Category: Daily Devotionals

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.  Psalm 144:1

Trains ~ Perceives by sight or some other sense.  Distinguishes and discriminates.

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PRAYER:  Teach me how to fight my enemy like You did, Jesus.  He comes at me like he came at you; quoting scripture, presenting spiritual arguments in such a persuasive way that it’s hard to discern if what I’m hearing is a God-breathed idea.  But You knew the difference when You were in the desert and You will train me to develop my spiritual senses, too.

Many decisions lay in front of me.  How do I know Your plans for me?  My enemy mimics Your voice and wants to lead me to do something spiritual at the wrong time.  The consequences are too great if I am a novice.

He told You to turn stones to bread when You were hungry.  It wasn’t an evil idea Lord, because You did it later with the loaves and fishes.  The miracle in the desert would have just been premature but how did You know?   Was it because He promised You a way out of pain before it was time?

Today, I am asking You to teach me, train me, make me sharp and discerning.  You promised You would when You sent Your Spirit to live inside Your children.  “He will become your teacher and guide,” You said.   How I need You.  Satan would have me move when I should be still, speak when I should hold my tongue, overextend myself when I should simplify, feel guilty when I should celebrate Your forgiveness, and even bring an end to something holy when it’s nearly time for advancement.

Speak Your Word into my spirit.  Speak loudly and clearly.  You promised that Your sheep would know Your voice.  So, let me know without a doubt that it’s You and not him.  Or, let me know that it’s him and not You.  Give me the precise Word to speak to overcome the voice of the tempter and liar.  Make me skilled and seasoned with the Sword for a battle that I cannot see.  All for Your honor and glory.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen

HOW I AM DEFINED

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.  Genesis 17:5

            Anyone who names me has a position of authority over me.  My name can be a  source of joy or source of pain, depending on the relationship I have with the name-giver.  I am always struck by how deeply some people hate their names.  It goes beyond wincing at the sound of it.  Oftentimes, a person was named after a relative they didn’t care for.  For years they struggled with it, only to adopt some nickname to avoid using their real name.

            Abram’s name, given at birth, means ‘my father is great’.  It speaks of his prestigious ancestry.  His name was all about the family he came from.  When God called him for spiritual greatness, he gave him a new name.  Abraham means ‘father of many nations.’  The focus shifted from his past to his future.

            When someone is given a new name in scripture, they are receiving a new status, calling, or change in character.   The timid are named strong.  The insecure is named a solid rock.  Whom God favors, God renames.

            In ignorance, I can feel forgotten.  God only renames the spiritually great, right? If I believe that, I will flounder in my sense of identity.  I will not grasp who I am; not only by virtue of who God created me to be, but who I am in regeneration and redemption.  I have a new name in Christ.  With that change comes privileges and responsibilities that define my future.  I am like Abraham after all.

            Satan is a liar and accuser.  His mission is to destroy every confidence I have in Christ.  He is constantly trying to convince me that I am not who God says I am, that  I’m a fake.  But if I understand the new name I’ve been given as God’s child, I will live safely in a fortress of strength.  No accusation of Satan will be successful against me.  He will not be able to undermine my confidence.

            So I take Revelation 3:12 in deeply today. “I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”

            Like Abraham, my new name is all about my future.  Inscribed on my body, soul, and spirit (a three-fold spiritual tattoo) is the name of God, his city, and his Son!  Every time Satan looks at me, he sees the name Jesus.  I’m branded for eternity and though he sees it and knows it, he’s counting on the fact that I don’t.  Or, that I’ll forget it when I sin and fall flat on my face. I must remember that my new name has been forged through forgiveness, not failure. When God looks at me, now and forever, he sees Jesus.  My calling is new and my character change is in process.

When you write with your pen, Lord, it’s with permanent ink.  Amen

AM I TOO OLD?

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Genesis 17:1-2

         Is anyone too old to come to Jesus?  We know the right answer.  “No, anyone, at any age, can trust Christ.”  Yet, we can despair over the elderly parent close to us.  They seem too far gone in their ability to see truth and trust a Savior.  They have a history of sin and scripture says that sin upon sin brings deception.  Their eyes are blinded by a lifetime of iniquity.  Yet, new birth happens with prayer, warfare, scripture and a loving and gentle perseverance.

         Is anyone too old for God to do a new thing?  Again, we know the right answer.  “God can call someone at 80 and his greatest achievement for the kingdom can be ahead of him.”  Yet, we can despair over ourselves when, at mid-life, we feel we have blown it.  The prime years of life are behind us and we believe we are too far gone for God to offer a pristine beginning.  We call our life to this point ~ ‘wasted years’.

