Devotions

I am still tired from our trip, still needing to rest more than usual. As I thought about needing physical rest, I began to think also of spiritual rest, about resting on the promises of God and what that involves. The thing about resting is that it is nearly synonymous with trusting. We rest only where we can trust.  There is no rest if there is no trust.

 Another thing is that in resting on, trusting in the promises of God, faith will always face obstacles. As soon as we claim a promise such as, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” we are going to find obstacles in our pathway that try to distract us, difficulties we must conquer, impediments that appear problematic or impossible to overcome. It doesn’t seem to matter what the promise is, our faith will be challenged. It must be exercised and stretched.  [Philippians 4:13]

Ever started an exercise program to build muscle and strength? Remember how you moved and stretched, and how your muscles ached the next morning? You probably wondered why bother if it is going to hurt like this every time. But you learned that eventually with consistent exercise and stretching your muscles it quit hurting, and your strength increased.

Our faith grows and becomes strong the same way, by exercising it, by overcoming all the obstacles in the pathway as we rest on the promises of our God.

There are many in the world who do not see Jesus as divine, as Savior or Redeemer. They will not accept that He Always Was, Is, And Forever Will Be God’s Eternal Son. They will, however, accept that He was a great teacher.

Down through the church age, the church has battled the perception of Him as ONLY a great teacher. I think we have battled it so much so, always emphasizing the deity of Christ Jesus, that we may have lost sight of the fact that He WAS a great teacher.

Matt 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  [NIV]

Jesus commands us to learn from Him. What are we to learn from Him? We are to learn His character. He calls to the weary and burdened (us) to come and promises that in Him we will find rest for our souls. He reminds us of His nature, gentle and humble in heart. He tells us that He has a work for us, that we will be yoked with Him, but in contrast to the weariness and burdens we try to carry on our own – His will be easy and light.

Jesus has much to teach us about who He is and just how He relates to others. I know we are to study our doctrine, to know the words and principles of our faith. But let us never forget to learn from Jesus. We can know our doctrine and still NOT know our Savior.

Recent ‘Memories’ appeared in my Facebook pages of a trip I took with my oldest grandson to Washington, D.C., 11 years ago. My heart warmed as I looked at photos of that trip, including a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown during the Changing of the Guard.

Ps 63:6-7 talks about memories: “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.” A Psalm of David when he was in the Desert of Judah.

David encourages us to “remember.” Yet as we remember, we will discover that memories may be pleasant, warm, touching the depths of our souls; or they may be sorrowful, wounding, touching the depths of our souls in much different ways.

Yet, whether wonderful or sorrowful I am so thankful for the capacity to remember. One of the saddest diseases is Alzheimer’s, when the capacity to remember is stripped away, and the familiar becomes unfamiliar, the recognizable unknown.

In Psalm 63, David remembered God in the night at a time when his foes were rising against him. He turned his memories to all God is and all God had done for Him. And in those memories David was strengthened.

Sometimes it is the past that provides courage and determination for the future. Often it is in looking back, in remembering all God has done for us that grows our faith in our present and raises sure hope for our future.

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  [John 10:10 NIV]

Jesus came to bring us not just life, but life to the full, or life more abundantly as other translations render it. The Greek word is perissos (per-is-sos’); meaning beyond; superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality). In one place that word is translated as exceedingly abundantly beyond.

That’s the quality of life Jesus brings us – exceedingly abundantly beyond life. That is the kind of life that we must persistently choose. The enemy of our soul works to steal, kill and destroy that life. He works to fill our life with temptations, thoughts, and attitudes that diminish the life our Father wants us to have.

We chose life when God made the offer in Christ. Now we must consistently and persistently choose abundant life. We must choose to reject temptation. We must choose to have our minds renewed by the Word of God. We must choose to have the attitudes of Christ Jesus. We must choose to draw nearer to God each day (think maturity!). We must choose to forgive when hurt, to love when hated, to give when we have little to give.

As we make these daily, sometimes moment-by-moment choices, we see the abundant life revealed more and more in us.

Ps 34:18: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” [NIV]

Psalm 34 is a song of David, written when David was not in the best of circumstances. He had fled King Saul who was trying to kill him, and ended up in Gath, a small town on the Philistine border. When the king in Gath learned who he was, he wanted David gone. Fearing harm, David pretended to be insane until they drove him away, finally ending up living in caves.

Yet despite the circumstances, Psalm 34 is an extremely positive song, beginning, “I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”

I have been thinking lately about how deep emotional wounds can go.  They are often much harder to heal than physical wounds.  Physical wounds, if the body is healthy, simply heal themselves.  Emotional wounds need a lot of intentional work.

