Devotionals for Women

 

 

 

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His Name Shall Be Called…

In this season of Christmas, let us worship our Lord, recalling some of the names given to Him in Scripture. By what names do you relate to Him in your life?

—Posted: Monday, December 31, 2018

 

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By No Means Least

People in the days of Jesus would not have named Bethlehem a “destination city.” It lay small and insignificant, a few miles from Jerusalem, which served as the towering, celebrated city among all of Israel. Yet, God chose this little town for the greatest miracle in history.

You might also say, “Mary, you are by no means least among the young women of Israel,” although, at the time, everyone would have considered her pretty commonplace and poor. Yet, God chose this humble maiden as the mother for His Son, Jesus, and honored her above all women.

And, to the shepherds, we could say, “Herdsmen, you are by no means least among the men of Israel,” even though everyone at that time would have looked at them: smelly, uneducated, poor, and hardly capable of the call to spread abroad the news of the Savior’s birth. Yet the angels announced the greatest news in history to them and urged them to spread the news.

So many times in Scripture, God rebukes those who would overlook those considered “least.” Sometimes, we see ourselves in this light, and God rebukes our faulty thinking. He has chosen us to carry His Holy Spirit within us, elevating us far beyond what the culture would. And, more often, we pick and choose among the people we meet, or merely see, and overlook those who seem plain, common, or poor.

We should take time during this busy season, to see those around us in a different light, to wonder if God has chosen them for something special, to invite them into conversations and to urge them to occupy honored places. Remember what Jesus said, recorded in Luke 9:48:

Let us allow the lowly shepherds, the humble, ordinary Mary, and the little town of Bethlehem to remind us that God often chooses those things we tend to overlook. We must allow Him to show us His power to elevate and use whomever and whatever He wishes to use for His glory. Amen!

—Posted: Monday, December 24, 2018

 

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Lo, He Comes!

Jesus comes! Prepare! These words came early in the Biblical story. God promised a Messiah—God with us—to the Jews through the Old Testament prophets and then through John the Baptist. We look at these prophecies as Advent texts. And, we rejoice that God has a plan through His Son who came as a helpless babe. He grew into a man, lived, died in our place on the cross of Calvary, and ascended back to His Father in heaven.

If we only observe the first coming of our Lord at Christmas, we lose the complete story of Advent. Just as we can read the text of many hymns in two ways—concerning the first coming and the second coming of Christ—we can sing about the second coming as the next Advent of our Lord.

The hymn, “Lo! He Comes, With Clouds Descending,” expresses the Christian’s hope for Christ’s return to earth. Here’s the first verse.¹

You may hear a beautiful rendition of this hymn by clicking on the video button below.

The hymn appears to have been a collaboration between five individuals: a land surveyor from England turned Moravian preacher, hymn-writer Charles Wesley, two of his followers—one a cobbler—and then a man who loved to add Hallelujahs to Wesley texts. One author says it this way:²

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1 Wesley, Charles; Cennick, John; Madan, Martin. “Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending.” Hymn in the Public Domain.

2 Peterson, William J. and Peterson, Randy. The One Year Book of Hymns. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1995. Entry for August 8th.

—Posted: Monday, December 17, 2018

 

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Magnify

Mary spoke the above statement upon learning that God had chosen her to bear the Son of God. This stirring tribute to her Lord, called “The Magnificat,” comes from the Latin root word from which our word “magnify” derives. This same verb appears in the first sentence of Mary’s declaration.

When we use the word “magnify,” we think of making something appear bigger so that we can see it better. At a ballgame, we might watch the game from the stands on a jumbo screen so that we can see facial expressions and the intricate details of each play. In the laboratory, we magnify tiny creatures so that we can see them better with the human eye. In neither case do we actually make the objects bigger. We just make them appear bigger so that our eyes can see them.

What did Mary mean when she said that she “magnified” the Lord? She looked at His character, His might, His blessing, His holiness, His mercy, and His gifts. Then, she spoke of them in such poetic ways and desired to make them bigger so that she and others could see Him better. It was as though she had practiced this art throughout her short life. God had obviously carefully prepared her for this moment.

Psalm 34:3 records David’s desire to give the same kind of glory to God. He wrote:

When we get together with other Christians and relate what we know of our God, we also magnify Him. We do not make Him any bigger or greater than He’s ever been. But instead, through our expressions of worship, we show others the bigness of our Lord. We allow them to see and understand Him in ways they may have never seen Him before.

During this Advent season, like Mary, we need to consider our great God, and magnify His character in such a way that others can better see Him, heed Him, and know Him for themselves. He is certainly worthy of this exaltation!

—Posted: Monday, December 10, 2018

 

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O Come, Emmanuel

Like the happy family in the photograph above, why do so many people love having a dog? Most of all, I think they love the companionship. Life can often seem like a lonely venture. Children, around whom life has centered, go off to college leaving an “empty nest.” Parents, siblings, and friends, who were once always there, move away, or die, and leave a large hole in our lives.

God purposefully sent His Son, Jesus, to us. He did so for many reasons. But, one of those reasons was to fill a void in our lives that only He could fill.

One of the many special names that God gave Jesus was the name “Emmanuel.” God chose to give this unique name to specifically remind us that, in and through His Son, God is with us.

In other Scriptures (Deuteronomy 31:6, Psalm 94:14, and Hebrews 13:5), we hear that those who have come to know Jesus as Emmanuel have a God who will never leave us or forsake us.

Many at this time of year greatly miss the people who once filled their lives. It is very good that they can know the One who will never leave them. As followers of the Great King Jesus, God has given Him to us as our personal “God with Us.”

Here’s how Michael Card puts it:¹

From the very beginning of Jesus’ life, God wanted us to know that He had been sent to be our constant, loving, ever-present, and ever-faithful companion. Knowing that God had this plan for us, we should sing anew this season and cry out in supplication as Israel once did:²

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1 Card, Michael. Immanuel. Cited in Lucado, Max. The Devotional Bible. Nashville, TN:Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2003. Pp.1231-1232.

2 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Latin hymn from 12th century Latin Antiphons, Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, December 3, 2018

 

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Hurry Home

I found myself in a conference center in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 11, 2001. The news of the attacks shocked me to the core. Insecure and, with my husband in another part of the conference center teaching a seminar, I felt very alone. More than anything, I wanted to go home.

Another time, as I drove in a blizzard unable to see either side of the road that I knew was framed with deep ditches, I only wanted one thing—to see the familiar lights of home.

A little Preschooler in my school, insecure and afraid, often cried and declared, “I wanna go ’ome!”

Spiritually speaking, when we are afraid, lost, lonely, feeling abandoned, where do we first long to go? Job, in Chapter 23 of the Old Testament book that bears his name, spoke these words:

For Job, his God represented “home” to him.

As Psalm 91:9 tells us:

When disaster threatens us, God wants us to hide in Him and trust Him for our security.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, wrote:

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1 Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Morning and Evening. Mclean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Co., Public Domain. p. 649.

—Posted: Monday, November 26, 2018

 

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Remembering

The greatest joy I have as a teacher, other than the wonderful memories of a lifetime of classroom experiences, comes my way when students remember something I taught them.

As I encountered every one of these precious remembrances, and many others, they absolutely made my day.

God must feel that way about us, His children, too. He takes special delight in knowing we savor times with Him in which He has shared His heart through His written Word. He, the Master Teacher, customizes our lessons to fit our unique needs. And, He experiences joy to hear us recognize His lovingkindness.

The Scriptures speak of a time in which most people thought God was most pleased when they gave Him their sacrifices of oxen and bulls. However, in Psalm 69:30-31, the Psalmist turns this idea upside down:

At this Thanksgiving time, if they think about it at all, how foolish of humans to thank only each other for the things they appreciate. God bestows blessing after blessing on us, day after day, often answering our prayers, seeing our needs and meeting them, and teaching us from His written Word in remarkable, powerful ways.

How entirely selfish we have become when we don’t at least take the time to remember His goodness and His love. May God be at the top of the list of those we purposefully thank this season!

—Posted: November 19, 2018

 

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My Nice Brown Roll

I still have one of my childhood books which didn’t get co-opted by my three younger siblings. The little stories were designed to teach children the attributes of God, and to teach them Christian behaviors.

The story I remember as my favorite from this book is titled, “Our Daily Bread.” The story tells about a little boy who thanks his mother for his nice brown roll. She rebukes him with the statement, “Don’t thank me, thank the miller.” When he runs to the miller, the miller tells him to thank the farmer. The farmer, in turn, sends the boy to thank the rain. The rain sends the boy to thank the sun. The sun sends the boy to thank God who made them. So, the little boy returns to the table and thanks God for his nice brown roll.¹

As adults, we need these kind of reminders, too. We need to remember how God has made us dependent on Himself, as well as on other people and even the nature itself that God has created. If anything in the process fails its purpose, we would not have food to sustain us, and every other “good and perfect gift.” (James 1:17.)

God has created humans with specific abilities to to plant seeds, to harvest the crops, and to form businesses to process our foods. And, God provides the rain necessary to cause the crops to grow and enough sun to produce healthy foods. God has also created our bodies, which need the very good that He so graciously provides. Season after season, year after year, God’s hidden work blesses the soil, the seed, and the growth of our food.

Today, let me suggest that you pause for a moment, much as you might have done when learning this lesson as a child, and consider the magnificence of our loving, wonderful God who has made all things well. Thank Him for all the ways He sustains us and shows us His miraculous care.

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1 Faris, Lillie. “Our Daily Bread.” Standard Bible Story Readers. Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, ©1925. p. 18.

—Posted: Monday, November 12, 2018

 

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Take By Force

Scripture gives us plenty of vivid examples of how Christians should persevere (Hebrews 10:36), how we must hold on to truth (1 John 2:20-21), and how we have been equipped with the armor for warfare against evil. (Ephesians 6).

Our theme verse at the beginning of this blog post urges us to seriously fight to advance in our life of faith. Often, when we talk about spiritual warfare, we have mental pictures of Christians duking it out with one another (Unfortunately, we can probably all cite examples of this!) However, the Scripture in Ephesians 6:11-12 tells us:

This battle we wage to forcefully take the Kingdom remains far too powerful for us alone. Christ has told us that we have the Holy Spirit within us to fight these battles in prayer against the forces of evil, for the Kingdom of Light, and for those who belong to it.

And, how do we pray with this kind of power? According to Ephesians 6:17, we take the “sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” Praying portions from God’s written Word helps us forcefully take down the Enemy. In this Ephesians passage, the word “wrestle” occurs. Wrestling signifies perseverance and struggle.

