Devotionals for Women

 

 

 

_______________

 

Late in Time

Many will recognize the phrase, “Late in time, behold Him come” from the popular carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. ¹ It reveals the sigh of “at long last” that comes after people wait for something for a very long time.

The scripture passage from Hebrews 9:26-28 tell us that just as He (the Christ) has appeared once for all:

He will appear a second time…to those who are waiting for Him.

In many verses of Scripture, we see another expression of “late in time”—the term, “last days.” This refers to the period begun by the coming of Christ and in which we now live. It reminds us that “soon” He will bring to pass all that the New Testament promises, as well as those ancient Old Testament prophecies relating to His second coming.

We also read of this “late in time” occurrence in Galatians 4:4-5:

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Quite appropriately, these verses speak of a late pregnancy in which the mother waits longingly for the birth.

We have been reminded throughout Advent of the urgency of waiting in a prepared manner for Christ’s second coming. But, I see another application of the principle of waiting until “late in time” He comes.

If you have ever prayed and waited over months and years, even decades for a promise that God has given you to be fulfilled, receive encouragement that God will reward your faith and perseverance. He never gives us a prayer that He doesn’t intend to answer.

However, we must also realize that our times are in God’s hands. Just as the nation Israel waited without knowing when the fulfillment of His promises for the first coming of the Messiah would happen—and we wait, not knowing when He will come again—we also can expect a “coming” in response to our God-breathed prayers at a time and in a way that we can’t know in advance.

Be encouraged that God acts in regard to His children just as He does in regard to nations and His own Kingdom. We can expect that “late in time”—or “in the fullness of time”—He will come in response to our prayers. Praise be to God!

______________________

1 Wesley, Charles, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Public domain.

—Posted: Monday, December 28, 2015

 

_______________

 

Incognito

If you have seen the television show, “Undercover Boss,” you know that a corporate CEO arrives at various places within the company as a trainee, so that he or she can meet various employees without being known and to also find problems existing within the business. These undercover bosses wear hair pieces, glasses, and unlikely clothing. Poor employees get “found out” and good employees get rewarded at the end of the hour long program.

Did you ever think about the fact that God came to earth incognito, too. According to scripture, He had no outstanding qualities that would speak of His royal position as Lord of All. Therefore, even religious leaders missed identifying Him as the promised Messiah. Even John the Baptist, who God sent as the forerunner of Jesus seemed to confess that he did not recognize Him as the Son of God. In fact, John the Baptist said in the story recorded in John 1:29-34, that he would not have known Him except for the Holy Spirit’s identification by the dove lighting on Him.

Which leads to the Biblical truth that no one can possibly know Jesus unless the Spirit reveals Him to us. In 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 Paul writes:

We speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

We remember the story from Luke 24:13-35 of the disciples walking along the road to Emmaus after the Resurrection and how the resurrected Christ joined them. For several hours these disciples talked with Him. But, they didn’t recognize Him. Only after Jesus broke bread did the Holy Spirit open the travelers eyes to see that they had been speaking with Jesus.

In this Advent season, when we admonish each other to watch for the second coming of the Messiah, I wonder how many of us will recognize Him when He comes. The words of Jesus, recorded in Matthew 24:10-13 warn us of such blindness:

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

I am comforted by the presence of two very dear saints, Simeon and Anna, in the Christmas story. Unlike most of the religious leaders, who never recognized the Messiah at His first coming, these two godly people prayed and waited, watched and worshiped. The moment that Mary and Joseph appeared at the temple to present their Baby, these two ran to Him in acknowledgement. The Spirit of God revealed to them that the promised Messiah had arrived. It seems that the true identity of Jesus was hidden from natural eyes. That He had arrived incognito and incarnate.

Those who wait and watch, pray and worship day after day, can expect that God will reveal the Christ at His second coming. Let us anticipate His arrival, made known to a watching Church!

—Posted: Monday, December 21, 2015

 

_______________

 

Wake Up!

One of the classical pieces for the Season of Advent, we know as the Bach Cantata, “Wachet Auf.” The words refer to the call of the Bridegroom in the Parable of the Virgins that Jesus told. The theme speaks of arising from gloom to glorious light, to hear the angels round the throne of God when our Lord returns to earth to take His Bride, the Church, away with Him.

When we look at the churches across our world today, we often hear about vibrant places across the globe. Many we would look at in our own land, unfortunately, may appear awake, but merely sleep walk. Surely, Jesus, our Bridegroom, would say to us, “Wake up!”

Even one of the churches in the Apostle John’s time had fallen into the sleep-walking pattern. When he wrote letters to seven of the congregations in his time, he told the church in Sardis that their heavy-eyed, lethargic patterns would lead to death—unless they would repent and wake up.

We know from scripture that sleep in a Christian, and a Christian church, can lead to death. As Puritan writer William Gurnall writes:

Samson was asleep and Delilah cut his locks. Saul was asleep, and his spear was taken from his side. Noah was asleep, and his graceless son had opportunity to discover his father’s nakedness. Eutychus was asleep, and fell from the third loft…Sleep creeps upon the soul as it does on the body. ¹

We need to awaken to sin in our life, silently creeping into our lives and our churches. We need to awaken to the needs God wants us to see in the world around us, and we need to awaken to the ways God wants to use us. When we sleep, our enemy Satan can come in unawares and take advantage of us. We can be near spiritual death and not know it.

Will He find us awake when He comes back? If He visited us today, would He find us sleepy or wide awake?

Prayer:

Lord, your church appears asleep, or at best, very drowsy. We have allowed our eyelids to get heavy, rather than stood to move at your command. Send us watchmen to warn us. Sound “Reveille” and reawaken your church. Alert us to dangers that have intruded our bed chambers and wait to kill us in our sleep. Stir us up. As you awoke our churches in times past, come again, and reawaken your people for your glory. Amen. ²

______________________

1 From “The Christian in Complete Armour” by William Gurnall, as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 358.

2 From Wilson, Shirley W. “Re”wording Our Prayers for Spiritual Change. Erie, PA: Wilson Publishing, 2011. p. 7.

—Posted: Monday, December 11, 2015

 

_______________

 

Anticipating With Fear or Joy?

Most musicians will recognize these famous verses as the source for the words from the Christmas section of Handel’s Messiah. The alto begins with an air, followed by the chorus. The words portray not a joyful expectation of the coming of the Redeemer, but one of fear. Who can stand the scrutiny of His coming?

Anticipating the first advent of Christ meant allowing God to purify sinful hearts, especially those of the priestly tribe of Levi who served night and day in the temple. It seems rather backwards that God would especially put His own temple servants through the hard process of refining until they were able to reveal the glowing image of their Lord and offer to Him offerings acceptable to such a King.

Does God expect the same of His servants who anticipate His Second Advent? The sobering reality of this great Day comes to us in 1 Peter 4:17:

For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Yes, just as God’s people looked forward to His first coming with joy and anxious anticipation, we too should watch and wait for His second coming in expectation and with joy. But, we also must remember, that as it was when John the Baptist came shouting, “Prepare” for Jesus’ Galilean ministry, we must also prepare to meet Him with hearts purified by His word and by His work of sanctification. And, as with Anna the prophetess who met Jesus in the temple on the eighth day, we should be faithfully, day after day on watch for His return.

As you hear the strains of Handel’s Messiah this Christmas, along with the joyful tidings and great joy, recall the sobering section about allowing God to refine you so that you can offer to Him that which He deserves—offerings in righteousness.

—Posted: Monday, December 7, 2015

 

_______________

 

Here He Comes!

“Shh! Here she comes!”

Most teachers of young children have heard this from time to time when they have had to step out of their classrooms for a couple of minutes. Children take the opportunity for a fun game of “Surprise!” The teacher enters the room to see students popping up from under their desk in an effort to startle her.

What anticipation children enjoy! We, too, should anticipate the wonder and element of surprise that will come at the Second Advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Scripture often refers to Him as the “Bridegroom” and we the church as the “Bride.” Jesus spoke in length about His Second Coming in Matthew 24 and 25.

Jesus wanted to make sure that His Bride keeps watch, and does not give up the anticipation of His coming. He does say, however, in Matthew 24:36:

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, not the Son, but only the Father.”

However, He does give us some clues about the state of world cultures before that day arrives. It would seem from these clues that we are closer than ever to His appearance.

Jesus, as a way of illustrating how He intends His Bride to watch and prepare during a long delay, tells the story of the Ten Virgins in a wedding party in Matthew 25:1-13. Five of the virgins looked ready because they held lamps, but only five of them also carried the oil for the lamps. Lamps took perpetual filling. In the story, at midnight the Bridegroom surprised the virgins with the call, “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” Only those with oil had prepared themselves when the Groom arrived.

God looks for faithful followers. He wants us to watch for Him and to “keep our lamps trimmed and burning.”

During this time of Advent, we should pay close attention to the words of Advent hymns. Many not only reflect the anticipation of Jesus’ first coming, but also the anticipation we should feel regarding His second coming.

The hymn, “Rejoice! Rejoice, Believers” paraphrases the story of the Ten Virgins for us:

Rejoice, rejoice, believers!
And let your lights appear;
The evening is advancing,
and darker night is near.
The Bridegroom is arising,
and soon He will draw nigh;
Up, watch and pray, nor slumber;
At midnight comes the cry.

See that your lamps are burning;
Your vessels filled with oil;
Wait calmly your deliverance
from earthly pain and toil;
The watchers on the mountains
proclaim the Bridegroom near;
Go meet Him as He cometh,
with alleluias clear.

Our hope and expectation,
O Jesus, now appear!
Arise, Thou Sun so longed for,
O’er this benighted sphere!
With hearts and hands uplifted,
we plead, O Lord, to see
The day of our redemption,
and ever be with Thee! ¹

______________________

1 “Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers!” A hymn by Laurentius Laurenti (1700) and translated by Sarah Borthwick Findlater. Public domain.

—Posted: Monday, November 30, 2015

 

_______________

 

Perfume Bottles, Jewels and
Loaded Wagons

Did you ever try to compile a list of things for which you are grateful? I’ve found that such a list needs consideration for many days, in order that I might begin to realize the vast and quite ridiculous nature of such an endeavor!

Yet, to look at the past, God’s mercies, extended to us from our birth, should bring a humble and heartfelt gratitude to each of us.

• What dangers has God kept from us or delivered us out of the midst?
  
  
• On how many journeys has God protected us?
  
  
• What people has He brought into our lives to bless us?
  
  
• What kindnesses has He promoted us to receive from past friends and acquaintances—or even strangers?
  
  
• What education and rich experiences has He provided?
  
  
• What earthly goods has He given into our care?
  
  
• What health for body and soul has He generously provided?

Puritan writer, George Swinnock says that we should meditate on God’s former favors to us. He writes:

An empty perfume bottle still smells when the perfume is gone. ¹

Indeed! How true this is of the past goodness of God in our lives.

When we look at the present, we need to make a whole new list! What about our homes, abundant food and clothing, family, health, Christian fellowship? What of daily blessings of work and rest? What of worship and the study of God’s Word? So many of these mercies we learn, over time, to take for granted. Yet, it behooves us to consider them all.

Again, George Swinnock writes:

Think of them [our present mercies] particularly. Spread them out like jewels to your view. Meditate on how freely they are bestowed, on their fullness and greatness. ²

When we consider that we entered this world with nothing, we should be amazed and continually grateful for all that God has so freely given to us. Yes—the photograph of a fragrant empty perfume bottle, or, as show above, a table loaded with jewels may well represent to us the abundance God bestows on us.

At this time of Thanksgiving, of harvest and in-gathering, we do well to consider the riches that God has given to us. As Psalm 65:11 reminds us:

You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.

Yes, in this verse we have yet another picture as an example of God’s goodness to us: loaded wagons!

As we consider this time of Thanksgiving, let’s truly focus on all the many wonderful gifts God has given us and recognize that it is His gifts that sustain us each day of our lives.

