Category: Daily Devotionals

Romans 8:39

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For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:39

The love of those closest to us is a powerful force.  When we’re in trouble, they’ll come.  When we’re sick, they’ll sit with us.  When we’re in danger, they go with us if they can.  But there are limits to where they can go.  When I’m going in for life-threatening surgery, they must leave me at the door. When my soul is hurting, there also comes a point of separation.  They must sleep, go to work, attend to their own lives, and if it’s a friend, they must go home. 

When Jonah was swallowed by a great fish and spent three days in his belly, God was right there with him.  No friend could have done that.  When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, God was right there with him.  When he faced the dangers of re-entry back into our atmosphere and could have quickly bounced off and headed forever into space, God would have been there with him too.

What comprises the goodness of God today?  His promise of love, the assurance of His prayers, and the comfort of His presence no matter what I face.  No surgery room keeps Him out.  No maximum security prison locks Him out.  If I travel to the remotest part of our planet, He is there, in me and around me.

There is no place I can go on earth or in heaven that You are not with me, not out of duty but out of love and desire.  Goodness like this I cannot comprehend.  Thank you.  Amen

When I’m Stingy

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Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.  The one who contributes, let him give generously.  Romans 12:8

 There was an old man in the small town where I grew up who was quite wealthy.  His life’s goal was to amass a fortune and he didn’t care how he did it.  Was he driven by greed?  Not always.  Fear was also his taskmaster.  He had lived through the depression with his mother and several siblings.  For the family’s survival, he went to work at seven years old to deliver papers so there would be food on the table.  He made a vow never to be poor and his entire life would be shaped by those words.

Paul describes a believer as one who is never stingy.  He loves to give and just can’t help himself.  Perhaps you’re thinking ~  “I don’t give like this.  In fact, far from it.  What’s my problem?”

Like the man who was afraid of having nothing, there are many reasons why we don’t give generously.  Fear of deprivation, fear of giving away something that we’re attached to, fear that it won’t be received, fear that we will get nothing back.  Greed is not always at the center of why we withhold.

The cure is found in Paul’s words.  You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.  2 Corinthians 9:11  God promises, through Christ, to make us so rich that we’ll have no problem giving it away – confident that He will more than compensate.  This morning, perhaps we’ve only just begun to realize what is ours in Christ.

Show me where I’m rich in You.  Amen

A Message From The Cloud

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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.  Hebrews 12:1

Before you read the scripture, I bet you saw the title and thought of computers, data, and what it means for us to store digital information in the cloud.  But there is another cloud mentioned in Hebrews 11.  A cloud of witnesses.  Who is it that makes up this company?  Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Sarah, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. What a group it would be if we could gather them together today, in the flesh, and host them all in one setting.  What would fellowship look like?  How long would it take for us to ask all the questions on our mind, to hear all their stories, and to glean their advice and encouragement?

But we can imagine it, right?  One of the themes of Michael Card’s writing is ‘reading the Bible with your imagination.’  He encourages us to enter into the stories we read and imagine what the people were thinking, why they did what they did, and what they would want us to know from their mistakes and their acts of faith.  (And, God’s reactions.)  As I go back and review chapter 11 and the many devotionals written on each character, I can ‘imagine’ some of their encouragements.

Abel ~ “Carve out your own faith apart from your parents and follow God to the letter.”

Enoch ~ “As the world caves into lawlessness, prepare to keep yourself pure even if hated and made the brunt of mockery.”

Noah ~ “Don’t get tired of obeying God – even when He’s quiet. Stay faithful.”

Abraham ~ “Climb Mt. Moriah and believe in God’s goodness no matter what.”

Sarah ~ “If you’ve hurt your testimony, stop hiding. Get up and take a second run.”

Yochoved ~ “If you hold your child of promise, God’s plan will prevail.”