         I consider Abram.  He was ninety-nine when the Lord appeared and reiterated the blessing and covenant.  God is about to change his name ~ a cataclysmic spiritual event that always precedes spiritual greatness.  He is anything but washed up.  Though, if we were to talk with Abram, he would need days, not hours, to tell us stories of his life.  Yes, he had taken great steps of faith but also matched them with great steps of failure.  He had betrayed his wife, taken a handmaiden to produce an heir, and made a mess of family relationships.  If anyone could have felt disqualified, it was Abram.

         Are you thinking of a senior adult as you read this?  I am.  A woman in her nineties.  Three marriages.  Two daughters who hate her; one physically assaulted her recently.  She’s seen it all over the course of her life.  Successful in business but jaded by the majority who have done anything for power, sex, and wealth.  She doesn’t know Jesus yet.  But recently, God has allowed her need of Him to surface and she’s open to the reality of prayer and God’s loving intervention.  This is a first.  Somehow, through a lifetime of experiences that would give anyone a hard heart, the love of Christ is breaking through to hers.  Soon, He will call her name.  She will hear and her greatest days may be ahead of her.  She’s got five more years before she’s as old as Abram when God spoke.  A God who is not impressed, nor restrained, by the limits of old age ~ stunned him.

No one is too old.  Not others.  Not me.  No one is too far gone.  Not others.  Not me.  In You, Jesus, all things are made new. Amen

HEAT DAMAGED

I have become like wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.  Psalm 119:83

A wineskin is a ancient bottle made of leather.  If it got too near someone’s campfire for too long a period, it would dry out, crack, and become unusable. However, a little bit of exposure to the smoke would be a good thing because the wine would take on a distinctive smoky overtone. Continue reading “HEAT DAMAGED” →

WHAT CONSTITUTES AFFINITY?

I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.  Psalm 119:63

    When the Spirit of God is mighty in a stranger, and I see His Spirit in them, I can honestly say that I love them.  Spirit recognizes Spirit and there is instant communion, even if unspoken.

    When two people are drawn together by their love for God and each is on a journey to love God above all others, the fellowship they share is of infinite value.  Over time, the love deepens and the spiritual bond defies explanation.  When two people are drawn together by reasons other than a common love for the Spirit and do not share a commitment to radical discipleship, a chasm will develop that neither can fix.  What one values is earthy things, the other values Christ.  That difference pulls them in opposite directions.  True and lasting affinity is only born of the Spirit.

    I have spent less than five hours with a Spirit-person and had deeper fellowship than with lifelong friends.  Continue reading “WHAT CONSTITUTES AFFINITY” →

REVIVING MY HOPE

So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”  Genesis 16:13

         Jesus revealed His true identity to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.  God revealed His true identity to Hagar at a well in the middle of the wilderness somewhere on the way to Egypt.  The well was a stopping place, a resting place.  It was there that, in the lives of these two women, divine encounters occurred.  They were so powerful that it changed the courses of their lives.

         I read of their stories and I can long to be in their shoes for those few moments.  But wait!  I can be. Weary children of God can still stop by a well, dip their cup, and experience God.

         Who can’t relate to Hagar at some point in their life?  Maybe you’re there now.  Sinned against, singled out as the object of someone’s anger, you are fragile as an eggshell.  You can’t conceive of how you might go on and ever trust again.  You can feel your heart shriveling, closing off, and becoming cynical.  This abuse has happened so many times that it appears this is to be your way of life.  Why doesn’t God stop it?  Does He see you or are you a forgotten child?

         Run to the well.  Jesus is Living Water and the scriptures are the point of encounter.  Rest there.  Bring your aching heart and will it to hope once more in the God who sees.  El Roi.  Hagar named the Lord “The One who sees me.”  In the deafening silence of her wilderness, there was One who saw, One who spoke, One who made outrageous promises.

         God loves to be experienced.  He promises that, for any who search, He will be found.  Today, I make the scriptures my resting place and I won’t stop drinking until my thirst is quenched.  This has never been, nor will ever be, a futile endeavor.

You made the sands upon which I walk.  The earth is Yours and I am never alone.  Even when I see nothing but sand, You see nothing but me.  Amen

THE STORY OF INSIDE OUT

She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold— which they used for Baal. Hosea 2:8

Once upon a time, a man became a father. He held his newborn daughter close and breathed in the wonder of her. When she turned two, he threw her into the air and exclaimed in delight. Was any child more perfect? At night, while his child of promise slept, he dreamt of the all the things he could give her that would make her happy. His list was long. Continue reading “The Story Of Inside Out” →

WHEN GOD HONORS THE UNDERDOG

And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” Genesis 16:11-12

           The power of God is on full display in the story of Hagar, just as it is in the story of Abram and Sarai.  This mother of Arab nations is often thought of as the subject of some side plot in Genesis.  Oh, but that is a mistake.  There are some astounding things to consider in God’s encounter with Hagar.