In Genesis 32, we read the story of Jacob when he met God face to face. Jacob wrestled with Him all night long. This prevailing prayer allowed Jacob to receive the blessing of God and go on his way in victory.

All of us need the power in this present evil world to wrestle against sin and darkness, in our own lives, in the lives of our loved ones, in our churches, and in the greater culture. God wants us to forcefully claim the Kingdom He has purchased for us in His own battle against sin. Let us pray that we can take up the task and powerfully engage for Him.

—Posted: Monday, November 5, 2018

 

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Wedding Meal Tasting

Wow! I didn’t know just how involved it gets to sample and taste foods for a wedding dinner. In looking on the Internet, I found a large number of articles similar to the following:

Let me just say how crazy it all sounds to this woman who served homemade Jello® salads and homemade “fancy” sandwiches at her very own wedding reception!

However, I do see some parallels between preparing for current wedding dinners and preparing for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb mentioned in the Scripture passage at the top of this blog post. For one, the invited guests truly know the Bride and Groom.

Often in Scripture, we read the title for the church: “The Bride of Christ.” If you truly know the Groom and His Bride, you will find yourself included in this invitation to the heavenly wedding. Notice that I didn’t say, “If you know about the Groom and His Bride.” But rather, do you “truly know” them.

In fact, those already invited can taste the heavenly banquet now, while awaiting the joyous full table, the laughter, the tears of gratitude, and the true company of the righteous in Heaven.

Now, in the present—even as we await the future celebration in the Kingdom of God—we can enjoy our fellowship with other believers, our sampling of the words of Scripture, Holy Spirit-filled prayer and preaching, and pleasure from the gifts given to us by God. Only those who truly know the Bride and Groom and experience these blessings now will actually get a full helping of the rich stores awaiting us in eternity.

I particularly like the familiar old gospel hymn that uses the word “foretaste.”¹

Right now, we believers experience a foretaste of what will someday come to pass. How blessed we are when we belong to God through His precious Son.

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1 Crosby, Fanny, Blessed Assurance. Gospel hymn. Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, October 29, 2018

 

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Old Maid

Perhaps it was my sleep deprived addled brain, but I swear I saw the “Old Maid” driving a car this morning! What on earth would have brought back the memory of that old childhood card game? Okay. I guess the lady driving did resemble the woman in the photo found on the box and in the graphic above!

In those days, and for much of human history, a woman without a husband had the reputation as a bit of a “loser” in society—just as the person who chose her card and ended up with a graphic of her on that card became the loser of the game.

I can’t say for sure, but I think Lydia from the book of Acts had no husband—at least the Scripture doesn’t mention one. She had a successful business dealing with beautiful, imported cloth. It wouldn’t surprise me if she actually was the one who founded the group that met together on the Sabbath near the river that listened to Paul and Luke preach.

Not only did Lydia open her heart, but her home. And, in Acts 16:40, we read that a church met in her house sometime later. These meetings had great significance in the furtherance of the gospel. Lydia became the first Christian in Europe. And, the first church met in her house! Rather than living with a stigma of not having a husband or children, God allowed Lydia a significant place in His new church.

Do you know women who have never married, but have given Christ the totality of their lives and have done magnificent things for Him? While God has used many such women, the life of Corrie Ten Boom comes immediately to my mind. This Dutch watchmaker, in her early years, helped in the training of children. In her fifties, she hid Jews in her small bedroom’s closet. Eventually, she became a prisoner of war in Germany.

She suffered in three concentration camps, including Ravensbrüch, from which God miraculously allowed her release. From that life in concentration camps, Corrie became what she called a “Tramp for the Lord.” She traveled the world telling her story and sharing the gospel with thousands of people.

Maybe you are living a single life, and see yourself as the most unappealing “card” in the “deck of life.” Surrender that pain to God. Let Him show you what wonderful things He has planned for you.

Perhaps you know other single women who need to hear words of encouragement that tell how God calls them to serve Him in some unique way that only their unmarried state would allow. Be Christ’s voice to lift them up. They, along with all the other “cards,” belong in His hand and He will use them!

—Posted: Monday, October 22, 2018

 

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By Hap

Sometimes the language of the King James Version of the Bible catches my attention in a way the modern translations don’t. When Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote his devotional book, Morning and Evening, he used the word “hap”—a word that was quite familiar at the time of his writing in the mid-1800s. It means “by happenstance,” or “taking place by coincidence, or chance.”

The unknown author of the Old Testament Book of Ruth tells the story about how Ruth, seemingly by chance, gleaned in the field of her mother-in-law’s relative Boaz. Here’s what Spurgeon wrote about the story:¹

If we stop to consider carefully the days of our own lives, most of us would see times when things that seemed “by hap” actually turned out to have occurred by the design of our Sovereign God. Along this vein, I read an account of the day Christian artist and author, Joni Eareckson Tada, had the diving accident that left her a quadriplegic for life.

Joni’s sister, Kathy, was at the beach with Joni. She stayed near the shore and suddenly felt a sharp pinch by a crab and screamed to Joni to watch for crabs. Because Joni didn’t respond, Kathy immediately went looking for her and ended up saving her from drowning. Kathy writes, speaking of God:²

When we are tempted to think that we have experienced a coincidence, we must remember that as God’s dearly loved children, our Heavenly Father sovereignly looks out for us, directs our ways, uses us in the lives of others, and yearns to have us honor Him with our thanksgiving for all that He so graciously does for us.

In the lives of those of us who belong to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, there simply is no such thing as “by hap”!

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1 Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Morning and Evening. McLean VA: MacDonald Publishing Company, Public Domain. p. 599.

2 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Pearls of Great Price. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing Company, 2006. Devotional for July 19.

—Posted: Monday, October 15, 2018

 

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Get Over Yourself

Picture two brothers, ages five and seven, fascinated enough to come up close every Sunday during the Postlude to watch me play the organ. They liked the action of the pistons, the movement of my fingers, and especially the movement of my feet, as the music filled the sanctuary.

One Sunday, the older brother posed the question, “Do you ever make mistakes?”

Considering that his question provided a “teachable moment,” I said, “Sure I do.”

To which he responded, “I thought so!”

I’ve thought of that encounter quite a number of times over the years, as I tried to camouflage an errant note or two while I played.

Most of us have plenty of opportunities for God to humble us. Whether it’s a piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of our shoe, a wardrobe malfunction, or a “tied tongue” when speaking in public, we know how it feels to experience humiliation. Sometimes we even know why God has brought us down with an embarrassing event.

When we think too highly of ourselves, our Lord says in Isaiah 42:8:

In so many words, God is saying, “Get over yourself!”

When we compare ourselves to others and boast, even to ourselves, about our imagined superiority, God, in His love and discipline, will allow us to suffer humiliation to remind us that we possess nothing He did not give us, even our well-honed skills. Again, in Isaiah 66:2, our Lord says:

God wants humble servants—grateful for all we are and have—not self-assured, boasting performers who feel superior to those around us. When we, in pride, carry out our work—or even our service to Him—we steal His glory. When we bow before Him in humility and thanksgiving, we lift Him up and reveal His glory!

We need to get over ourselves, but never over Him!

—Posted: Monday, October 8, 2018

 

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We Had Heard

I had heard about and seen pictures of Pikes Peak in Colorado for many years. In fact, I showed pictures to classes as I taught “America the Beautiful” written by Katherine Lee Bates from the top of that mountain. But, I had never seen it for myself. Then one summer my husband and I traveled to Colorado Springs and drove up the mountains to the Peak. I experienced something much broader and bigger than I imagined.

The winding, treacherous road, the clear air above the timber-line, the steep climbs, the breathtaking views from the summit, all gave me a much more vivid view of this great mountain.

In Scripture, we find several examples of persons experiencing the wonders of God for themselves that they may have only heard about before. In Psalm 48, the people recount the deliverances of the Lord in their past history. They exclaimed together:

In the book of Job, we read the story of God’s servant whose life God allowed Satan to devastate. Job suffered great torture and never knew the reason. Yet, he didn’t give up on God. At the very end of his story in Job 42:5, Job confessed to God:

Job’s experience far outweighed the stories about God.

In 1 John 1:1, the Apostle describes what he and others had experienced of God:

Here again, the early church gave great significance to the experience of seeing and knowing Christ.

Paul recognized the importance of a personal knowledge of God. In Philippians 3:10, he yearned:

Do we want to know Christ in this way, by experience? God invites us to come near, to know Him, to experience the way of life He offers, and to no longer live only on the encounters of others.

—Posted: Monday, October 1, 2018

 

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Yet

Don’t you just love procrastinators? They say they will send you something, or come to visit you, or do something for you or others, or take care of an issue, but you can’t depend on when or if they will actually do what they have promised. You watch and hope they will come through. You wait and you wait and you wait.

Many accounts in the Scriptures make God look like a giant procrastinator. We wait and wait and pray and pray and nothing happens like we think it should.

We have many examples in the Bible. Joseph, son of Jacob, stayed in prison for a crime he didn’t commit for two full years. (Genesis 41:1). Hannah wanted a baby, but the years went by and she remained childless. (1 Samuel 1:7). David was anointed king. But, before he was crowned king, he still spent years being chased by the murderous King Saul. (Books of 1 and 2 Samuel). Yet, in the study of all these stories, and many more, we see that God had a long-range plan and waited for the right time to bring that plan to pass. A pastor I once knew called it “the eventuality of God’s working.”

In the Book of Habakkuk, we hear the prophet’s cry in 1:2:

God answers the prophet in 2:3:

In Habakkuk 3:17-18, we read that the prophet himself has taken up the word “Yet”:

When we “hope” our procrastinator friend will come through, we “wish” more than actually having a godly hope. But, when we wait on God, the Bible encourages us to depend upon real hope. The Psalmist speaks of such hope in the verse at the top of this blog post. Jeremiah, in Lamentations 3, whose “splendor, and all he hoped for from the Lord was gone,” used the word “yet” and spoke of the “hope” he had.

What a God-given hope it takes for us to believe that, after months or years of praying and believing and waiting, God will eventually act according to His plan and His love for us.

Wait and pray and believe. Trust God to strengthen you for the waiting days ahead. Read Biblical accounts of faithful servants who hoped and waited and received what they prayed for from the Lord and be encouraged.

