your deadly enemy…I want to ruin your life.’ That’s not how it works. Sin, instead, comes to us like Judas with a kiss. It comes to us like Joab with outstretched hands and flattering words. Sin, in its beginnings, seems harmless enough—like David walking idly on his palace roof which happened to overlook the bedroom of a woman. You and I may give wickedness smooth-sounding names, but we cannot alter its nature and character in the sight of God.”

We need to remember that the dragon has a burning breath and a dangerous tail. When we first entertain the idea of letting him near us, or even domesticating him for our pleasure, we need to slam the door on him and flee.

We can never hope to serve God effectively with known sins in our lives. The longer we let them grow, the more attached we become to them, and the harder it gets to slay them.

Please pray with me:

Oh, Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit power to recognize the first sign of a deadly sin and flee from it. Help us stay close to You, hour by hour, so that we can be protected by Your loving arms and have the power You give to resist the devil. Amen.

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1 Mains, David and Karen. Tales of the Kingdom (Kingdom Tales, Book 1). Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Company, ©1983, Chapter 10.

2 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Diamonds in the Dust. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, ©1993, Devotional for June 8th.

—Posted: Monday, June 16, 2014

 

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Loaded Wagons

	“Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits.”
	—Psalm 68:19

This time of year reminds me of the June days of my childhood when one farm wagon after another would come back to the barn loaded with fresh hay. Even if the winter had been especially long or cold and the spring wet and windy, these days made up for it with the green grass and the beautiful blue skies.

This mental picture calls to my mind the words of Charles Spurgeon’s when he writes of the dreaded clouds and rain, the dark skies and dull days. These same days of rain and clouds yield for us rich stores of God’s grace. Spurgeon reminds us:

“Our Lord’s love letters often come to us in black-edged envelopes. His wagons rumble, but they are loaded with benefits.” ¹

Our God loves to make glorious results from our heavy trials, to teach us His grace in our struggles and pain, and to fill us up with joy in His ability to load us up with blessings.

Many years ago, when faced with a trial, I remember how a particular hymn ² moved me to trust God in faith. That hymn says:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
and rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
in blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour:
The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower.

Bind unbelief is sure to err,
and scan His work in vain:
God is His own interpreter,
and He will make it plain.

Be encouraged, my friend. The Lord sees the bright days ahead and wants you to trust that He will bring them to pass!

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1 Spurgeon, Charles H. Faith’s Checkbook. Seaside, OR: Watchmaker Publishing. ©2013. Devotional for May 21st.

2 Cowper, William. God Moves in a Mysterious Way. Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, June 9, 2014

 

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It’s Who You Know

	“You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
	—John 14:13

Precious Ramotswe, the owner of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, in one of her charming tales, tells of walking to school as a child in Botswana, Africa.¹ The trip took all of an hour, except when she could get a ride on a mule-drawn water cart that occasionally passed that way.

The other children would enviously watch her clamber up on the driver’s seat beside the man who had worked with her father as a young man. The children would ask why Precious could ride and they couldn’t. Precious, all of eight years old, overwhelmed with embarrassment would ask the driver why he treated her specially.

“You are the daughter of Obed Ramotswe,” said the driver. “He is a great man. That is why you are riding up here.” At that age Precious knew her father was a wonderful man, and she adored him, but she had no idea of how highly people thought of him.

Reading that story reminded me of the special place we hold in God’s heart—those of us who have been called and have received redemption through Jesus. We hold so many privileges because of our relation to Him. When we use His name in prayer, in the way He intended, things begin to happen.

However, like Precious Ramotswe and her father Obed, even as we display appropriate adoration for our Heavenly Father, we know that the high honor of using His name holds with it the responsibility to ask wisely.

Some Bible teachers have said when we read about His “name,” we should really understand that to mean His “nature,” as well. We ask “according to His nature.”

Those who ask in Jesus’ name are those who want to represent Him in this world and, according to John 14, want to do even greater things than He did while on earth. I don’t think Jesus had in mind that if we ask for diamond bracelets or popularity that He would count those as legitimate requests!

Not only should we pray according to God’s will, as much as we know it, we can claim the promises He gives us in His word. Therefore, we need to spend time knowing Him in order to know His nature and His name.

How earnestly do we pray? God also requires earnest, devoted, heartfelt prayer of us. The dictionary defines “earnest” as “resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction.” This definition tracks very well with God’s instruction through the Prophet, recorded in Jeremiah 29:13:

“You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.”

Earnest prayer has an important role to play in ministering to people’s needs. Acts 12:5 reports that:

“ Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”

God also hears the prayers of those who obey Him. 1 John 3:21-22 tells us:

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.”

So, we have a great responsibility in prayer. We should not pray casually, nor without understanding God’s will. Neither should we pray rote repetitions, as Jesus mentioned in His “Sermon on the Mount.” In Matthew 6:7-8, Jesus instructs his disciples:

“ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

There it is! Jesus refers to such repetitious prayer as “babbling!”

Yes, because we are sons and daughters of God through Jesus, we have great privileges. We should be grateful and we should pray, understanding the responsibility that privilege carries with it.

Praise be to God!

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1 Story from Smith, Alexander McCall. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. New York: Pantheon Books/Random House. © 2009.

—Posted: Monday, June 2, 2014

 

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I’ll Be Back!

	“‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”
	—Acts 1:11

I must have had an undo fear of abandonment as a child. Certainly, I should have felt as secure as any little girl could possibly feel. Yet, I often had a difficult time with separation anxiety.

I can remember riding the school bus to my piano teacher’s house after school on Tuesdays for my lesson. My mom always picked me up at the teacher’s house after I finished. But, I can remember times when she got delayed, for one reason or another, and I had to stand in my teacher’s dining room and watch the road for her. Sometimes I thought she’d never come for me.

I also remember crying to my first grade teacher when she lined us up for the bus at the end of the day. “Would my mother remember to walk to the bus stop for me?” I blubbered. But, my mom always came.

