Devotions

We live in a culture that is emotion-driven. We live emotion-driven lives. Too often we practice emotion-driven faith. If we are emotion-driven in life we will never find stability or experience that unmovable faith that cries out, “I know my Redeemer lives!” no matter what trial or circumstance we experience.

Still, an emotion-less life is not good either and emotion-less faith can become cold, uncaring, legalistic. In the Gospel of Mark we see Jesus, our High Priest, described as having all kinds of emotions; he was angered, filled with compassion, and deeply distressed to name just a few.

Christ Jesus, understands our emotions … “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” [Heb 4:15 NLT]

So, is it emotion-driven or emotion-less? Neither. It’s realizing that we have redeemed-emotions. When Christ redeemed us, He did it completely, spirit, soul (mind-will-emotions) and yes, eventually a redeemed body. When our emotions are redeemed, they fall into the correct place in our lives. They no longer drive us, nor remain hidden. They follow.

Faith by grace fills our spirits. Our minds are made new through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God which allows us to know His good and perfect will. Our wills cooperate with the Spirit and become obedient (sanctified) to God’s will. And our redeemed-emotions flow with praise, worship, delight, and joy beyond expression. Redeemed-emotions come alive with God’s compassion and love.

To leave our subdivision I often drive past the local elementary school. For the past few months during summer break the building has stood empty. I know that inside those walls there are classrooms and libraries and a cafeteria just waiting for that first busload of students when the new school year starts.

Each time I passed the building this summer I thought about how lovely the school building and grounds are. However, until that first busload of students arrives eager to explore and learn, the building is useless. It may look good, but it DOES no good sitting  there empty of learners.

Each time I drive by I think about how our Bible is like that building, it DOES no good sitting unopened on a shelf or coffee table. All the wonderful treasures inside only come when we open it and eagerly explore and learn from it.

2 Timothy 3:16-17:  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. [NIV]

Thank you, Father, for giving us Your Word to teach, rebuke, correct and train us. May we search its depths and discover its riches every day. Amen.

Recently I was listening once again to that Amazing song about God’s Amazing Grace. I was singing those old familiar verses. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…. When we’ve been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun….”

I thought about that wonderful reminder when we hear those words of God’s salvation and the marvelous future we shall have with him. Then I stopped; my thoughts had totally skipped over the middle verses. I heard God’s Spirit whisper … those middle verses are where you live right now.

“Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.” [Amazing Grace, John Newton 1779]

God’s grace, God’s Amazing Grace has brought us to where we are. God’s Grace, God’s Amazing Grace will lead us home to Him. That’s where we live, beloved, in the power and presence of God’s Grace in our lives. His unmerited favor is stronger than anything that might come our way. His undeserved Grace will embrace us and lead us every day in Him. How could I ever forget that truth?

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for reminding me that my past is covered with God’s Amazing Grace, my future is promised in God’s Amazing Grace, and my present is protected by God’s Amazing Grace. Amen!

Isa 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” [NIV]

God’s right hand is synonymous with His omnipotence and sovereignty. It is the place of highest favor with God the Father. Throughout Scripture, God’s Right Hand spoke of the Messiah that was to come.

Acts 2:33-34: “Now [Jesus] is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.” [NLT]

Peter reminded his listeners on the Day of Pentecost that the Messiah they had been waiting for was the man Jesus, and that God had raised Him from the dead and exalted Him to that place of power and authority. That testimony was also confirmed by Paul in Romans, Ephesians, and Colossians; by the author of Hebrews; and by John in the Book of Revelation. [Ro 8:34, Eph 1:20, Col 3:1, Heb 1:3, Rev 5:7]

When we look at this world, at our nation, it would be easy to become dismayed, discouraged or even fearful. The enemy of our soul wants us to focus on the here and now.  Instead, we need to lift our spiritual eyes to the heavenlies and see Jesus exalted to the Right Hand of God, pouring out His Spirit upon us.

Even now, Jesus is sitting on the throne and ruling over all things. This is the One we love. This is the LORD we serve. Thank you, LORD.

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.”  That is the way Jesus begins the Parable of the Sower and the Seed in Mark 4. He goes on to cite all the places where that seed might fall. It can fall along the path, on rocky places, among thorns or on good soil. Jesus tells his listeners also about what happens to the seed in those various places. Later the disciples ask him to explain the parable to them. And Jesus begins his explanation with, “The farmer sows the word.”

