Devotions

Everyone has a story. You do. I do. And so do all those people in the Bible. We tell “Bible Stories” to our children so that they might learn about God as they see Him work in the lives of Bible “Heroes.” Maybe we should take a few days and look at some of those Bible Stories ourselves. I am certain we have not outgrown them. I know I haven’t.

How about starting with two women who played a pivotal role in beginnings. First, Eve; then, Mary. Both have a story. Both had a choice to make.

Eve, alongside her husband Adam, had walked with God amid perfection and beauty. They were given one rule, don’t eat the fruit of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” When Satan in the form of a serpent visited Eve while she was alone one day, he convinced her that God was wrong, and that God’s one rule was keeping her from knowing everything she should know. She bit. Then she gave the fruit to Adam, who also bit. And that was the beginning of the sin, death, struggle and pain that has since plagued humanity. Gone was the perfection and beauty, replaced now by frustration and hopelessness. (Genesis 3)

Mary was a young maiden, engaged to Joseph, a carpenter. Alone one day, she had a heavenly visitor who gave her the news that God wanted her to bear His child. She was to give this child the name Jesus for He would save His people. Mary was afraid, after all she was probably just a teenager, and while every young Jewish woman desired to be the mother of the Messiah, this was still a very strange message. Mary didn’t completely understand, but she responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”  (Luke 1:26-38)

And with Mary’s response came a new beginning, one that would bring the offer of forgiveness, healing, life, peace and redemption to humanity.  Gone was the frustration and hopelessness that entered with Eve’s choice. Now purpose and hope would be available to all who respond as Mary did, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”

Two women, each with a story. One disobeyed what God said and brought death, the other obeyed in faith and gave birth to life.

What’s your story?  You do have one. Everyone has a story, and December seems to be a time when we reflect on our story. Today, we begin the last month of the year, rapidly approaching the end of 2018. It seems to me as if we just began this year and we are now getting ready to put it in the record books.

What story are you going to tell this year? Is it a light-hearted one, filled with success, joy, peace and prosperity? Or has it been a devastating year, one filled with struggles, griefs, failures or affliction?

God is a master storyteller Himself. Instead of handing us a book of instructions, He gave us a book filled with people, all of whom have a story. From Genesis to Revelations, people with stories capture our attention.

Adam, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Habakkuk, Mary, Simon Peter, Saul, John, and many others tell their story in God’s book. There is much we can learn from them, beginning with the amazing fact that we do not have to be doomed by our story.

In God’s book, every story can end in redemption. That’s God’s business. When we allow Him to be part of our story, He is eager and able to redeem it. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” [Col 1:13-14]

What’s your story? Everyone has one. Perhaps the more important question is, have you allowed God to be a part of your story?

“Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.” [Ps 144:15]

I saved this one to end my November week of blessing. I saved it for last for one reason, this one is corporate. We have seen blessed is the man (person) and we have seen blessed are those. This one, however, speaks of us as a “people,” a group, perhaps a body of believers, or possibly a nation that has turned to God.

To be part of God’s people is one of the greatest of all sources of “How Happy!” blessing.  I think everyone carries within them a desire to belong to something greater than themselves.  When we come to “the fear of the LORD”—that very first blessing we looked at to begin this blessing week—God does not leave us isolated, struggling alone to find our way in Him.  He puts us with others, people of like faith in Christ Jesus.  Peter describes it this way …

“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. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” [1 Peter 2:9-10]

Once we were not a people, now we are the people of God. And blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with the church. Even with all her faults and failings, I am so much better by being part of the church than if I was standing alone, struggling on my own. I love your church, LORD! How blessed I am to be part of the people of God. Amen.

“Blessed is he who is kind to the needy.”  [Prov 14:21b]

I departed from the songs in the Book of Psalms this morning and grabbed this proverb of blessing. The entire verse reads, “He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed (‘esher “How Happy!”) is he who is kind to the needy.”

Kindness. If there is one attitude that seems to be disappearing it is this one. I say seems to be disappearing. Kindness is certainly not seen in our media, nor heard in the rhetoric of our politics. It has disappeared in many places, but in other places, kindness can still be found.