—Posted: Monday, September 24, 2018

 

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Fill ’er Up

Patrons at gas stations didn’t used to pump their own gas. Instead, they stayed in their cars and let the attendant on duty “fill ’er up.” Full service meant checking the oil level, cleaning the windshield, checking the air pressure in the tires, and filling the tires with additional air if necessary. Once you drove away, you felt that you could travel safely until your fuel level once again hovered near empty.

As Christians, God gives us the seal of His Holy Spirit when we turn to Him for justification from sin (Ephesians 1:13-14). And, as we live out the Christian life, the Holy Spirit continues to fill our spiritual “fuel tank.” We, like empty vehicle gas tanks, need that filling in order to travel through this life living for Christ. None of us has the ability to faithfully serve Him without the intervention and help from His Holy Spirit.

Have you ever noticed one of those yard inflatables that has lost air and droops over and looks half dead? Sometimes I feel that way when I come to God asking for a “fill-up.” None of us has the strength, the grace, the power, the energy, or the wisdom we need. In fact, God purposefully gives us tasks and circumstances for which we need Him. Without His divine aid, we are rendered useless.

How does God fill us? If we allow His written Word to soak into us, He gives us direction and faith in His ability to live through us. If we ask Him, He will govern and empower our way with the filling He wants to provide.

One of my favorite hymns puts it like this:¹

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1 Bernard of Clairvaux. Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts. Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, September 17, 2018

 

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No Easy Game of Telephone

Nearly everyone has played the “Game of Telephone.” A simple phrase gets secretly passed from one person to another until the last person proclaims it aloud. To the enjoyment of everyone, the phrase has often drastically changed from the original whisperer. The game seems more fun, the more outrageous the change.

When the Gospel of our Lord passes from one generation to another, we should aim at accuracy above all else. We all know people who come from a long line of faithful Christians, but who may have heard a twist to the story that changes them into doubters or cynics of the faith—or even deserters from the faith. Other voices get into the game. In fact, one who sows lies joins the circle and, before long, the last hearer completely disavows what he heard at first.

How do we keep the children of this generation from those who would try to influence them away from the Gospel, the Truth of the Word of God? Parents can’t always prevent their children from hearing wrong voices. However, if they have carefully orchestrated whom their children hear the most, and find ways to introduce them to winsome Christians and friends, this generation can carry on the faithful truths of our great heritage.

When I taught elementary music, folk songs became the “fodder” of my curriculum. Not only did they supply the musical elements I taught, they also provided students with the “mother tongue” of their heritage as Americans. Scripture is the “mother tongue” of our Christian heritage. Our children need to hear faithful preaching and faithful teaching. They need to know faithful Christians in the church and observe their lives of service and devotion.

Children need to see and hear people who have made the Christian life a firm foundation for their lives and whose lives they can emulate. They need to learn the songs and hymns of their Christian heritage. At the end of Moses’ life, recorded in Deuteronomy 31, he wrote a song and instructed the Israelites to teach it and sing it as a testimony of God’s work.

Psalm 78:1-6 speaks of writing parables to teach the next generation. Excerpts of those verses say:

Not only has God given us means to teach the next generation, He can give us the courage, wisdom, grace, and all that we need in order to do so. Let us pray for this generation of children and for those who not only begin with the message of Christ, but carry it on throughout their lifetimes.

—Posted: Monday, September 10, 2018

 

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Fervor

I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to iron clothes before electricity. Not only were there no “easy-care” fabrics, there wasn’t even a way to maintain a heated iron to use for the entire job. Most women used a series of irons, heated one at a time on the wood stove nearby. They had tricks to use for doing the job with a super-heated iron and other tricks to use as the temperature of the iron cooled.

This reminds me of something that the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Roman Christians in the early church. Romans 12:11 from the New International Version says it this way:

According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, “fervor” amounts to “warm steady intensity of feeling or expression.”

I think the key word here is “steady.” Certainly the invention of electricity makes the steady heat of a clothes iron possible. Although we sometimes have an awareness of when the electric current reheats our iron, we do not have to make it happen.

Where does the fervor come from for a steady warmth of service to God? Like the old fashioned iron, we must go to the source of the “spiritual heat” and spend time with our Lord, whose Holy Spirit burns within us. To maintain that warmth of passion throughout the day, we must stay “plugged in” to Him and draw on His power, moment by moment.

It’s corny but true: “Seven days without prayer make one weak.” Even one day without an infusing of God’s miraculous power puts us in jeopardy of making crucial mistakes, of sinning against our Lord, or of losing our focus and our fervor.

Remember the symbolism of the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2? Tongues of fire landed on the heads of each of Jesus’ disciples. This symbol of the Holy Spirit reminds us of the fire that God wants to ignite in each of us: for power, for light, and for a passion to do His work in this world.

Let us pray daily for that fire to burn richly within us that we might become a steady usefulness for our Savior.

—Posted: Monday, September 3, 2018

 

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Slow Down!

School Zone: When Flashing—15 MPH. I drove by these city schools often and it seemed so unnatural to go so slowly when I impatiently wanted to get to my destination. Even my car seemed to balk at this slow rate. Yet, police watched these areas closely. Nearly everyone, in a kind of reverential fear, obeyed the signs and slowed down.

They remind me of the school days when, as a public school teacher, I would speed through my daily preparations in my classroom without taking the time to slow down and pray. Yes, I had spent time at home committing the day to the Lord. But, I should have slowed down long enough to pray for each class I would see and even for individual students. I know teachers who regularly touch each desk and pray that the Lord will bless the students who will sit there during the day. I even know one teacher who touched the door frame of her door and asked the Lord to bless all who would enter the classroom that day.

Now, I no longer have the responsibility of managing a classroom. What can those of us Christians on the outside do to affect the work within our public and private schools? When you drive through a School Zone, let it prod you to slow down and pray for that school. The forces of evil remain strong. Only the power of an Almighty God can intervene in the educational systems and individual buildings of the schools in our country.

We need to remember those who carry the presence of Christ in their lives within our schools every day: teachers, administrators, staff members, Board of Education members, and students. We need to pray for the safety of our schools and place all those who work there under the protection of our powerful God. We need to pray that truth would prevail and that Christian students would have equal, unbiased treatment.

With so much at stake concerning the education of our future generations, won’t you please join me in the challenge to pray for the schools in our neighborhoods?

May God have mercy and grant overwhelming blessings upon them all!

—Posted: Monday, August 27, 2018

 

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Refusing the Remedy

Neither a child spitting out his or her medicine, nor an old man refusing “any more pills,” do themselves any favors when it comes to their healing. When a remedy exists, it is wise to take advantage of it.

Even in Jesus’ time, He met people who didn’t appear to really want a remedy for their woes. In John 5:1-15, we read the story of Jesus meeting a man at the Bethesda pool who had been unable to walk for 38 years. The man was full of excuses why he had not been healed in all that time when a common remedy was available. Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?” To prove the man’s faith, Jesus told him to stand and walk. At once, through God’s power, the man walked away.

Many people have heard the “cure” for their lost condition in the death grip of sin. But, they have refused the remedy that Jesus offers to them. The remedy comes through the simple, yet difficult, submission to the truth of the gospel; that of confession of sin, turning from it, and accepting Jesus’ death for them on the cross as the payment they could never make themselves to a righteous God.

If your conscience has burdened you because of your refusal of the cure for your condition, recognize this voice as Jesus stepping up to you, as He did to this man at Bethesda and saying, “Do you want to get well?” Then, when He says to you, “Get up, walk with me, and accept my healing” you will know cleansing from sin and peace with God—in effect, a new life. Then, you too will have learned that when a remedy exists, it is wise to take advantage of it.

—Posted: Monday, August 20, 2018

 

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Bedrock

Maybe you saw the 60 Minutes^® story about the Renaissance Tower in San Francisco. This story featured the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. It contains condominiums that sell for millions of dollars, drawing the richest and most well-off buyers in the Bay area.

The problem with this posh building doesn’t appear to the naked eye. But engineers, who have studied the cracks in the foundation and say it leans, report that the building sinks about two-inches a year, or about 17 inches so far.

Upon close study, these engineers learned that the builders went down 80 feet and built the foundation on very dense sand. Below the sand, the ground consists of years of packed rubble, mostly from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. To reach bedrock, one must extend the foundation of the building downward at least 200 feet below the surface. The question now becomes, how to fix this $350 million mistake.¹

Immediately upon hearing the story, I remembered the parable that Jesus told about two men. The wise man built his house on the solid rock of God’s word. The foolish man built his house on the sand of his own willful ways. Though on sunny days the houses may have both appeared stable, when the storms came, only the one founded on the rock stood firm.

This parable, while a reminder for us all that God warns us about trying to build our lives on anything but His truth, also urges us to consider how we will build the next generations.

We could say that Christians, in general, desire their children, grandchildren, students, and congregational members to love God and follow in His ways. But, I sometimes wonder if we really aim for bedrock, or simply settle for something that appears good, but has its foundations built upon sand.

Do our churches aim to produce in our children strong, obedient, wise, and serious Christians? Or, do we remain content to develop polite, well-rounded, and knowledgeable young people with the appearance of a fine Christian upbringing, but with little to hold them up through the storms of life—even the temptations of college life or the workaday world? Do the programs we offer children in our churches spend more time on the “appeal factor” rather than actually drilling down into the will and consciousness of these young people?

Thankfully, I have seen, in recent years, parents and churches that have genuinely laid brick upon brick on a solid foundation of the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray for all who influence the next generation of young people that our families and church produce!

May the Christian leaders of the next generation have what it takes to stand strong and powerful in Christ.

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1 Wertheim, Jon. San Francisco’s Leaning Tower of Lawsuits. 60 Minutes (television program) for August 5, 2018. New York, NY: CBS Interactive Inc., 2018.

—Posted: Monday, August 13, 2018

 

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Used Tea Bags and Pencil Stubs

When I was a child, I remember a missionary speaker at my church who told of receiving “care packages” from the States. Inside one box he discovered that the people had sent boxes of used tea bags and pencil stubs. Imagine receiving that kind of gift sent to you in Jesus’ name!

The prophet Malachi was burdened for God’s people about just this kind of sloppy mediocrity, selfishness, and heartless worship. Apparently God’s people were giving to Him as sacrifices defiled food and diseased animals. He rebuked them in Malachi 1:14:

In our day, we may not present defiled animals to God. But, many of us are quite content to give Him that which has cost us nothing. In speaking to a mom of a chorister in my church choir about the child’s erratic attendance, she responded to me with, “It’s only church, for heaven’s sake!”

Make no mistake about it, God wants our best when we give Him our worship. He wants our excellence. This doesn’t always mean perfection. But, it does mean a heartfelt giving of the very best that we have.