Every ancient people of Hagar’s world are no longer alive today.  They are all relegated to history books.  The only two who have survived, and who are thriving, are the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac.  The point?  God is true to His promises.

Though God told Hagar to return to Abram and Sarai and, under difficult conditions, resume her role as their slave, her son Ishmael would grow to become independent of the clan of Abraham.  He would be the father and ruler of 12 princes, paralleling the 12 tribes who would descend from Isaac.

God had compassion on this Egyptian slave girl who had been a pawn between powerful men.  King Abimelech of Egypt had passed her off as a gift to Abram. As a slave, Sarai had passed her off to Abram to be used as a surrogate mother.  She was without power in a world where women and slaves had no rights.  When no one else had kind regard for her plight, God did.  God is a kind champion of women!

The promises of God, spoken through the Word of God, stand for all time.  There are things that He speaks today that will be true thousands of years from now.  I am learning that my heart is time bound.  I am consumed with the fulfilling of God’s promises for the immediate, not the long run.  That’s because pain is short sighted.  I want relief, resolution, and deliverance today.  What happens a thousand years from now is usually not as important to me as what will happen tomorrow.

Nevertheless, my heart takes notice that I belong to a God whose Word is powerful enough to transcend time.  There is nothing that can nullify what He has spoken.  No power will come against me to erase God’s plans.  However badly things may look for me on a given day in history, once God chooses to pour out His favor on the oppressed and forgotten, a blessed future commences and remains.  No threat, no arrow, no scheme, even perpetrated by the kings of this world, can undo what God has put in motion.

I’m living in Your timeless plot.  Though the hands of time move slowly and I don’t see the fulfillment of Your promises in these 24 hours, the future course of blessing is set on Your servant who obeys.  I will see my life through the eyes of faith today, Lord.  Amen

LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”  Genesis 16:7-9

            There is Hagar, pregnant and alone in the middle of a wilderness. She had been mistreated by Sarai and unprotected by Abram.  In an intensely stressful situation, no one had handled it well.  Hagar reached her breaking point and decided she couldn’t take any more.  She ran away and headed toward Egypt, her home of origin.

            Now, God comes to her in her perceived isolation.  He notices her, addresses her with an audible voice, and gives her a life-defining moment.  The greatest choice lies in front of her and it’s presented when the stakes are the highest.  She can go home and ignore God’s command or she can obey Him, return to Sarai, and risk more mistreatment.

            Every one of us will experience a moment when we long to escape from somewhere.  We each have our limit.  Oppressive environments drive us to the edge of our ability to cope and we look for any way possible to flee those who mistreat us.  (And in the case of personal safety, fleeing is always the right thing to do!)  But outside of that, what if God asks us to stay?  What if bearing up well in the midst of harassment bears eternal rewards?  It’s possible.  God promises treasures in the darkness and, oh, how precious they are.  Wisdom, private tutoring, spiritual grit, keen discernment about good and evil.  These are but just a few.

            Do you want to flee a job where treatment is unfair?  Wanting out of a marriage that grew cold long ago?   Are you a caregiver to an aging parent, one that doesn’t appreciate your sacrifices?  Maybe you’re dreaming of relinquishing responsibility and sending them to a nursing home.  The question is whether or not you and I are willing to stay, or go, depending on God’s revealed will to us.  Sometimes, God tells us it’s time to uproot.  Other times He tells us to suffer well for another season of time.  We can do either ~ by God’s grace ~ when we know He is personally with us.

            What gave Hagar the emotional and spiritual fortitude to return to Abram and Sarai?  She had a personal encounter with God.  She learned that she was neither forgotten nor alone on her solitary journey.  God regarded her kindly, patiently, and with a desire to bless her.  Such favor made returning bearable.  She knew that she wouldn’t be alone, no matter what the outcome.  She heard God’s voice, felt His love, and could depend on every promise He made to her.  The God of Hagar is my God today.  No matter how desperate I am, He is right here offering an encounter that will fuel obedience.

Stay?  Go?  No matter what I want, I want what You want more.  Amen

ONE WHO FIGHTS; ONE WHO FLEES

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules.  Psalm 119:43

The Psalmist fears that when any given situation arises, the wisdom of the kingdom, born of the Word and the Spirit, will be absent from his tongue.  The word of heaven is one of precision and strategy; a word that is characterized by either a gentle rain for a parched situation or a bolt of lightening that strikes in a firestorm.  It is clarifying, it is corrective, it is healing, and it always causes the kingdom to intersect with the world. Continue reading “Two Reactions” →