Jesus assured His disciples of His eventual return. He never told them when, but we know from His promise that He will return in the clouds to get His faithful servants.

In John 14:1-2, Jesus promised:

“‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me.’”

Do you watch for Jesus as eagerly as a child waits for a parent? Maybe your parent never returned to you like my mom always did, and you have a very good reason to feel separation anxiety! Not so with your Heavenly Parent. What He says He will do.

We can be confident that Jesus will come back for us and that He has a beautiful place designed for us where we will dwell with Him for all eternity. He expects us not only to eagerly watch for Him, but to be ready.

As He told us in Luke 12:40:

“You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

In the busyness of our lives, we need to remember to keep our eyes open for all that God wants to do in us and through us, while we watch for His final appearing. This we know for certain: He’ll be back!

—Posted: Monday, May 26, 2014

 

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Unspotted

	“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this…to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
	—James 1:27 NKJV

The principal of the newly renovated school where I taught liked to use my spacious music classroom for faculty meetings after school because I didn’t have student desks, and had plenty of room for adult size folding chairs. In the spirit of Christian hospitality, I enjoyed allowing my fellow teachers to use my room for such a purpose.

However, I cringed to see fellow faculty members balancing coffee cups and stacks of papers as they entered the room. Worse yet were those who would set their cups willy-nilly on the floor near their chairs.

I knew that if coffee spilled and stained my carpet, I would have to wait until the next summer before custodians would thoroughly clean the carpet. By then, the stain might have become so deeply set that it would not completely come out.

For 20 years I had taught in an old building with a room of mixed and matched items. I had an orange-painted desk, a collection of old chairs painted various colors, and a bright green bulletin board. Now, with the recent renovation, I really enjoyed having a newly remodeled room with freshly painted walls and a spiffy new look. I treasured my unspotted carpet.

According to the Scripture, God wants us “unspotted” by the world around us. How easily stains appear when we try to balance too many things and lose our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. How often we let down our guard and allow the culture around us to get too close and become ever-deeply ingrained in the core of our being.

We need a spiritual vigilance to remain unspotted. We need the Holy Spirit to examine us and to warn us when our thoughts or actions cause us to stray from the pathway God has laid out for us. We also need Jesus, our Advocate with the Father, to cleanse us from all “spots” as soon as they appear and well before they work their way into the fabric of our lives making them difficult to remove.

Stains seem to become more permanent the longer they stay in the fabric of our lives. Not only do we see these stains, but others do, as well. The stains blemish our example and blemish our testimony for Christ.

I urge you to make the most of every opportunity to do some scrubbing in the Lord’s presence. Confess your sins. Repent of your sins. Fall back into the life-transforming grace that God offers us through His Son.

Jesus stands ready to cleanse us, as the Apostle Paul describes in Ephesians 5:25b-27:

…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Just think how God will approve when He sees your life “unspotted” through the cleansing power of Jesus.

—Posted: Monday, May 19, 2014

 

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The Mirror

	“We, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory…are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit.”
	—2 Corinthians 3:18

I’ve been thinking about mirrors lately. Mirrors reflect what we put in front of them.

If we consider what Christ sees when He looks into the “mirror” of our life, does He see His reflection there? Think of Moses. When he came down from Mount Sinai, after being in the presence of God for 40 days, the Scripture tells us that his face shown with the glory of God.

Because Moses revealed God in his countenance, those who saw him became uncomfortable around him. Too much light compared to the darkness of their hearts. Responding to their discomfort, Moses put a veil over his face, so the people didn’t have to be confronted with the glory of God.

Learn from Moses. Don’t be surprised if, when you reflect Christ well, others around you become uncomfortable.

I’ve been thinking about mirrors lately. They need cleaning regularly in order to reflect the clearest image. Our lives need the cleansing that comes when we bring our sinful behaviors and thoughts before the purity of Christ. He waits to cleanse us—to wipe the mirror of our lives thoroughly clean.

In 1 John 1:9 the Apostle says:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

That’s a cleansing even better than Windex^® clean!

“But,” you say, “my mirror has not just gotten dirty, it has become broken from a lifetime of misuse and filth. And, some of that filth isn’t even mine! How can a broken mirror like mine ever give an untarnished image and become useful again?”

Remember, we have a Master artist who created you in the first place. He really knows all about you. He has the unique ability to take the broken pieces of the mirror of your life and make something new for His glory. Think of all the light those broken pieces, now mended and made whole, will reflect for Him!

I’ve been thinking about mirrors lately. Did you know that Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear?

When the temptation comes to think God is just too far away to concern Himself with you and your life, remember that He is closer than you can even imagine. He has known you from before the foundation of the world. He desires to draw you close to Himself, to fellowship with you, and to enjoy you.

I’ve been thinking about mirrors lately. Don’t be afraid to look in the mirror. Whatever you see, God has already seen you and made a way for you to reflect Him and His glory to the world around you!

—Posted: Monday, May 12, 2014

 

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Behind Enemy Lines

	“Endure hardship like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
	—2 Timothy 2:3

Most Christians don’t often consider the spiritual battle waged against them. Yes, they would say that Satan exists and prompts evil in the world. But, when it comes to understanding the ceaseless battle he wages against their lives, they usually don’t see it.

Here’s how Joni Eareckson Tada explains it:

The King’s most trusted officer turns renegade and gathers a powerful army around him to lead a rebellion. Through treachery and deceit, the rebel leader usurps the authority of the King and sets up his own rival government, enslaving the citizens of the kingdom. In order to free the captives, the King sends His own Son into the heart of enemy territory with a battle plan more shocking than anyone could imagine. ¹

Not only does the “rebel leader”—Satan—want to tempt you to sin, he also works hard to defeat you in your Christian walk and work on behalf of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Satan endeavors to discourage you and tempt you to turn back. He generally does everything he can to disrupt your life in any way that he can. When we pray in Jesus’ name against the weapons Satan uses, we can successfully upset his battle plan.