Surely when we give offerings to those less fortunate, we can give gifts our own children would enjoy. When we bring food for the pantry, we can buy the same brands we would buy for ourselves.

Let us please Him as we give. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 reminds us of what God desires from His people:

—Posted: Monday, August 6, 2018

 

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Daydreams

Much of my childhood, and more of my adulthood than I would like to admit, has been lived inside my imagination. By the time I got to Junior High school math class, I had so many gaps in my knowledge, I never caught up. I believe now that when class got boring I would slip into my daydreaming mode and miss whatever happened as the teacher explained important math concepts.

As I worked on my master degree project of studying the effects of inattention in music class, I learned that there are children with ADD (without the hyperactivity component) who behave and seem eager to please teachers, but who spend much of their time far away in thought.

I have also learned that often, our greatest gifting can get derailed by sinful temptations. For example, those with vivid imaginations seem to have creative and sometimes entrepreneurial talents that God wants to use for the benefit of His church, and the world in general. But, Satan tempts them into using their daydreams to disrupt God’s plans.

The Puritan, Richard Sibbes, contrasted the evil and good effects of daydreaming.¹

He poses the solution to this problem.²

Just as Satan can use the work of our imagination to derail our attention, distort God’s voice, or lead us astray, God can use this tremendous power for good. If we dedicate our thoughts to Him, He can show us truths within His written Word in new ways, direct our creative ideas for the use of His church, and excite us to serve Him in new ways.

Again, Sibbes writes:³

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1 Sibbes, Richard, as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 170.

2 Ibid. p. 170.

3 Ibid. p. 207.

—Posted: Monday, July 30, 2018

 

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Show Me Where It Hurts

When I taught school, children frequently came to me with hurt fingers or knees. Often all they needed was my concern, whether I could take the pain away or not. Very often, the actual “hurt” was long gone before they complained.

I love the story of the healing of Lazarus in John 11. Jesus loved the sisters, Mary and Martha, as well as their brother, Lazarus, who had died. Even though word had been sent to Jesus that Lazarus was ill and dying, Jesus stayed where He was for two more days. He had a much higher plan than anyone could have thought.

Bereft, grieving, and totally puzzled by Jesus’ actions, Mary stayed at home while Martha ran to greet Jesus when he arrived. But, what gladness she must have felt when Martha came looking for her saying, as recorded in John 11:28:

Jesus was asking for Mary, His friend.

When Mary went to greet Jesus, He saw her weeping and verse 33 reads:

Often we hear that Jesus wept because of His great love and sorrow over Lazarus. Somehow, I don’t think Jesus was concerned about Lazarus. After all, He knew that Lazarus would, in a few minutes, stand before them healed!

Instead, I think that Jesus wept because of His compassion for Mary’s pain. After the healing of Lazarus, we see what Mary did to show her tremendous gratitude to Jesus. In John 12:3 we read that she poured over Jesus feet a pint of pure nard—a very expensive perfume worth a great deal. The depth of her pain shows in the depth of her gratitude.

Jesus often acts the way with us that He did with Mary. When we suffer, He longs to come to us and call us by name. He shows His concern by deeply moving expressions of His love, and even asks us, “Show me where it hurts.” He wants to know every detail and to share His compassion with us. Lamentations 3:33 tells us:

But, when He finds such things necessary for His greater will, we can count on His loving care, the same as He showed to Mary of Bethany.

I like this quote from Matthew Henry, a 17th century Presbyterian minister:¹

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1 Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary. McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Co., Public Domain. Vol. V, p. 1053.

—Posted: Monday, July 23, 2018

 

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The Mystery of His Silence

A person who spends any amount of time with a toddler fears the silence. “What is he up to now?” we ask. The inference: “up to no good!” We prefer to trust what others do when we can’t see them. Sometimes, in our relationship with God, we hear nothing but silence and wonder, “What is He up to now?”

Job, the upright and blameless man, whose life and trials the Bible documents, heard nothing from God but silence when God took away his family, his business, and his health. In one frustrating moment, recorded in Job 23:3, Job cried out:

Job did a lot of self-talk, just as Jeremiah did in his Book of Lamentations. This self-talk reminded both men of God’s unsearchable ways, His wisdom, and His care. Both came to the conclusion that they were not God, and could do nothing but cling to His mercy and to trust in Him. Both lived with God’s silence for much longer than either of them wanted.

In her book about women from the Bible, Carolyn Curtis Jones writes:¹

Like Job, we may not know what God plans for us, as we travel through the darkness and silence. But, He wants us to learn to trust Him. And, like Job’s words, recorded in Job 13:15:

The conclusion of the story finds Job in Job 42:5 remarking:

God is not like the toddler: “up to no good.” No, instead He is always “up to good.” His good and our good.

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1 James, Carolyn Curtis, Lost Women of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. p. 127.

—Posted: Monday, July 16, 2018

 

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Squeezing Out the Juice

Experts say that squeezing two to four oranges yields about eight ounces of juice. Nothing can beat real freshly squeezed orange juice for flavor and sweetness. Yet, most of us would rather buy the “made from concentrate” brands in the supermarket. Why is that? Well, because of the time and mess involved, I suppose. At least that’s my excuse.

And, why don’t Christians enjoy the sweet fellowship of God in Jesus Christ more? Probably for a similar reason. It takes time to squeeze out the best flavors from His written Word. Nothing substitutes for meditation on the written Word of God and the sweet truths we learn through it.

In Scripture, we read that David, named the “man after God’s own heart” loved meditation. Vividly, we see in Psalm 19 that David meditated on the wonders of the sky, and the wonders of the laws of God. After considering, He prayed, as recorded in verse 14:

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Puritan minister, David Clarkson, who lived in the 17th century, wrote about the advancement of faith through meditation. He stated that God develops faith in us when we think on His express promises, Scriptural assertions, God’s acts through and on behalf of His people, through the prayers of His people, and through His commandments. He writes:¹

Gather the promises and meditate on them. They are meat in this wilderness. Often be mining their treasures. Do not allow these pearls to lie neglected in the field. Treasure them up. Fill your memories with them. A promise treasured will afford comfort in our callings, dungeons, and banishments. Meditate frequently and seriously on them.

Occasionally, try paring down your Scripture reading to just a few verses and spend time meditating word by word. Specifically:

In other words, squeeze out those sweet juices. You will develop a connoisseur’s taste and build your faith in the process!

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1 Clarkson, David, quoted in Voices. Richard Rushing, editor. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 174.

—Posted: Monday, July 9, 2018

 

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Blessing and Keeping

The smiling clerk in the copy store always ends our time of business with “Have a great weekend.” The cashier at the bank closes with “Enjoy the rest of your day.” And, the kid at the drive-through window of the fast food restaurant tells me, “Have a good one!”

How many of us consider the words that the pastor says over his or her congregation each week as a kind of “Have a good week?” This send-off—when done in church we actually call it the “Benediction,” which is the Latin word for “the blessing”—has far more power than something someone just says when you sneeze, or end a business transaction, or say a good-bye.

The Benediction, or Final Blessing of a Worship Service, represents not only the words and deliberate intention of a pastor to share God’s blessing, but it needs the reception of the congregation to complete it. Don’t we always say “thank you” even to the parting phrases spoken to us in a store?

We would do well to say to God:

Thank You that I will now live under Your blessing this week. I receive that word as though spoken by You to me. I also receive Your keeping power: the grace and the peace that the pastor, on Your behalf, has just given me.

In one church where I worshipped, the Order of Service provided for an additional minute of reflection after the Benediction and before the chatter and loud notes of the Postlude. In this time, the congregation silently and reverently thanked God for all they had received during that hour, including His blessing.

I would suggest that from now on, every Sunday when we hear the Benediction from our pastor, that we would consciously and purposefully “receive” that Benediction with thanksgiving. Emily Brink states it this way:¹

Perhaps you, like me, really look forward to the final blessing in every service. That is the time when God speaks his reassuring words of power, when he promises us that he will be with us and will sustain us. When the minister raises his hands, we receive, long distance as it were, the laying on of hands. And we know that the Holy Spirit will grant us the power that is needed to make us a blessing.

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1 Brink, Emily R. “Make Me a Blessing: Benedictions Are More Than Pious Wishes.” Reformed Worship, March, 1991. https://www.reformedworship.org/article/march-1991/make-me-blessing-benedictions-are-more-pious-wishes (accessed: June 28, 2018).

—Posted: Monday, July 2, 2018

 

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Light Through the Windows

What does the photograph of the church above tell you? Would you guess this congregation is active or dying? If in the summer months, with the windows wide open, you would hear robust singing? Would you then gain more of an understanding about what goes on there and how lively the people worship and engage with each other? Does this church look like a welcoming place?

Plenty of churches will illuminate their façade with carefully placed spotlights to reveal the beauty of the building in which they meet at some time during the week. But, how many actually beam the Light of God’s inner working out of the windows and onto anyone who might pass by? Does the very building speak of a Living Lord dwelling among the members of the congregation?

I imagine we could use this same image to represent individual believers. When others “pass by” us in their daily walk, do they see the Light of Christ in us?

Jesus reminds us in John 8:12 that He is the Light of the World, and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:14) that just as He is the Light, we also are the light of the world.

In that same passage, (Matthew 5:16) Jesus said:

“…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

In words that fit the photograph above:

“Keep your lights on in the window and throw them open to allow all to see and hear about Him through you.”

May our “light” reveal welcome and cheer to every person who crosses the pathway of our lives, through the gracious Lord that we serve!

—Posted: Monday, June 25, 2018

 

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Controlled Environment

In looking through various definitions of “controlled environment,” I find clarity in this summation:

A controlled environment is an area where nourishment, temperature, humidity, air movement, and light are controlled and supervised in order to provide optimal growing conditions.

Unlike most traditional farmers, who constantly watch the sky and weather conditions in order to grow their crops, scientific farmers have learned to mitigate the negative results of wind, temperatures, and weather on their produce.

Recently I considered this in light of God’s written Word. Alec Motyer, in his study of Isaiah 54 reminds us that:

God as Creator not only started things off. He also maintains everything in its existence, controls everything in its operation and guides everything to His intended goal… As the Creator’s children in the Creator’s world we are a protected species in a planned environment and destined for a glorious future that is already ours.¹

Not only do all people in our world enjoy the common grace of living in a controlled environment of temperature, air pressure, and other vital elements needed for life on earth, but those individuals whom God has specifically called as His children enjoy the kind of preservation and constant care He gives us out of His love and compassion.

