Devotions

Once a year I try to read through a little book called “The Valley of Vision.” The book contains the prayers and devotions of great people of God, such as Thomas Watson, John Bunyon, Isaac Watts, David Brainerd, Charles Spurgeon, and others. I love the perspective of these Pilgrims!

As what often happens, I’ll come across a portion of a devotion that stops me in my tracks and revs up my brain. Last week it was, “May I never make the multitudes my model.”

To model someone means to imitate their behavior, attitudes, or actions. It means striving to adopt their way of thinking or the way they approach life. As Christians we are not to model the multitudes. As Christians we are instructed to follow the example of Paul as he follows the example of Christ. (1Corinthians 11:1)

To model Jesus is to strive to imitate His character, love, humility, and service. It means to incorporate all He is in our daily lives. We are to follow the way He set for us in how we think, speak, and act.

Too many in our culture model the multitudes. They want to do what everyone else is doing, and often what everyone else is doing is far from Christlike. Let us “never make the multitudes [our] model.”

Amen & Amen

I came across this devotion from 2018 and decided to repost it (for the second time). I love this baby turtle story! (t was taken from “Encouragement-Wired,” by Tom Reid.)

 A baby turtle was standing at the bottom of a large tree and with a deep sigh, started to climb. About an hour later, he reached a very high branch and walked along to the end. He turned and spread all four flippers and launched himself off the branch. On landing at the bottom in a pile of soft, dead leaves, he shook himself off, walked back to the bottom of the tree and with a sigh started to climb.

 About an hour later, he again reached the very high branch, walked along, turned, spread his flippers and flung himself off the branch. Again, he landed in the leaves, shook himself off, went to the bottom of the tree, sighed and started climbing.

 Watching these proceedings from the end of the branch were two little birds. Mommy bird turned to Daddy bird and said, “Don’t you think it’s time we told him he was adopted?”   

There are those days when I feel a bit like that baby turtle-bird!  I know I am supposed to fly – and not just fly but soar on wings like eagles. Instead, all I seem to have are a bunch of flippers that won’t function like wings. I’ve been adopted into the family of God, I am being conformed to the image of His Dear Son, but I’m just not there yet!

So, I keep climbing up, and I keep crawling out, and I keep launching myself off in faith … and one of these days, these old earth-bound flippers will be wings and I will soar!

Isa 40:31:  But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. [NIV]

Kids are heading back to school, and I wonder how many of them hear the words “Be good.” I know I did, frequently as a child. The problem was that I was not very good at being good. Now as an adult I have Peter reminding me about being good: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge.” [1Peter 1:5 NIV]

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.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he was quite clear 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 have a small LED clock in the living room. It sits on the stand directly below the television. It is extremely bright, sometimes so bright I find it annoying. But Bob wanted a clock in the living room, so there it sits.

It is also annoying in another way; it keeps gaining minutes. I must reset it continually to the correct time. Initially I thought I had set the time incorrectly, so I reset it. But when it kept doing that, I realized that it was the clock, not me. Time moves fast enough without this silly clock jumping ahead continually.

It may be time to throw this time-keeper away and get one that counts the hours, minutes, and seconds correctly. It may also be time for something else, to understand the present time. “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here.” [Romans 13:11-12 NLT]

We would be foolish not to 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, beloved, 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.

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. However, we must be careful in our responses.

“You must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.” [1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT]

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 must HAVE hope before people will ask you about it! If you are as hopeless as they are, you won’t need 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 “a good life” in Christ. Our behavior needs to be above reproach and when it’s not, there needs to be repentance.

I usually watch a nightly news that has an ending segment titled “The Good Stuff.” It devotes the last few minutes of the broadcast to feel-good segments. Whenever the host says, “Now it’s time for the good stuff,” I reply, “because all the rest has been bad stuff!”

The media focuses mainly on the “bad stuff.” We see people assaulting and killing each other for no reason. We see earthquakes and floods and pestilence. There always seems to be a new health scare or a new recall. We often hear about the violence against Christians in foreign countries, and now even in our own nation.