______________________

1 From “Works” by George Swinnock, as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 316.

2 Ibid

—Posted: Monday, November 23, 2015

 

_______________

 

Layaway

A mom dreams of giving her child a gift she really wants to give, but can’t afford. She lays down a deposit with the intention of paying a little at a time. And then, just before Christmas, goes back and claims the gift she has the goal of giving.

Just think of our God that way. He holds gifts in store for us and knows the best time to give them. Deuteronomy 28:12-13 speaks of the kind of blessing God stores for those who obey and follow Him:

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands…The Lord will make you the head, not the tail…you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

In Proverbs 2:7, we read that:

He holds victory in store for the upright.

In 2 Timothy 4:8, we read that God holds in store for His children a “crown of righteousness.” These are new graces out of God’s abundant new provisions.

Have you ever received a gift that is really old? Let me give you an example.

As a high school girl, my grandmother gave me a beautiful antique settee and chair that she owned. The chair had a big hole in the cushion, and the upholstery lay in tatters. At the time, my mother took the chair, and stored it away in our old farmhouse. Many years later, after I had married and moved away from home, my mother had that old chair recoiled and cushioned so that it, like new, could be useful again.

God does that too. He can “restore” things in our lives we thought would never be useful again. In Joel 2:25, we read God’s words to Israel, even before the exile to Babylon:

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

When the destroying swarms of trouble, sickness, or poverty devastate us, God has a way of miraculously restoring those things that we thought had been ruined. He holds them in store for the day when He makes them like new: useful and beautiful again.

God, like the loving parent, knows the gifts that He intends to give to us. He delights to think about us, to plan good things for us, and to rejoice in preparing a time for His special gift-giving. We can delight in waiting on God’s good things. Praise Him for the day of gift-giving ahead, full of surprises and great joy, all to His glory!

—Posted: Monday, November 16, 2015

 

_______________

 

But Dad, You Promised!

Looking at the photo above, can you just hear the child’s voice, “But Dad, you prommmmised!” Maybe she had waited for that puppy for what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, and heard Dad say, “Not until we move into our new house in the country.” Or, “When you are eight years old and can take care of a puppy.” Chances are, while Dad may have completely forgotten the promise, the child hasn’t, and she stands in very good stead pleading the promise.

God hears prayer from His children too, especially when they remind Him of His promises. For example, during the escape from Egypt, God’s people had so angered Him by forming and worshipping a golden calf, that He could not even refer to them any longer as “My” people. Moses had to remind God in prayer, as recorded in Exodus 33:13:

“Remember that this nation is your people.”

We can plead our relationship with God.

If we act on the promise we’ve read or heard and believe that promise, God also takes note. Remember Noah? In Genesis 6 and 7, we read how God promised Noah to spare his family even though He intended to destroy the world. In order to do that, God asked Noah to build an ark in which his family could survive.

With no sign of rain whatsoever—in fact, at this point in the history of the earth, it had never rained—Noah built this huge ark on dry land according to all the instructions God gave him. God did destroy the world, but spared Noah and his family, just as He promised. However, if by faith Noah had not obeyed and built the ark, he and his family would not have had a chance of survival.

While reading the Scriptures, listen for God’s voice in the promises you find there. If He makes a promise and you know it resonates with you, plead your relationship with Him as His child, and act on that promise in faith.

Like the little girl who took her umbrella to the prayer meeting because she had been told that the adults intended to pray for rain, expect God’s answer to His promises and to your prayers—in His time and in His way.

—Posted: Monday, November 9, 2015

 

_______________

 

Godly Ophthalmology

I have cataracts. The cataract clouds the vision of the lens of the eye and can be blamed for the majority of blindness across the world. I am grateful that here in the United States, we have routine cataract surgery, easily done and usually without serious consequences.

What a contrast between blindness and the brilliant glory of Christ. Eugene Peterson defines glory as:

…the open display of God’s good will, his loving salvation, his redeeming purpose. ¹

The brilliance of God’s glory as referred to in Exodus 34:29-35 caused Moses’ face to shine so intensely that he had to wear a veil when he spoke to the Israelite people. God’s glory, brilliant and dazzling, lies in contrast to the blindness of the human race, struck sightless by the sin we bear.

Just as a cataract fogs the lens completely if not removed, so sin takes away the sight of all of us until God gives us the ability to see again. All of us know the phrase, “I once…was blind, but now I see” from the hymn Amazing Grace. ²

A graphic picture of this comes to us in the story of St. Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-18. He, religious and obedient to his faith in every way, thought persecuting this new sect of “Christians” fell on him, and he went about the country making “murderous threats” and imprisoning them. That day, the glory of Christ Himself shone on Paul, knocking him from his donkey and blinding him. He heard God speak to him from this “glory” and turned to Him in repentance and new faith.

Acts 9:18 tells us that after Paul met Ananias who put his hands on him:

…immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.

Like the removal of cataracts to restore our physical sight, God miraculously removes the blindness of our hearts caused by the clouding of sin. He comes to us with that kind of life changing encounter with Him. We then begin to see in a new spiritual way things we never could before.

We can see the brilliant colors of God’s truth that once was a drab absurdity. We understand in a new way God’s wonderful love and provision for us. Christ Jesus, who once dwelt so far away that we could not see Him, now is seen up close, with clarity and definition.

Rejoice today, if God has removed your spiritual cataracts so that you see Him and know Him. Pray for those you know who still stumble in the darkness, and ask God for opportunities to share with them the transforming vision you have received from Him. He has made this operation available to them as well through His death and resurrection. The Great Physician waits to heal spiritual eyes and restore sight!

______________________

1 Peterson, Eugene. A Year with Jesus. San Francisco: Harper Collins Publisher, 1989. p. 321.

2 Newton, John. Amazing Grace. Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, November 2, 2015

 

_______________

 

Eating an Elephant

You’ve no doubt heard the question: “How do you eat an elephant?” And the answer: “One bite at a time.”

I confess that I am a veteran “planner.” I plan everything in order to stave off unwanted surprises or risky situations. God gave me this innate ability to systematically prepare for every contingency.

Yet, I don’t imagine He had in mind giving me this capability of planning in order that I should use it so in lieu of trusting Him. Much of the time He chooses to keep me in the dark about what comes next just for that very reason.

I’m sure that the Israelites would have liked to have known when God was going to lead them on in the wilderness so that they could have prepared meals “on the go.” Instead, He provided only enough manna for one day at a time. It appeared as dew in the morning and quickly evaporated. The people of Israel had to gather it without dawdling and trust God that He would supply the same food every day.

Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman whose family hid Jews from the Nazis in their home and who was subsequently imprisoned at Ravensbruck concentration camp, tells the story about a conversation with her father. Corrie had asked her father why God only seems to give them a clear answer to their prayers at the very last minute.

Whether the situation seems as dire as Corrie’s, or has to do with how you will get everything done for the upcoming wedding, or household move, or the months of chemotherapy ahead, God gives us the same answer: “Trust me and take one thing at a time.”

Certainly the patriarchs listed in Hebrews 11 give us plenty of examples of men and women who trusted in God during impossible situations. As Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.

God comforts us as we begin “eating our elephant” in 1 Peter 5:7:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

______________________

1 Ten Boom, Corrie, The Hiding Place. Old Tappan, NJ: Spire Books, 1971.

—Posted: Monday, October 26, 2015

 

_______________

 

Bread and Water

A diet of bread and water conjures up images of life in prison, of poverty without funds for anything but the essential elements, and of loss and sadness. Although most of us in twenty-first century America do not directly relate to such a diet like, as the verse at the beginning of the blog post suggests, we sometimes do experience times when God may seem to place us in a spiritual or emotional confinement.

At such times, we not only pray for release from the prison of problems, but we pray for understanding and guidance. We wisely go to God for the meaning of it all because the meaning seems hidden to us. We ask Him where we should go and what we should do. We need His divine guidance.

Some verses of Scripture offer comfort. In Isaiah 30: 19, we read:

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Our God wishes to show compassion and justice to us in our adversity and affliction.

As godly Job learned, harder still than the prison of problems God allows, are the deep, nagging questions: the “whys” and “what nows” that accompany them.

As Mary, the sister of Lazarus learned, in John 11, when Jesus finally came to her in her grief and baffled thoughts and called her name, everything changed.

As Peter learned after betraying his Lord and finding himself in a “prison” of shame and fear, in John 21, we see that a few minutes with Jesus changed everything. He heard the voice of God, responded, and nothing was ever the same again.

Being able to see our Teacher, to hear the Voice clear and strong, through His Word and through the indwelling Holy Spirit, becomes our comfort in the prison of problems we face. The God who spoke to Isaiah, Job, Mary, and Peter can speak to us.

Praise Him for His gracious promise to come to us and direct our way. When we lose all else, His voice of loving guidance changes everything!

—Posted: Monday, October 19, 2015

 

_______________

 

Trickle Down Blessings

Has God blessed you? Consider this. If God has blessed you, He has also blessed those around you.

How many close calls have you experienced on the road? Did you ever stop to think that when God spared you, He spared others as well?

Speaking to His followers in Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells us that:

“You are the salt of the earth.”

As “Christ’s-ones,” we not only help to give flavor and delight to the world, our very presence helps preserve it!

We need go no further than the scriptures to see illustrations of this blessed phenomenon.

In Genesis 37 and chapters following, we read the story of Joseph, the favorite son of the patriarch Jacob. We read about his jealous brothers who sold him to a band of Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt where he became a slave under the Pharaoh’s rule. He assigned Joseph to Potiphar, the captain of the guard, putting him in charge of all he had.

Genesis 39:5 tells us:

From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

If we look at the New Testament, we read the story of Paul’s voyage to Rome, and the storm in which they lost the ship on which they sailed. In Acts 27:23-24 we read from Paul’s testimony:

Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’

Like salt prudently used, our presence, and God’s blessing on us, may not call attention to itself. People around us may not even perceive that, because of us, God has included them in His goodness. Yet, when God removes His blessing, the world wonders what went wrong. We as a culture, too often presume things will go well for us, and believe they should. God has favored us. He has ambassadors of His grace all around, including you and me.

We must thank God today that He has called us to operate in our culture as a preserving influence, as a blessing, and as a flavoring agent to scatter His good grace to others around us. When we ask for His blessing, we must also remember to include all of those whom we will influence today.

—Posted: Monday, October 12, 2015

 

_______________

 

Gas in Your Tank

We all need a “fill-up” with hope from time to time. The “Enemy of Despair and Hopelessness” can bring us down and ruin any day, relationship, job, church, or project. Hope keeps us going. Hope fuels our way, even through difficult times.

Joni Eareckson Tada says:

It’s amazing how far we can go on a little bit of hope. Hope means “I know I can make it!” ¹

We have a God of hope according to the verse at the beginning of this blog post. We must trust Him to keep us going, to assure us of His presence and His good plan. In the book of Lamentations, chapter three, Jeremiah confesses:

My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.

Notice the past-tense of this sentence. Just three verses later, he says:

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness…The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him.

When we hope for things from God, He doesn’t always come through as we would desire. But, when we hope in God, He shows up to lift us up.

When Jeremiah looked at his circumstances, he saw nothing promising. Yet, when he looked at his God, he could rejoice.

Take a long look at our God. He has the answers we need and has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Let’s ask Him to refuel our drooping spirits. Then rejoice with the hymn writer:

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

His oath, his covenant, his blood
support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.” ²

______________________

1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Pearls of Great Price. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, ©2006, Devotional for September 30th. 2 Mote, Edward, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less. Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, October 5, 2015

 

_______________

 

Music in a Hammer

Maybe you remember the childhood rhyme:

There’s music in a hammer;
There’s music in a nail.
There’s music in a kitty-cat
When you step upon her tail!

How often do we feel struck by a hammer in our lives? What kind of music do we make at such times? Over and over in Scripture we are reminded that, like our Savior suffered, we will suffer for His sake and for His purposes in our lives.

