Devotions

Fear is an ugly thing. It can pop up in a moment, unexpected and powerful. It can freeze us in our tracks. It happened to me this past Tuesday.

We were at the Costco gas station, and I pulled into a vacant space. I needed to back up to get in line with the pump. I backed about 5 feet and bumped the car behind me. I immediately hit my brakes and pulled forward. I got out of the car, heart racing. The older man who had the car behind me, scowled and immediately called for the attendant, who came right over.

His first words, “Get the store manager out here now.” The attendant explained that Costco was not involved with these types of accidents, and we should simply exchange information and insurance. Then he asked if Costco had video and she said yes.

The three of us looked over both cars and I could not see any damage on either one. The attendant and I both said there didn’t appear to be any damage. The other driver said, “You can’t tell.”

I took pictures of both cars and his information. He did the same. The attendant casually came over to me as he was snapping pictures of my information and said, “There’s nothing there.” She smiled and walked away.

When I got home, I looked up the man on Google and found he is an official from a nearby city. Immediately, I was fearful of what he might do or claim. I spent the day nursing that fear. Then this morning I remembered that the LORD promises that “fear” cannot separate us from the Love to God. I relinquished my fearfulness to the LORD and accepted His peace.  Thank you, LORD.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” [Romans 8:38 NLT]

My daily verse last Saturday was 1Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.”

 I needed to be reminded that those who love the LORD Christ Jesus will “always be with the LORD.”

I felt worn down. After a few weeks suffering with a pinched nerve in my neck, a head cold, two MRI’s, and waiting to talk to doctors, I was dragging. Except for medical visits, and one brief grocery pick up, I had not left the house. The pinched nerve in my neck caused intense pain and weakness in my shoulder and right arm. I was miserable.

Saturday’s daily verse reminded me that any day now, the LORD Himself could descent from heaven with a shout! And at any moment we could be caught up to meet Him in the air. But it was that last phrase in verse 17 that touched my heart … “we will always be with the LORD.”

I know that right now the LORD is with me. But I also know that sometimes the stresses of this life dull my senses of His presence. But when He comes back – WHEN He comes back – we will always BE with Him. I’m living in that promise today.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”  [1John 3:1 NIV]

The KJV says how great is the love the father has “bestowed” on us, and the new Holman Christian Standard says how great is the love the father has “given” us. I like the NIV translators best. I think the translators must have been feeling like I feel today. That English word “lavished” means bestowed, but it also means heaped, poured, smothered with, showered, covered, and loaded!

Nothing like being showered with the love of our Father God. The closest thing I can compare to in my life is the love I have for my children, grandchildren and great. I love spending time with them. I love taking them places and showing them new things. I love giving them gifts. I love smothering them with hugs and kisses. As great as my love for them, God’s love is even greater for me and you.

Jesus put it this way, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” [Matt 7:11 NIV]

How much more? So much more! So much more than we can even think or imagine. And Luke 11:13 tells us these good gifts come to us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to us through the sacrifice of God’s Son. God’s Son comes to us through that great love that the Father has lavished on us.

My praises rise to you today, Father, for Your great love.

We are rapidly approaching the longest day of the year at the end of June. I’ve noticed lately that it is light out when I head to bed and still light out when I wake up in the morning. (Thank God for blackout curtains!)

As I woke up to a bright morning, I was reminded of a Scripture from the Sermon on the Mount. “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”  [Matt 5:14 HCSB]

As I listened to the morning news I was also reminded about how dark our world is getting. Evil is much more out there. The world considers this enlightenment, coming out from under the restrictive morals and rules the church has imposed upon them.

Unfortunately, their enlightenment is really darkness. The woes of Isaiah 5 surely apply: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight.”  [vs20-21 HCSB]

But in the midst of this dark world, Christians are light. The darker the world gets, the brighter our light shines.  Jesus said we “cannot be hidden.”  We are not running around looking for a match to strike this little light of mine, we are like a large city ablaze on a mountain. The darker the world, the harder it will be to ignore us.

In the same chapter of Isaiah where God says: “Therefore the Lord God said: ‘Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.’” He also says this, “For the Lord will rise up as He did at Mount Perazim. He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.” [Isaiah 28:16, 21 HCSB]

Because of love, God has given us Christ Jesus. He is the precious cornerstone that is a sure foundation in our lives. By trusting in Christ Jesus, we have an assurance of God’s love and grace. Peter tells us that while this cornerstone is precious to those who believe, it is anything but precious to those who don’t believe. They reject the very foundation God wants to build in their lives in Christ Jesus. [I Peter 2]

This rejection, if left intact will eventually prompt God’s “strange work” and “his disturbing task.”

God’s strange work and disturbing task is judgment. Our God is a God of love. He wants all to come to salvation through His love and grace. I think God hates the idea of subjecting any of His creation to judgment … and that’s why He calls it his strange work and disturbing task. While He may hate it, His holiness demands it.