When those images of 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 and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.  Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.  Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord. Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.” [Psalm 105:1-4 NLT]

For some people, music captivates soul and spirit. I am one of those people. I can listen to a good message and come away contemplating a lot of things. I can read a good book and do the same. But when I hear or sing a good song, I find my soul and spirit soaring with the words and music.

I heard an old song recently that once again touched my soul. “Draw Me Close” was written by Michael W. Smith. The lyrics begin: “Draw me close to you, Never let me go, I lay it all down again, To hear you say that I’m your friend.” And the chorus declares: “You’re all I want, You’re all I’ve ever needed, You’re all I want, Help me know you are near.”

As I sang, I was captivated by that line, “I lay it all down again.” I realized once again that I often pick up what I’ve surrendered to the LORD. I go to Him in prayer; I cast all my cares upon Him. Then I turn around the next day and pick them up again.

I draw close to the LORD, and then I move away. He continually calls me to draw near. He continually urges me to lay it all down again. He knows that all I need is Him.

Oh, Lord, help me to lay it all down again. Help me to realize how near You are to me, how much a friend You are to me.  Amen.

As I mentioned in my devotion yesterday, I bought a treadmill designed for “seniors.” I remember what a doctor told me years ago, you must keep moving if you want to keep moving. I love walking outside, but with the heat and smoke I have not been able to do so.

At a recent doctor visit, my provider asked me if I was walking. I said, “I have a treadmill.” That made her laugh. She said it didn’t answer the question. I may HAVE a treadmill, but am I USING it! I told her that yes, I had begun and was working to increase my time on it.

Her comment has stayed with me. It’s not enough to HAVE something, we must also be USING it.

In John 14 Jesus promised His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth….[He] will be in you” [NLT]

The Holy Spirit equips us with gifts, boldness, power, and guidance to serve others and glorify God. He transforms ordinary lives into testimonies of God’s grace, enabling us to live faithfully and courageously.

We HAVE the Holy Spirit … but are we USING Him (and allowing Him to use us) as Christ intended for us?

I bought a small treadmill recently. According to the advertisements, it is designed for “seniors.” It has full bars from front to back on both sides. It is small, only weighing 80 lbs. Bob and I were able to wrestle the 80-lb box into the bonus room, and even open the box and remove the parts. However, one look at the instructions made putting it together beyond our capabilities.

Our oldest grandson came over one evening and put it together. As he was reading the instructions and assembling all the pieces, I remembered when we took him to see the T-Rex named Sue in Idaho Falls in 2003 when he was eight years old.

We visited the gift shop on the way out and bought him a wooden T-Rex 3-D puzzle. It

was for 10–12-year-olds, but the puzzles for 8-10 didn’t interest him. A few months later I asked him if he ever got that puzzle together. He said, “Yes, but I lost the instructions.” When I asked how he was able to do that he said, “I thought like a dinosaur.”

Apparently, thinking like a dinosaur enables one to complete a dinosaur (puzzle). Do you think that “thinking like Jesus” will enable us to become complete in Him?

“Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” [Hebrews 12:1a-2B]

We don’t talk much about sin anymore. It seems the idea of sin has faded into the background. We have a lot of other labels for sin that do not sound quite as embarrassing. To tell someone I failed is easier than to tell someone I sinned. To admit to flaws seems more acceptable than to admit to the sin that so easily besets me. [Hebrews 12:1]

Recently, however, I was reminded that sin is nothing to mess with. In fact, sin is deadly. James 1:14-15 outlines the progression of sin. It begins simply with our own desires and then is modified by temptation that comes our way. That births sin in the heart, which if left unchecked bring death.

“Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” [NLT]

The sin left unchecked brings all manner of death. It seldom affects just the one sinning but often overflows onto others. We need to be so careful to repent and confess our sin to the One who is faithful to forgive and cleanse.

 “If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”  [1John 1:9 NLT]