In Acts 14:22 we read what the early Apostles told their followers:

We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

To be clear, that does not mean that our salvation comes to us because of our own patient endurance. No, our salvation comes to us as a precious gift from God, as we acknowledge our belief in God’s atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, on the cross.

When we enter Heaven at last, all serious Christ-followers will be survivors of many trials, tests, and struggles. It’s all part of the sanctification process God guides us through on our way toward spiritual maturity. The product of our surrender to the “hammer” of God’s work comes alive in the song we sing while we suffer.

The story of Paul and Silas, recorded in Acts 16, tells of their beating, flogging, and imprisonment. We read these words in Acts 16:25:

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.

They rejoiced in God’s will, not knowing whether they would live or die.

From the pen of a Puritan writer we read:

The greatest temptation out of hell is to live without trials. A pool of standing water will turn stagnant…Grace withers without adversity. You can’t sneak quietly into heaven without a cross. Crosses form us into his image. They cut away the pieces of our corruption. Lord cut, carve, wound; Lord do anything to perfect your image in us and make us fit for glory.” ¹

But, what of the hammer? Isaiah 44:12 tells us:

The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm.

Our God plays the blacksmith to forge us into His shape. Jeremiah 23:9 tells us:

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Sometimes God’s hammer comes to us through the striking truth of His Word.

Has God ever convicted you of sin so sharply and painfully that you could not rest in your spirit until you confessed and made that right? God still uses the hammer on His people with the hopeful result that, when we arrive to meet Him, we can say with the Puritan:

O what I owe to the file, hammer, and furnace! ²

And not only does He desire us to suffer for His sake, but to sing under the weight of the trials that He might be glorified in us!

______________________

1 From “The Loveliness of Christ” by Samuel Rutherford, as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 261. 2 Ibid.

—Posted: Monday, September 28, 2015

 

_______________

 

A Heavenly Facial

One of the largest successful businesses bases itself on a woman’s fascination with her face, and the her desire to make it smooth, ageless, and glowing with health. You can spend a great deal of money on creams, gels, and makeup to cover any imperfections in your skin, along with spot removers, oils, and wrinkle creams. If you doubt this fact, just take a look at the website ads that pop up along the side of your screen at almost every page on Facebook.

Scripture tells of a mysterious phenomenon that happened when Moses met with God on the Mount for 40 days. This glowing of Moses’ face, mentioned by Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, was nothing, Paul said, compared to what a Christian can experience:

For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory…And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

This passage reminds us of the passages in the Gospels about Jesus’ Transfiguration on Mt. Hermon, as recorded in Matthew 17:1-2:

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

What characterizes each of these historic instances? They all happened to people who had spent time in solitude with God. The visible glory of the Divine Presence, in the form of the Holy Spirit, supernaturally illuminated the faces of God’s servants. We read of many times during Jesus’ earthly ministry when He found a quiet place to spend time with God. Matthew 14:23 records one such instance:

After he had dismissed them [the crowd], he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.

This pattern that Jesus set for prayer He expects of us, too. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus taught:

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”

God wants to “transfigure” you in His Presence that you may know Him and take His Presence with you into the world for others to see.

I don’t know about you, but that kind of facial treatment sounds so much more beneficial and lasting than the one the television advertising offers. We may never see the Glory of Christ when we look at ourselves in the mirror, but others will see it in our lives, as we live a life of perpetual solitude in the presence of our Holy God.

—Posted: Monday, September 21, 2015

 

_______________

 

Did You See That?

How often, while driving in traffic, have you seen a blatant disregard for the law and for safety? Someone passes another car on the right. A car sails by you doing 80 in a 55 mph zone. A driver makes a turn where signs clearly indicate “NO TURNS.” My reaction, is probably like yours: “Where are the police when you need them?”

The “All-Seeing Eye of God”—or, His Omnipresence—sometimes gets forgotten. We fail to remember that even our thoughts do not go unnoticed by God. In other words, God’s ability to see and perceive everything that happens to us or within us can either bring us great fear or great comfort.

From Psalm 139:4, we learn that before a word is even on our tongues, God knows it completely. That should give us pause every time we speak. In Psalm 139:11-12, we read that we can’t hide from Him. He sees in the darkness as well as in the light. It is crazy to think He can’t see us!

Yet, we can gain comfort from the fact that God sees what others do to us or say about us. Jesus taught His disciples when he first sent them out, as recorded in Matthew 10:26:

…that there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.

And, He was talking about people who would abuse and betray the disciples in their ministry.

God wants us to trust Him that He does see. He does hear. He does know our pain when others malign us. Psalm 33:13 tells us that:

…from heaven, the Lord looks down and sees all mankind.

In Psalm 33:18, The Psalmist writes:

The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.

We sometimes may lose our patience waiting on God. But, we need to realize that He will resolve all the issues that trouble us.

Abraham responded when God told him that He was about to destroy Sodom because of their great sin. Abraham believed that Lot and his family would be spared because they were “the righteous” members of that terrible society. Abraham’s rhetorical question in Genesis 18:25 reveals his trust in God’s ability to get it right:

Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?

To take a sober look at God’s Omnipresence means that while we need to keep careful watch of our own behaviors, we also must learn to trust God, in His own time, to take care of those things we cannot make right when we say to Him, “Did you see that?”

—Posted: Monday, September 14, 2015

 

_______________

 

God’s Flying Buttresses

In a time of collapse, we would do well to have someone on whom to lean. We see this principle at work in the flying buttresses of Gothic Cathedrals.

According to Wikipedia:

“…the purpose of any buttress is to resist the lateral forces pushing a wall outwards…” which occurs with the load of heavy stone and glass in the walls of the largest buildings. “Another application of the flying buttress is to prop up a leaning wall in danger of collapse.”

The Apostle Paul was such a support to the early churches which he and other apostles founded in the first century. He not only traveled to stay with these young congregations to encourage and help them, but he wrote long letters of instruction to them so that they would not fail.

In carrying the load of these new churches, the Apostle Paul experienced endangering situations such as ship wrecks, starvation, physical problems, beatings, imprisonments, riots, and sleepless nights. In order for his ministry to continue he knew that he needed the buttressing of fellow servants of Christ to help his ministry. He relied on Titus and Timothy, John Mark, and Luke, as well as such lesser-known men as Tychicus, Epaphroditus, and women such as Nympha and Priscilla.

The Apostle Paul speaks of the Church of Christ as the Body of Christ, in which each member belongs to each other member in order to complete the whole. He admonished the Church in 1 Thessalonians 5:11:

Therefore encourage one another, and build each other up.

This theme occurs often in Paul’s writings. He knew how hard life can become and what spiritual warfare these young Christians would face.

In our present age, you may have days when you don’t feel you can go a step further. Weariness, sickness, emotional pain, along with a too-long waiting for God can beat upon you like heavy rain beats on a cathedral in a violent storm. In prayer, ask God to supply the support you need to keep from collapsing. He has already prepared a group of Christians to buttress you up during your difficult days. When the time of hardship ends, may you have the same grateful spirit as Paul did when he wrote to Philemon in verse 7:

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

—Posted: Monday, September 7, 2015

 

_______________

 

Don’t Gulp Your Food!

I can still hear my father’s admonition at the dinner table, “Chew your food!” I suppose I might have felt the urgent need to finish the meal in order to get back to playing with my sister, or riding my bike, or any dozens of other favorite pastimes I enjoyed as a child.

Some forty years later, I heard a pastor, on the verge of retirement, talking about the ways he needed to intensify the taste of God’s Word as he got older. He shared the premise that when our taste buds are young, we have a much more discriminating pallet even for mild flavors. He likened that to a child’s ability to remember new facts, songs, poetry, and Scripture with much more ease than an older person.

When this pastor was young, he told us, he enjoyed just about any flavor of jelly on his toast. But, when he got older, he needed stronger, more intense flavors to satisfy his taste. He said that in order to remember Scriptures like he did as a child, he needed more intense practices in his devotional life as an older Christian.

This pastor particularly enjoyed memorizing scripture. He urged his congregation to learn to appreciate God’s Word by intensifying the enjoyment of it through this practice. Memorizing passages from the Bible does indeed help cement the words of truth in one’s mind and heart.

Not only do we need more intense means to learn and remember Scripture as older adults, but we also need the practice of savoring what we read. Gulping down large portions of Bible books may bring some degree of growth. But, I believe that slowing down, savoring, and delighting in what we read intensifies our experience like nothing else can do.

How can we enjoy the Scriptures in this way? Certainly, we can memorize portions of it. We can also journal verses that God points out to us. We can paraphrase portions of Scripture that God is using to teach us. We can find hymns that capture the idea of certain Scripture readings. We can meditate over the images we read about.

All of these practices should have the effect of helping us say with the Psalmist in Psalm 34:8:

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Let us determine to learn to enjoy feeding on Scripture one bite at a time.And remember, “Don’t gulp your food!”

—Posted: Monday, August 31, 2015

 

_______________

 

God Said, “No!”

God does miracles in response to prayer! He is able! Can I get an “Amen?”

Most of us, if we’ve lived long enough, can say that God has performed miracles in behalf of people we know. He has spared us against impossible odds, has come to our rescue with resources we didn’t have or couldn’t see. He has healed those we love even after doctors did all they could do and results they hoped for didn’t come. Those miracles came with a “Yes!” answer as a result of faithful prayers.

Jesus believed, as we do, that God always heard His prayers. In John 11:41-42, He prayed:

“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me.”

If God said, “No!” to Jesus in Gethsemane, certainly, we can also expect that sometimes He will say “No!” to us as well.

As we watched my sister die of multiple myeloma, we prayed in faith fully believing that God had the power to heal her. She prayed that prayer too. Yet, when we heard God say “No!” we watched her—patiently resigned, submissive, and full of grace—bow to His will. Did God still perform a miracle? He indeed did!

God, instead of saying “Yes!” to Jesus in Gethsemane, sent angels to minister to Him, gave Him power to face death, and gave Him power to shout victory over it on Resurrection morning, bringing with that victory the way for all of us to know Him and ultimately triumph over death.

As recorded in Luke 1:38, the young virgin, Mary—frightened, alarmed, and perhaps even shamed upon hearing about her one-of-its-kind pregnancy—instead of praying to have this burden removed, said:

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

Instead of saying “Yes!” to my sister and to all of us who prayed for the miracle of healing for her, God sent incredible grace, beauty beyond compare, and a witness to all who knew her of the Resurrection power He has given her, and will give anyone, who trusts in His provision for our sin.

We can have the assurance that when God says, “No!” to our prayers in one sense, He always says, “Yes!” to His power to work His will in ways we could never imagine. From Jude 24 we hear these words:

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior, be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen.

—Posted: Monday, August 24, 2015

 

_______________

 

The Reckless Tongue

“Why did I say that? Ugh! Not only did I embarrass myself, but may have hurt the other person with my ill-thought-through statement.”

How easily our words can trip us up, can hurt others, and belie our witness for Christ. Such tiny mistakes sometimes create such a world of trouble.

Our enemy, Satan, waits to set up a conversation wherein we easily fall for temptation to cut down someone else, or share a secret we know, or use words that ought not come from the lips of a child of the King. How easy we fall into the trap and how difficult we find it to apologize!

My poet friend, Clara, penned these words that sums up my thoughts well:

My tongue was a reckless car today
That didn’t recognize or respect the stop signs.
It ran down two people
Without thought or compunction.
It crushed a sister and bruised a brother.
So dangerously exceeding all speed limits,
It careened over the highways
Without control or fear of consequence,
Halted only by the Word of God. ¹

If we know that the temptation to speak evil comes careening through our brain and onto our lips, we need to display a healthy amount of self-control, and the foresight before we begin a day, start a conversation, or make a phone call. We need to say the words written by the Psalmist David found in Psalm 141:3:

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips.

Let us covenant with God to do our part and to rely on Him to keep us from the hurt a runaway tongue can inflict on others!