Jesus took on this enemy at the cross. As Colossians 2:15 tells us:

“…having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

And with the overcoming power that Jesus gives to us, we can fight against the war that Satan will continue to instigate until Jesus comes back.

God has not left us alone to live defeated lives. Instead, He has armed His people with the weapons we need: prayer and His Word. Here’s how 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 puts it:

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”

When we pray in Jesus’ name, we join with Him in defeating the powers and authorities of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil. He already disarmed them on the cross, but we appropriate that power into our own lives when we pray.

When we see evil around us and feel it coming at us from every side, we have Christ and His power as our strong defense. He gives us the opportunity to win the skirmishes. And one day, our Captain—Christ Jesus—will return to end the battle completely.

Praise His name!

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1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Diamonds in the Dust. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing Company, ©2010. Devotional for April 9th.

—Posted: Monday, May 5, 2014

 

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Unfinished

	“I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.”
	—Psalm 57:2

I don’t know about you, but in my closet I have several undone projects: a baby sweater half knit, several counted cross-stitch endeavors, a new craft idea with supplies I bought after viewing something on Pinterest.

I like to think I have completed many more things than I have lying around waiting. But, I believe most of us get interrupted, lose interest, find a problem we don’t want to deal with, or find the process too difficult—long before some things we start ever get finished.

Fortunately for the outcome of our spiritual formation, God always finishes what He begins. He intends to finish the work in our lives that He has begun. Philippians 1:6 says we can be:

“…confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

We’ve all seen the T-shirt slogan, “Be Patient. God isn’t finished with me yet.” It always evokes a smile. But, no matter how accurate that slogan may be, the statement of that truth by itself actually conceals the other more important truth that He will finish what He intends to accomplish in and through us.

What projects we are when He starts! The incredible truth is that He knew what a trial we’d give Him way before He even began His work in us. He saw with us what He saw with the generation of Noah.

In Genesis 8:21 we read that God said in His heart:

“‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.’”

He knows what we think and how we act. Nevertheless, God loves us anyway. He sent His precious son, Jesus, to die for our hopeless sinful natures. And, He still means to finish His work in us.

This process of finishing what He started is called “sanctification.” The sanctification process starts at our salvation and ends when we finish this life. Day by day, month by month, year by year, He works at finishing the project in us that He has begun.

Often the process produces pain and suffering. Sometimes when He seems to have laid us on the shelf unfinished, He is doing His best work. He uses a plethora of materials and methods.

Be assured of God’s love in the midst of the careful, creative, painstaking ways in which He deals with you and says in effect, “You’re worth all the work I have put into you.”

When we see each other inside the future Kingdom, we can know that God has brought all things He has begun to fruition in our lives. Praise Him!

—Posted: Monday, April 28, 2014

 

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Early in the Morning

If I give you the first line of some familiar stories, let’s see how many you can name:

1. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
   
   
2. “Call me Ishmael.”

How about a more modern one?

3. “I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair.”

One more:

4. “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark…”

This last one, a verse of Scripture, especially struck me one Easter as I staggered into the shower at 5:30 a.m. It was another Easter and it was still dark. As I showered, I thought of all those Easter mornings: dressing in new finery, eating a hearty breakfast, or at least having a brisk cup of coffee, and then heading out to a Sunrise Service for a celebration. But, this wasn’t what Mary Magdalene and the other Mary experienced.

Maybe you can recall some “early morning” events that resembled more the mood of these women. The task before them sprung from deep sorrow and a need to do something deliberate, though unpleasant.

They probably threw on their clothes and skipped their usual breakfast patterns that morning—much like we do on mornings when we have to rush out with the garbage bins before the truck comes, or when we have to sleepily drive to the airport for an early flight, or when we hurry to get to the hospital for an unpleasant procedure.

The women came to the Tomb out of deep love and duty, with spirits depressed and terribly disappointed. They came to the Garden devastated by loss. They may not have slept, or done so fitfully. What they found, they certainly hadn’t expected.

I’ll let Max Lucado tell his version of the rest of the story from John 20:1-18. ¹

It isn’t hope that leads the women up the mountain to the tomb. It is duty. Naked devotion. They expect nothing in return…

Mary and Mary knew a task had to be done—Jesus’ body had to be prepared for burial. Peter didn’t offer to do it. Andrew didn’t volunteer. The forgiven adulteress or healed lepers are nowhere to be seen. So the two Marys decide to do it.

I wonder if halfway to the tomb they had sat down and reconsidered. What if they’d looked at each other and shrugged, ‘What’s the use?’ What if they had given up? What if one had thrown up her arms in frustration and bemoaned, ‘I’m tired of being the only one who cares. Let Andrew do something for a change. Let Nathaniel show some leadership.’

Whether or not they were tempted to, I’m glad they didn’t quit. That would have been tragic. You see, we know something they didn’t. We know the Father was watching. Mary and Mary thought they were alone. They weren’t. They thought their journey was unnoticed. They were wrong. God knew. He was watching them walk up the mountain. He was measuring their steps. He was smiling at their hearts and thrilled at their devotion. And he had a surprise waiting for them…

Why did the angel move the stone? For whom did he roll away the rock?..The stone was moved—not for Jesus—but for the women; not so Jesus could come out, but so the women could see in!

‘Go quickly and tell his followers, Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’

Mary and Mary don’t have to be told twice. They turn and start running to Jerusalem. The darkness is gone. The sun is up. The Son is out. But the Son isn’t finished.

One surprise still awaits them. ‘Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.” The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. God and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there.”

The God of surprises strikes again. It’s as if he said, ‘I can’t wait any longer. They came this far to see me; I’m going to drop in on them.’

God does that for the faithful. Just when the womb gets too old for babies, Sarai gets pregnant. Just when the failure is too great for grace, David is pardoned. And just when the road is too dark for Mary and Mary, the angel glows and the Savior shows and the two women will never be the same.

