Devotions

I had the privilege of bringing the team devotion yesterday at church. I brought a very simple reminder of what I have found to be the three most important things we must experience as Christians.

Number One: Jesus Loves Me! ME! With all my faults and failures Jesus Loves Me. When I don’t get it right. Jesus Loves Me. I may please or displease Him, but I will never have the power to change His love for me. (Colossians 3:12: “God chose you to be the holy people he loves.”)

Number Two: I am a “Child of God.” There is no title man can bestow on me, no title I might earn that is greater than the one God bestowed. I am a “Child of God.” (1 John 3:1: “Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children.)

Number Three: God’s Grace Wins! No matter what I might face in this life, Grace Wins. No matter that my mind might fade and my body fail, Grace Wins.  (2Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”)

These are the things that I seek to live in every day of my life. I find in their simplicity that they are so deep and so vital to remember.

The brain is a wacky, wonderful thing. I try to listen to my Christian playlist before going to bed, otherwise my brain will dreg up some goofy song from a commercial to sing all night. The last song I listened to last night was “I Surrender All.” I hoped its beautiful words would resonate in my spirit all night.

“All to Jesus, I surrender. All to Him, I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him. In his presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

My brain didn’t sing at all last night. Instead, I realized in that twilight sleep just before awakening, I was trying to remember all nine of the “Fruit of the Spirit.”  I got to eight and could feel myself fussing about that last one. (I missed “faith/faithfulness.”)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.” [Galatians 5:22-23 HCSB]

When I was finally awake, I realized that the Holy Spirit within me did something amazing. He connected the song I was singing before bed, “I Surrender All,” to the “Fruit of the Spirit.”

Somehow even in my sleep I realized you aren’t going to produce the “fruit” apart from the “surrender.” Amen & Amen

There is a song titled, “I Will Trust in You,” written by Lauren Daigle, Paul Marbury, Michael Farren. The song talks about how we stay strong when God doesn’t move the mountains or part the sea or give us the kind of answers we expect or want.

How do we handle trudging over that mountain? How do we continue when we have to walk through the floods? What kind of heart attitude must we bear when the answers to our prayers don’t rescue us from situations, illnesses, or circumstances of life?

The song says that it is then we must trust. “I will trust, I will trust in You.”

That’s not a new thought. David during trouble said, “I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands.” [Psalm 31:14-15 NIV]

Jesus told us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” [John 14:1 NIV]

We commit our spiritual well-being to God. No matter what we see with our natural eye. No matter what we must go through, endure, or overcome in this life, our belief in God and in His Christ holds us steady.

The mountains may loom, but God will give us hinds-feet for high places. The sea may seem to overwhelm, but Jesus can quiet our soul just as He quieted the sea of Galilee. And the answers to our prayers may be different than expected, but He will never leave us, nor forsake us.

I WILL trust, I CAN trust, in Him.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the tenderhearted mercy of God – that mercy that we are commanded to also practice towards others, even our enemies. I was looking up “mercy” references in the concordance and found one in the opening of the Letter of Jude. “May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.” [Jude 1:2 NLT]

When I look up a reference, I will usually read the chapter it is found in because I want to understand it in context. Jude is only one chapter, and the next part of the chapter isn’t very uplifting. It warns of the dangers of false teachers.

After that Jude issues a call to remain faithful, especially in the “last times” when there will be scoffers and people seeking to divide the church. Jude reminds us to build each other up, to show mercy, to rescue those who are perishing.

But it is the end of Jude that lifts my soul in a prayer of praise to the heavenlies. “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.  All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.” [Jude 1:24-25 NLT]

Do you see that wonderful promise in that passage, the promise that I cling to, “God, who is able … will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence WITHOUT A SINGLE FAULT.” [emphasis mine]

Not even a SINGLE fault! Amen & Amen

In Luke 6 there is a passage that tells us how we are to love our enemies (vs 27-36). The last verse in that passage sums it up. “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” [NKJV]

If that were the only passage about loving our enemies we might be able to ignore it – but it’s not. There are more.

We are to practice always the tenderhearted merciful attitude of our Father God to everyone. The word mercy means we are to be compassionate, having the same deep pity God has for people who look to Him for help in their difficult situations.

We are to do this because we have been chosen and loved by God Himself. “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” [Colossians 3:12-13 NLT]

God loved us when we were still sinners. Our Father sent His beloved Son to die for us while we were His enemies. [Romans 5]

If the LORD God Almighty was willing and eager to do that for us, how should we be to our “enemies?”

