Category: Daily Devotionals

When I look back in time, I see how God provided and blessed. In the present, however, I fear that He won’t continue to be gracious. Words of faith are choked out in environments of deprivation. That’s unfortunate because remembrance is meant to feed my faith. God did show up when things were dire. When I tried to quit the fight for faith, God brought new manna to breathe hope into the crevices of my soul.

Some years ago, I lamented to an older woman I greatly respect that I was afraid God would not answer my prayers.  I had plenty of evidence to support my misgivings. She listened to it all. Her reply was this: “Live joyfully confident!” When I questioned her further, she replied again, “Live joyfully confident!” I understood that she wasn’t going to spoon-feed me the meaning.

The phrase describes what faith is. When all things point to sure doom – I live joyfully confident that God will provide what He has promised.

What ‘joyfully confident’ statement of faith might you need to make today about some area of your life that invites despair?   Affirm this out loud and then ask for the grace to live in joyful anticipation. 

Teach me to dance before the party. Amen

“Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” In response, Abraham prophesied, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together”. Genesis 22:7-8

It can take a long time for God to answer prayer. We can wait decades and it’s hard to persevere. We faint, question God’s love and attention, and fight for faith. Between the time of Abraham and the fulfillment of a Lamb spanned many generations.

Travel with me as we stand at the door of a stable, looking in.  We see a young man and woman holding a newborn infant in their arms.  The mood is hushed.  The moment is holy. We enter, are warmly welcomed, and ask Joseph and Mary, “May I hold him?” 

Jesus is just not Joseph and Mary’s baby.  He belonged to the ages. Abraham and Isaac, in heaven, felt the impact! And, He’s our baby too.  “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”  Holding the little Lamb of God is very personal because He is here to forgive our sins and wash away our guilt.  Our fallen nature has eaten away at our psyche until we’re left feeling like a shell of a person.  We are agitated and tormented until we are loved and forgiven.

The hardest things in life are often bittersweet.  Against the backdrop of tragedy, beauty arises out of the ashes.  The manger and the cross are in each other’s shadow, and Mary invites us to ponder the enormity of the implications. 

My Lamb.  You are Your Father’s provision for my sin. Amen

Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.  Genesis 22:8

This name for God is only mentioned once in scripture ~ ah, but what an introduction!

Abraham set out for Mt. Moriah with faith.  But his faith did not include the appearance of a real lamb on top of the mountain.  He might have believed God would intervene after slaying Isaac by raising him from the dead.  Hebrews 11:19 reveals this side note. ‘Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.’  Abraham’s faith was in the right person, but he could not predict exactly how God would show His faithfulness.

When faced with a hopeless situation, I give it to my Father.  Then I take it back.  I set out to outline what His intervention will look like.  When God fails to act in the ways I believe He should, my faith begins to falter.  When will I learn that God’s answers are always outside my skillset of ingenuity.  When He provides, it leaves every one of His children open-mouthed in astonishment. 

The foundation for audacious faith is utter hopelessness; the kind where no intervention can be second-guessed.  That way, all my hope is in God.  My eyes are peeled on the horizon, not knowing how, or when, God will appear.  Just because He moved a certain way in someone else’s life doesn’t mean He’ll do the same thing for me. In fact, probably not!  My miracle will be shaped according to my story.  It will address my specific kind of unbelief.  Though others may see a miracle, it may not thrill them like it does me because it was customized for my heart only.

For all who wait today on God’s provision, wait well!  Don’t faint because it appears God is taking too long or moving in a direction that makes no sense to you.  Climb the mountain with faith.  Remember that Abraham and Isaac’s lamb was just around the corner.

For every time I’ve accused You and fainted instead of waiting well, I’m sorry.  Hindsight shows Your faithfulness and strengthens me for all my tomorrows.  Amen

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer  Psalm 18:2

A fortress is a place to hide, a safe place from those who are moving in to wound and kill.  But a fortress is also more than that.  Strategic plans for both offensive and defensive maneuvers are conceived and implemented behind fortified walls.  There, my Father instructs me in ways of war. 

Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress.  Psalm 144:1.

A fortress is a place to re-group. 

There are weapons I’m not yet familiar with. 