We must forgive, often repeatedly.  We must want to be healed – not always an easy choice.  We must work through the rejection, pain, and all the emotions that attach to our hearts … and while we are doing this, the enemy of our soul is whispering why we should not!

David understood that we are all brokenhearted, and because we are God draws close to us.  David understood that there is salvation for those who are crushed in spirit by life’s unfairness.  We can, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds, be healed of the sorrows and pains inflicted upon us.  God’s promise is that we can be made whole.

I was raised in a dysfunctional family. My mother suffered emotional and mental problems. I admit that it has taken a lifetime (so far) to overcome some of my own dysfunction. I also admit that I am “slightly” OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). One of the symptoms of that disorder is “counting.”

I count steps, cars in a train while waiting at a crossing, panes in a window, etc. Before my hands became arthritic, I used to love to crochet and knit because it often required counting stitches. I find counting relaxes me.

I know that probably sounds weird. I seldom even think about counting anymore, I just do it. Then this morning I woke up singing that old song “Count Your Blessings.”

“Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done.”

Psalm 103:2 says it this way: “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.” [NLT]

I never want to “forget the good things” God has done (and continues to do) for me. I want to spend my life counting them and praising the LORD for them.

One of the things old people are often cautioned about is falling. We are reminded to be aware of obstacles that might cause us to stumble and fall.

On this trip to Arizona for our grandson’s college graduation, Bob fell twice. He fell while going up the steps to a restaurant and he fell again in our hotel room. He only got a couple small bruises, but still it was stressful.

In the natural, as we ‘mature,’ we are just more prone to falling. In the spiritual, however, our LORD makes a promise that as we mature, as we “delight in Him,” He protects us from falling.

“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” [Psalm 37:23-24 NIV]

I will admit that even after five decades of delighting in Him, there are times when I stumble. My old nature kicks up, my emotions kick in, and my steps get a bit shaky. But while I admit to stumbling, I also rejoice that the Holy Spirit never lets me fall. In fact, the Holy Spirit always warns me that I am on shaky ground and need to repent – it is just that I often fail to heed His warning.

Thank you, LORD, that even when I stumble, you still “uphold [me] with [Your] hand.” Amen!

Part of Paul’s final instructions in his first letter to the Corinthian church contains a short list of commands.

 ^“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.” [1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NLT]

As Christians in our modern world, we would do well to also heed those commands. We need to always be “on guard,” we need to “stand firm in our faith,“ and we need to be “courageous” and “strong.”

If we fail to heed those four instructions, we will struggle. But … if we do those things apart from that fifth and last command (“do everything with love”), we will damage our testimony.

Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” [John 13:35 NLT]

The one thing that should firmly set us apart should be our love. It should speak the loudest and remain constant and unconditional. Only then will it influence everything we do and everyone we meet the way God intended.

Oh LORD, our Savior, help us to abide in Your love and to let Your love abide in us! May we “prove to the world” that we are Yours. Amen

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” [Galatians 5:22-23 NLT]

Traveling used to be a lot easier. Throw some clothes and makeup items in a suitcase, maybe a few snacks if traveling by car, and off we’d go.

Now traveling involves a lot of preparation. Just gathering up charging cords for two phones, a fitness watch, hearing aids, my kindle and a power strip takes time. Add in making sure we have all our prescriptions and OTC meds and the packing becomes even more important.

Also traveling in a body that does not respond well to change left me exhausted and achy. Coming home to a damaged car and a lost credit card added stress. I admit that I am still struggling physically. I am still tired, and my muscles are responding with a noisy reluctance.

BUT – oh the joy at being at our grandson’s college graduation. Joy and more Joy! We laughed, hugged, rejoiced and loved. Every time I think about how tired and achy I am, I remember the Joy! I would do it all over again next week, just to have that Joy again.

Thank you, LORD! I am so grateful to be tired and achy and FULL OF JOY!

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” [Galatians 5:22-23 NLT]

As we returned from our trip to attend our grandson’s college graduation, I was reminded of the displays of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit throughout our trip. One particular fruit was definitely needed – patience.

Bob is 85, I’m 78. Traveling with “old people,” requires a great deal of patience. Just getting us in and out of the car as we drove down demanded a great deal of patience for our daughter and son-in-law. Bob fell going up the steps into a restaurant the second day of the trip – more patience (and some gentleness and kindness mingled in).

Our California son and daughter-in-law, parents of the graduate, arranged for a golf cart to transport us from the parking lot to the football field for the graduation ceremony.

Our Idaho son and daughter-in-law kept checking with us to make sure we had everything we needed for our transport to and from airport and our transport assistance within the airports.

Everyone pitched in to make sure our trip was all it could be. I was chuckling this morning as I wrote this – apparently as I am aging, I am becoming an “OPPORTUNITY” for others to learn patience!