I had an appointment last Friday with the rheumatologist who oversees my PMR and GCA. (PMR stands for polymyalgia rheumatica. GCA is giant cell arteritis. Big words for lots of pain everywhere caused by inflammation, and inflammation of the major arteries respectively.)

This is the doctor that prescribed infusions for the past six years to treat the PMR and GCA. Side effects from that medication is why I was in the hospital the beginning of this year.

I prayed before going to the appointment, asking God for wisdom in how I would approach this appointment. In the past when I suggested that we stop the infusions, I was told that my conditions were under control, not in remission. And if I stopped the meds … well, they could flare out of control.

When the Rheumatologist walked in the room the first words were “well, we are going to stop the infusions.” YES! I did not even have to broach the subject. God had gone ahead of me. NOW I just need to trust HIM to keep the PMR and GCA in remission. But I figure He’s already one step ahead me there too.

“Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” [Proverbs 3:6 NLT]

I love praying the Psalms. I love praying to God with the inspired words of Scripture. This morning I was praying through Psalm 86. It is a beautiful “Prayer of David,” and begins “Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help.”

There is always one verse in that song, and one small phrase in that verse that gives me pause. The verse is Verse 5: “O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help,” and the phrase is “so ready to forgive.”  [NLT]

If God is “so ready to forgive,” why do we find it so difficult to run to him when we’ve blown it. And yes, even after surrendering my life to Him 53 years ago … I still blow it. I still fail. I still lose my temper. My patience often has a limit. My words are not always kind. I am not always merciful – I could go on, but it’s safe to say, “I am not perfected – yet!”

I remember my former pastor saying that when he realized he’d ‘blown it,’ he immediately turned around and ran to God for forgiveness. I think he truly understand just how ready God is to forgive.

“O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.”

When we wallow around in guilt and shame and misery, it isn’t because God is unwilling to forgive, it’s because we fail to run to Him and ask for His help.

It was one of those moments. The house was quiet. (That doesn’t happen often; Bob loves his Westerns.) I was sitting in my rocker and only half listening to my Playlist when a song caught my attention. It was Marshall Hall singing my favorite rendition of “Jesus Loves Me.”

I felt my soul quiet. I listened to the words … “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong.”

Then I began to whisper as Marshall Hall continued … “Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.”

As I sat there I felt God’s love surround me. “Jesus loves me” is not just a song, it’s not some abstract concept, it is a reality that impacts every area of our lives.

It’s so simple and yet so deep. To know that you know that you know that Jesus loves you changes everything. What Joy!

 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.” [John 15:9 NLT]

We live in a turbulent world that presents challenges to maintaining a peaceful soul. Peace seems out of reach. We often hear that peace is “elusive.” We not only have many of the same difficulties as past generations, but we have also added the complexities of living in an on-line, social media world.

Yet Scripture promises that as Christians we can experience God’s peace. One of the most precious promises is found in Philippians 4. “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” [vs 7 NLT]

That verse promises that God’s peace … one greater than anything we can understand … will guard our hearts and minds. But notice it begins with that little word “Then.” “Then refers to the preceding verse.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” [vs6 NLT]

 Instead of worrying, we pray. Instead of keeping things to ourselves, we tell our loving Father what we need. Instead of being ungrateful, we thank Him for all He has done. Those things work for us the peace of God that guards our hearts and minds.

We may not understand how prayer and thanksgiving bring peace to our souls – but they certainly do!

I went to church last Sunday. That is something I can say almost every week, but this year did not exactly begin the way I expected. I was looking forward to 2026 being a great year. Some health issues from 2025 were behind me and I expected to stride joyfully into the new year.

Instead, I ended up in the hospital on January 2 with new health issues (caused by a medication I had been taking for old health issues – ain’t modern medicine grand.) I missed being in church for the first three Sundays of the new year. But last Sunday I was back!

I appreciate that we can ‘attend’ on-line services, but church is much more than just the message, or even the message and the song service. Church is seeing the smiles on the faces of people when they see you walk through the door. It is hearing the people who usually sit in the row behind you say – “we were praying for you.” It is the strength received in the hugs.

And yes, it is the song service (hearing others raise their voices in worship with you) and the timely message (hearing the Amen’s and PTL’s echo around the room).

That’s the kind of church we all need. If you don’t have that kind of church you have two choices. You can leave and find one – or you can be the influence to turn the one you attend into that kind of church.