______________________

1 Ruffin, Clara V. He’s Prepared My Heart for Harvest. Hartford, CT: Food for Thought, 1998.

—Posted: Monday, August 17, 2015

 

_______________

 

Commands With Blessings
in Their Mouths

by Thomas Watson (c. 1620-1686)

“It is not enough just to hear God’s voice, but we must obey it. Obedience is part of the honour we owe God. It is the beauty of a Christian, makes us precious to God, and makes us one of his favourites (Exodus 19:5). What are the ingredients in our obedience that will make it acceptable?

1. It must be performed freely and cheerfully, or it is penance, not sacrifice. Hypocrites obey God grudgingly, and against their will. Cain brought his sacrifice, but not his heart. [Genesis+4:1-5] Cheerfulness shows that there is love in the duty.
   
   
2. Obedience should be devout and fervent—not as a snail in a dull, slothful manner. As water boils over, so the heart must boil over with hot affections in the service of God. Obedience without fervency is like a sacrifice without fire. Elijah’s prayer brought fire from heaven because it carried fire up to heaven. [2 Kings 1:10]
   
   
3. We must obey all of God’s commands. Hypocrites will obey God in the things which require little effort, and that raise their reputation, but leave other things undone. Herod would listen to John the Baptist, but would not leave his incest. [Mark 6:17-19]
   
   
4. Obedience must be sincere. We must aim at God’s glory in it. The object of our obedience is not just to stop the mouth of conscience, or to gain applause, but that we might grow more like God.
   
   
5. Obedience must be constant. True obedience is like the fire on the altar which was always kept burning. A hypocrite’s obedience is but for a season; it is like whitewash, which is soon washed off. God’s commands are not grievous, and he commands nothing unreasonable. [1 John 5:3]
   
   

“To obey God is not so much our duty as our privilege. His commands carry blessings in their mouth. There is love in every command, as if a king bid one of his subjects to dig in a gold mine, and then keep the gold for himself.” ¹

______________________

1 From “The Ten Commandments,” by Thomas Watson, as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 220.

—Posted: Monday, August 10, 2015

 

_______________

 

Gifts to Give

Benny Jermaine came to my school as a kindergartener. He lived with a foster family in town. This winsome little boy, along with his class of five-year-olds, visited an apple orchard in the fall. The children were given permission to fill their backpacks full of apples. I’ll never forget that day when they all walked out the front door during my bus-duty time, bent over, moaning under the weight of their heavy burdens!

But, Benny didn’t appear “burdened” at all. Instead, with a smile and open pride, he offered his apples to any adult he saw as he walked the long hallway to the front door.

Carrie Lindmore made herself quite a reputation as a third grade trouble maker in the same school. She, too, lived with a foster family, who found her behaviors quite a burden. Carrie spent many hours in the school office!

I watched her one day as a teacher, who had learned of her birthday, bought cupcakes for her to give to her class. She literally skipped down the hall with “Thank you! Thank-you!” and found her fellow classmates in the cafeteria and yelled out, “Guess what! We are going to have a party!” She couldn’t wait to give away her cupcakes to those who knew her rather one-sided reputation.

In ordinary circumstances, both of these children never had enough of this world’s goods that they could freely give to others. Once they received a gift, they used those gifts to make others happy.

I think God wants His children, upon whom He lavishes His great favor and His abundant grace, to give away the gifts He gives us. Of course, these gifts could include material goods, hospitality, or any manner of other blessings. However, God has given each of His children at least one spiritual gift—and, sometimes, several spiritual gifts. He has told us the purpose for which He gives these gifts. And, He expects us to give them away.

Now, some Christians may feel their obligation to offer service to others, but find no joy in it. This cannot please our Heavenly Father. Although the passage speaks about financial gifts, I believe 2 Corinthians 9:7 can likewise refer to any gifts, including spiritual ones when the Apostle Paul says:

God loves a cheerful giver.

Likewise, in Titus 2:14 we read that we are a:

…people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.

Also, when speaking of spiritual gifts, Paul, in Romans 12:11 exhorts believers to:

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

God has never given His people gifts for us to hold onto them, to clutch those gifts close to themselves, to enjoy the gifts, but keep them from others. He graciously and lavishly gives us His gifts, so that we might open our heavy backpacks and offer His grace in all its forms to anyone we meet along the “hallway” of our lives.

Thank God, and enjoy the gift-giving!

______________________

Please note: The names of the two children mentioned in this blog post have been changed to protect the identity of the real people involved.

—Posted: Monday, August 3, 2015

 

_______________

 

God, the Mosaic Artist

Someone once told me that the word “manifold” in the Bible means “many-colored.” Having never studied Hebrew or Greek, I can only take his word for it. But, it has often made me consider the beautiful way in which God artfully uses His grace to meet the various—or manifold—needs and trials of His people.

Like an artist who chooses exquisite tiny tiles that He can see as He works, He can also envision the full masterpiece and how all those tiles fit together. He chooses the crystalline white stones that glint and shine with the light. He chooses the colorful clays that catch the eye and make us happy: bright turquoise, the brilliant reds, the sparkling purples and rich greens. He also chooses the inky black tiles that set the colors off and lend variety and luxuriant contrast to the whole picture.

He sees the objects created by these various tiles in the picture that we never see, although we may get a hint of them in our lifetimes. But certainly, He envisions the total picture we have no eyesight for, and plans a masterpiece made from the pieces of our lives—manifold graces for the manifold trials. As 1 Corinthians 13:12 tells us:

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

God will sometime allow us to see the intricate work of His loving hands that made something beautiful of our confusing and seemingly helter-skelter experiences of this life. I can’t wait to see the many mosaics of Heaven. Each of us will see the artwork He is creating now, and adore the Artist in the most magnificent gallery ever!

—Posted: July 27, 2015

 

_______________

 

Going Nowhere Fast?

Do you sometimes feel like God has you riding a stationary bike? You know—one of those exercise bicycles that sits in the corner of a room and you pedal so many minutes to give yourself a workout?

God places all of us, who He intends to make fit for His service, on a regimen of spiritual exercise. He does so without new sights and sounds, away from the trails we would rather ride, and stuck in a seeming waste of time staring at a wall.

I have often wondered how the Israelites felt. They spend the better part of their lives as slaves in Egypt and now were set free to travel back to their homeland. They anxiously waited to see this promised place—a land “flowing with milk and honey” they had heard of all their lives.

But, instead of taking them directly and quickly to their final destination, God assigned them to a regimen of spiritual, mental, and physical exercise that consisted of waiting to move ahead. In addition, spies that scouted out the land of Palestine, came back, and scared them with stories of possible enemies they had never imagined.

This regimen is recorded in Numbers 9:17-23:

Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.

When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out.

Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out.

At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.

How frustrating they must have felt. Sometimes it appears they got stuck waiting for a year to move ahead. It must have felt like riding a stationary bike! Yet we know God was working His purposes out in their lives. He wanted to teach them, day-by-day, to trust in His goodness.

In so doing, He showed them wonders never before seen on earth. He taught them that He could protect them from starvation and thirst, from wild animals, from enemy nations. He even kept their clothes from wearing out! And, He did this for forty years. For forty years! (see Deuteronomy 8:4)

If you feel that you get up every day only to ride your very own “stationary bike,” do so thanking God He that has a perfect plan for your life. He has charted a course to move you ahead and to use you for His purposes.

In the meantime, He will surely provide you with the exercise in faith and trust that you will need. He wants to help you get rid of the spiritual flab that will hold you back from running the race before you with the ease of a seasoned spiritual athlete. So, keep trusting God and keep pedaling!

—Posted: July 20, 2015

 

_______________

 

In Spite Of…

Faith is belief “in spite of”—the contradiction of sight and reason. In the Gallery of the Faithful recorded in Hebrews 11, we read of many courageous, Spirit-filled saints who lived out faith “in spite of.”

The old hymn reflects this sentiment:

Faith of our fathers, living still,
in spite of dungeon, fire and sword. ¹

Faith like this does not come to those who “dabble” in Christian belief. That is, those who call themselves “Christian,” but rarely work it out in powerful prayer or courageous action.

Instead, God calls those who will devote themselves to faithful discipleship to trust Him, and acknowledge His all-powerful hand, which He can use in response to His peoples’ faith.

Puritan writer, Thomas Manton says:

We give up the visible for invisible rewards. We do not look at the things that are seen, but unseen… Faith provides invisible supplies to endure visible dangers… Sense judges only the outside of God’s dispensations, but faith looks within the veil. ²

Even if everything for which we pray does not come to pass in exactly the way we hope, the truly faithful look for God’s hand and trust His ultimate wisdom in every situation.

Psalm 23:4 says:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

God still works miracles. We may see His power in miraculous reversals of circumstances and health. But, when we trust Him in those “in spite of” times, He gives miraculous grace to sustain us, to give us peace, courage, joy, and a grateful spirit. His grace allows us to see His hand above all the circumstances.

Hymn writer William Cowper wrote the following:

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

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

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

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

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
and scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
and He will make it plain. ³

God reserves His awesome power and grace for those who place their faith in Him, who pray, and, then, who leave the working out of all things to Him.

______________________

1 Faber, Frederick. “Faith of Our Fathers!” Public Domain.

2 Manton, Thomas. In Richard Rushing (Ed.) Puritan Sermons in Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 59.

3 Cowper, William. “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” Public Domain.

—Posted: Monday, July 13, 2015

 

_______________

 

Harrowing Predicaments

On November 12, 2014, two window washers became trapped 68 floors up at One World Trade Center in New York City when their scaffolding came loose. We hear of such events because they rarely happen: a person’s parachute doesn’t open, a trapeze artist dies from a fall because he had no net beneath him, a bridge collapses plunging cars to the river below, etc.

We humans try to cover all eventualities, to make sure we are never caught without the help we need in any situation. We live in a country with regulations for every worst case scenario. We use seat belts in our vehicles, have smoke alarms in our homes, receive weather alerts, equip our boats with life preservers, fly on planes with all the technology available, all to keep people safe in an emergency.

Regardless of the lengths to which we go in order to avoid trouble, we can’t avoid it totally. We must deal with scary diseases, horrible accidents, injuries from war, and a host of other maladies outside our control. We need reminding of how many times in Scripture we read the words, “Do not fear” or “Be not afraid.” Nearly every Book in our Bibles has something to say about fear in the face of overwhelming odds.

We can’t get ourselves out of serious trouble any more than those window washers could. We must learn to trust in a God who has promised to care for us and who will show us goodness and mercy every day of our lives. This bare-knuckled kind of faith comes hard, and only through severe adversity. It tests our dependence on God, as well as His ability to help us.

In a book of Puritan devotional readings, I came upon this paragraph by Thomas Lye:

Faith is the antidote and healer of all diseases. It allows a believer to live in the midst of death. God has extraordinary means to bear us up when ordinary ones fail. He can turn poisons into antidotes, hindrances into furtherances, and destructions into deliverances. The ravens give Elijah food. A whale becomes Jonah’s ship, and pilot too. An Almighty God can work without means. God often brings his people into such a condition that they do not know what to do. He does this that they might know what he can do. God is with his people at all times, but he is most sweetly with them in the worst of times. ¹

God can speak peace to us in the midst of terrible circumstances. He can bring help from strange places. Quite often, those things we often fear never happen, or come in a different form than we expect so that we are able to bear them.

Hear God say, “Trust me in this. I love you,” and experience His peace that passes all understanding.

______________________

1 Lye, Thomas. In Richard Rushing (Ed.) Puritan Sermons in Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 185.

—Posted: Monday, July 6, 2015

 

_______________

 

And it Came…to Pass

I never stopped to think about the phrase, “And it came to pass.” Because, like the phrase “Once upon a time” that often appears in fairy tales, it repeatedly comes up in Scripture with the regularity of a “Verily, verily” or “Finally, brothers.” But, this time I paused in my reading to realize that, at some point, all the instances of our lives “come to pass.” They may have begun, but they also will end. They have “come to pass.”

