Devotions

Col 4:2:  Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. [NIV]

Devote, or as the King James says, continue.  It means to be earnest towards, persevere in, be constantly diligent, or to adhere closely.  We are to be all those things in prayer.  Scripture is abundantly clear that God’s people are to pray – to come to Him confidently.

I love to hear the voices of the people I love.  Family can call me and I recognize their voices immediately.  Friends call, and I can tell with the first hello just who is on the line.  When I hear their voices, I am instantly attentive to them.  My thoughts don’t wander and my focus doesn’t shift.  I love the voices of those I love.

God is that way with us.  We need not identify ourselves as if he has forgotten whom we are.  We don’t have to re-introduce ourselves, cite our spiritual history or remind Him about the time we were saved.  He isn’t going to confuse us with someone else.  He knows us.  I love the verse found in 2 Tim 2:19:  Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his.”  [NIV]

It is vitally important that we pray earnestly.  We must persevere in prayer and be diligent to it.  God certainly will not forget our voice; in that we can be assured, but we can so easily forget His.  In fact, the goal of the world, flesh and devil is to drown out God’s voice.  The enemies of our soul want us to fail to pray so that across time we fail to recognize the voice of our Father when He speaks to us. Being devoted to prayer enables us to zero in on His voice amidst the many who speak to us.

Beloved, let us be diligent in our prayer life.  Let not a day go by without our coming to our Father God in prayer.  Let us stay so attuned to Him that even the softest whisper from Him is recognized and trusted.

Waiting. Oh LORD, I hate waiting! Why must I wait? How long before we see you move in power and might? How long before you sweep through our churches, our communities, our families with Your Presence in fullness of glory as promised? Oh LORD! I hate waiting!

And yet, waiting is so much a part of life. I wait constantly. I wait in traffic. I wait in lines in stores. I wait for things I ordered to arrive in the mail or library books to become available. I wait for the medicine I’m taking to do its work. I wait for payday. I wait for vacations. I wait to see people I love. I wait—every day I wait for something.

And yet, waiting for those ordinary things of life doesn’t seem as bad, nor as long, as waiting for the LORD to manifest His presence in our midst. Waiting for revival seems too long a wait to bear at times.

This morning I read Psalm 27. I’m not sure what prompted David’s writing of this song. He seems to be crying out to the LORD amid the foes who seek him harm. He seems to be crying out for God to reveal Himself. It seems that David’s cry is my cry this morning, “Hear my voice when I call …. Do not hide Your face from me!” [vs 7, 9]

As David ends his song, I must end my prayer. “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” [vs 13-14]

I will wait, LORD.

Add to your faith, goodness.  Arete in the Greek, meaning that essential, intrinsic goodness that defines who we are deep inside when no one is watching. When Scripture deals with goodness, it is not looking at how we feel, look, or even what we do.  People can do good things without really being good inside.  History has proven that point quite well.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans was quite clear of something else. That apart from God no one does good, and that apart from God no good thing lives in us. Trying to be good on our own is not going to work.

I remember when I first read the verse found in 1 Peter 2:9. It made such an impact on me that I memorized it and I often return to it when I’m having doubts or wondering about how God can love someone like me who stumbles so often.  “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Want to be people of goodness? Then we need to declare the goodness of God who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.  That phrase “praises of Him” is “arete Theos” in the Greek – God’s Goodness. We are to declare God’s Goodness.

Darkness cannot live in us when we legitimately praise God for His goodness.  The more we praise, the more we begin to develop the character of God in us.  When that happens, goodness begins to spring from the relationship we have with our good LORD and Savior.

I had my yearly required Medicare physical a couple weeks ago. I love my doctor.  She is great and will tell it like it is, explain things, answer any question I might have, and help me to formulate ways of caring for myself apart from just prescribing more medicine. At this appointment, we reviewed everything and then she said something I shall never forget. “Don’t lose any more weight.”