The lesson? Three words. “Don’t give up.”

Is the trial dark? Don’t sit.
Is the road long? Don’t stop.
Is the night black? Don’t quit.
God is watching.

For all you know right at this moment he may be telling the angel to move the stone.

The check may be in the mail.
The apology may be in the making.
The job contract may be on the desk.

Don’t quit. For if you do, you may miss the answer to your prayers.

God still sends angels. “And God still moves stones.”

 

Oh, yes. The answers to the questions at the beginning of this blog post:

1. A Tale of Two Cities—Charles Dickens
   
   
2. Moby Dick—Herman Melville
   
   
3. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day—Judith Viorst
   
   
4. John 20:1

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1 from Lucado, Max. He Still Moves Stones. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. ©1993, 1999.

—Posted: Monday, April 21, 2014

 

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What Can You Do?

	“‘Leave her alone.’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me…She did what she could. She poured perfume for my burial.’”
	—Mark 14:6, 8

Jesus reprimanded those who complained about this woman’s gesture and told them that what she had done in anointing His body for burial would be remembered wherever the Gospel is preached. “She did what she could.”

In John 19:23-24 we find these words:

“When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.”

We don’t know the source of that seamless garment, but it must have been the finest of all of Jesus’ possessions. Jewish tradition called for a mother to make a robe like this for a son when he left home. Did Jesus’ mother, Mary, make it for Him? Indeed, if she did, “She did what she could.”

In Luke 23:50-53, the Scripture records:

“Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.”

This man had come at a risk of his own life and credibility with the Jewish leaders. With determination and without fear, “He did what he could.”

In the events of this momentous week—Holy Week—we also read in Mark 16:1-2:

“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.”

It could be said of these women that out of deep love for Christ, “They did what they could.”

Just as Jesus gave Mary from Bethany the honor of being remembered wherever the Gospel is preached, so Joseph and the women at the tomb are honored with their stories. At the time, they probably thought each gift they gave was an insignificant part of the story. But, we can be certain that God saw and rewarded each one of them.

Out of love for Christ and for His sacrifice for you, what gift of time, talent, and treasure will you give? Will it be said of you, “She did what she could.”

—Posted: Monday, April 14, 2014

 

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Muddy Feet

	“After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
	—John 13:5

“Don’t track that mud in here! You’ll mess up my clean house!”

That certainly sounds like a mom’s admonition. Right? Children, or otherwise careless people, forget to stop and wipe their shoes. Thus, they bring inside the filth that clings to their foorware.

On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus left His disciples with a powerful picture of His love and an example of servant leadership. He took a towel and washed His disciples’ feet.

Jesus told them that they didn’t need a bath—they were already clean and part of His Kingdom. But, they had been tracking “mud” into His house by walking around with sin in their lives. He wanted to demonstrate to them that He could wash that sin clean, as well.

What kinds of “mud” do we know the disciples had on their feet?

Well, we know from John 20:25 that Thomas didn’t always trust what Jesus said. Thomas wanted first-hand proof.

We know from Mark 10:3 that James and John had an issue with the need for recognition. They wanted to have seats in Heaven on either side of God’s throne!

From Mark 9:5, we know Peter was impetuous.

Jesus would have known the sin the others carried around with them, too—sin that He would gladly wash clean from their lives.

When we enter our Lord’s house, like the disciples we track in the sin of our lives. Some have made it a practice to confess their sin before they enter, serve, and mingle with their Christian brothers and sisters. “Keeping a short account with God” for those people means that because they are aware of their tendencies to sin, they frequently come to Him for cleansing.

The practice in some churches to offer a time of formal confession—both private and corporate—during the Sunday worship service, serves to figuratively “wash the feet” of all in attendance each week. Other churches periodically and symbolically practice actual foot washing, where those in attendance literally wash each other’s feet.

We must remember that Jesus paid a tremendous price for our sin so that we could be thoroughly clean. He wants to hear our confession and by doing so hear us say, “Lord Jesus, wash my feet. I want to arrive at Your House clean and be welcomed and effective for Your kingdom.”

—Posted: Monday, April 7, 2014

 

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Waiting for Dad

	“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
	—John 14:23

We’ve all seen the wonderful videos of children of military families surprised by the arrival of the father for whom they have waited so long. Through long months that drag on and on, finally the day arrives. The overwhelming relief shows so clearly on the child’s face.

Sometimes waiting for our Heavenly Father to answer our prayers feels like that. We don’t know when He’s coming, and days stretch into weeks and into months and sometimes even years. We pray and watch as Paul taught us in Colossians 4:2:

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Yet, as the waiting stretches on and on, it seems like the answer will never come. Even so, we know that God’s timetable is not the same as ours. He will come in His own time and His own way with an answer that will bless us and bring Him glory.

The verses of Scripture in John 11 illustrate this kind of waiting. Lazarus had died and his sisters, Mary and Martha had called for Jesus to come, but He hadn’t arrived. They mourned and wondered, because Jesus could have saved Lazarus, yet now he had died.

Imagine their joy when Jesus did come looking for them specifically. They still grieved, because Lazarus had died, but they must have felt profound relief when Jesus began to care for them and show them His obvious distress over their sadness.

But, they had a big surprise coming. Not only did Jesus come to comfort them and minister to them, He came to bring up Lazarus from the grave in a remarkable miracle.

When Christians speak of Christ’s second coming, many unbelievers scoff and doubt. Peter acknowledged this to his followers in 2 Peter 3. He assures Christ’s followers that even though it appears as though He will never come, we can know for certain that He will come back to Earth to retrieve His waiting people. He promised in John 14:3:

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

And, Jesus’ words, recorded in Matthew 24:42 instruct us:

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”

Plenty of military families wait with longing to see their soldier—father or mother—come home at last. Many of us wait and wait for answers to our prayers. And, all who know Christ wait and watch for His coming again. With more surety than human children can have to see their fathers again, we absolutely know our Heavenly Father will come at last in answer to our expectations for Him.