Though sometimes, we may feel the chill of cold “weather,” and the blasts of terrifying “winds,” we can enjoy the assurance that we live safely in the controlled environment of God’s sovereign will and good jurisdiction. He wants to see our growth in grace. And, He knows exactly how to care for us.

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1 Motyer, Alec, Isaiah By the Day. Scotland, U.K: Christian Focus Publications, 2011. p. 265.

—Posted: Monday, June 18, 2018

 

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The Big Picture

Only recently have I decided that I am a “big picture” person. Always before, when asked, I would say I wasn’t sure because I so often deal with details in sequence.

But, when I think about it, even as a child, I always liked to see the map with the entire trip in view from start to finish. Only then could I follow the exact route, town by town, which we were driving to reach our destination.

While I am getting used to reading books using the Kindle app on my phone, I have trouble reading on the device because I can’t see the whole book—front to back. I like to read about the author, see how many pages I’m dealing with, and I like to view those photos tucked in the middle: all before I start to read the actual text of the book.

Perhaps we “big picture” people have more trouble trusting God because we can’t see the route to the final destination and its relationship to our present location. Yes, we know the route we travel will finally lead us to Heaven. But, what about the next 15 to 20 years, or longer?

I am grateful that our God names Himself the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the Ending. Though time does not bind Him, He knows our beginning and our ending, along with all the routes in between. And, He has promised us He will be with us every step of the way.

As recorded in both Deuteronomy 31:8 and Hebrews 13:5 God says to us:

“I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.”

We can trust God because He does know the end from the beginning. I don’t know His way, but He knows mine.

As Job 23:10 tells us:

He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

In order to trust Him and not fear, I need to stay close to Him. That alone will keep me from frustration over every circumstance that seems to tell me things are out of control and I have lost my way.

Like a Good Shepherd, He goes ahead and leads us because He trly knows the “Big Picture.”

—Posted: Monday, June 11, 2018

 

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That Which Remains

Every summer on my family farm, my father and his helpers used the old, rattle-trap, noisy threshing machine on the latest crop of oats. Like harvesting wheat, the machine would beat the grain until the seeds were separated from the straw and chaff. The straw ended up as bedding for cattle, the seeds became feed for them, and the chaff, well, it just blew away. The value lies in that which remains.

We dared not get too close while watching this process. Every time we did, the chaff would find its way into every crevice of clothing, between our bare toes, even up our noses. Chaff—what a dirty and useless material it is. We cleaned and cleaned it from our bodies.

In Bible times, as we read about in Ruth 3:3, men would use sledges, heavy wooden platforms weighted down with stones and fitted underneath with anything sharp. These sledges, pulled by teams of animals, would ride over the crop of wheat on a threshing floor. The farmers would “winnow” the loose plants with a winnowing rake and the chaff would blow away.

The agrarian culture of Bible times provided plenty of illustrations for the writers of Scripture to use in teaching God’s truths. The Psalmist, in Psalm 1:4, likens the chaff to the wicked people who walked away from God’s truth:

They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

But, why did Jesus allow Peter in the passage from the Gospel of Luke at the beginning of this blog post to go through the sifting process with Satan in charge? Certainly Jesus didn’t place Peter in the same camp as the “wicked.” What was Satan’s purpose here? I am convinced that Satan wanted to destroy Peter, the future leader of the Christian church. But, God had a different plan.

I like the way that Beth Moore explains it:¹

Satan’s goal in sifting is to make us a mockery by showing us to be all chaff and no wheat. Christ, on the other hand, permits us to be sifted to shake out the real from the unreal, the trash from the true. The wheat that proves usable is authentic grain from which Christ can make bread.

Often we find that God puts His choicest servants through the hardest circumstances in preparation for powerful ministry. They learn what God considers chaff in their lives and submit to the painful and brutal threshing process.

If God seems to be beating the chaff out of you these days, rejoice that He has called you to suffer for His sake. Trust Him to bring about His purposes in your life, so that you may become nourishing bread for others. Remember, the value lies in that which remains.

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1 Moore, Beth, Portraits of Devotion. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2014. P. 264.

—Posted: Monday, June 4, 2018

 

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Anxious to Give

Did you ever know anyone who had something to give you and just couldn’t wait for the special event to share it? We think children often do this. They either give the gift early, “casting off restraint,” or “spill the beans” by saying something to reveal the secret of what’s in the gift they wait to give.

Did you ever think of Jesus that way?

Noted Bible teacher, Beth Moore, points out that in the account from Luke 7:11-17 of the healing of the son of the widow from Nain, Jesus, without being asked, “casting off restraint” immediately healed this boy. The men were carrying him out of the house, and Jesus, moved with compassion, told they boy’s mother not to cry. Then, Jesus leaned over to speak the dead son back to life.

At other times, as in the healing of Lazarus, we read in John 11:1-45 that the family sent for Jesus to come. But, He stayed where He was two more days.

To use Beth Moore’s viewpoint, this action must have taken great restraint on Jesus’ part not to hurry to his friends the very minute He heard. Yet, God had a larger plan for the healing of Lazarus. Or, as He said in John 11:4:

This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.

Here’s what caught my attention to Beth Moore’s writing:¹

I believe what comes most naturally to Christ every time He encounters need is to instantly fix it. Is it possible He exercises great restraint to work any other way in the face of devastation? I think so.

A plan of profound importance exists that sometimes overrides the miracle we desperately desire. But I am comforted to know that instantaneous healing and resurrection power come even more naturally to our Christ than waiting and working through long but necessary processes.

Perhaps you have shown great trust and faithfulness in waiting for God to answer a prayer you have prayed. Be encouraged that He is waiting, too—for the right moment to give you the gift that will respond to your prayer.

Except for His overriding need to work His ways in us, He would instantly come to us with His answer whenever we pray. Let us be encouraged that He always waits for the best time and thrills to give us His greatest blessing in answer to our requests.

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1 Moore, Beth. Portraits of Devotion. Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2014. Pp. 203-204.

—Posted: Monday. May 28, 2018

 

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The God of “Suddenly”

For most of us, waiting on God to answer prayer, or show us direction in a matter, seems like a never-ending period of time. We often wait far longer than we had ever anticipated when we started.

The disciples must have felt that way, too. They had seen Jesus ascend back to Heaven and had stayed together in an upper room for most of the 40 days between His death and His ascension. Now they had waited for His promise, the Holy Spirit, for ten more days.

I wonder what they expected would happen when the Holy Spirit came. This sudden wind and the flames of fire that landed on each of their heads must have shocked even these devoted followers of Jesus. I imagine that once they realized what was happening, they experienced a flood of incredible joy!

When we think of sudden happenings in Scripture, we might remember the words of Luke 2:13:

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.”

Certainly these shepherds shook in their homespun pants to see such a sight: the coming of this new-born Messiah for which watchers had prayed and had anticipated for so long.

The apostle Paul took a routine “business trip” to Damascus and we read this in Acts 9:3:

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Later, after Paul had begun working for his new Boss, and shared a missionary adventure with his friend Silas, we read of these two men in Acts 16:25-26. They had been imprisoned for speaking about Jesus and Scripture tells us:

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.

We should allow these accounts to give us confidence and renewed faith that God will answer our prayers, even though we may have waited for a very long time. When God decides to act, nothing will stop Him from fulfilling His will. Circumstances that ordinarily just wouldn’t work out can suddenly fall into place when His sovereign plan comes together.

As we think back over our lifetimes of knowing God through Jesus, we must have at least one account when we have seen this suddenness of His character. Let this remembrance and the Scriptures encourage us today. When God wills it, it will happen!

—Posted: Monday, May 21, 2018

 

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The “Look”

The Kindergarten teacher had them trained. When she gave important directives to her students, she would say, “And, I mean…” to which they would loudly respond, “BUSINESS!”

The corresponding “look” expressed her serious expectation. From that point on, all she had to do to remind them of her orders was to give them the “look.” They could read her solemn warning, as well as her disappointment, merely by reading her face. After all, as these were her students, she counted on them to not betray the confidence she had placed in them.

Even the apostle Peter needed reminding with the “look” that Jesus gave him. And, in that moment, Peter remembered the warning and saw the disappointment in Jesus’ eyes.

How often has the Lord instructed us about a serious matter where He has given us instruction in His written Word that He has expected us to obey, only to experience disappointment with our forgetful behavior and our betrayal of His confidence? In the first place, do we neglect to see that He means BUSINESS? Do we think like Peter did that he had the situation well in hand and certainly did not need any reminder?

The Lord knows us so much better than we know ourselves. He can look ahead and see the dangers and pitfalls into which we might readily fall prey. In response, He often speaks to us through His written Word concerning the matter.

How much better for us if we heed the warning He gives us than to have to see the “look” of disappointment on His face when we fail Him. What a joy instead to see His look of pleasure when we listen closely, heed His written Word, and take each matter seriously that He brings to our attention.

As His dearly loved child, has He recently spoken to you through His written Word? Did He then show His love for you by punctuating His message by having the Holy Spirit prompt you with the words, “And, I mean BUSINESS!”

When this happens in our lives, we do well to take our Lord seriously—very seriously.

—Posted: Monday, May 14, 2018

 

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Irresistible

I remember watching a video of children taking a psychological test. This test examined whether or not the children could withstand the temptation of simple marshmallows.

Each child would sit a table with a bowl of marshmallows immediately in front of them. An adult would explain to the child that she had to leave the room for a moment. She asked the child not to touch the marshmallows until she got back. A hidden camera captured the reactions of each of several children who took the test.

Some children ably resisted. Others played with a marshmallow and put it back. And still others, after looking around, quickly popped one into their mouths. For these last children, the yummy treat proved simply irresistible.

The Reformed Protestant faith believes in the term, “Irresistible Grace.” The belief states that God gives those He has chosen for salvation a very special grace to discover His call on their lives. That special grace irresistibly draws them to God. As the Holy Spirit interacts with the ones God has called, each chosen one responds willingly in faith to the irresistible draw of God’s grace.

Verse 44 of the same chapter of John, which I quoted from at the top of this blog post, tells us that:

No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the Father who sent me draws him.

Likewise, in John 15:16 Jesus said:

You did not choose me, but I chose you.

God’s love and grace powerfully call people to Himself.

Perhaps you wonder if He has chosen you for eternal life through Christ. If you show any interest at all in the things of God, have a curious longing to know Him better, or even think often of knowing Him, God is most likely drawing you to Himself by means of His irresistible grace.