As much as we like to hold on to the familiar, we are told in Matthew 24:35 that even:

Heaven and earth will pass away.

Things come…to pass.

Now perhaps that kind of statement shakes your foundation a bit. If we believe that God is the “Blessed Controller of all things,” we can relax in the knowledge of a wise and loving Father God planning out and executing the unfolding of our futures.

In Revelation 21:6 we read the words of Jesus Himself:

“I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.”

We also have the word of God in Psalm 139:16 that:

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Another way to look at this phrase, “And it came to pass” has to do with troubles in our lives. Sometimes we think they will never end—that God has ordered something and we have to deal with it forever. Not so. We should remember that troubles too have “come to pass.”

The psalmist in Psalm 42 and 43 was downcast because of trouble in his life. But he spoke these words to himself three times:

What are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

In a sermon I heard once, the pastor called this “the eventuality of God’s work.”

We can rest in the knowledge that our wise and loving Father knows just how long our troubles will last. Whether they have their ending at some point down the road on this earth, or at the moment of we die here and live anew in Eternity, they will end.

And, oh yes, if you are a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, you can know for a certain that not only do things “come to pass”—but that truly, we will live “happily ever after.” How’s that for an end to the story?

—Posted: Monday, June 29, 2015

 

_______________

 

Watch This!

“Watch this!”

If you stay around children long enough, you’ll hear that call. They want to be noticed, to be thought of as funny, or cute, or smart, or adventurous. In my experience, it seems that the children who get very little attention from adults crave it the most.

My sister and I would often put on “shows” for our Grandma. She lived in her own side of our large farm house, so it was easy to call on her to watch our silly dances, or songs, or whatever. She was always the first person—and usually the only one—who bought lemonade at our stand by the road. She noticed us and applauded. She was our go-to audience.

God created us as part of a community. Even as He belongs as a member of the Trinity, and all members of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—fellowship and share love between them, we need to feel that we matter to others and to Him. Even Jesus craves our applause. Think of it! In John 17:24, Jesus prayed:

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

The Psalmist in Psalm 8:4 asks the question:

What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

It seems incredulous that such a great God would watch us, and pay attention to little ol’ us!

In the Sacred Romance, John Eldredge writes that God’s intent from the beginning was for intimacy with us:

When we turned our back on him he promised to come for us. He sent personal messengers; he used beauty and affliction to recapture our hearts. After all else failed, he conceived the most daring of plans. Under the cover of night he stole into the enemy’s camp incognito, the Ancient of Days disguised as a newborn…God risked it all to rescue us. ¹

God has done more than send us an annual birthday card or a present from time to time. He gave us Himself and planned a grand rescue of us so that He would be in fellowship with us for all eternity. We don’t have to call to Him, “Watch this!” We can be sure that He not only watches us, but cares for us, and wants our fellowship in this life and the next!

______________________

1 Curtis, Brent and John Eldridge. The Sacred Romance. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, © 1997. Pp. 87 and 88.

—Posted: Monday, June 22, 2015

 

_______________

 

Flying Debris

Many of us remember the movie Twister that came out in 1996. Remember the flying cow? The story made for good entertainment. But, it also showed the deadly nature of the debris from such a storm. People became fascinated with tornadoes and I even found a website called “Tornado-facts.com” devoted to facts about such storms.

Did you know that every tornado has its own color, sound, and shape? In 1931, a tornado in Mississippi lifted an 83 ton train and tossed it 80 feet from the track. And, speaking of debris, a tornado destroyed a hotel in Oklahoma and people later found the motel’s sign in Arkansas!

Sometimes life feels like a tornado. We can seem caught in the path of “flying objects” that threaten to kill or maim us and change forever the way of life we’ve known. Often in such a “storm,” we don’t know where to run or hide. Nothing makes sense. And, even the familiar landmarks we had always used to guide our way seem to have disappeared.

The story of Jesus calming the storm, found in Matthew 8:23, tells us that the storm came “without warning.” Meteorologists struggle to predict tornadoes and other such deadly storms. These storms appear suddenly with little time to warn people in their path.

So, what does Scripture tell us about surviving storms, whether we get hit with debris or not? Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith. He wants us to trust Him and remain at peace—hardly an easy task when we see the terrifying objects swirling around us.

In Matthew 7:24-28, Jesus told His disciples that in order to stay standing when “the winds blow and beat against the house,” we need to build a strong foundation of hearing God’s word and obeying it.

I like the story of Elijah who had fled to Horeb. He was fleeing a “storm” in his own life. But, the Lord had an even bigger lesson for this prophet. In 1 Kings 19:11-12 we read:

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper [still, small voice].

Sometimes it seems that storms come one on top of the other. And, we cannot get our bearings, even enough to hear what God says to us. But, we can be assured that He will stay with us in the boat. He does cover us in the wind and the earthquake and fire. Eventually, we will hear His voice speaking peace to us. “Everything is under my control. Don’t fear the flying debris. My love surrounds you!”

—Posted: Monday, June 15, 2015

 

_______________

 

Extreme Makeover—Heart Edition

Do you enjoy the house remodeling shows on television? I always enjoy seeing the contrast from the old building to the new. Everything always looks so inviting, as though this would make a wonderful home.

Unfortunately, a beautiful house does not necessarily make a beautiful and inviting home. I agree with the way that King Solomon addressed this issue in Proverbs 25:24:

Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

In other words, a beautiful house needs peace in order for the inhabitants to enjoy it—and best of all, Christ’s peace.

In the little book, My Heart—Christ’s Home, author Robert Boyd Munger uses the illustration of a home and its rooms to describe the way Christ would like to inhabit each of His children’s lives.

Munger speaks of Christ’s entrance into his own heart-home:

One evening that I shall never forget, I invited Him into my heart. What an entrance He made! It was not a spectacular emotional thing, but very real. It was at the very center of my life. He came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light. He built a fire in the cold hearth and banished the chill. He started music where there had been stillness and He filled the emptiness with His own loving, wonderful fellowship. ¹

The rest of the book tells about the rooms of the house, each closed up at first with its own secret and sometimes with embarrassing furnishings. Munger tried as well as he could to clean up each room. But, the minute one room pleased him, dirt would show up in the corner of another. It became a toilsome, burdensome process. He wore himself out throwing stuff away, painting, and moving furniture.

Finally, the man, hungry for fellowship with Christ, but worn out with trying to please the Savior, turned over the title to the house. Here’s how Munger put it:

Running as fast as I could to the strong box, I took out the title deed to the house describing its assets and liabilities, its situation and condition. Then returning to Him, I eagerly signed it over to belong to Him alone for time and eternity. “Here,” I said, “here it is, all that I am and have forever. Now You run the house. I’ll just remain with You as houseboy and friend.” ¹

God wants to fellowship with us, to settle down and live with us in a house He has cleansed and made livable—a house He has made into a home. All he asks is our obedience and submission to Him as Lord of the Manor. Maybe you have been trying to keep house for God, but find You can’t keep up with the work. Even when you get done cleaning, the job isn’t sufficient for such a holy God to inhabit.

Hear Christ say to you today the same words He said to people in Galilee so many years ago, as recorded in Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

______________________

1 Munger, Robert Boyd. My Heart-Christ’s Home. Madison, WI: InterVarsity Press, a Division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, ©1954. (Note: Reprinted from HIS magazine.)

—Posted: Monday, June 8, 2015

 

_______________

 

The “Sponge” and the “Mule”

As a teacher, I have seen many “sponges” and many “mules.” Unfortunately, teachers spend far more time fretting about how to approach the “mules,” win them over to learning, and control their negative behaviors. Sometimes the teacher changes tactics and wins not only the “mules” with new excitement, but the “sponges,” as well.

Far too often, though, the “mules” weigh us down and no matter how many hours we’ve planned or how ingenious our lessons, they refuse to cooperate.

Many years ago, the song, “Swinging on a Star” became popular by Bing Crosby. You could either decide to “be better off than you are” or play the negative role of mule, pig, or fish. About the mule, the lyrics say:

Teachers love “sponges.” These students show eager delight in learning. They ask questions, read their assignments, love their teachers. Teachers mentor these kind of learners and pour themselves into loving and specially designing lessons for their abilities and unique qualities.

According to Psalm 32, God too loves to instruct, guide, counsel, and watch over “sponges.” He sees the teachable spirit and mentors those who readily come to Him for instruction in righteousness. There grows a bond of fellowship and deep knowing between Teacher and student.

What a wonderful offer comes to us from God’s desire to lead and teach us His ways. But, how heartsick He must become when we rebel against His careful and loving instruction. Check yourself for the way in which God must look at you when it comes to sitting at His feet.

When Jesus visited the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, as recorded in Luke 10:38-42, He told Martha that Mary chose the one thing needed:

“Mary has chosen what is better, [sitting at His feet], and it will not be taken away from her.”

When report cards come out, would it not please us more to have the Lord commend us, rather than to hear the kind of comment He made about Martha’s attitude?

Pray that when the Master Teacher wants to teach you, you will receive His instruction like a “sponge” rather than a “mule”—that you will delight His teacher’s heart with a “sponge-like” eagerness to learn from Him the lessons He has for you.

______________________

1 Burke, Johnny (music) and Jimmy Van Heusen (lyrics) Swinging on a Star, © 1944 as recorded by Bing Crosby on Decca Records Disc No. 18597 and as sung by Bing Crosby in the motion picture Going My Way. Music Manuscript published: New York: Bourne Company, 1944.

—Posted: Monday, June 1, 2015

 

_______________

 

Stitch by Stitch

Having spent fifty-plus years of my life in a school setting, I tend to think like both a teacher and a learner. My natural bent toward learning forces me to think in a sequential way about understanding, processing, and retaining knowledge. And, on top of that, my experience as a musician reinforces the notion that learning is longitudinal—over a period of years.

No one has ever received maximum benefit from learning an instrument if they take a lesson every six months and rarely practice. Or, who takes lessons from one teacher for a brief time and then jumps to another teacher. The budding music student must carefully follow the long, slow process in order for learning to progress from foundational to detailed and to become specifically more complicated as time goes by.

How should we study the Scriptures? In the very same way—in a long, slow, sequential manner over many years. The Psalmist in Psalm 1:2 says that the blessed man…

…delights in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Creative teaching with enjoyable methodology produces eager learners who don’t mind the perseverance they need to complete the process.

I note that during Colonial times in America, when, out of necessity, women taught their daughters to sew, the women would have their daughters practice by doing counted cross-stitch patterns with thread and cloth. These patterns taught not only useful stitching, but also taught letters, numbers, and Scripture verses. Such a lengthy project would allow these young girls to concentrate on God’s Word.

I’m not proposing that we all learn to cross-stitch in order to learn God’s Word. But, I am suggesting that each of us find a pleasant way that we have discovered helps us learn the best and use that method to “meditate day and night” on God’s Word.

Most people learn best on one of three ways: visually, aurally, or physically. Something learned in the style best suited to the individual will help him or her retain what he or she intends to learn.

Some learn best by journaling, or in some other way that uses their hands to learn. Others like to listen to God’s Word as they work or exercise. Others learn best reading aloud or quoting scripture as they drive. I’ve known still others who like to paraphrase portions of the Bible to hide the Word deep inside themselves.

Philippians 1:6 tells us that:

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

God, our ever present heavenly Tutor, wants to partner with us as we learn His Word and put it into practice. Stitch by stitch, day by day, He opens His truths to us. Just as children enjoy the process, may we each make time to find the exquisite delights of learning God’s Word all the days of our lives.

—Posted: Monday, May 25, 2015

 

_______________

 

Bless You!

Recently you may have heard about, or read about, the story of a Tennessee senior high student:

A young girl, who claims she was standing up for her religious beliefs in the classroom, was suspended after breaking a class rule by saying “bless you” after a classmate sneezed.

