Past Devotions

Nothing does more for my spirit than talking about the LORD to the people of the LORD. I especially love talking about the things that will help us mature in Christ. There is one man in the New Testament who models Christian maturity.

Epaphras was a fellow worker of Paul. While Paul was imprisoned in Roman, Epaphras ministered to the church at Colossae in his stead. Then he brought a report on the health of the church to Paul in Rome. Paul was so cheered in his heart by what he heard that he wrote the wonderful epistle to the Colossians, which Epaphras took back with him to his flock.

Perhaps what Epaphras should be most noted for is his prayer life. Paul writes of him, “He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.” [Colossians 4:12-13 NLT]

It was the desire of Epaphras, and of course Paul, that those they ministered to would stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. That brings me back to a question of what constitutes Christian maturity. The word Paul used is teleios (tel’-i-os). It is sometimes translated as “perfect” and means to be complete in labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.

Maturity comes when we can stand firm in the will of God, no matter what His will brings into our lives. It means we are fully confident of the goodness of God even when beset with trials and surrounded by evil. It is so much more than merely years spent since our conversion – we can be saved for decades and still not be mature. Maturity requires determined cooperation with the Spirit of God in our lives to become more like Jesus every day. Amen&Amen

Psalm 24:8:  Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord, invincible in battle. [NLT]

Psalm 140:7: O Sovereign Lord, the strong one who rescued me, you protected me on the day of battle. [NLT]

Recently I read a devotion I had written in 2013. It contained the thought that “God is not weakened by what weakens us.” (I have no idea whose original thought that was and I haven’t been able to find the author.)

“God is not weakened by what weakens us.” Upon an initial read, we’d all agree with that statement. God, after all, is all-powerful. The Bible is resplendent with the power of our God. Whether Old Testament or New, we see our God acting on behalf of His people with strength and might. He is, as the Psalmist writes, “The LORD strong and mighty … invincible in battle.”

Yet, in our daily walk with God, we often act as if we don’t know that to be true. We think that what diminishes us has also diminished our God and that He is unable, or at the least, unwilling to be strong on our behalf. But as the Psalmist also wrote, The LORD is “my strong one who rescued me …protected me on the day of battle….”

What battle are you facing? I have friends and family who are at this moment facing health battles. I know others who are battling financial issues, aging issues, loneliness, grief, and opposition. It matters not the type of battle; it matters only that our LORD is mighty in it and that “He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:8-9:  NLT]

Amen&Amen

There is a “Happy Chapter” in the Gospels. It’s Luke 15. Reading that chapter in the NLT, I found numerous ‘Happy Words’—joyfully, celebrate, happy, along with multiple occurrences of rejoice and joy. That really presents an interesting spin on a chapter that is often called the “Chapter of the Lost.”

There are three parables in that chapter, the Parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son. Maybe they should be renamed the Parables of the Found Sheep, the Found Coin, and the Found Son. It seems to me that the main thrust of those parables is not how they were LOST, but how they were FOUND!

Happiness and rejoicing abound in that chapter. Not just the happiness of the Shepherd, the Woman and the Prodigal’s Father, but also the rejoicing and happiness in heaven. Jesus said, “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” [vs 7 NLT]

There is a celebration – a party – in heaven every time a lost sinner is saved. I can just imagine the angels dancing with delight and the saints of all the ages singing and shouting. Even the LORD God Almighty gets into the fun. (If you believe that God is too dignified to do that, you need to re-read Zephaniah 3:17.)

“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” [NLT]

Twenty-seven years ago this month, my life did an about-face. I hadn’t been feeling well for a long time and I was extremely fatigued. My doctor ran a battery of different tests, and all came back negative. Finally, she ran a test for Diabetes and that came back with an A1C of 14.6. (At the time the normal range was 4-6.)

With the diagnosis, she said I should start on medications immediately. I asked for a month. In that month I researched everything about Diabetes 2 that I could find. I read up on medications and their side effects. I found out what Diabetes 2 does to a body. And I learned what I needed to do (change my diet, exercise, and lose weight).

So, I embarked on a new path. I was diligent about what I consumed. I began to walk, initially managing only one block out and back, but before long I was doing three miles on my lunch break. Over the next 12 months I dropped 110 pounds. My A1C dropped in the first month to 10.3 (that’s 43 points!), then to 7.6 a month later, and finally settled in around 5.0.

When I look back on that time now, I know my reaction to the diagnosis could have been much different. Many go into denial, some refuse to even try to manage, some head straight to meds. I am thankful for that “bad news” as it gave me a new and much improved life.

Fifty-three years ago this month, I received another kind of “bad news.” I learned that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” That “bad news” (that I was a sinner) drove me to the foot of the cross, to the “Good News” found in the loving arms of a Savior who was waiting for me with an armload of grace and a heart full of love. That “bad news” prompted me to find a new and eternal life in God’s Good News. [Romans 3:21-26]

How easy it is to complain! Complaining is the norm in our society. We complain about everything. We have ‘expectations’ and if someone or something doesn’t live up to them, we let the world know!

We aren’t the only society that loves to complain. The Israelites were pretty good at it too. Numbers 11:1: “Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.” [NLT]

Complaining had dire consequences for them – it will have dire consequence for us also.

Paul calls believers to be different from society. “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” [Philippians 2:14-15]

Still, it is easy for us to pick up a spirit of grumbling and complaining when trials and difficulties come. When that happens, I strive to remember that my sins far outweigh any trials that may come my way.