Find a place to be alone with Him. As simply as you would talk to another person, share with Him your doubts, questions, and longings. Invite Him to come and live in your heart and mind. Read His written Word and start with the passages I have mentioned in this devotional.

This could very well begin a wonderful, life-changing journey for you. God loves you and He is irresistibly drawing you toward His grace and love.

—Posted: Monday, May 7, 2018

 

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Creaky Gates

When you come upon a creaky gate, what adjective comes first to mind? To me, I think “neglect.” If a gate makes a sound, it obviously has not been used often and needs lubrication. Or, it needs a new coat of paint and a couple of new hinges.

What if the gates of the Lord’s house make a squeaky sound, are stuck, or are hard to open? Would not a few swings of the gate help? Perhaps the gates need some children running in and out? Or, perhaps the gates need a squirt or two of oil on the hinges?

I really don’t think the mention in Scripture of the gates of the Lord’s house really refers to the gates themselves. Rather, I believe these references refer to the practices and use of God’s house by His people.

If we belong to God through Christ, Scripture found in 1 Peter 2:9 declares that we are a royal priesthood. Surely, priests need to frequent the Lord’s house.

The Scripture passage from Psalm 118 at the beginning of this blog post seems to indicate that thanksgiving lubricates those gates. When Christians come together, they should enter God’s house full of thanksgiving and joy. Certainly a robust congregation will demonstrate this gratitude. Psalm 100:4 tells us to:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise…

Hebrews 10:25 gives us a strong admonition:

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Obviously the author of this passage of Scripture saw the importance of keeping those gates swinging with our usage.

If the “gates” of your place of worship depended on you for their usage, would they swing easily on their hinges, or creak and fall off? Is it your “habit” to neglect the meeting together of the church? Even those of us who make well-worn tracks into and out of the church building can do so without the joy and purposefulness God requires.

When Sunday rolls around this week, why not make it your glad intention to enter the gates of the Lord’s house with joy, with thanksgiving, and with encouragement for your brothers and sisters in Christ? Say with Nehemiah, as found in Nehemiah 10:39:

We will not neglect the house of our God!

—Posted: Monday, April 30, 2018

 

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I Think I’ll Wear Pearls

I think I’ll wear pearls today. One reason I will wear pearls today is because beloved First Lady Barbara Bush died this past week and she always wore an iconic strand of pearls. I will also wear pearls today because they remind me of the name given my Savior: “The Pearl of Great Price.”

Joni Eareckson Tada reminds us, in her book, Pearls of Great Price,¹ that pearls are unique gems, not mined out of the earth, or made from rocks and crystals. Rather, pearls rise out of suffering.

A grain of sand sticks in the fleshy part of an oyster and creates an irritation. To this the oyster adds smooth milky layer after layer to cover the sand until the irritation becomes smooth and acceptable. Jesus, in suffering for us, became like a pearl, a priceless gem of great worth for which a wise person would be willing to trade everything.

Not only did Jesus show us the way to suffer, but He also showed us how He expects to make us beautiful in His time. He has embedded us in a world of troubles and suffering. He has embedded us in a culture that often sees us as an irritation. All of this becomes for Him a perfect environment to bring out the “pearl” in each of us. He will cover us with His shiny beauty for all the world to see.

Yes, I think I’ll wear pearls today. And, I will remind myself that all the irritation and struggles of the day will indeed bring forth His handiwork in my life.

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1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Pearls of Great Price. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Company, 2006. Preface.

—Posted: Monday, April 23, 2018

 

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Father’s Arms

I have vague memories from age two or three of going with my father to collect eggs. Our hundreds of laying hens roosted in a large hen house on the loft second floor. A ladder stretched from the ground and sat propped to the second floor “balcony”—the only access. My dad became very adept at walking backwards down the ladder carrying full baskets of eggs. On the days when I joined him, he precariously carried me as well as the full basket, with no hands on the ladder.

My mother often reminded me of those days, because I’m sure she did not fully approve of the practice. But, as for me, I enjoyed the climb down the ladder and never feared my father would drop me, or make a misstep. I fully trusted him.

I wish I could say that I trust my Heavenly Father like that when He carries me through precarious situations. Yet, His written Word promises that all my life I can trust His arms to hold on to me and keep me safely in His care, as found in Isaiah 46:4:

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Sometimes when we go through a new dangerous state of circumstances, it helps us to look back at the times He has so lovingly and wisely carried us through. In Isaiah 60:9, Israel was reminded of all the times He did just that for them:

In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

At the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses reviews the travels of Israel through the wilderness. He reminds them, and puts to rest their fears of the future, by helping them remember God’s care for them. Here’s what Moses told them in Deuteronomy 1:31:

Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord you God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.

The older we get, the more history we have experienced with our watchful Heavenly Father. And, the more instances we have to remember His special care. Today, if you are facing a precarious situation, go back over all the times God carried you through other dangerous and terrifying times. Be encouraged that, as He did for you in the past, He will continue to do in the future.

—Posted: Monday, April 16, 2018

 

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Tell-Tale Marks

One day after teaching all day, I stopped at the local supermarket where I saw a woman in the bread aisle. She seemed smartly dressed, with comfortable shoes, looking intelligent, and collecting her groceries quickly. I wondered if she might be a teacher, too.

Not until I pulled my cart up behind her in the check-out line did I know. There on her back side stretched the all-too-visible line of chalk. I knew it! No one but a teacher would have that tell-tale mark.

Christians should have tell-tale marks, too. Do you have identifying signs—tell-tale marks—that reveal a family likeness to Christ?

Do people recognize the presence of Christ in you by the purity of your speech? By your respectful treatment of others? By your submission to authority? By your refraining from gossip? By your reputation for loving others?

When you sit down to lunch, do you bow and quietly thank God for it? Do you show compassion and caring? Do you live a holy life?

In some settings, governmental law may prohibit us from preaching Christ. But, no law anywhere can prevent us from showing the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23)—even in a public school, or in the public square!

Wherever God has placed us in this world, He expects us to reveal the tell-tale marks He has placed on our life.

—Posted: Monday, April 9, 2018

 

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Will You Celebrate?

The first time the disciples had gathered together since the Last Supper, at which time Jesus had explained to them the importance of His upcoming death, must have been a real celebration. Yes, there was some fear and doubt. But, once the disciples began to realize what had really happened, can you imagine the joy?

Did someone go out and bring back food? Did they dance and sing? The evening air must have rang with stories from the women who had first discovered the tomb was empty and who had ran back to tell the disciples what they had discovered; from those two disciples who had sped to the tomb in the morning; and from the two travelers who had met Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Can you imagine how these devoted followers of Jesus moved from their doubts and fears to the sudden realization of the amazing truth of the resurrection?

Do you think they worshipped and sang hymns? Surely, if they sang a hymn as they went out to Gethsemane on Thursday evening, they would have much more joyfully and willingly sang on this occasion.

Do you celebrate on Easter? Now, I’m not asking if you take your children or grandchildren to meet the Easter Bunny in preparation for this special day. I’m not asking what you intend to serve at your special Easter dinner. I’m not asking if you have a new dress, or hat, or purse to wear for the Easter parade or to attend your church’s service.

I’m asking what you will do to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Will you take the time to consider the miraculous rescue Jesus planned for us through His conquering of sin, death, and Satan on our behalf? Will your heart fill with worshipful gratitude for the eternal plan of God the Father, the suffering of His Son, our Lord Jesus for us, and the amazing power over our sin, and all sin, won through the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit?

Will you celebrate in the company of others who rejoice in the joy of the resurrection? Will you heartily sing songs of praise, listen to the Scriptures with attention and awe, and realize again God’s love for you? Will you enjoy this period of Eastertide, from the sunrise on Easter Sunday morning and all through the days to come? Will you shout with great joy: “The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!”

As George Ratcliffe Woodward’s marvelous hymn declares:¹

This joyful Eastertide,
   away with sin and sorrow!
My love, the Crucified,
   has sprung to life this morrow.

Refrain: Had Christ, who once was slain,
   not burst his three-day prison,
   our faith had been in vain.
But now is Christ arisen, arisen, arisen;
   but now is Christ arisen!

Death’s flood has lost its chill
   since Jesus crossed the river.
Lover of souls, from ill
   my passing soul deliver.

Refrain: Had Christ, who once was slain,
   not burst his three-day prison,
   our faith had been in vain.
But now is Christ arisen, arisen, arisen;
   but now is Christ arisen!

My flesh in hope shall rest
   and for a season slumber
Till trump from east to west
   shall wake the dead in number.

Refrain: Had Christ, who once was slain,
   not burst his three-day prison,
   our faith had been in vain.
But now is Christ arisen, arisen, arisen;
   but now is Christ arisen!

______________________

1 Woodward, George. This Joyful Eastertide. Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, April 2, 2018

 

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With Passion

Christ was full of compassion—“com - passion”: with passion. What a wonderful picture of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ as He faced the cross. How many times does Scripture indicate that Jesus had compassion? So often we find the phrase, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion.”¹ And, of course, compassion motivated Jesus, along with His love, to die in our place in such a horrifying manner.

In the Old Testament, compassion was symbolized by the Mercy Seat within the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle. Once a year, the High Priest entered this sacred place to offer a sacrifice for the sins of his people.

The Mercy Seat—the “hilasterion”—indicated to the people of God that He fully sympathized with their sin, their pain, and their sorrows. The New Testament Greek text of Romans 3:25 KJV reads:²

[Jesus Christ] Whom God set forth to be a propitiation [mercy seat] through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

The moment Jesus took His last breath, Scripture records that the veil in the temple was torn in two so that we all now have access to the mercy and love of Christ.

When we show compassion to others, we reflect Christ to them. When we take on someone else’s suffering, we put ourselves in their place, just as Christ did for us. When we invite others into our lives, we show the hospitality of Christ.

The mercy of God should flow through His people to others, just as it flowed constantly through Jesus’ earthly life. God the Father has compassion, Jesus the Son has compassion, and through the Holy Spirit, we can have compassion for others.

I am reminded of an old hymn that talks about the mercy seat. The mercy seat being a place of prayer, or a place of congregated believers who show forth Christ’s compassion.³

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish;
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel;
Here bring your wounded hearts,
Here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure,
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot cure.”

Here see the Bread of Life; see waters flowing,
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above;
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heav’n can remove.