When Dyer County High School senior Kendra Turner said bless you to her classmate, she says her teacher told her that was for church.

“She said that we’re not going to have godly speaking in her class and that’s when I said we have a constitutional right,” said Turner.

Turner says when she defended her actions, she was told to see an administrator. She says she finished the class period in in-school suspension. ¹

Seems rather silly doesn’t it? To punish someone for showing thoughtfulness to a fellow human?

The Bible tells us, from Genesis to Revelation, that God’s character is one of blessing. When He blesses us, we, in turn, should bless others. Passing on God’s blessing does not come out of obligation, but out of a magnanimous heart filled with God-breathed love. He blesses us with health, comforts, truth, light, material goods, friends, family, His Word, and His presence.

If we want to reflect God, our lives should overflow with blessings for others. More than mere words, when we give our blessings to others, such blessings involve kind deeds, gifts, thoughtful remembrances, and delightful surprises of love.

Consider how you might bless others today. Think of something you can do to express Christ’s love to someone else. Remember that when you do, your life displays the goodness and character of God. What a privilege that is, indeed!

______________________

1 “Student Reportedly Suspended after saying ‘Bless You’.” WMC-TV, Memphis, TN, August, 20, 2014

—Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015

 

_______________

 

The Exchange

We all remember the story of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” which began with Jack going to market for his mother to sell their old cow that no longer gave milk. On the way, Jack met a man who sweet-talked him into trading the cow for five “magic” beans. And. you likely remember how that opened Jack up to a whole lot of trouble, including being chased by a giant.

Now, not all of the exchanges we make in our lives end up quite the way that one did. But, as Christians, we have actually entered into an agreement with God that will forever result in an unequal exchange.

Ephesians 2:4 tells us:

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.

So, the very first unequal exchange God has made with us involves Him giving us life for death.

If we look truthfully at ourselves, we must say that God has given us everything in exchange for our nothingness. Scripture tells us that we have nothing to offer Him in payment for our sin and in exchange for our new life except the gift of ourselves.

As we grow in grace, we realize that God wants to give us His strength in exchange for our weakness, His infinite knowledge for our confusion, His clear vision for our blindness, His health for our hurts, His answers for our questions, His power for our powerlessness.

In the verse quoted at the top, we see that He wants to give us joy for our mourning and a garment of praise for a heaviness we can’t take off ourselves.

Christ has taken our rags of sinfulness from us in exchange for His robe of righteousness. He has exchanged our life of futility for a new life of usefulness and an eternal future with Him. What a terribly lopsided exchange!

When you pray, allow yourself to picture two columns—the first with all your needs, and the second with everything that God can provide you in exchange. May this exercise cause you to thank Him for all He has to give you and exclaim with the Psalmist’s words in Psalm 103:2:

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

—Posted: Monday, May 11, 2015

 

_______________

 

Dirty Windows

After a gray, cold, lifeless winter, I love looking out on a beautiful sunny day in May at the greening trees, the flowers, blue sky, and the new life all around. However, as I look out on the world, I notice that I am peering at this delightful sight through dirty windows.

In the winter darkness and gloom, I didn’t even notice the spots on the glass, which now blatantly stare back at me. What made the difference? I think the desire to take longer looks at the beauty combined with the extra sunshine and lengthening days added up to a new revelation of this untidy predicament.

Can we see our own lives in a similar way? Until the Light of the glory of Christ shines on us by the work of the Holy Spirit, we don’t even see the darkness of sin in our lives—the things that have gotten out of control from inattention. When Jesus taught His disciples about what would happen once He went back to Heaven, He spoke in John 16:7-8 about the Counselor—the Holy Spirit—who would come in His place. Jesus said:

“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.”

God gave His Holy Spirit to us in order to keep us aware of sin, to help us feel the conviction of our wayward, spotty lives, and to agree with Him about our need for cleansing. King David had greatly sinned against God, and barely noticed, it seems, until the prophet Nathan came to him under God’s direction. The Holy Spirit turned a holy spotlight on his sin, which David could no longer deny. In Psalm 51:7, David cried:

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

Just as we hate looking through dirty windows on a beautiful world, God want us to hate the sin we have to look through when we’re trying to see Him. He waits with His heavenly squeegee to clean us up and renew our vision for Him.

Bring the light of His presence into your life again with a look at the windows of your soul, and ask for His cleansing from all that darkens your view!

—Posted: Monday, May 4, 2015-

 

_______________

 

All That Has Breath

As a musician, maybe more than others I can appreciate the absolute essential nature of air under motion. Without that element, no acoustic instrument can make a sound. The scientific and even most elemental study of sound proves that point. A vibration must be set in motion by air in order for a violin string, a clarinet reed, a trombonist’s lip buzz, or a pipe organ’s speech to produce sound.

Singers know they sing on a column of air. They spend long warm-up sessions exercising the diaphragm and lungs to build their capacity for long difficult passages.

In this electronic age when, to an untrained ear, a sound produced that closely resembles the natural thing sounds right, we have come to forget the miracle of natural sound with all its overtones and varying timbres.

Not only does moving air carry instrumental and singing sounds, but it gives us as humans our very life. Genesis 2:7 says:

…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

And, Acts 17:28 states:

For in him we live and move and have our being.

We owe our earthly lives to our ability to breathe the air God has made for us at just the correct temperature and pressure to keep us healthy. We live by the Breath of God because we are not automatons who merely copy the real thing. We live just as God does because we were formed in His image.

When we arrived from our mothers’ wombs, with a slap on the behind, we were given the gift of breath. As Christians, when we experience the Second Birth, we gain Eternal Life through the breath of the Holy Spirit. In Greek, the term is “pneuma.” That Holy Spirit’s breath now lives in us and carries us along just as the atmosphere supports our natural bodies with air.

At the first Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection, a real-life illustration of this came as the disciples waited. In Acts 2:2-4 we read:

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.

The next time you hear an instrumentalist play or hear a fine singer, let the beauty remind you of the tremendous gift of life that flows through the musician and the instrument and be thankful. Let it also remind you of the natural breath of life you enjoy through the goodness of a wise Creator. Most of all, take a cue from the following song ¹ and pray for the air of the Spirit to fill your life full with the Presence of God:

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
and do what Thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until by heart is pure.
Until my will is one with Thine,
to do and to endure.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
till I am wholly Thine,
Until this earthly part of me
glows with Thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
so shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
of Thine eternity.

______________________

1 Hatch, Edwin. Breathe on Me, Breath of God, (Public Domain).

—Posted: Monday, April 27, 2015

 

_______________

 

Gotta Go Through

You may remember the chant, “Goin’ on a Bear Hunt,” in which the teacher leads the children and they echo the words and motions:

Goin’ on a bear hunt! I’m not scared!
Got my lunch by my side,
my camera too.

Coming to some tall grass!
Gotta get through!
Can’t go over it!
Can’t go under it!
Can’t go around it!
Gotta go through!

Coming to some thick mud!

Coming to a big lake!

Coming to a tall tree!

Coming to a dark cave!

(slowly) It’s dark in here!

There’s something furry up ahead!

It has yellow eyes!

And sharp teeth!

(Quickly) It’s a bear!

(Note: Go backwards through the motions: up and down a tree, swim the lake, walk in mud, part grass and finally wipe brow.)

Whew!

In life, sometimes we find that there is no way over, under, or around problems. We just have to go through them. These life situations, like the proverbial bear, make us scared and we fear how we will ever navigate them.

We must remember that whatever path God leads us through, He has promised to walk with us. And, even walls and doors cannot stop His presence. John 20:26 reminds us:

Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

He has power over unbearable situations, and He asks us to trust Him to get us through them.

An old gospel song comes to mind: ¹

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?
Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible,
He does the things others cannot do.

If you are staring at an impossible route ahead, trust our God who cannot be stopped by the obstacles we face. If you “gotta go through,” He will be with you and will grant you His peace.

______________________

1 Oscar C. Eliason, Got Any Rivers (Grand Rapids, MI: Singspiration, Inc., 1945)

—Posted: Monday, April 20, 2015

 

_______________

 

The Cake

I can’t think of a better example of things working together for good than a cake! My mother taught me at age five to bake a “Crazy Cake”—everything dumped in together and mixed up—and I have always loved chocolate cake.

Recently, I read a paragraph written by Elizabeth George ¹, in which she likened our lives in Christ to a cake. Flour comprises the largest volume of ingredients. And, like life, most of our days seem rather tasteless—ho hum, all quite ordinary. Some events of our lives simply taste raw, like eggs, but act as a necessary ingredient, nevertheless. Sometimes bitter experiences come our way. But, like bitter chocolate, these experiences give some of the best flavor.

The sour circumstances, like buttermilk in a cake, give life a slight tang that enriches. Of course, no cake would taste right without the sweet element of sugar. And, if you’re like me, the sugary frosting made into roses gives the most joy. The sweet elements of life, while we like them the best, can’t make up the entire “cake”—and life certainly isn’t all roses!

Once we gather all the ingredients, they must be mixed together in the right quantities—just as our Heavenly Father knows exactly the correct measure of each ingredient for our growth in His grace. Then, He knows whether to “fold in” the components, or to “stir,” or “whip.” them. Most of the time, we know that “beating” works the best.

We may think He must be done once the beating has ceased, only to find that He places us in a hot oven and leaves us for the prescribed amount of time.

Where do you find yourself in the completion of your “cake of life”? Philippians 1:6 tells us that:

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.

Take heart! God is creating a wonderful, “tasty” masterpiece, fit for a King, and He will most certainly complete it!

______________________

1 George, Elizabeth, Becoming a Woman of Beauty and Strength. Harvest House: Eugene, OR, 2001. p. 97.

—Posted: Monday, April 13, 2015

 

_______________

 

Mirror, Mirror

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” We remember the wicked witch in Snow White asking that question. Very few women have the kind of beauty we often see held up as an example of perfection in our culture. And, like the above Scripture verse tells us, that beauty is fleeting. It won’t last forever.

Even in the Bible, though the writers tell of many women, they mention very few as beautiful. We know that Queen Esther had beauty and God used it for a very special purpose. Most Biblical writers do not make reference to the women in their texts by mentioning their physical appearance or exterior beauty.

Some had shrewd wisdom. Others had a notable devotion to Christ. Others show strength of character and even leadership qualities. These kind of traits—competence, intelligence, humility, charity, skill, dignity, honor—most often identify certain women in Scripture.

One of the reasons for this lack of mention of external beauty could be that God cares more for the internal beauty of people, even those He has created with all the “right” features.

We read in 1 Samuel 16: 7 of Eliab, David’s brother whom Samuel would have chosen for the next king of Israel. Of Eliab, God said:

“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Now I am not advocating that women forget entirely about the way they look. God has given us as women a mindset that results in certain care for such things. To well represent Him, we do need to concern ourselves with cleanliness and to the taking all of the reasonable measures that lead to a modest attractiveness. But clearly, God thinks more like my mother when she said, “Pretty is as pretty does!”

Isaiah 53: 2 describes our Lord Jesus this way:

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.”

Even those who actually saw the most important man to ever walk the earth saw someone with no remarkable external features. His beauty came from the glory of Heaven within Him.

I like how the following hymn ¹ speaks of Jesus:

If we truly desire beauty, we have the perfect model to follow. The very perfection of Jesus carried the beauty that counted with His Father. Let us desire that kind of beauty for ourselves and do our best to resemble Him!

______________________

1 Originated as an anonymous German Hymn, Münster Gesangbuch, from 1677.

—Posted: Monday, April 6, 2015

 

_______________

 

The Cup

Often in our culture, we lift the cup in celebration. That use of the cup signifies light-hearted camaraderie. Not so the cup in Scripture. Here, most often, the cup represents suffering arising from the wrath of God.

In Matthew 20:20-22, the mother of Zebedee’s sons, James and John, came to Jesus asking if He would grant her the honor of having her sons sit on either side of Him in His kingdom. His response:

“You don’t know what you are asking.” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, we read in Matthew 26:39:

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

The cup indicates the retribution for sin that God needed to “pour out” on Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. He, the perfect Lamb, obeyed God’s plan and drank that cup for us.