Whenever you see one of those wonderful reunions between children and their military fathers or mothers, let the image remind you that your Heavenly Father waits for the day when He will come in answer to your prayers.

—Posted: Monday, March 31, 2014

 

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Cleanse Me with Hyssop

	“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
	—Psalm 51:7

Long before the “Fuller Brush Man” went from door to door selling his wares, people used the natural herb, hyssop, for cleaning and scrubbing. In addition, this branch carried strong fragrant blooms that often proved useful for many purposes. If you scrubbed with hyssop, you meant business—something like a mother taking a rough washcloth to her son’s dirty face.

In Psalm 51:7, he meant serious business with God when David said:

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

David knew his sins had defiled him and separated him from God. He not only expressed sorrow over his sin, he meant to put it behind him and serve God from then on with a purity his Lord would accept.

Hyssop is mentioned frequently in Scripture besides this reference, especially in the Old Testament.

In Exodus 12:22, before the destroying angel came through Egypt on the night of the Hebrews’ escape, they were told to take hyssop and use it to spatter blood on the doorposts of their homes. This blood symbolized the protection God would give these families, while all others were destroyed.

In Leviticus 14:3-7, the Lord told Moses to instruct the priest to use hyssop in cleansing lepers’ skin.

In Numbers 19:18-19, hyssop was prescribed again for the cleansing of unclean persons.

In Hebrews 9 in the New Testament, we find a description of the history of Moses using the hyssop branch to sprinkle blood on the scroll, the people, the tabernacle, and everything used in the ceremonies.

God’s attention to detail in His word is pretty incredible. According to John 19:28-30, at the death of Jesus on the cross, He said, “I am thirsty.” In that moment, the hyssop branch was lifted with a sponge dipped in vinegar to His lips, just before He gave His final word, “It is finished.”

While hyssop carries no magic potion to cleanse us from sin, as David seems to have requested, it does nevertheless convey the intent of God to “scrub us” of our rebellion and moral filth. When Jesus hung on the cross, His blood was shed as the agent of our purification.

Let hyssop, the “little plant with the big purpose,” reminds us daily of the cleansing power of that shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the resulting forgiveness that God has given us as a gift of His mercy, grace, and love. God reaches out to us and scrubs, sprinkles, and cleanses us in order to bring us back into fellowship with Him that we may serve Him with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

—Posted: Monday, March 24, 2014

 

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Take and Eat!

	“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
	—Genesis 3:6

That old serpent, the Devil, or Satan, used his appeal to Eve’s lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life when he tempted her to eat of the forbidden fruit. She liked the thought of the taste of such a beautiful fruit, and the beauty of it tantalized her even more. But, when she heard the serpent tell her that she would gain wisdom too, she couldn’t pass up the chance.

With that bite, and more so with the bite of her husband, the human race “fell” away from God’s perfect design for them. The whole line of humans after them became tainted with the same poison of sin that became Adam’s and Eve’s undoing.

They were the first, but we join them with our own sinful natures in a pathetic, irreparable path of corruption that leads to death, as the Scripture tells us in Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death.”

And, in Romans 3:23, the Apostle Paul reminds those in the church at Rome:

“ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

Not only did mankind “fall,” but God cursed the entirety of His creation. He told Adam in Genesis 3:17-18:

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you.”

That could have been the end of the matter. But, God had a “Plan B.” In His astounding love for those He had created, He gave His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Holy Ambassador to this world.

Jesus would come to earth as a human and live a perfect life in front of all mankind. He suffered sickness, disappointment, sorrow, temptation, the whole range of human experiences. And then, Jesus was deserted, accused of wrongdoing, and killed in the most gruesome manner imaginable.

Remember those thorns with which God cursed the earth? Wicked men wove a crown with them and placed them on Jesus’ head. He willingly submitted to God’s plan and gave His life for us. On that glorious Easter morning—the time we move toward during this Lenten Season—Jesus rose from the grave, conquering sin and death. He lives, sitting at the right hand of His Father and making intercession for us.

When we receive Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and acknowledge that He is our Savior and Lord, we become reunited with God and may now live our lives knowing, loving, and serving Him.

Thank God during this Lenten Season for His unspeakable gift of mercy, grace, and love. When you hear the “Words of Institution” at the Lord’s Supper from Matthew 26:26, “Take, eat; this is my body…,” allow these words to transport you in your mind back to Eden, and to remember all the sin that caused our Lord to suffer and die.

Praise Him for His plan to give His body for us that we may receive God’s forgiveness for our sins.

“Take eat,” indeed! This is life to us!

—Posted: Monday, March 17, 2014

 

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What Are You Aiming For?

	“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
	—Matthew 6:33

C. S. Lewis once wrote of this post’s opening verse this way:

“Aim for Heaven and you will get Earth
‘thrown in.’” ¹

In Charles Spurgeon’s time, he wrote of this post’s opening verse this way:

““You mind His business, and He will mind yours. If you want paper and string, you get them given in when you buy more important goods.” ²

Jesus, in his conversation with Martha, said to her, as recorded in Luke 10:41-42:

“‘Martha, Martha, …you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

We are bombarded with so many things that grab our attention. Like Martha, most of us who want to please the Lord with our living get distracted by secondary things. What Jesus really wants from us—what is primary—is to seek Him. We should be aiming for Heaven. We should aim for those things that are important to our Lord, knowing that He will care for all the other things that concern us.

In the middle portion of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus tells His disciples not to store up treasures on earth, but rather to store up treasures in heaven. Why? Because where they place their treasures is where their hearts will rest.

How does God benefit those who choose to first look after His pleasures? He dwells close to them, shares His divine plans with them, and uses them as though He Himself walked in their bodies. In John 15:7, Jesus also promises that He will answer the prayers of those who “abide” in Him and who keep His word.