There are strategic words of scripture I’ve not yet spoken. 

There are personality profiles of the enemy that are unfamiliar to me. 

There are battles I will lose because I lack instruction.

There will be times I’ll retreat when I should advance. 

A fortress is for training and intelligence.  A fortress is where warriors are fashioned.  In the distance, I hear gunfire and explosions, but it is not my fight until God leads me out with strength and strategy. 

Today, the enemy is at work.  I see it from afar .  I also see it up close in those who have given Satan an open door to work through their lives.  Reckless words and actions come against lovers of Jesus, and it takes preparation inside a Fortress to know how to thrive in this environment.  I also see the enemy at work in my places of faithlessness.  He is intuitive, cunning, and knows how to get in my back door.  My Father shines the light on tiny places of access that are unknown to me.  Sin is confessed, doors are closed, and He gives me a word to prepare me to stand against the opposition.

When I need my Rock, I run for what’s solid and eternal. When I need my Refuge, I rest in everlasting arms. When I need my Fortress, I train under His instruction.  Rested.  Revived.  Re-grouped.    

You are all I need.  This is true, not just a cliché from childhood.  I’m a leaf in the wind without You.  Amen

For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me. Psalm 31:3

I grew up near a small lake and you could see clear to the bottom. I was comfortable there. Waves were gentle and I knew what to expect. But when I was four years old, our family took a summer vacation to the coast of Maine. It was a particularly windy day. The seas were rough and the waves were towering. Being so small, I didn’t go in very far but it didn’t take much to topple a child. The first big wave came in, knocked me off my feet, and I was pulled underwater. I rolled over and over for what seemed like minutes until the wave deposited me up onto the shore. I felt like I nearly drowned and can remember to this day what it felt like to have a mouth full of sand.

Life can feel like that. Out of nowhere, I can be overtaken by unexpected surges of calamity. I feel like someone at the mercy of ocean waves.  I’ve lived enough life to know that hope can be shaken. So can friendships, health, economic security, even ministries. Anything earth-bound can be rocked off its foundation. If I’ve trusted them, believing them to be sound, I am foolish.

My only help is the Rock beneath the surface. He understands the environment and the seas are at His command. I plant my feet on the Rock of Ages ~ even on good days. Securing this posture while the sun is shining puts me in a position for the scary moments when I cry out, “Abba, Daddy!” 

The world says that maturity is self-sufficiency.  God says that maturity is childlikeness.  The cynicism and fear that comes with age tempt us to move away from dependence on anyone.  We even crave independence from God but this puts us in peril. We must intentionally cultivate childlike faith, the kind that knows that, while life may be unraveling, God holds the threads. 

No matter what upheaval you’re facing, it’s possible to be tethered to the Rock of Ages.  How strong the cords of Love that hold our feet in place. Nothing can shake them loose from our sure foundation.  

I need nothing, and no one, more than I need You, Lord.  Amen

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

The name “Prince of Peace” is the Hebrew Shar Shalom, which means “the one who removes all peace-disturbing factors and secures the peace.” This sets Him apart from human rulers who secured peace through bloody battles. Jesus secured it through a bloody sacrifice.

The estrangement between God and His Creation began in the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve wanted more than what God offered. They bought the Serpent’s lie and opened their minds to the world of evil.  It was a world they were not wired to understand.  Evil corrupted them and they began to choose everything that God wouldn’t choose and to think all things God wouldn’t think. Alienation ensued and they were separated from God by a great gulf.  The peace they once enjoyed was swallowed up in shame and enmity. Reconciliation would never happen without a miracle.  

God’s answer?  Send Jesus to restore peace and to make the sinner what he once was ~ holy before God.  His mind could be washed of defilement and he could think and feel like the indwelling Spirit who inhabited him. Jesus went to the cross and prayed for sinners to own their sin, repent of it, so that He could bring them faultless to His Father. They would enjoy complete restoration and perfect peace – which is Shalom.

For each of us who call God our Father, this is our story. The Prince of Peace is no far off figure. He reigns and resides in our hearts. No shadows of estrangement remain.

Oh, Prince of peace, I am Yours and Shalom allows me to breathe in without anxiety. Amen