In our Christian tradition, we pass the cup to one another during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. We are part of the Body of Christ and need each other in the suffering of discipleship.

From Seek Treasures in Small Fields by Joan Puls, ¹ I read the following:

Draining the cup of suffering is the final test of our sincerity in claiming discipleship. We can expect no right or left hand seats of honor, no prerogatives of power or monopoly on truth, no thrones, no outsiders. But we can have the privilege of holding one another, broken and bruised, in the embrace of our circle, of keeping watch with the dying or keeping vigil with the condemned, of walking alongside the exiled and the weary, of standing at the foot of the cross, not in despair or in bitterness, but open to the miracle of the pending resurrection.

Because Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for us, in the presence of our community of faith, we can drink our own cup of suffering that relates us to Him.

This Lenten season, when you take the cup as part of the Lord’s Supper, feast upon His obedience for our sake, and commit yourself to accept the cup He has for you as part of the fellowship of His sufferings.

May we be able to say with Paul, as he wrote in Philippians 3:10:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

______________________

1 Quoted in Shawchuck, Norman and Rueben P. Job. A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God. Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 2003.

—Posted: Monday, March 30, 2015

 

_______________

 

Through Christ our Lord… ¹

What does it mean when we acknowledge all of the above requests we make in prayer to God by using the phrase “through Christ our Lord?” And, what impact does this acknowledgement have on our daily walk of obedience with Him?

Jesus told his disciples in John 14:6:

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

In these few words, the Lord Jesus Christ declares Himself the sole means by which we connect with God. The use of the definite article, “the,” leaves room for no other way to God. Jesus is the way!

As bold as this declaration may seem, and as disappointing as it may appear to followers of all other religions, the Son of God declares Himself the definitive point of contact. In the reality of our daily lives, this confirms that—as we strive to obediently follow the pathway God has laid out for us—everything we do, everything we say, everything we accomplish, in fact, everthing we are comes through Jesus. He becomes the enabling pathway.

In John 14:26, Jesus declares:

²⁶ But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

So, God gives believers in Jesus the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and to become an internal counselor who will strive with us as we seek to enter into all things through the Lord Jesus Christ.

No matter what kind of trial or difficulty we may have to face, our sustaining encouragement and our exit strategy comes through Jesus. He is the One who enables us to draw sustenance from Him to face the time of trial. He is the One who directs our pathway along the road of obedience to His will and His Word. He is the One who will protect us from the onslaught of our enemies and confirm for us the support of our friends.

And, part of the beauty of His Abiding Presence is the reality that He fulfills, moment-by-moment, His promise from John 15:5-8:

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

We must remain in Him. We must move through Him. We must experience through Him. We must enjoy through Him. We must love through Him. We must obey through Him.

God accomplishes His will and purpose in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, we accomplish God's perfect will for us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. All that we have and all the we are comes as a precious gift from God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

To walk the pathway of obedience, we must follow the writer of Hebrews' instruction in Hebrews 12:1-3:

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Join me, won’t you, in living this day in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Allow the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to carry you along the pathway of true obedience that God has laid out before you. Release every obstacle that arises into the protective arms of Jesus. And, experience the joy of His peace.

______________________

1 adapted from Wilson, Dean K. Blog: “Suppressing-the-Fire” dated April 11, 2011. Copyright ©2011. Used with Permission. All Rights Reserved.

—Posted: Monday, March 23, 2015

 

_______________

 

Consider My Sighing ¹

Lent is a time of repentance, fasting, and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is based on the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, as recorded in Luke 4:1-14. When faced with repentance, one of the more common emotional expressions is the sigh. Do you find yourself sighing during Lent?

The sigh is one of the most effective and most annoying forms of non-verbal communications. The very nature of the vocal mechanics that produce a sigh virtually guarantees that the sigh will call attention to itself.

“What’s the matter?”

“What? Why?”

“You sighed—a big one. What’s wrong?”

Sound familiar? Especially between married couples, or close friends, or workplace colleagues, the sigh holds a potency that almost defies measurement.

Throughout the course of our daily lives, we sigh many times. Sometimes the sigh comes from frustration. Sometimes it comes from annoyance. Sometimes it comes from heartache or despair. Sometimes the sigh represents failure, depression, or even grief.

Whatever purpose any particular sigh may have in your life, or in mine, a sigh certainly had a place of honor in the life of King David.

In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, David prays earnestly and fervently to God. He asks God to make His ears available to hear the words David intends to speak. He asks God to “consider my sighing…” and to “…listen to my cry for help…” David knew that God willingly offered to bend His ear so that He could hear the soft whisper of that potent non-verbal sigh.

How do you suppose you would react when you sighed if, in the inner voice of your mind and heart, you heard God respond, “Yes, my dearly loved child. I hear your sigh”?

I imagine His answer would startle you. But I also suspect that when you thought about it for a while, the very fact that God answered your sighing would give you comfort and even joy.

The God who created us—the One who chose us before the foundation of the earth to belong to Him—does indeed “consider our sighing.” He watches over us with even greater attention than the very best loving and caring guardian. He longs to receive our communications. And, He remains eager to speak to us, to have a conversation with us.

That’s why it is so important to set aside a specific period of time each day to read God’s Word and pray. Making room in our daily schedule to build on the foundation of our relationship with the God who loves us is always time well spent.

No matter what trial, temptation, discouragement, or concern you may face today, please remember you do not have to greet that trouble alone. God is with you. If you belong to Him, the Holy Spirit dwells within you. God waits patiently so that He may “consider your sighing.”

______________________

1 adapted from Wilson, Dean K. Blog: "Suppressing-the-Fire" dated March 26, 2012. Copyright ©2012. Used with Permission. All Rights Reserved.

—Posted: Monday, March 16, 2015

 

_______________

 

Alert!

The naive join our churches and even sit on our boards. Often these people have grown up in Christian families—or at least church-attending families—and stay within the bounds of like-minded friendships throughout their lives. They know sin is “out there” but think very little about it.

Oh, they certainly would have to leave the world we live in not to know that rapes and murders and robberies and evil dictators exist, but they haven’t yet comprehended the closeness of very real evil to their personal existence. They certainly don’t often consider the sin that may have found its way into their own lives.

Asleep Christians don’t recognize the Tempter when he shows his subtle wares. Most times, the “small” sins that tempt them go unnoticed until they develop into full-blown scandalous desires and actions. Scripture warns us to “be alert.”

Revelation 12:10 names Satan as the “Accuser of the Brothers.” He beguiles us into sin and then stands back and accuses us when we fall, making us feel as though God could never forgive us.

Satan also trips up Christians in their naivety by planting seeds of deadly poison in church congregations. These sinful plots will lead to the destruction of Christian discipleship, fellowship, and even whole churches.

While we shouldn’t seek to find Satan under every pew and look skeptically at all with whom we worship, we must realize that Christ wants mature and discerning followers who recognize sin before it has a chance to grow and flourish in our churches. Scripture warns us to be “alert.”

In Matthew 10:16 Jesus Himself warned his disciples to be “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.” We do have an enemy who desires to destroy us. Therefore, we pray with Christ, “Deliver us from the Evil One.”

As my friend, Dr. David Mains, once preached: “Satan’s desire is to destroy. God’s desire is to equip. And, our opportunity is to overcome.” If we stay alert to sin, and alert to God’s ability to equip us with His grace and insight, we can overcome the temptations that come into our own hearts and minds. Furthermore, we can also serve Him within our churches by watching and working against destructive forces.

Rejoice in the overcoming nature of God’s Holy Spirit and be grateful for the weapons He provides against our deadly foe!

—Posted: Monday, March 9, 2015

 

_______________

 

Clinging

It has always been my theory that those who stay close to God, who maintain open lines of communication with Him, who do everything possible to avoid missing church services, these ones will live in the place of blessing. I think Scripture teaches this, too.

In John 15:7 (KJV), we read:

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

Abiding means, sticking around, remaining with Christ at all times, continually clinging to His every word.

Here’s what Charles Spurgeon says about this verse:

All true believers abide in Christ in a sense; but there is a higher meaning, and this we must know before we can gain unlimited power at the throne. “Ask what ye will” is for Enochs who walk with God, for Johns who lie in the Lord’s bosom, for those whose union with Christ leads to constant communion. ¹

Like a child who can’t leave his mother’s side, who clings whenever he thinks she will leave him, we should stick close to Christ. The place of answered prayer, blessed communion, even miracles of God’s grace all belong to these people.

When Lazarus died, as is recorded in John 11:32, Mary was rightly upset because Jesus had not come and prevented his death. When Jesus finally did come, and Mary met Him:

“…she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’”

In this situation, it seemed to her that she had tried to cling to Him, but He had left these friends alone in their hour a need.

Yet, the very fact that Jesus came, called for Mary, wept with her and ultimately brought back her brother Lazarus back to life, speaks of her reward for “abiding” or “clinging” to Him.

I like what 18th century commentator, Matthew Henry, wrote about this verse:

“Those that in a day of peace place themselves at Christ’s feet, [as Mary did in Luke 10:39] to receive instructions from him, may with comfort and confidence in a day of trouble cast themselves at his feet with hope to find favor with him.” ²

Thus we see that true friends of Christ stay close to Him in good times as well as bad. Those He knows best, and who know Him best, live in the path of rich blessings, magnificent fellowship, and answered prayer.

May we all draw near to Him in faith and enjoy His peace!

______________________

1 Spurgeon, Charles H. Faith’s Checkbook. Chicago: Moody Press, (no copyright date available).

2 Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary. London: MacDonald Publishing Co., (no copyright date available). Vol. V. Pg. 1053

—Posted: Monday, March 2, 2015

 

_______________

 

Spring Cleaning

After a long winter of road sand tracked into the house and the build up of dust and grime that hides in the darker days of winter, the time comes for a good spring cleaning. My mother and grandmothers pulled everything out of pantries and cupboards, wiped down walls, and scrubbed floors. They laundered bed linens and window curtains, polished silver and swept away cobwebs.

Similarly, but more strictly, the Jewish people prepare for a full month before Passover by thoroughly cleansing their homes from all “chametz” or leavening products. Just after the Israelites left Egypt and took with them unleavened bread, God prescribed for their celebration in Exodus 12:15 that they were to:

…remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.

Even today, Orthodox Jews search for bread crumbs under the cushions of sofas and chairs. They look in the pockets of jackets and slacks and remove every trace of leaven. The kitchen appliances get a complete cleaning. Once they finish cleaning the rooms, no one is allowed to eat in them until the celebration of Passover has ended.

Jesus referred to “leaven” as belief in the wrong thinking of the Scribes and Pharisees. The Apostle Paul, referring to sin in believers’ lives in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 wrote:

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The leaven represents to us anything that corrupts and keeps our inner lives from being the temple where the Lord God may dwell through the Holy Spirit. In these days, we need to doggedly search out every trace of sin that would keep us from following Christ with our whole beings.

Puritan writer, John Gibbon preached these words ¹:

Do not be a stranger to yourself. Unlock your bosom, and ransack every corner of your heart. Make a diligent search. Feel the pulse of your soul. Don’t let any region of your mind be undiscovered. Watch how the tempter has taken advantage of you in the past. Make these searches daily and compare them to the eternal law of God. These considerations will greatly help in the prevention and cure for the sins which so easily beset us.

______________________

1 From “Puritan Sermons,” by John Gibbon as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009.

—Posted: Monday, February 23, 2015

 

_______________

 

Cruise Control

I know people who like using the cruise control in their cars. Not me! There’s something about trusting myself and my passengers to a machine that maintains a constant speed as we rocket down the highway that makes me very uncomfortable. I would much rather control my own pace from moment to moment.