I just stared at her. Huh? She then asked what was wrong. I told her that in my nearly 72 years, that was the first time any doctor had ever told me not to lose any weight! She laughed and said that since I’m “aging” (there’s that tell it like it is part of her), I need to maintain a small cushion of weight in case I get seriously sick.

The thing is I feel good at this lower weight, and a side benefit is that I’m looking good also.  I have more energy and can do a lot more.  Feel good. Look good. Do good.

Last Sunday we continued our study out of 2 Peter 1:3-8 … adding to our faith, goodness.  Unfortunately, we don’t really recognize true biblical goodness any more.  We dwell on feeling good, looking good and sometimes, even on doing good.  But God’s requirement is that we be good.  Scriptural goodness is moral goodness.

Peter uses a Greek word for goodness (arete) that describes essential, intrinsic goodness. It is what we are when no one is looking.  Where and how do we develop that kind of goodness?  More tomorrow!

I moved a small electric clock from the bedroom to the television stand in the living room. The clock had operated perfectly when it was on the bedroom night stand but was no longer needed there since I use my cell phone as an alarm now. Bob, however, wanted a clock in the living room. So, I unplugged in the bedroom and re-plugged in the living room.

At first, I thought I had set the time incorrectly, so I reset it. Then I thought maybe I still hadn’t set it correctly, so I reset it again. A few days later it was wrong once more.  Since being moved this silly clock keeps rushing ahead in time. I reset it last Saturday and in the meantime,  it has gained 1 ½ hours. Good grief, time moves fast enough without this clock robbing me of 1 ½ hours every few days!

It’s time to throw this time-keeper away and get one that counts the hours, minutes and seconds correctly.  It’s also time for something else, to understand the present time.  “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” [Romans 13:11-12]

We would be foolish to not understand that time is running out. We are closer now to the coming of the LORD than any generation. Every moment we are one moment closer. And every moment is one that we will never have again. Keeping that in mind, church, we need to wake up!  We’ve been asleep much too long. We’ve grown drowsy and lethargic. We have allowed ourselves to be lulled into a stupor all the while time is moving on – it’s even racing on, and we must get ready.  It’s time for the Bride of Christ to prepare herself, to keep her lamps burning brightly.

The one sure thing about working in an office setting and handling boxes of papers and files that need to be shredded, is paper cuts.  Lots and lots of paper cuts.  By the of each week my hands are sore, with lots of little cuts. In addition, there is the constant irritation that comes from handling things like old paper stored in boxes.  My hands are also red and itchy.

Not much I can do about the red, itchy problem except wash often in hot water, then rinse in cold and apply lotion. I found that works okay. I have found a solution to the paper cuts though, “New Skin.” New Skin is one of the products of super glue made for things like small cuts and scrapes. When I get a paper cut, I apply New Skin. It stings like heck, but it closes the cut and keeps it closed allowing it to heal.

As I was applying my New Skin to a cut last week I remembered the verse from 1 Peter 4:8: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 

Love covers sins. We know that is especially true of the love Jesus displayed for us when He took our sins to the cross and received the punishment and condemnation we deserved. But love covers sins in other ways too. When I love someone, it’s like putting new skin on the wound caused by sin. It covers them, allowing time to heal from the inside out.

God gives us time to heal by the love displayed in our Savior and LORD from the wounds sin inflicted upon us …. We must also give time for the wounds of others to heal, and we can do that by loving them as Christ loves us.

As I wrote yesterday, we cannot let the current climate of hate, violence and fear overrule the commands of God to speak the truth of the LORD. As I also wrote, however, we must not respond in like manner.

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” [1 Peter 3:15-16]

I have always found Peter’s words in these verses to be challenging.  First, we are exhorted to always be ready, be prepared to respond to people who ask us why we can be hopeful when so many are not. That is especially challenging because you actually have to have the hope before people will ask you about it!  If you are as hopeless as they are, you won’t have to be ready for anything.