Charles Spurgeon makes the point that God will trust prayers that He will answer only to those who walk with Him like Enoch, love Him like John, and are in constant communion with Him. ³

Ask the Lord today to reveal to you new ways to seek Him first, above all other things. For only if we “aim for Heaven” will we get the earthly things we need as well.

______________________

1 from Lewis, C. S. The Joyful Christian. New York: Macmillian Publishing Company. © 1967.

2 from Spurgeon, Charles H. Faith’s Checkbook. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House. © 1992. Reading for October 25th.

3 ibid. Reading for February 23rd.

—Posted: Monday, March 10, 2014

 

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Potholes

“Wow!! Ouch!! I didn’t see that coming!”

That’s how most of us respond when we hit a pothole. Drive most any route these days with your mind in reverie and you will find that the announcement of the pending change of seasons from winter to spring often comes with the harbinger of potholes. The harder the winter, the more potholes scatter themselves along the surface of the roads. They lie in wait to catch unsuspecting drivers and shake them up.

During this same period, the Church Year announces the upcoming Easter season with the harbinger period of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday.

Both potholes and Lent bring a time for preparation and repair. And, both should cause us to slow down.

In Scripture we read of John the Baptist, the messenger, calling out in Mark 1:3:

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.”

We read of the woman at Bethany anointing Jesus’ head with perfume and Jesus explaining in Mark 14:8:

“She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”

What kind of spiritual preparations and repairs do we need to consider for our own spiritual lives during this Lenten period?

First of all, we need to pay attention. Just as a driver needs to watch and avoid the cavernous pothole pits, so we need to slow down, spend time before the Lord looking for the spiritual “potholes” that may have formed in our lives over the long period of winter sleep. Lent gives us a logical time period to achieve these daily inspections and to plan appropriate repairs.

Please allow me to suggest that we learn to write our prayers of inspection in a journal or notebook during these 40 days. This will allow us to take the time to more carefully examine our live, to recount what that examination has disclosed, and to repent of those things that have made “ruts” in our walk with God.

In preparing for this time of self-examination, let me also suggest that we read Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. These Psalms provide fruitful places to begin the process.

Secondly, once we find the spiritual potholes that have scarred our lives, we want to repair those holes in a way that will last.

A pothole filled in with a temporary cold patch may last only a day or two. The traffic of our lives will loosen the patch. Before long, the pothole will open up again and maybe even deepen.

In repairing our sin-damaged lives, let’s learn to fill in the potholes with new ways of thinking and speaking and acting. These new ways will prepare us to travel with the Lord in whatever direction He leads along a smoother, more stable pathway. These new ways that will fill up our potholes in a way that will last for the long run.

New habits that not only patch old craters, but strengthen us against the formation new potholes, take time. When we slow down and listen to what God says to us, He may instruct us to set aside time daily to meet with Him. Or, He may encourage us to continue writing our thoughts and prayers in our journal or notebook. Or, He may ask us to take on a new project that will benefit others in the name of Christ.

Sin creates the potholes in the first place. When we repent of those sins, we move forward on a new pathway and repair the scars along the old ways that we’ve traveled before. Some deeper chasms may require confession, not only to God, but to others as well. This kind of more intentional repair will bring lasting benefits to our relationships. God wants to restore us to new paths, and strengthen us to walk more closely with Him.

During this period of Lent, let’s determine to slow down, choose to fix the potholes in our lives, and mend them so strongly that we will prepare the road ahead for travel with Christ day by day.

—Posted: Monday, March 3, 2014

 

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In the Storm

“In 1943, John F. Kennedy was the 26-year old skipper of PT-109. As the PT-109 was prowling the waters late at night a Japanese destroyer suddenly emerged and in an instant, cut Kennedy’s craft in half. Two of his 12 member crew were killed instantly and two others badly injured. “The survivors clung to the drifting bow for hours. At daybreak, they embarked on a 3.5 miles (6 kilometers) swim to the tiny deserted Plum Pudding Island. They placed their lantern, and non-swimmers on one of the timbers used as a gun mount and began kicking together to propel it. Braving the danger of sharks and crocodiles they reached their destination in five hours. “After two days on the small island without food and water, Kennedy realized they needed to swim to a larger island, Olasana, if they were to survive. Kennedy and his men were found and rescued by scouts after surviving six days on coconuts.” 1

Adrift in a storm—imagine! Not a soul for miles around on whom to call. While most of us have not been through the kind of real-life shipwreck that John F. Kennedy survived, nevertheless, we may go through troubles in life that seem as life-threatening and very frightening.

We automatically look for help from others when our life falls apart. Whether it’s the Coast Guard, or the paramedics and doctors, friends with “connections,” or a counselor, we want assistance quickly.

When we pray, we expect God to answer at least using the latest medical procedures, or the best expertise in whatever area in which we suffer. And, usually God does work using the ordinary means of our world.

But, as the Puritan writer, Thomas Lye wrote in Puritan Sermons 1659-1689:

“An Almighty God can work without means. God often brings his people into such a condition that they do not know what to do. He does this that they might know what he can do. God is with his people at all times, but he is most sweetly with them in the worst of times.”

In your desperate prayers for your own shipwrecks, and those shipwrecks of people you love, never disparage God’s ability to work in your behalf through His own powerful means. And to Him be the glory!

______________________

1 from “10 Incredible Real Life Castaway Tales” on Listverse.com, October 6, 2008

—Posted: Monday, February 24, 2014

 

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Weaned

	“But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.”
	—Psalm 131:2

Tantrums, hot tears, and screams—all the things babies know instinctively that will annoy and exasperate their mothers. These behaviors come as demands for one’s own way, for selfish, even narcissistic challenges to a parent’s authority.