My attitude towards cruise control makes me think about my life, as I travel with God “at the wheel,” so to speak. I often feel uncomfortable giving Him the controls, too. Yet, there comes a time when He asks all of us to trust Him with the steering wheel, the accelerator, the brake, and all other “controls” we may have over our lives—especially when the road isn’t clear and visibility seems especially poor!

I think of Abraham. In Hebrews 11:8 we read:

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

Now that’s giving up control! The Bible tells us of other times in Abraham’s life when he trusted God’s leading even though it must have made more sense to do something else.

We see the reason why we call Abraham the “Father of our Faith.” His faith in God controlled his actions time and again. And, because of that, Abraham saw magnificent acts of God’s power and love.

We also clearly see when we read the account of Abraham’s life that those times when he did not choose to obediently take his hands off the wheel of his life and surrender to God’s control were the times that he faltered. The consequences of those few times when Abraham pushed God’s hands out of the way and all-too-eagerly grasped the wheel for himself have reverberated down through the pages of history, right up to the present day.

It always helps to remember Who controls the wheel. While good driving for me may mean disengaging the cruise control, good faith means putting all we see and can’t see through the windshield totally in the control of our God. We can rely on His vision, His hearing, His wisdom, His reflexes, and, of course, His unfailing love.

Join me in learning to “cruise” through this life giving up the control to the One who loves us best and Who can always see what’s around the corner of the road ahead. There are no accidents on the road He chooses for us. And, though it may seem rough, narrow, steep, and dangerous at times, it is always in our very best interest to leave the driving of our lives to Him!

—Posted: Monday, February 16, 2015

 

_______________

 

Loved!

Everyone knew Rosa’s mom loved her. Every school morning she wore a lipstick “kiss” on her cheek. And, to be sure, Rosa knew her mom loved her, too.

Jeremy also knew his mom loved him. Every day she hid a little note in his lunch box that he would discover and open to read her loving and encouraging words when lunchtime came.

Some of us frequently seem to forget that God has an everlasting love for us. We particularly tend to forget that God loves us when we believe that we’ve failed Him, or when we believe we have done less than a sterling job in some task He has given us to do.

We may not love ourselves very much in such moments, but we can rest assured that God truly does love us every bit as much whether we feel satisfied with our behavior or performance and also whenever we wish we had done so much better.

I have a theory—and this may or may not be true—that the Apostle John called himself “the disciple Jesus loved” to remind himself of God’s incredibly deep affection for him. Perhaps we need to consider ourselves, “the person Jesus loves.”

Think about how that reminder of God’s love might help us through our days.

Keeping God’s love for us always in the forefront of our minds can help us overcome our own weaknesses. Knowing that He loves us can mitigate the feelings we have that others underestimate our value. Recognizing that God’s love for us remains constant and unconditional can give us a buffer against the hardness of a lonely day.

Let’s learn to begin each day asking God to give us tangible reminders of His never-failing love. With that assurance, we need little else!

—Posted: Monday, February 9, 2015

 

_______________

 

A Choice Instrument

Since I began playing piano at age six, I have had opportunity to play on hundreds of instruments. I have played on pianos with sticking keys, with wildly out-of-tune strings, and even some pianos that leaned to one side like a sinking ship. Often, someone at the venue housing the piano will remark, “Well, it’s better than nothing!” Though I understand that person’s somewhat apologetic sentiment, frankly I’m not too certain that’s true.

Other pianos I’ve played do the job quite well in a utilitarian kind of way. They may sound in-tune, be fairly regulated (a piano technician’s term for how evenly the hammers produce sound), and play loud and clear enough for accompanying.

But, less frequently I have had the opportunity to play on an unusually fine instrument: built well, maintained well, placed well in a good acoustical environment, even beautiful to look at. What a difference for a trained musician who listens for nuance of dynamics, beauty and warmth of tone, crisp response time, and reliability for every style of playing.

I can remember when I turned from a fairly good technical player into a musician. My college professor had given me a key to her studio and allowed me to practice frequently on her Steinway grand piano. All the technical exercises, the hard listening and careful pedaling paid off. That piano allowed me to fully express all that I possessed of work and talent to play the music on the page.

God has chosen us as His superb instruments for honorable and noble purposes. Just as one who knew young King David said of him in 1 Samuel 16:18:

“He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”

So, God wants us to exhibit the qualities of a masterful servant.

Similarly, the Lord spoke of the Apostle Paul in Acts 9:15:

“This man is my chosen instrument.”

Though we may not have the influence of a King David or a St. Paul, God has still purposefully chosen us to represent Him, to carry out noble tasks, to give full expression—like a fine Steinway—to the purpose that He has for us.

The qualifying words in our theme verse at the beginning of this blog post tell us that, in order to offer ourselves to God, we must cleanse ourselves from the unclean things, and separate ourselves from evil influences. “Holiness” is the theological term for this. It sounds stuffy and unattainable, but God expects all of us who carry His name—we whom He has specifically chosen—to live holy lives in order to carry out noble purposes.

What a high calling He has given us! May the “music” we make with our obedient lives glorify Him to the fullest.

—Posted: Monday, February 2, 2015

 

_______________

 

Hung-Up Harps

We don’t know who from the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem wrote the words in the Scripture above. The Bible tells us that the walls of Jerusalem had been torn down, the temple burned, and all the articles of worship used there carried away to Babylon. We also know that this enemy abducted the chief priest and others who worked in the temple.

All of the people mourned at the loss of their homeland and their beloved temple. But, none mourned as much as those who had prepared for rituals in the temple and daily served and led in worship to Jehovah, the One True God.

We hear their heavy hearts in this statement above. They had lost all they had known and loved, including their music. Their hearts simply could no longer sing the songs they once knew, so they hung up their harps.

What did the Babylonians require of these Jewish exiles? They probably served as slaves in whatever capacity the enemy could conjure up. And, under these wicked taskmasters, the exiles could no longer worship freely, or with joy, as they had in Jerusalem.

Tell me, has the Lord asked you to “hang up your harp” at least for a season? Has a twist of fate taken your familiar and gifted service from you? Have the people you served moved on without you? Has your family left the nest? Have they given your beloved job to someone younger? Have you had to trade your familiar home with its cozy kitchen for retirement living?

Has God asked you, by this unwanted development in your life, to serve Him in another role—one for which you feel totally unprepared or ill-equipped? Sometimes God takes us away from the familiar so that we might learn a hard lesson from Him.

Consider Moses, who grew up in the palace in Egypt, but was forced to flee at the age of forty into the desert to tend sheep for another forty years. We know that eventually God called Moses out of the desert and back to Egypt to negotiate with the king for the release of the entire nation of God’s chosen people. God had a reason for taking Moses’ “harp” from him.

We learn in Psalm 126 that the Jewish people taken captive into Babylon returned to Jerusalem after seventy years. Once back in their homeland, God again filled their mouths with songs. Psalm 126:1-2 tells us:

“When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.”

Once again, God again made use of the harps that for seventy years had hung on those poplars. He also may allow you to take up your “harp” again. Or, He may teach you to play and sing to a different instrument. But, we know that God does all things well, and though you may not sing the songs of joy you once did, He will again make music through your life if you allow Him to make the choice!

—Posted: Monday, January 26, 2015

 

_______________

 

Keeping Watch

Daddy’s coming! Can you just hear the rumble of rushing feet toward the door? Or “It’s almost time for Daddy to come home!” Can you see the same eager children rush to the window? They enjoy keeping watch because they know for whom they watch.

What overwhelming joy these children bring to a parent who comes home to this kind of anticipation. Imagine God’s pleasure in us as we sit and watch for Him, as we read His Word, or come to Him in prayer.

Psalm 63:1-3 expresses that exact kind of longing for God’s presence:

“O God, you are my God, earnestly [early, eagerly] I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.”

This same kind of eager anticipation for the fellowship with God that He desires from us can be ours daily. But, we must set aside a time for that to happen. A quick devotional thought from a book over breakfast seems more like a teenager on her way out the door yelling, “Hi, Dad, Bye, Dad!”

At any time of the day or night, God will hear us and bless us with His presence. Many find that setting aside time first thing in the morning offers the best opportunity to meet with God. Even David, in Psalm 5:3, expresses his enjoyment of the morning hour spent with God. David writes:

“In the morning O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

Coming to God in anticipation should result in far more than simply a time of requesting this blessing or that. We should eagerly pause and listen for His voice and His direction. We should rehearse His character, His goodness, His greatness, along with His love and care.

What sweet fellowship God desires with us, if we will come with that kind of love and humility—watching for Him, and listening for what He wants to say, in addition to talking with Him about the things we need.

If this kind of intimate fellowship with God seems new to you, why not start by reading the Psalms. These “songs” reveal the heart within so many of God’s followers. The Psalms will give you the words you might need to express the depth of praise and devotion you wish to give to God.

Let us watch for Him daily, and enjoy the anticipation of His coming!

—Posted: Monday, January 19, 2015

 

_______________

 

Broken Jars

Ordinary clay pots! So much for modern warfare and a slick master attack plan! According to Judges 7:12, the Israelite army of three hundred must have looked puny and weak to the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other Eastern peoples who had settled in the valley below “as thick as locusts.”

Yet, the Unseen Captain of the Israelite army had commanded that Gideon place jars with torches inside as the only weaponry they would carry against their enemies. At a signal from the trumpets, every man was to shout and smash his clay pot.

Apparently, this tactic issued by God effectively won the Israelites the battle that day. In Judges 7:22-25, we read that the sudden sound and light threw the Midianite army into fear and chaos in such a way that they turned on each other and fled.

Paul the apostle, in 2 Corinthians 4:7 compares those of us who carry the torch of Christ’s light as jars of clay:

But we have this treasure [the glory of God] in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

It seems that God would rather use a broken pot to show forth His glory than a sophisticated spot light.

Maybe you feel that your life has become broken through your own sinful mistakes, others’ deeds against you, or unfortunate circumstances. Do you fear that you have become so broken that God can never use you for His special purposes again?

Take heed to the story of Gideon and His powerful Champion in the fight. This same Champion, the Lord Jesus, who indwells you through His Holy Spirit, has a powerful usefulness for you.

In a mysterious, supernatural alchemy of God’s love and wisdom, He elects to purposefully use those who have become broken to carry His light. He uses the cracks and holes in the broken clay of our lives for His marvelous light to shine through.

Let us be encouraged today that God has a plan to use you in new ways to carry His light to others. Praise Him for His powerful creativity in our behalf!

—Posted: Monday, January 12, 2015

 

_______________

 

In a Snowbank

I can remember a few times as a child getting “stuck” in the snow. Sometimes the snow banks towered above the cars on the road, so it was no wonder the occupants would need help from a tractor or truck to pull them out.

There have been times in my adult life when I’ve felt like my life has been driven into a snow bank, with no way forward and no way back and with an inability to even see out of the windows! In those times, I have had no choice but to call on the Lord to help me out of the perplexing circumstances around me.

If you’ve ever waited for a tow truck to come to your rescue, you know that often you wait a very long time. In the same way, God sometimes makes us wait for His rescue, too.

God has told us in Hebrews 13:5:

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

Though we cannot see where we are or where we are going, we can know He will be there beside us and will rescue us. No matter how dark this winter experience of our lives may seem, eventually God will bring us the newness of spring.

We don’t like to trust what we cannot see, touch, feel, hear, or taste. But, if we rely totally on our five senses to help us trust God, we are not exercising faith.

Remember the story recorded about the disciple Thomas whose absence from the meeting where the risen Lord appeared prompted him to say in John 20:25:

“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it [the resurrection].”

The following week, Thomas joined the disciples when Jesus appeared. Jesus had Thomas use his senses of sight and touch to verify the nail holes and scars in His side and then said to Thomas in John 20:29:

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

All of us need more faith. When we find ourselves buried in some snow drift of life with no way out, and no sense of where we are or where we are headed, we must remember and pray the words of Mark 9:24:

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

—Posted: Monday, January 5, 2015