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1 To name just a few: Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, and 20:34

2 Quoted by Beth Moore in Moore, Beth. A Woman’s Heart. Nashville: LifeWay Press, 1995. p. 181.

3 Moore, Thomas and Hastings, Thomas. Come, Ye Disconsolate. Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, March 26, 2018

 

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Plans

The teacher lives by his or her plan book. If the teacher has done a good job, inside each plan book you can find day-to-day lessons. Each individual lesson will have an individual goal. Monthly or unit lessons that relate to the individual lessons will have a larger, more encompassing goal. Year-long plans for a specific grade level, or subject, will reflect the goals of the curriculum for the particular subject area.

Some teachers, once they have achieved mastery of all of these levels, begin planning “longitudinally.” This is the practice that I followed. I had music students from Kindergarten through Grade Four, so I looked at my students with the strategy of a five-year plan. How rewarding to see the skills these children acquired over those years and to know that I, in large part, had taught them and watched them grow in their proficiency.

We use a theological term for this kind of progress in our spiritual lives: sanctification. It’s important to note that sanctification follows God’s longitudinal design for us. And, rather than planning for a whole group of students—or disciples—God specifically designs a customized plan for each of us. He measures our individual progress against His long-term goals, which He has formulated for each of us since before the foundation of the world.

Joni Eareckson Tada, who became a quadriplegic as a teenager—on the day the doctors moved her in the hospital from “acute care” to “chronic care”—learned the very hard lesson of looking into God’s plan book. She knew then that this “lesson” of growth would become a long-range process. Here’s how she put it:¹

The core of God’s plan is to rescue us from sin and self-centerdness. Suffering—especially the chronic kind—is God’s choicest tool to accomplish this. It is a long process. But, it means I can accept my paralysis as a chronic condition. When I broke my neck, it wasn’t a jigsaw puzzle I had to solve fast, or a quick jolt to get me back on track. My paralyzing accident was the beginning of a lengthy process of becoming like Christ.

As we consider God’s work in our lives, we should ask ourselves what God uses to teach us short lessons, longer chapters, or life-lessons, and how He masterminds all of it for His long-range good purposes in our lives. And, we should remember that lessons always go best when we cooperate!

______________________

1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Pearls of Great Price. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Company, 2006. Devotional for February 17th.

—Posted: March 19, 2018

 

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The Sap of the Maple

I love that in the months of February and March a great trasformation takes place. The ground lies frozen beneath a blanket of snow and all the trees look like dead stalks. I can remember my childhood on a maple syrup-producing farm. Yes, before the robin sings his first song, before pussy willows pop their soft fuzzy shoots, or before the ice-hardened streams flow freely, we can find new life within the maple tree.

The maple tree, in order to produce the sweet sap, must teem with new life. Through its hidden roots, it must draw up from the moisture in the ground the glorious liquid that becomes its sap.

In a similar way, a Christian should bring forth new fruit and new living nourishment for the benefit of himself or herself and others. This fresh life is produced by the work of the Holy Spirit, Who brings the divine ability to give off the many effects of that new life. The root system of a Christian reaches deep down in God-breathed experiences, deep down to the Water of Life, the Lord Jesus, and deep down into the written Word of God that feeds spiritual nourishment to him or her.

The result of tapping into one of these mature maple trees and allowing a hot fire to boil away the extra liquid can be tasted in the remaining syrup and the many products made from the syrup, such as maple cream and maple sugar candy.

Mature Christians, with the living graces of Christ flowing into them, through them, and from them, produce sweet refreshments for others, as well. In Scripture, Galatians 5:22-23 refers to these sweet refreshments as the “Fruit of the Spirit.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon had this to say¹:

As the sap manifests itself in producing the foliage and fruit of the tree, so with a truly healthy Christian, his grace is externally manifested in his walk and conversation.

Let us continually feed on the Water of Life so that we provide Christ’s sweetness to everyone we meet.

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1 Spurgeon, Charles H. Morning and Evening. Public Domain. Devotional entry for October 24th.

2 The photo above was taken of a portion of the mural painted by Charlene B. Willink Kidder for the UPMC Chautauqua WCA Hospital Emergency Department’s Waiting Room in Jamestown, NY.

—Posted: Monday, March 12, 2018

 

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Spiritual Sinkholes

If you were driving along and came to the sinkhole shown in the photo above, would you try to drive around it? If you were planning to build a house, would you set your sights on the lot adjacent to such a sinkhole? No reasonable person would do either.

Yet, we all sometimes dare walk by and peer into a pit like this and suddenly get drawn into it. Sin entices us when we least expect it and we fall.

For example, we all have “besetting” sins that we get used to having in our lives. Some of us live close to a sinkhole called “Worry.” We find it so easy to step over the side and fall into this sinkhole. Others of us nurse “Grudges.” We stand too near the rim and catch ourselves—on the way down! Some of us get too close to the edge of a pit called “Self-pity.” Before we know it, we’re at the bottom of this sinkhole with no apparent way out.

How do we make it a practice of staying out of the neighborhood where sinkholes abide? Some days we’d much rather build our house right there on the perimeter and enjoy our misery. Do you ever feel that way?

In her book, Jesus Calling, Sarah Young writes about this problem area. She explains the importance of this crisis of daily living.

Be on guard against the pit… When you are weary or unwell, this demonic trap is the greatest danger you face. Don’t even go near the edge of the pit. Its edges crumble easily, and before you know it, you are on the way down. It is ever so much harder to get out of the pit than to keep a safe distance from it.¹

Sarah Young suggests that Christians with this problem—the enticement of the pit—should occupy themselves with praising and thanking God for His blessings. She also speaks of living close to God in order to put a distance between us and the pit. Her suggestions are both good ideas.

Scripture itself, in the same passage as our introductory verse, tells us that we have help available if we want it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 states:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

I hope that you will join me as we work at staying away from spiritual sink holes. Comfortable though it may be to peer into them, whenever we put ourselves into that kind of temptation, we cannot please our heavenly Father. He has definitely given us help to overcome such temptation.

______________________

1 Young, Sarah. Jesus Calling. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008. Devotional for February 23rd.

—Posted: Monday, March 5, 2018

 

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Hidden Treasures

I have a beautiful photograph of my maternal grandmother as a teenager. What a treasure! I also have a Waterford crystal apple given to me by my music colleagues on the occasion of my retirement from teaching. What a treasure! Once in awhile I take the opportunity to look at my various pieces of furniture, jewelry, dishes, photographs, and paintings that I consider true treasures.

I don’t think Jesus was opposed to earthly treasures. But instead, He wants us to put them in perspective and use them as an illustration of the greater things He wants us to value. Even more than the way we pull out our keepsakes and admire them, I believe He wants us to take the time, once in awhile, to admire the eternal treasures He gives us. What a better time than the period of Lent to do so?

Do you have familiar passages of Scripture that you memorized a long time ago, or learned as a child, but which have slipped into the background of your thinking? Why not take those passages out, dust them off, and reclaim them?

For example, how long has it been since you have read and meditated on Psalm 23? Or, perhaps the Lord spoke to you and changed you through another passage of Scripture that you haven’t looked at in some time? Take the time to read that passage in another translation, to study it verse by verse, word by word. If you do so, a treasure awaits you!

Another source, in my glass case of memories, comes through the hymns and spiritual songs that I have sung over and over throughout my lifetime. These hymns hold treasured phrases and living images of God’s truths. To review them brings renewed blessing, challenges, gratitude, and love for my Lord.

If you journal your spiritual progress like I do, the things that God teaches you daily in your quiet time with Him, reveal a fortune of riches. Take a look back through your journal entries. See how He has blessed you through the day-to-day revelation of His presence. The times He has met with you, answered prayer, and taught you about life with Him should make you rejoice in the treasures He has given.

So, I am suggesting that we all pull out the treasures we have stored in our hearts of Scriptures and spiritual songs and the day-to-day remembrances of His presence. We need to slowly turn them over in our minds, admiring the prized truths that bring our Savior closer, and help us adore Him, the greatest Treasure of them all!

—Posted: Monday, February 26, 2018

 

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The Gourd and the Worm

Jonah was proud of his Hebrew heritage, and considered himself a prophet of the Most High God. Yet, somewhere he lost his way, and cared less about God ’s will than his own.

Yet God, in His faithfulness, not only to the Ninevites to whom He had called Jonah, but to Jonah himself, took extraordinary measures to discipline his servant Jonah. The Hebrews hated the Ninevites and would have rather seen them destroyed by God than saved. Jonah bought into this cultural opinion, and therefore, Jonah turned away from helping them in their return to God in repentance and headed in the opposite direction by ship.

Even after God called Jonah a second time and he reluctantly obeyed, he became very angry that the people of the wicked city of Nineveh turned and repented. So, he sat down outside of the city and pouted.

In kindness, God provided for Jonah a gourd with large foliage to protect him from the sun and scorching wind. This vine became the only thing in this story that made Jonah happy. Then, God did something that again made Jonah angry. God sent a worm to eat the gourd, causing the foliage shading Jonah to wither and die.

God went to extreme lengths to call His wayward servant back to Himself. What a readjustment Jonah needed! God used a storm, a fish, a gourd, and a worm to call Jonah back. If God would do this for Jonah, we can be assured He will not let us disobey and turn from what He has called us to do. God is faithful. He will keep us from going and straying away from Him.

The Scripture passage found in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 tells us:

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

God expects of His servants today the same thing He expected of Jonah—complete obedience to His will. And, God will not let us think more of our own comforts than we think of His sovereign plan. Even if He has to provide a gourd and a worm to prove it!

—Posted: Monday, February 19, 2018

 

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Open Wide!

We’ve all watched as a mother tries to feed her child something the child thinks is undesirable: the mouth shut tight and the head squirming away from the spoon. The beets or peas—or worse yet, the medicine—remain despised, even though what’s on the spoon may be meant to nourish or heal.

How often have we closed our mouths, our hearts, or our minds to our Heavenly Father’s intention to feed us with something new that we perceive as totally undesirable. The struggle goes on until a smidgen of the substance gets into our system, leaving a messy face and a determination on our part to never take any more of the dreadful stuff.

However, our Heavenly Father loves us too much to allow us to persist in our stubborn ways. Sooner or later, He initiates the feeding again, and eventually teaches us that He has our best interest—and that of His Kingdom—at heart.

Do you remember the lengths to which Jonah went to keep His mouth and will closed up against God’s plan? God had requested Jonah to go “proclaim” the words God had given him to the people of Ninevah. After the unfortunate ship ride, the detour inside the giant fish, and the expectoration upon the beach, Jonah reluctantly obeyed so that God’s miracle work could happen for the Ninevites. Jonah opened his mouth and God filled it with His message.