I suppose God has pretty good reason to use the picture of a baby for new believers. Through the Scripture writer, he says to immature Christians in Hebrews 5:12:

“…though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”

This writer wisely exhorts these Christians to move on to maturity.

Likewise, the Apostle Paul urges the Philippians to learn, like he has, to be content in all circumstances. He writes in Philippians 4:12:

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

Babies “learn” to put off the gratification for milk. They learn to eat other foods, some that likely taste very peculiar to them, but nonetheless fill them with nutrients they need. Sometimes these trials come with spitting and tears, and show the difficulty such a process involves. We do much the same in our own spiritual lives.

At first, Christ allows us the wonder and constant joy of the new life in Him. Later, however, when the tasty milk of our first days gets replaced with waiting for answered prayer, we cry out. When trials we didn’t expect God would allow to affect His “little dear” try our patience and bring more questions than answers, we spit and throw things, and generally show our immaturity in the faith.

Sometimes, we need to take inventory. The verse at the beginning of this blog post from Psalm 131 calls us to examine our growth in Christ.

Do we still throw tantrums, pout and refuse to obey when God brings us through a “weaning process”? Or, have we “learned” to be content, to enjoy knowing that our Heavenly Parent has tasty new ways for us to grow?

God needs us to calm ourselves in His presence and accept His love for us like the grownups we should be!

—Posted: Monday, February 17, 2014

 

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UFOs

	“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
	—Hebrews 1:14

Unidentified Flying Objects? Angels! Maybe, to be more precise, we should call them IFOs—Invisible Flying Objects. More than “objects,” God created them a little higher than human beings to live and do the will of our God.

So often, we see people with angel pins on their lapels, or “Guardian Angels” hanging from their rear view mirrors or in some other place of honor. Some people “collect” angels. Some people who sport these representations of angels believe that by displaying these images these “angels” somehow magically will protect them. Because of this false belief, many Christians like me have shied away from considering the truth about these magnificent heavenly beings.

When I started looking, I found many more references to angels in Scripture than I would have ever guessed. For a deeper study of the subject, I would recommend Billy Graham’s book, Angels: God’s Secret Agents.

The Bible speaks of angels who deliver messages from God, like those who proclaimed the message to the Christmas shepherds. It also speaks of those who have come to strengthen weak servants of God, like Elisha. And, Hebrews 13:2 speaks of those angels who shed their invisibility to come in human form when we are unaware of them.

These reports of heavenly beings certainly can comfort us when we need to feel the presence of God in a difficult or desperate situation.

“Ministering spirits” defines the purpose for which God uses angels in the lives of His people. They protect and defend, stir and excite us to duty, and they comfort and encourage.

However, the image I love most comes from Psalm 34:7:

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”

He “pitches his tent” and determines to stay awhile with us! He “occupies” the territory in which we dwell against the enemy. These mighty beings will stay throughout the duration of the battle and see us through it.

God has decreed to send us this kind of personal ministration when we most need it. No, God doesn’t instruct us to pray to angels, or direct them to do our bidding. God does that for us, commanding His own “heavenly hosts”—thousands and thousands of angels to minister to and keep vigilance over His people, as recorded in Revelation 5.

I hope you will feel encouraged by knowing these heavenly beings exist. God has them at His own right hand and will dispatch them quickly, powerfully, and lovingly when we need them. Praise Him for His loving and wise care!

—Posted: Monday, February 10, 2014

 

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Fix Your Eyes

	“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”
	—Hebrews 12:2

	“…God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’”
	—Hebrews 13:6

The word “fear” occurs more than 300 times in the Bible. That tells me that this human emotion presents itself to us, even Christians, with some frequency. But how do we live with such a domineering character who seemingly vies to crush our joy and ship-wreck our daily walk with God?

Some of us quite naturally have more trouble with fear than others. The Enemy of our souls will constantly throw us into terror and even rule us through his use of this emotion.

In Hannah Hurnard’s classic allegory Hinds’ Feet on High Places, the main character has the name, “Much-Afraid,” and comes from a family of Fearing relatives, including a cousin who constantly dogged her steps, “Craven Fear.”

This theme also appears in another allegory, the journey of Pilgrim in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. Pilgrim sets out on his pilgrimage from the “City of Destruction” to the “Celestial City.” Soon it becomes dark and he is led to the “Hill of Difficulty” on which sits a “Porter’s Lodge” for the purpose of refreshing pilgrims on their way.

However, as Pilgrim trudges upward, he sees two lions in the way. Struck with fear, he stops. As the Porter from the Lodge watches him, it appears Pilgrim—now a Christian—will turn and retreat.

The Porter calls out to him, “Is thy strength so small? Fear not the Lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none. Keep in the midst of the Path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.” ¹

The comfort of hearing the Porter’s voice, and the assurance of safety, gives Christian the focus he needs to keep on the path and to overcome his fear.

In like manner, when we find ourselves in the midst of trouble, when we see nothing but danger all around, we need the comfort of hearing our Savior’s voice telling us to not be afraid.

God, our God, remains Sovereign over all things, and has vowed to care for us and watch us all our journey through. How can we stay on the path without fainting? By remembering His words to us from the Scriptures.

If you are going through a terrifying time in your life, or just have constantly recurring fears, learn to keep the Word of God close by. Memorize scripture verses that give you courage and confidence. And, keep your eyes focused on Jesus. He watches you as the friendly Porter and will guide you to a place of safety and security with Him.

Keep on the path. The lions are chained!

______________________

1 from The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, in The Harvard Classics, pg.49.

—Posted: Monday, February 3, 2014

 

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A Prepared Place

	“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”
	—Acts 17:26

“Number 10 B Dutch Way”—my Mom’s last address before she left us for Heaven. She only lived four other places during her entire eighty-nine years. This last address identified her room and bed number in a nursing home.

A year before, we would never have considered choosing that kind of “home” for her last days. When we saw that particular room, though—the one bed available in the facility, right by the window—we knew it was a perfect room for her.