Six out of 15 voices.  They blend together.  Each is passionate and insistent on being heard.  Not one is distinguishable above another.  Each cheer is lifesaving.  We must take time to review each of their stories to internalize their encouragement on a bigger scale.  We have not begun to mine their stories for gold.

Don’t let me be afraid to tell my own stories of fear and faith and victory.  In them are sermons for the next generation.  Amen

What Happens In The Womb

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The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”   Genesis 25:22-23

Rebekah is pregnant with twins.  She wouldn’t be the first to feel the angst of a child in her womb.  Much transpires there that shapes the future, both for the good and the bad.  I am naïve to think that I was not affected somehow by what happened around me while being carried to term in my own mother’s womb.  An unborn baby assimilates environments outside of its mother.  Kindness, violence, acceptance, and rejection ~ are all keenly felt.  They shape a child’s view of himself, and the world, before he takes his first breath.   

When Rebekah felt the striving between her twins, she was wise when she asked the Lord about it.  God prophesied that this spiritual rub between the twins would be historical.  The small amount of wrestling in the womb would escalate to involve nations at war in the future.  One child would prevail over the other because only one was destined by God to rule.

How did things turn out for the twins?  God’s prophecy prevailed.  One nation was born ~ from the child God blessed, and it ruled over the other nation for years to come.  In 2 Samuel, King David (the blessed twin’s line) conquered the Edomites (the 2nd twin’s line) and they remained under his control for 130 years.  Nothing could transpire, whether in the womb, as toddlers, as adolescents, or as grown men, that could change what God decreed to Rebekah on that day.

God’s Word always prevails.

I learned the hard way that I am not exempt from what You have blessed and cursed.  Your Words rule over my life, but rule with power and love.  I’m so glad I stopped fighting.  Amen

Yes, He’s Going With You

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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  Isaiah 43:2

The power of this promise makes little sense if I fail to understand the sinister nature of water in scripture.  It’s hard to see the sea as something negative if I love the beach and the sound of waves lapping up on shore.  But to the ancient Jew, the sea meant something else entirely.  It was a symbol of something ominous and life-threatening. In Semitic mythology, a sea monster was synonymous with chaos and evil.  These verses provide a more complete picture.

  • Isaiah said that the wicked were like a tossing sea. Isaiah 57:20
  • A psalmist said that God divided the sea by His might and broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. Psalm 74:13-14
  • David said that God’s vicious waves had swept over him like an angry ocean. Psalm 42:7
  • And in John’s revelation, it’s most interesting that the Beast rises from the sea. (Revelation 13)

When God promises to accompany me through the waters, it is clear that He goes with me into the deepest chaos, evil, turbulence, and even death.  God doesn’t promise to take me around the sea, to keep me on dry land.  Just like the days we are living now; we find ourselves in deep waters.  The darkness is thick, life-threatening, and it’s comforting to be assured that we’re not alone.

Think about it.  How very fitting that Jesus walked on water!  The symbol of that is not lost on me.  He was not overcome by evil, not knocked around by the chaos of the waves, not swallowed up by the deep.  In the worst of storms, he walked on the waves.  Calmly, with no need to yell, He spoke to His disciples.  His voice penetrated the roar of the storm.

It makes me think of Ephesians 1 and I Corinthians 15.  “And He put all things under His feet.”   There is no evil He has not conquered.  There is no virus He cannot heal.  There is no chaos He can not order.  There is no life, for a saint, that will not triumph in life – and in death.  Everything, no matter how ominous, is subject to His authority.

You are Lord over all the elements, and I am never out of Your care.  Amen

A Picture of Father God

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Every day he (Mordecai) walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her. Esther 2:11

Esther had gone to the palace along with many other young virgins. She had been uprooted from the safety of her home and separated from the faces she knew. Can you imagine Mordecai’s anxiety? How was she being treated? Was the king an honorable man with women? Were the people who worked for him trustworthy with impressionable young girls? Such were the fears of an adoptive father who paced back and forth near the courtyard of the palace, hoping to hear any word at all on the girl he raised and loved like his own.