When the fires swept through California recently, people opened hearts and homes. The Salvation Army went to work, Convoy of Hope, and other aid agencies were on the scene as quickly as possible. Heroes drove patients out of the Paradise Hospital in their cars, and a school bus driver and two teachers rescued 22 students from the elementary school, driving through the flames for five hours (30 miles) to return these children to their parents.  Kindness flourished in crisis.

If there is any place where kindness should flourish as part of its nature, it is the church. When we see the hungry and the homeless, we should respond. When we see the struggling, the addicted, the despondent and discouraged, we should meet them with kindness.  Jesus was quite clear about how we are to treat the needy. We won’t find that “How Happy!” blessing until we do.

Thank you, LORD, for blessing me when I bless others. Amen.

I was complaining the other day and a bit ungrateful. I made the mistake of voicing that to a friend and to my daughter also. I should have simply taken my frustration to the LORD.  I needn’t have worried that God would miss my attitude, however, He did not. Before I went to bed that night, I had to get right with Him. I repented and asked forgiveness. He gave it, then helped me to change my attitude the next morning.  Perhaps that is why this next blessing is so important.

“Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law; you grant him relief from days of trouble….” [Ps 94:12-13]

“How Happy!” we are in the midst of discipline. Most of us would shout “Not!” at the end of that statement. Discipline isn’t usually something that we associate with happiness. And yet, when discipline is received correctly, when we allow ourselves to learn what God wants to teach us, discipline can create happiness in us.

The psalmist tells us how that happiness takes shape after discipline … it becomes “relief from days of trouble.”

God was gracious to me the other day. He did not allow that ungratefulness to linger in my life. He did not allow it to take root and bring deeper and more lasting problems. In the space of a few hours, He grabbed my attention, poured out a spirit of godly sorrow over my actions, and brought forgiveness to me.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me in discipline, for restraining my wayward ways and bringing me relief from days of trouble. Amen.

November 26

“Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.” [Ps 65:4]

“How Happy!” (Hebrew: ‘esher) are those you bring near.  Is that not the goal of every true Christian – to be “near” to God. David, in writing this song, reminds us that being near to God fills us with the good things of God’s house, the good things of God’s holy temple.

When David wrote about the good things of God’s house, God’s holy temple, Solomon’s magnificent temple had not yet been built. The Ark of God dwelt in a tent. David must have understood that “the good things of God’s house” was the very presence of God Himself.

The writer to Hebrews wrote: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith….” [Heb 10:19-22]

When the writer of Hebrews spoke of the Most Holy Place, he, too, was not looking at an earthly temple. He was looking to that heavenly house which was opened to us by the blood of our Savior and Lord.  He too, understood that the “good things of God’s house” was the presence of God Himself.

“How Happy!” we are that God has chosen to bring us close to Him. When our sin blocked entrance into His presence, He, Himself, came and opened the way for us to be near to Him.

Thank you, Lord, I am blessed to be near to You. May I always seek the good things I find in You. Amen.

Today is a double blessing day.  “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” [Ps 32:1-2]

Once again the word is ‘esher in the Hebrew. “How Happy!”

“How happy!” we are when our sins are forgiven and covered.  John reminds us that “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9]

God is faithful to us. He forgives all our sins in Christ Jesus. They are covered by the blood shed by God’s very Son on that cross nearly 2000 years ago. Forgiven. I can think of no greater blessing than to know that because of Jesus, nothing now stands between my Father God and me.

“How happy!” we are when the LORD does not count our sins against us ever again. I have often heard it said that the LORD will both forgive and forget our sins. How can the All-Knowing God forget anything? When we say that God forgets our sins, it means exactly what the Psalmist says here. God does not count them against us. Once they are forgiven in Christ, they are gone. We need never worry that one day God will remind us of them or change His mind and condemn us because of them.

I guess I can think of a blessing that is at least equal to or possibly greater than having my sins forgiven in Christ, and that is the assurance that they are forever buried in His love, never to be resurrected.

