Category: Daily Devotionals

SHIPWRECK

Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22

            I must be clear, not only as I share the Gospel with others, but in my expectations of what following Jesus means.  To embrace Jesus is to embrace a life characterized by a cross.  Paul was clear in his encouragement to the disciples in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.  “Stay true to Jesus.  Don’t be surprised by suffering.  To enter the kingdom, you must endure tribulation.”

            I must renounce the prosperity Gospel.  It is not only unbiblical but also rooted in deception.  Who is the author of deception?  To embrace the enemy’s lie is to ensure eventual disillusionment and anger.  God and I will shipwreck on the rocks of false expectations.   Continue reading “Shipwreck” →

WHO CAN INFLICT EVIL?

They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.  Psalm 119:150

Those who perpetrate evil on others are far from God’s instruction.  They have either never gotten close to Jesus, or they have chosen to back up from Him in order to carry out their plans.  Someone with their head on Jesus’ breast is not likely to reach out their hand to strike another with a dagger. Continue reading “Who Can Inflict Evil?” →

WAITING

When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum.  It was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them.  The sea became rough and a strong wind was blowing.  John 6:16-18

Who hasn’t been in the boat with disciples?  The wind blows.  The sea is kicking up walls of water.  The roar of the storm is escalating rather than abating.  We pray fervently but Jesus’ arrival on the scene with deliverance on His breath has not yet come.  We are waiting.  We are harnessing our thoughts, taking despair by the throat and speaking words of faith to our disbelief.  God will come.  God is faithful.  God does care.  Even if this storm kills the body, my soul and spirit will live forever in the presence of glory.

I have flown in a lot of bad weather.  Thirty five years of traveling has exposed me to many kinds of weather.  When the plane is in the thickest of storm clouds, pitching badly, my nose is pressed against the window and is scanning the clouds intently.  Continue reading “Waiting” →

FEAR

There is no fear of God before their eyes.  Romans 3:18

Our emotional lives are so twisted by sin.  The things we should feel – we don’t.  What we shouldn’t feel – we do.  And all feelings are rooted in beliefs. Continue reading “Fear” →

AN EMBRACE WITH THE EYES

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.  Psalm 146:8

         Body language is a powerful communication tool.  If we lean forward while in conversation, we let the other person know that we are interested, that we anticipate their next remark.  If we lean back and fold our arms while another shares deeply, we communicate that we are uncomfortable with their words and wish to keep our distance.  Without saying anything, we can convey our feelings with a simple posture.

If I wish to tell something important to my children, or to a friend in despair, I will place one hand on their shoulder, and with the other, raise their head so they can look into my eyes.  That allows me to deliver what is on my heart in such a way that I know the words will connect.  Lifting another’s head to enable solid eye contact is a compelling act. Continue reading “En Embrace With The Eyes” →

NOW I KNOW BETTER

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance.  I Peter 1:14

            My mother and father are both in heaven.  Though it has been twenty-eight years since my mother died and ten years since my father passed away, it feels like yesterday in a way.  The closer I get to Jesus, the less I feel their absence.  I know He is with them and since I am close to Him, I am ‘almost’ with them.

            I am so thankful for the home they gave me.  I’m even thankful for their imperfect parenting because the deficits created within me a holy ache for God.  I never would have embarked on a relentless search for Abba Father unless I had felt the sting of some mild emotional deprivation from my parents.  What Satan plans for evil, God can always use for good.

            While I cherish the many good things in my heritage (my mother’s heart for the hurting and the poor, my father’s gentle way of teaching the Word for over sixty years), there are other things I reject. Continue reading “Now I Know Better” →

CORNERED

Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.  So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the

Christ, tell us plainly.”  John 10:23-24

            The Jews ‘gathered round him.’  In the English vernacular, that sounds harmless enough.  This is something a group of friends does to hear a good story.  However, in the original language, ‘closed around him’ was the word picture.  The Jews surrounded Jesus, attempting to trap Him, hoping to hear Him incriminate Himself when attempting to answer their questions.

            I don’t know if you’ve ever been closed in, trapped, in order to have information coerced out of you.  If you have, you probably recall the feelings vividly.  You probably found it hard to breathe as the realization slowly dawned on you that you were about to be snared. Continue reading “Cornered” →

JESUS CHANGES THE SUBJECT

Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  John 3:3

Nicodemus came for a private teaching instruction from Jesus.  Instead of getting that, Jesus changed the topic entirely.  I can imagine Nicodemus was greatly confused.

He was one of the most brilliant of the Jewish religious leaders, schooled his entire life in the scriptures, yet here was Jesus speaking of things for which he had no knowledge or experience, something as elementary as being born into the kingdom.

What I perceive as my greatest spiritual need can be way off base.  Though I think I know myself, I never see myself as God sees me.  I think I need one thing; God would say that I need another.

Some years ago, Continue reading “Jesus Changes The Subject” →

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT!”

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.  James 2:23

            There are few things more painful than not being believed.  When I decide to be vulnerable and share a story that is close to my heart, only to be met with a skeptical response, it is like a stab in the heart.  Today, many need to tell their life’s story to someone but are held back by the knowledge that they simply won’t be believed. Unbelief has eroded many a relationship and left one party in the prison of unspoken pain.

            I wonder if God often feels like the spurned storyteller.  He has given me the scriptures that offer me the keys to the kingdom and abundant life.  To partake, all I must do is believe and live in His truth.  Yet, I sift everything He says. Continue reading ““I Can’t Believe That!”” →