This picture gives us a snapshot of an invisible God. Mordecai was consumed with the welfare of the child he had raised. So is God. Mordecai gave up his life to adopt an orphan. So did God. Mordecai invested himself fully to teach Esther that which would allow her soul to prosper. So does God. Mordecai positioned himself in her vicinity, just in case she might need anything of him. So does God. He knocks at the door of my heart. The sound is soft, but discernible if I’m listening for it.

“How are you?” he asks. “I never stop thinking about you. Do you need anything?”

Often, His arrival can seem more like a disruption. “I don’t have time to talk”, I’ve been guilty of answering. But still He lingers, waits a while, and then knocks again.

By the time I hear his voice the second time, life has begun to unravel. “Things aren’t going as I’d hoped. I’m getting tired.”

He’s not surprised. How could he be! ”I’m here. I am rest for your soul and wisdom for your decisions.” Now, I’m aware of my need and stop to include Him in my day.

If only I’d stopped the first time I sensed Him knocking to spend time with Him. I’d have been prepared for my day ahead, before the circumstances unfolded. Now, I’m in crisis mode. Undone. Disquieted. Dull of hearing. However, despite my earlier disinterest, He didn’t leave me. He didn’t even scold me for waiting so long. He knows I’ll put those thoughts together. When I do, I’m humbled. Mordecai is a picture of God’s steadfastness and enduring patience.

I simply cannot say today that nobody in the world cares about me. Your care has no limits. What a Father You are! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Cutting Of My Heart

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For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.  But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.  His praise is not from man but from God.  Romans 2:28-29 

A Jew believed that anyone circumcised would never go to hell.  Circumcision secured his salvation.  Paul removed this prop from their belief system.  He emphasized that, once again, God does not look at externals but internals.  Circumcision of the heart, not the body, mattered to God.

And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart.  Deut. 30:6 God wants to do surgery on my soul, to cut out or cut away sin, the sin that prevents Him from writing His law on my heart.  I am to be a clean slate and accept whatever He writes.  Fighting him by putting my hands over my ears, shielding my eyes, and even being stiff-necked prevents this internal circumcision from taking place.  So much for respecting the privilege of this holy appointment.

It is no wonder that the Jewish leaders were enraged with Jesus and His apostles.  The message of the Gospel erased what they believed qualified them to inherit salvation.  To learn that all their rituals and external performances were nothing to God must have been devastating.  Perhaps it was too threatening a truth to own.

The Spirit of God is the great surgeon of my soul.  When I interact with the Word and meditate on it, He takes truth to the part of my soul that needs attention.  When His Word cuts like a sword through my strongholds of deception, it feels frightening and emotionally excruciating.  For many decades, I can hang on to a particular lie or way of life.  The longer I resist Him, the more protective and defensive I am of what is killing me.  I need to be broken like a wild horse.  Yielding to the Spirit is what will take me down and then save me.

My heart bears the scars of much surgery.  It was painful, but the results turned out joyfully over time.  I trust You with this holy process.  Make my heart pleasing to you.  Amen

Embracing Pilgrimage

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These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.  Hebrews 11:13

Have you noticed that things here become less appealing as you’ve aged?  Have you gotten to the place where you feel like a misfit, a stranger, and an alien?  If your answer is yes, you’re in the company of those in the family of God who have refused to dig their foundation into shifting sand.

The steep walk of faith is a lonely journey.  There are fewer and fewer, even among God’s children, who stay on the narrow path. The numbers who hunger and thirst after righteousness diminish as faith walks get steeper.  Jesus loses appeal when held up against the opiates of our age.

Ah, but for everyone who perseveres, our eyes search for other pilgrims who also talk longingly of home. Everything we’re praying for hasn’t happened yet.  Everything we’re hoping for is deferred.  That’s okay.   Like Abraham, we can see it from a distance.