My Mom loved birds and trees and nature in general, having always lived on a farm. Even here she could look out over the lawn, and after my brother-in-law brought her bird feeder and placed it just outside her window, she could enjoy a few last days in a very comfortable place—a prepared place just right for her.

I have always been fascinated by Acts 17:26. This verse gave me assurance at a time, early in our marriage, when we had to make a very sudden move from a nice apartment. The owner had decided to transform our apartment into a condominium. We could not afford to buy this place we had lived in four years. We had just a few days to find a new place to live.

We looked high and low for a place to accommodate the two of us. We finally found a rental condominium through some miraculous answers to prayer. Little did we know that within a few months, my husband’s father would die and his mother would need to come to live with us.

Suddenly, we needed all of the additional space this new living place provided. We could never have anticipated this need. But, not only did God prepare it for the two of us, He prepared it for my husband’s mom, as well.

The Apostle John talks about the way that God is preparing a place for us, His children, in Heaven. The Apostle writes in John 14:2:

“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”

When we read that God prepares a place for us after this life, I think it is also safe to assume that He pledges to take care of every place we need to live until then. Like a loving Father, He watches over us and reassures us that He will make sure we will always have a place prepared for us!

Though we may not have to think about finding a new place to live very often in our lives, it can become a most stressful time when it happens. If you need a new home, or a loved one does, trust God to take care of this need.

Surely, our God who said He would take care of our need for food and for clothing in Matthew 6:25-34, will also take care of providing us a place that He has prepared just for us.

—Posted: Monday, January 27, 2014

 

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Simple Gifts

	“How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all…When you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.”
	—Psalm 104:24, 28

Out they came, mouths open, tongues out, excitement showing on every face. I stood by the front door of the school doing my daily end-of-the-day bus duty. As though playing from some script, over and over again, the children ran out of school into the new snow with the same reaction. Cries of delight, eyes skyward, they couldn’t have been happier.

The adults reacted with far less joy. We complained and worried about the drive home, finding nothing so gleeful in it. I wonder which group pleased the Lord more. He must have watched with pleasure as the children enjoyed this gift He’d brought to an otherwise ho-hum school day.

As I watched the children’s reaction and delight, God reminded me not only of His wonderful creation, but His kind and gentle way with children. He gives us their happy spirits to remind us of simple pleasures and of beauty He constantly provides around us.

Thank you, Lord, for revealing the beauty that I wouldn’t have seen except for these open-mouthed, gleeful children.

As you live through gray, lifeless days, look for the beauty and wonder that children see. You may find that you, too, can find enjoyment in God’s simple gifts.

—Posted: Monday, january 20, 2014

 

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Bluster or Blessing

Those of us from the early Boomers remember the “Howdy Doody Show” on black-and-white TV. My sister and I loved to watch Buffalo Bob Smith and his puppet friends: Howdy, Flub-a-Dub, Dilly Dally—and the live characters: Chief Thunderthud, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, and of course, Clarabell the Clown.

I was always intrigued by the name of the mayor of Doodyville, Mr. Phineas T. Bluster. He had eyebrows that shot straight up when he was surprised and his grumpy nature never changed.

Imagine my surprise when I read about another Phinehas in Scripture (spelled differently). His story can be found in Numbers 25. His anger over the practices of the Israelites, called by God’s name, caused him to act against their sin. We read in Numbers 25:10:

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Phinehas son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. Therefore, tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.’”

“Zeal,” a word Scripture extols, is a word that we don’t use very often. It means “passion” and Paul told us in Romans 12:11 to:

“…never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

When Jesus got angry over the money changers in the temple, his disciples referred back to Psalm 69:9 and said:

“Zeal for your house consumes me.”

Now before we go wrecking furniture or polishing our spears, we do read this warning in Proverbs 19:2:

“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the mark.”

We see a live example of zeal without knowledge in the life of Peter. He made a bizarre suggestion to build shelters on the Mount of Transfiguration for Jesus, Moses and Elijah as recorded in Luke 9:33. I have to think, though, that Jesus especially loved Peter for this characteristic of zeal in his Christian life.

Paul showed zealous action too, without knowledge, and arrested Christians before he himself met Jesus on the way to Damascus as described in Acts 9:1-31. Yet his zeal as a Christian helped establish the church and gave him the perseverance necessary for the task.

These negative examples should not frighten us from our own zeal, as we go about passionately doing God’s work. God loves those who guard the honor of His name and courageously fight to hold His banner high. And that’s no bluster!

—Posted: Monday, January 13, 2013

 

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The Help

	“Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
	—Psalm 124:8

Perhaps Americans have been reminded more recently about people who function as servants. As in the movie, The Help, servants usually work for individuals or families who are well-off enough to afford butlers and maids. In that movie as in the popular television series, Downton Abbey, we see the wealthy family benefitting from the care given by these servants of various kinds.

Truth be told, if we knew the lives of servants in real life, we would probably find a group of hard-working, yet plain people who, in many ways, need help themselves.

We all need help! We reveal our pride when we refuse to acknowledge our need for the assistance of others. As we get older, it becomes more apparent that we can’t do many tasks without aid.

What a Helper we have in God! The very Maker of heaven and earth wants to be our resource. In fact, He desires that we see our own weakness and come to Him. Consider this from Hebrews 4:16:

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

I like the “timeliness” of His help. “In our time of need.” We also read in Psalm 46:1:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Not only is He our Help, He is our “ever-present Help.” In our too-busy lives, we forget that He stays with us, prays for us, and waits to hear our cries for His assistance.

Make note of the many times in a day that you call upon God’s help. Isaiah 59:1 confirms that we don’t serve a God who can’t reach us, or whose arm is too short to save us. He has all of heaven full of angels to help His people. He has servants in every place on the map and an ear to hear us call.

Praise Him today, and call upon Him. Watch how He comes with His Help. He is always nearby!

—Posted: Monday, January 6, 2014