If my LORD never rescues me from another trial or difficulty, I will still serve and praise Him for He has rescued me from the shame and guilt of multitudes of sin. Amen&Amen

I woke up the other morning with the tail of an odd dream running through my mind. I know I was in a church service, but I was sitting on the outside edge and could barely see what was going on. As I approached, I fell to my knees and began to cry out, “I want more! I want more!” Then I fell on my face and just cried repeatedly, “I want more!”

I woke up feeling exhausted and unsatisfied. I was not sure what any of it meant, or if it had any significance at all. All day I meditated on “more of the LORD,” and wondered what that meant and how I would realize it.

Colossians 2:9 tells us that “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.” I know that when I received Christ as my Savior, I did not get just a piece of Him – I got all of Him through the Indwelling Holy Spirit. So how do I get “more of Him?”

Paul prays in Ephesians 3:19 that believers “may be filled to all the fullness of God,” which emphasizes an experiential knowledge of Christ. It means we want to experience more of His love, His grace, His mercy, His compassion, His righteousness, His Holiness. It means we want to sense His Presence with us each day and allow His Presence to conform us in every way like unto Him.

I guess my heart must be hungering for that “more of the LORD.” I pray for His Presence today. Amen&Amen

I love to crochet and I’m good at it. I even have Best in Show awards for thread and yarn crocheted items at the State fair. I have been crocheting since my mid-20’s, which along with keyboarding since high school has left my thumb joints disfigured with arthritis.

Still, it gives me great joy to crochet, and I still love to do it. However, now when I crochet, I must make a choice. Do I crochet and then have my hands hurt all night, or do I just stop. Is the joy worth the pain?

Life is full of choices. Some are lightweight, like my choice to crochet or not. Other choices have dire consequences. Joshus put forth such a weighty choice in Joshua 24:15 when he confronted the Israelites after settling in the Promised Land. “Choose today whom you will serve…. As for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.” [NLT]

That choice has eternal consequences. Those of us who have made that choice must understand that it doesn’t stop there. There are everyday choices that will also affect our eternity. I was reminded of one in a daily verse recently.

“I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations.” [Psalm 119:30 NLT]

Every day we choose to be faithful. Every day we make the choice to live by God’s Holy Standards. It doesn’t stop with salvation; we must also choose sanctification—simply stated that means to be conformed to the image of our LORD Christ Jesus. Amen&Amen [Romans 8:29]

I woke up the other morning with questions swirling in my mind. Those thoughts centered around our Holy, Untamable, All-Powerful Majestic God. I could hear the Holy Spirit asking …

When was the last time you faced the God of Moses and came away from that experience with your face reflecting His Glory?

When was the last time you met the God of Elijah who first brought an earthquake, fire and wind to command your attention for His still small voice?

When was the last time you entered the presence of the God of Isaiah and found such holiness that you were unraveled in your humanity?

When was the last time you fell as dead before the God of Daniel and had to be revived before you could hear God’s answer to prayer?

Now lest you are thinking that’s the Old Testament God and we now serve the New Testament gentle Christ Jesus who allowed children to climb on His lap, then let me remind you that this gentle Christ Jesus calmed the raging storm and sea with a word and left His disciples more “terrified” of Him than of the storm. [Mark 4:35-41]

And remember John the Beloved, the one who reclined beside Jesus during the Last Supper? Remember his response when He saw the glorified Jesus holding the keys of death and Hades in Revelation 1, “I fell at his feet as though dead.” 

We serve a holy, untamable, unexplainable, mighty LORD. He is majestic, powerful, dangerous. We should be breathless in His Presence, awestruck by His Majesty, undone when faced with His Holiness.

What does that say of us if we are not?

A one-frame cartoon on Facebook has stayed with me for years. It showed Charlie Brown and Snoopy sitting on the ground facing a sunset in the background. Charlie Brown says to Snoopy, “We are all going to die one day, Snoopy.”  It’s Snoopy’s response that has stayed with me, “Yes, but every other day we are going to live.”

We worry so much about dying that we forget that is only one day, while we have years of days to live. Some may have more than others, but I don’t think God is concerned with quantity of days as much as quality of days. After all, He is already aware of the number of days we have. “…all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.”  [Psalm 139:16b HCSB]

What are we doing with our days? Are we living them in abundance of God’s grace and mercy? Are we bringing the light of Christ into the darkness of others’ lives? Are we seeking our daily bread from the source? Are we drinking of the Living Water? Are we growing in Christ Jesus … loving each other the way He loved us? Are we caring for the poor of this world, the blind, the naked, the imprisoned as He commanded?

Are we living every day we have or merely going through the motions? Every day presents opportunities to grow in our relationship with God and our relationship with people.

Let’s live with an “every other day we are going to live” attitude and let God handle that one day we are going to meet Him. Amen&Amen

I want to go back to Revelation Chapter 5, where we were in yesterday’s devotion. I want to go back to look once more at a group of people described simply as the “24-elders.” Many scholars believe these 24 represent the 12 tribes of Israel (the OT saints of God) and the 12 Apostles of Christ (the NT saints of God.) If that is true, then that is us!

If that is us then we are doing three things!.

We are all there together. All the people of God from all the ages, all the nations, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. We are together with Him before the throne.

We are rejoicing, singing of His glory. I think there might even be some dancing going on. I can picture David whirling and twirling in his praise with a bus driver from Queens. There’s Paul singing loudly arm and arm with a martyr from Nigeria. Billy Graham and Martin Luther are side-by-side and Mother Teresa is hugging a Chinese believer. Maybe Peter and the Centurion are back together. And in the middle of them there’s you and me.

Then all of us are overcome with the desire to fall together and worship the Great I Am and the Lamb. Suddenly we sing, “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.” [verse 13]

We are together. We sing His praises. We bow before Him in worship. We probably should start practicing that now. Amen&Amen