Ron’s father, a well-known evangelist, would say to a crowd of people before giving an invitation, “I’m as sure of heaven as though I’d already been there for 1,000 years.”  Who talks like that?  Only one who has made his home in Christ.  The Psalmist said, Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. Psalm 39:12  A longing can be heard as he perpetually scans the horizon for the lights of Jerusalem.  As for Jack Wyrtzen, he saw it in 1996 as Jesus welcomed him home.

My cure for worry, Lord?  Being consumed with what awaits me. Amen

Perceptions

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After He had sent them away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. Matt. 14:23

One of the gravest mistakes I can make today is to judge things by how I perceive them. How things are now mean nothing as to how things will be.

I’m not speaking of actions and consequences. God did say that if we reap sin, or righteousness, we will reap the same. But I’m talking about the obedient walk of a disciple and the many times he can believe that things are declining, even failing. If he is following Jesus, ‘failure’ is not how heaven defines his journey.

I have been surprised by the number of times scripture says that Jesus withdrew from the crowd to go and pray. He did this when he was fatigued but also withdrew after a profound time of discouragement. Did Jesus, at any time, believe that His mission was failing? No, He never succumbed to the lies that He was failing. Perception could not be built on any or segment of time single day. Though the crowds rejected him, a few did not and the ‘few’ were the point of His mission.

I can see things deteriorate around me. Church, family, ministry, friendships, even a marriage. I can say that it is in obvious decline but I can not safely say that ‘it is finished.’ What was ‘finished’ was the work of salvation and redemption. As long as I live today, there is still time for faith. There is still time for prayer. There is still time for firm belief in eternal truths.

‘The few’ are still the point of His mission.  If there is despair, I speak into it with enduring words of hope. If there is warfare, I speak into the battle with reminders of ultimate victory. God’s mathematics defies perception. A few hundred of his people defeated hundreds of thousands of enemies. The proportions were always ludicrous and God’s enemies risked everything on false perceptions. They didn’t know God.

The kingdom and God’s promises are where we plant our feet.

This is the day where I affirm, yet again, “Lord, I believe.” What You started, You will complete. Amen

Don’t Miss Promised Insight!

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As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Daniel 9:13

Behind every sin is a world of insight. Repentance is often done quickly at an altar but seeking God as to why the sin was committed can never be momentary. Most of the time, sin results from years of struggle in a certain area. Iniquity that emerges out of old strongholds is the kind that Daniel references here in his famous prayer.

Israel sinned against God over a long period of time. God wooed, sent prophets to warn, but still they went their own way. Not only did they miss the sweet fruit of repentance but they failed to gain insight about their detour away from God. Their hard-heartedness kept them from recognizing that rebellion started with small considerations to do their own thing. What attracted them at the beginning? How did they whitewash sin as it progressed? How long did they enjoy the detour before calamity hit? Were they aware that their sins got bigger and bolder over time? Do they remember caring less and less as sin grew? These are the questions that accompany true restoration.

When God has done a deep work in me, it took years, not days. He shed light on my wayward path, helping me see it as the result of making one small choice after another. The decisions I thought inconsequential were really weighty. There was no insignificant step on the path. My selfish road was a long and winding one and so was the review as God gave me spiritual insight into my own heart. It took me a long time to dismantle my life and God took a long time to rebuild it.

You may think this sounds grueling and depressing. But it is not. That’s the thing!   Grace wraps this journey of restoration. While learning, while grieving, there is also joy that I am no longer wandering and vulnerable; but safe in God’s cocoon. His voice is instructive and His manner is merciful. His truth just clicks. It’s clean, simple, yet profound.

If you find yourself in a place of rugged introspection, suffering from the fallout of sinful choices, do not fear the way home. Home is where God is. Your companion is Jesus. He is a friend, not an enemy. He is a gentle teacher and is kind with the pace. If you weep over your sin, He holds you and soothes you.

‘Thy kingdom come’ to every life who asks for a second chance today. Amen