So, what has all that to do with you and me? I think we sometimes are too eager to see God’s judgment fall on those who are bound deep in sin. I think we love it a little more than we should. Instead of being broken by the thought of any of God’s creation falling under judgment, we can hardly wait for it to happen. Yet God Himself considers love His main work, and judgment His strange work.

If you get a chance, read Psalm 46 today.  It begins: “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore, we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil.” [vs1-3 HCSB]

I was thinking about some of the ‘troubles’ I face in my life now. When I compare them with the troubles others face, I should probably define them as minor annoyances.

Amid our troubles (or minor annoyances) God reminds us that he is our refuge and strength.  Refuge … not sure what it means in the Hebrew, but I sure know what it means in the English … my sanctuary, shelter, protection, and safe haven. And let’s face it strength is understood in any language!

But what really caught my eye was that our God is “a helper who is always found,” or as some translations say … “an ever-present help.”

He is always available, always present with me. I don’t have to take one of those numbers like you do at the deli or ice cream parlor and wait around for others ahead of me to get the help they need first. Our God is ever-present. Always ready to be our refuge and strength!

I know my main problem is that I usually try to figure things out myself first instead of just running to the One who is my refuge, sanctuary, shelter, protection, safe haven, and strength.

As I was watching a baseball game the other night a commercial came on for a medication for headaches. I had heard it multiple times before but this time I caught something in the side effects disclaimer that made me laugh.

The side effects included “dry mouth; tiredness; neck pain; eye problems such as double vision, blurred vision, decreased eyesight, dry eyes; upper respiratory tract infection; and (wait for it) headache.”

“Headache?”  So, a side effect of headache medication is a headache? Truthfully, I have heard similar things. Makes me wonder about the human race.

Then I thought about the side effects of accepting Christ Jesus as Savior and LORD. I not only received the remedy for my sin, guilt, and shame, I received marvelous side effects!

Divine Favor, grace, forgiveness, spiritual renewal, eternal life. There are blessings like peace, joy, hope, purpose, love. I also have adoption, redemption, freedom, righteousness. And I have God’s faithfulness, consolation, inheritance, and access to Him personally.

The list of salvation side effects goes on and on and on. I think we will be experiencing them for all eternity.

Thank you, LORD!

AAA expected about 45 million people to travel for the recent Memorial Day weekend. Approximately 3 million people boarded planes last Friday. Newscasts reported on the long lines at airports and the busy highways. The interstate around us was busy with people heading somewhere in an RV or pulling travel trailers.

Everyone was hoping to “get away from it all” and find some peace and quiet away from the demands of everyday life. The only problem with that is that everyone must eventually return to the demands of everyday life. The peace and quiet is short-lived.

Changing the outward does little to accomplish the lasting peace and quiet we all so desperately need. Jesus said that true “rest” is only found in Him.

 “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.” [Matthew 11:28-29]

The “rest” Jesus promises changes the inside. The Greek word speaks of blessed tranquility of the soul.   

The rest Jesus promises is permanent. It provides an antidote to the demands of everyday life and refreshment that never runs out.

It is good to get away from it all – but it is even better to have that blessed tranquility of the soul that Jesus provides while we are in the midst of “it all.”

Israel was free. Pharoah had finally capitulated and allowed Israel to leave with their children, their herds. They had even plundered the Egyptians as they left. For about a week they rejoiced and had it easy. God even provided shade during the day and heat during the cold nights. [Exodus 12-14]

Then God did something strange. “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea.” [14:2]

God had them camp between the pursuing Egyptian army and the Red Sea. It appeared the party was over.

You know the story. God shielded them from the enemy, parted the Red Sea so they could walk over on dry ground, and then annihilated the Egyptian army. God proved Himself Glorious and Strong on their behalf.

“When Israel saw all that God had done, they sang. ‘I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; He has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a warrior; Yahweh is His name…. Who is like You, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?’” [15:1-3, 11 HCSB]

There are times in this life when it feels like we are standing between an immovable barrier and a pursuing enemy. Be assured, God knows just where we are. He will prove to be our strength and song. He will prove Himself Glorious in Holiness, Revered with Praises, Performing Wonders. Amen & Amen

I spent years journaling when I was first saved. It was often a form of prayer, speaking to the LORD and listening for his response. I found that if I did not spend enough time writing in my journal, I had a hard time remembering to be thankful. So often the Scripture combines thankfulness with prayer.

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” [Colossians 4:2]

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” [Philippians 4:6]

We should be thankful daily. We have so much for which to be thankful. Our sins have been wiped away. We have a future and a hope. We have a God who not only loves us as His creation but wants us to be his sons and daughters. We have been invited, urged, and wooed to come into His presence boldly. God wants to bless us! We should be the most thankful gracious people on the face of the earth. There should never be a grumble, a murmur, or a complaint!

May 1 was the 2025 National Day of Prayer. Were that the only day we prayed we would be very weak in our spiritual walk. Six months from now in November is the National Day of Thanksgiving. If that is the only day that we are thankful, we are going to be very unlovely to be around.

Remember to thank God today for who you are and all you have. Remember to thank Him today for all He is and His promises. Remember to do it EVERY DAY.