The second thing of note is that our response must be gentle and kind. It must be respectful. We live in a Democratic Republic. Our constitution grants people certain rights to live and worship in ways with which we may not always agree. Our job is to love people and through that love point them to Christ, who also loves them. Our job is not to condemn nor justify – when we do that we usurp God’s prerogative as Creator and Savior.

The last thing to note? It may be the most difficult of all. We must keep a clear conscience. We must have “good behavior in Christ.” Our behavior needs to be above reproach and when it’s not, there needs to be repentance.

Hate. Violence. Fear. There is one thing those three have in common. They have a way of spreading. The media has been all over the violence spawned by hatred. In the last couple months, I’ve seen people assaulted because they have on a hat or shirt or their car has a bumper sticker for a specific person or political party. The other day I watched video of women participating in a peaceful Pro-Life protest being attacked by those who disagreed with the protest.

The climate of hatred and violence is spreading and being touted by various leaders as a way of getting what is wanted. When hate and violence spread, fear also spreads. We lose the freedom of being able to express our views on life, politics, or God without the fear of reprisals. When we fear reprisals, we will often simply not speak.

The LORD, however, does not want us cowering in a corner somewhere, voluntarily mute because of our fear.  In fact, the LORD, commands us to speak, to tell others about His wonderful works. “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.  Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” [Ps 105:1-4]

One of the favorite sayings of Jesus was, “I tell you ….”  The Gospels are full of the things Jesus told about His Father, His own work, His Kingdom.

Beloved, we cannot let the current social climate command our response. We must obey the LORD rather than men.  But let’s remember that our response to hatred and violence cannot be in like manner. More on that tomorrow.

I love the story of Gideon … the one I’ve dubbed the “Who Me?” Mighty Warrior. When the Angel of the LORD came to Gideon and called him “mighty warrior” in Judges 6:11-12, Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress. What that means is that he was hiding. Threshing floors were open areas where the wheat could be beaten, allowing the heavier kernels to fall to the floor while the wind carried the chaff away. Winepresses were probably in cool hidden places, like caves. Gideon is hiding away from the those invading the land. God finds him anyway and calls him a mighty warrior.

The part I really love though is a few verses later. In verses 17-18, Gideon replies to the LORD’s calling to be God’s instrument to defeat the enemy. “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the LORD said, “I will wait until you return.”

Gideon goes home and prepares a meal, a young goat and bread. Ever wonder how long that took? There were no freezers with meat ready, nor bakeries down the block. He’s got to catch the goat, kill the goat, skin the goat, cut up the goat and put the pieces in a basket and grab a pot with broth to cook. He’s got to get the flour and make unleavened bread and bake it. All the while he’s left the LORD waiting in the winepress for him to return.

I don’t know if God waited for an hour or four, but the LORD did wait. And when Gideon returned, the LORD accepted the sacrifice and consumed it with fire in an instant. That was Gideon’s sign.

What a gracious God we serve, He is willing to wait for us. Let’s not keep Him waiting too long while we are off finding our goats and baking our bread!

“The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.’  [Judges 6:11-12]

“Who me?” Now that’s probably not what Gideon said, but from the debate with the Angel of the LORD that follows, that’s pretty much the gist of the conversation.  Every time the Angel of the LORD said something, Gideon began to debate … usually beginning with the word, “but.”  [If you haven’t read the story of Gideon, you’ll find it in Judges 6-8.]

God eventually won and Gideon, after some testing that what he was hearing was coming from the LORD, did what the Lord said. He followed God’s instructions, tore down the altar to the vile false god, Baal, and defeated the Midianites with a handful of men using trumpets and torches.

“Who me?” That is often the way I respond to God. Can God really use an aging woman (72 in a couple months), a small church in a little-known community in a small state to change anything?

God seems to think He can. My response is to get on board with God’s thinking and move as the Spirit moves. I want to see our generation, our nation, turned to God in righteousness and truth.