Thank you, Lord. I am blessed, forgiven! Amen,

(I know I have shared this link before, but this song ministers so to my soul when I think of God’s wonderful forgiveness!

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=forgiven+again&view=detail&mid=B9667EC8896F704C7DCAB9667EC8896F704C7DCA&FORM=VIRE

I guess because it is Thanksgiving week, I’ve been thinking a lot about being blessed. I looked up “blessed” in my concordance and wow(!), did I find a lot of reasons to be grateful. There were between 234 (NIV) and 302 (NKJV) occurrences of “blessed” in the Scriptures. I wonder how much fun it would be to take one each day and simply meditate on it. I think I will do that, at least for the remainder of November.

“Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways.”  [Ps 128:1]

I picked this one first because for me this blessing symbolizes the beginning of all blessing…the fear of the LORD and the response that attitude generates in our lives. The word is ‘esher in the Hebrew. It means happiness.  It can be used as an interjection, “How happy!”

“How happy! All who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways.”

 It almost sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?  How happy are all who fear?  We seldom put fear and happiness together. Yet in God we do. To fear the LORD is to love, respect, honor, reverence, and stand in awe of the God who loves us so. When we fear Him in that manner, we want to walk in His ways. That means we submit and do things His way.  AND, when we do things His way, we will surely be able to exclaim, “How happy!”

On this earth, happiness that is dependent upon the things of this life is transitory and fragile; but, when our happiness is grounded on the fear of the LORD, happiness becomes an eternal experience.

Thank you, LORD, I am blessed to fear You. Help me to always walk in Your ways. Amen.

I met a young man last week. I was looking at cars and he was a salesman for one of the dealerships. We walked around the lot a bit, looking at different makes and models, carrying on one of those casual conversations with questions such as where are you from, how long have you lived here, what do you do.  I told him I was from Pennsylvania, via a number of decades in California, had been here since the early 90’s. I told him I was a pastor.

It was that answer that caused anxiety to rise in him. He was gay. I think I was already aware of that fact. When I sensed the fear in him, my heart broke. In that moment, I felt within me the love that God had for him.  In that moment, I realized that while we are all to fear God (respect, reverence, stand in awe, submit – whatever definition you want to apply to “the fear of the Lord”), no one should stand in fear of God’s children.

After we worked our way inside the showroom, I told him how much God loved him. I told him that if God had enough grace to cover my many sins, He had enough grace to cover his. I told him I would not stand in judgment of his sins, that was between hm and God. My duty was simply to present the hope found in Jesus Christ, and to love him

I repeated how much God loved Him. When I said it again, I saw tears in his eyes.  I was once more flooded with an awareness of God’s love. Each time I have prayed for him since, I sense that love. I gave this young man my name and address. I told him that should he ever want to talk, he could call me.

Oh beloved, my heart is still broken over him. How will we ever reach anyone if they are afraid of us, if all they have ever heard from us is judgment. The Scripture reminds us that “the Lord knows those who are His.” It isn’t our job to determine who is or who isn’t His; it is our job to love and offer the same hope that was offered to us.

It is Thanksgiving Day, 2018. For many, today will not be filled with fun, family, good food, or joy. I think first of the fire that wiped out the town of Paradise, and those that are still trying to find out what has happened to their loved ones. I think of the survivors of the fire who have lost everything and are wondering what to do now – where do they go? Not just today, but tomorrow and the next day, and the next.

I was thinking this morning of the men and women serving our country in far away places, and of their loved ones here at home going through another holiday without them.

I was thinking of those who are alone with nowhere to go, no one to even notice that this day is just another lonely day in a string of endless lonely days.

I was thinking this morning of those whose loved ones are sick, or dying, or who no longer recognize even the children they raised.

And I was thinking of a Savior who told us when these kinds of burdens become too heavy to bear, we can turn to Him.

“Come to me” Jesus said, “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.”  [Matt 11:28-30]

“Come to me.” That’s an invitation for today, or for any day. “Come to me.”