Perhaps you don’t know what God wants to put in your mouth. You hesitate because you want to be sure you will like what He has for you. Or, you hesitate because you want to be certain that you are capable of “keeping it down.”

Yet sometimes, God only wants us to trust His wise and loving intentions. Even though the spoonful may not appeal to us at first, we must believe He has something tasty and nourishing for us.

Let us learn the valuable lesson to “open wide,” allowing Him to give us all He has for us!

—Posted: Monday, February 12, 2018

 

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Keep Us

Often children are given responsibility for a plant, or a young pet, so that they learn the reliability it takes to keep something safe and alive. They learn the necessity for dependability and the sacred duty of a “keeper.”

Have you ever had the responsibility for taking care of another human being? A child, an elderly parent, or a sick spouse? The heavy task of such care gives comfort to the one under your watch. We want that one to feel at peace, to know that even in danger, he or she can relax, unafraid.

The older I get, the more I realize that I am incapable of taking care of myself. Yes, I do my best to live spiritually for God. But, more and more I recognize that I have nothing in me that will please Him. If left to ourselves, we produce only spiritual deadwood. We have no “life” in us but what Christ has given us. Even with the best of intentions, we utterly fail at pleasing God, of showing forth His glory, of doing His will in His way.

God has taken the responsibility of our care upon Himself. Not only does He watch over our physical and emotional needs, He has taken upon Himself the accountability for our sin, and cares for us spiritually. We would utterly fail, and die, were it not for His keeping power.

I love the prayer that Charles Haddon Spurgeon penned:

Hast Thou not said, “I, the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day”? Lord, keep us everywhere. Keep us when in the valley, that we murmur not against Thy humbling hand; keep us when on the mountain, that we wax not giddy through being lifted up; keep us in youth, when our passions are strong; keep us in old age, when becoming conceited of our wisdom, we may therefore prove greater fools than the young and giddy; keep us when we come to die, lest, at the very last, we should deny Thee! Keep us living, keep us dying, keep us labouring, keep us suffering, keep us fighting, keep us resting, keep us everywhere, for everywhere we need Thee, O our God!¹

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1Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Morning and Evening. McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Co., Public Domain. p. 363.

—Posted: Monday, February 5, 2018

 

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Let Me Off!

I remember seeing the musical, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off! when I was a high school student.

The show focuses on Littlechap, from the moment of his birth to his death. Each time something unsatisfactory happens, he calls out 'Stop the world!' and addresses the audience…He allows his growing dissatisfaction with his existence to lead him into the arms of various women in his business travels as he searches for something better than he has. He becomes rich and successful, and is elected to public office. Only in his old age does he realize that what he always had—the love of his wife— was more than enough to sustain him.¹

Littlechap’s life could be summed up in the phrase, “The grass is always greener…” He could never be satisfied, nor could he completely rid his life of troubles. Neither can we!

For example, King David came under frequent attack from Saul and his armies. He called out to God over the anguish, fear, insults and abuse he suffered from the hands of his enemies.

All of us have times in our lives when we feel we can no longer cope, when the troubles have piled up to such a degree that our strength is sapped and our faith weakened. We cry with King David, “Oh, that I had wings that could carry me away!” Yet, in Psalm 55, David demonstrates to us the proper response to this kind of agonizing trouble.

King David calls out to God, listing the complaints he has. He reaffirms his knowledge of God’s ability to see his suffering. He rehearses God’s character, His love, His care. And, then, David recommits himself to God’s care. To us, in Psalm 55:22, he says:

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

When we feel we can no longer “hang on,” when we have nothing in ourselves to help, and when we just want to “Stop the world,” we can have the assurance that God’s strength, His hope, His love, His mercy, His grace will never fail us. Our extremity is His opportunity!

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1 Stop the World! I Want to Get Off! cited in Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified March 19, 2016.

—Posted: Monday, January 29, 2018

 

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You Deserve It

You’ve seen the commercials. “You’re worth it!” “You deserve a break.” Our culture not only urges us to desire things that feed our pleasure centers, but also persuades us that we are somehow entitled to them. We begin to believe that God owes us everything we think we have coming.

This kind of thinking also has a flip side. That we don’t deserve trouble. That we shouldn’t have to suffer, or feel need, or want for anything. Our society has us convinced that God is good, but only when He grants our wishes like some grand Santa Clause.

I have read the story on a couple of occasions of Arthur Ashe, the famous tennis star in which he was confronted about his own suffering. Ashe, who was the first black man to win the U.S. Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon, contracted AIDS during heart surgery in 1983. He had become infected by the blood with which he was transfused.

He received a letter from a fan which asked: “Why does God have to select you for such a bad disease?”

To this, Arthur Ashe replied:

The world over—50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5,000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals. When I was holding a cup I never asked God “Why me?”

And today in pain, I should not be asking God “Why me?”

Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong,
Sorrow keeps you Human,
Failure keeps you humble,
and Success keeps you glowing.
But, only Faith & Attitude keeps you going.¹

When you see the blessing and favor of God on your life, why not ask: “God, why me?” And, when things don’t go the way you would like, why not say:“Thank you, God. In spite of my disappointment, I can still declare, ‘You are a good God.’”

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1 Pathak, Harit. The Why Me? Story. Found on the website: EssentiallySports.com. May 24, 2015.

—Posted: Monday, January 22, 2018

 

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Grace for the “No”

As a young child, I remember how hard I cried whenever my parents said, “No!” to me. I held out hope that perhaps they would change their minds if I just showed them how miserable they were making me by not allowing my friend to stay overnight, or to get the sweater I really wanted, or to accept the invitation to go swimming.

Much of my adult life, I spent sulking or feeling sorry for myself when God didn’t answer “Yes” to my reasonable requests for a coveted award, or a Christmas trip home, or even for a baby of my own.

Just lately, in the “golden” years of my life, I have learned that when God says “No,” He has a much better plan— even though it might not seem that way at the time. Most times, that “No” signifies that he will fit me with extraordinary grace through means I would never have imagined.

In the Bible story recorded in in John 11, sisters Mary and Martha learned this difficult lesson from Jesus Himself. They had sent for Jesus because their brother Lazarus was dying. Yet, Jesus waited two more days before going to them. In the meantime, Lazarus died. Jesus promised them they would see the Lord’s glory through this, but they still grieved and criticized Him for not coming sooner to heal Lazarus.

The story ended even better than they would have ever imagined. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead for the display of His power and sovereign will. Their brother was alive and their Lord had shown Himself to the crowd that had gathered. He was indeed glorified through this act of love and grace.

I would encourage you to do what I am learning to do—to be content with God’s will and to watch and wait for the ways He reveals Himself in His “No” answer to our prayers. May we see His amazing grace demonstrated in our lives, as we trust Him and learn to accept His answers!

—Posted: Monday, January 15, 2018

 

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Janus

The name for the month of January comes from the name of Janus, the Roman god of doorways. This god had two faces: one looking forward and one looking backwards. As we step over the threshold into this new year, we certainly have a better view of the year behind us than we do of the one ahead.

We constantly read in the Psalms that we are to consider the Lord’s works and see all that He has done. This good advice is illustrated many times in Scripture.

Samuel, in a story recorded in 1 Samuel 7, met with the Israelites at Mizpah to confess their sins and cry out to God for deliverance from the Philistines. Here Samuel took a stone and set it up, naming it “Ebenezer,” saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.”

At this threshold of a new year, we should look back long enough to see how the Lord has helped us through the year just past. I like to make a list of the high points. Then, I take note of how impossible it would have been to meet the challenges and enjoy the blessings without the direct intervention of our Lord.

Looking forward into the new year presents a bit of a harder task. And, lest you get into too much daydreaming, as I often do, let me warn you of the dangers here. We cannot possibly know what lies ahead of us in the new year. As much as we would like to plan it out, we don’t have that luxury. We need to remember that God controls the future. We do not.

Nevertheless, we do need to consciously and volitionally trust God with what lies ahead. We often will not know what the next day will bring. Yet, we should not live in fear, or presume life will always work out according to our plans. If we belong to a Sovereign God, we know that we can rely on His wisdom to guide us and His love to watch over us.

I pray that we will know more about how to live in the way of trust, to live in peace with our future, even while we do not know what it will bring. We can depend on the One who knows every day before we get to it and the one who will bring light to the pathways of our lives. As the Psalmist has committed himself, recorded in Psalm 119:105-106, let us also say:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.

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1 Note: The photo at the top of this devotional of The Cathedral of St. Paul, Erie, Pennsylvania, was taken by photographer, Pat Bywater, December 26, 2017.

—Posted: January 8, 2018

 

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Disrupted!

Mary and Joseph were planning a wedding. The initial approval of parents and the pledge that would forever bind them together had taken place. Now Mary could prepare for that important date they had ahead of them.

But, the angel Gabriel, coming to her with an unheard of announcement, completely disrupted the wedding plans. She would have a Baby by the Holy Spirit. Not only that, they would have to travel to Bethlehem, some 90 miles away, just about the time the Baby would be due. Plans disrupted!

Mary and Joseph were planning a trip home to Nazareth from Bethlehem. They must have been excited about introducing their families to the Newborn, and getting into a “settled” life as newlyweds.

But, an angel came and told Joseph that, in order to protect his family, they would have to go to Egypt for awhile! Plans disrupted!

In all of these events, Mary and Joseph responded to God’s plans by obeying and adapting their schedules and dreams. From the very beginning, they seemed to submit willingly to God’s mysterious will. Mary even responded to the angel, as recorded in Luke 1:38:

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

I must admit that I have much more trouble adapting to disrupted plans than Mary and Joseph seemed to have. If the weather gets bad, and friends are unable to make it for dinner, or cousin Jake gets sick at the last minute and the family can’t get together for pizza and games, I’m disappointed. If I felt assured that I had the new job for which I had applied, and then I heard that someone else got it instead, it would take me several days to move on from my disappointment. Maybe you respond to disruptions in the same way.

When we stop to remember that we, like Mary and Joseph, no longer should live for ourselves, but rather for the God who has called us, we can begin to live in the place of His blessings, protection and usefulness to the Kingdom. I think of the verses in 1 Corinthians  6:19-20:

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Lord, help us to realize, like Mary and Joseph did, that since You called us, our lives will never be our own again. Help us to understand that we have a new loyalty, a new responsibility, to do Your will above our own, and a gladness and eagerness to obey, in order that You will be glorified. May Your will be done on Earth, in us, as it is in Heaven. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

—Posted: Monday, January 1, 2018