 The focus of this parable, of course, is the harvest that is produced. Natural seed that falls on good soil produces the most. The Word of God sown like seed on “good soil,” on those who hear and accept it, will produce a wonderful crop. But while the focus is on the seed and what is produced, we should also pay attention to the farmer. His role in this parable is simply to scatter the seed—everywhere. That’s his job.

Beloved, that’s our job also. We are to scatter the Word everywhere by our words and by our actions—by our very life itself. We aren’t to hold back or be selective or stingy with our “seeds.” It isn’t our job to determine whether the seed will take root and produce a harvest or simply be choked out. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring the seed to harvest.

I am reminded of this truth especially when summer gives way to the harvest season. I am to scatter the seed of God’s Word, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit and the hearts of those who receive that will determine if it takes root and produces a harvest.

Father, may I always and in every place be faithful to scatter the seed of Your Word. Amen.

I had my six-week postop appointment on Wednesday. I was looking forward to good news. My greatest hope was that the x-rays taken last week showed all was well with the surgery. They did. My second greatest hope was that I could stop wearing the neck brace, especially at night so that I could go back to sleeping in a bed on my side. The doctor told me I could “wean” off the neck brace at my own speed.

Freedom from the brace! Yes! Well, not exactly. Six weeks in a neck brace tends to weaken the muscles. I found that a few hours without it and I needed to be back in it for a while. “Wean” is probably the key word. This is going to take some work.

Then I discovered that going back to sleeping in a bed on my side again without a brace wasn’t as comfortable as I expected. In fact, I think I warped my body with six-weeks in a neck brace sleeping on my back in a recliner. I am back to the recliner, although without the brace.

This was not exactly what I hoped for. But then in life we don’t always get exactly what we hope for. Our hope is often infiltrated by contingencies, circumstances, and unanticipated problems.

Not so with our confident hope of salvation! “This hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” [Romans 5:4-5 NLT]

God loved us when we were still His enemies, still sinners. He gave us His best in the sacrifice of His Son for our salvation. The hope we now have in Him never ever leads to disappointment. It is always MORE than we can think or imagine!

One of the things that drew me to Psalm 136 yesterday was the promise found in verse 23 at the end of the psalm, “to the One who remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.” [NKJV]

I love rejoicing in the Creator God, Deliverer, Protector and Provider. But it is the little words of verse 23 that awaken the greatest of praise in me. “The One who remembered us” stirs my heart to fresh awareness of all for which I have to be thankful.

God remembered us. God remembered me. REMEMBERS me.  ME.

My husband’s mother had Alzheimer’s. The last time my husband spoke to her on the phone, he had to keep reminding her who he was. “This is Bob, your son, your oldest child.” We laughed about it even though we wanted to cry. The concept of being forgotten by your mother is hard to bear at any age. She did not remember her oldest child.

God asks the question in Isaiah, “Can a mother forget her baby?” Yes, unfortunately, she can, but God goes on, “Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Then He reminds us, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands . . ..”  [Isaiah 49:15-16]

God will not, cannot forget us. God remembers us. God remembers you. God remembers me. Rejoice Christian. Give thanks, O Believer. Your God remembers you.

Psalm 136 is the “His Love Endures Forever” song. It begins by reminding us to “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” and then it goes on to give reasons for the thanksgiving.  Verses 4-9 remind us that God is our Creator and has surrounded us with wonderful beauty.

Then the next set of verses reminds us that God is also our Deliverer and our Savior, “to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt … And brought Israel out from among them … With a mighty hand and outstretched arm …. To him who divided the Red Sea asunder … And brought Israel through the midst of it … But swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.”  [vs 10-15]

To many in this life, God is Creator. They believe a Creator is behind the symmetry and order, the beauty and the majesty, but their comprehension of God goes no further than that. For them, the knowledge that there is a God behind it all is enough.

To God, however, that is not enough. The knowledge of Him as Creator must evolve into the knowledge of Him as Savior, as Deliverer. If we are created, we owe allegiance to the One who created us. God has declared that the allegiance is to be to His Son, whom He sent to bear our sin upon the cross.

As Israel was given the revelation of God as Deliverer when He took them out of Egypt by His mighty-working power and led them to the Promised Land, so we are given the understanding of God as Deliverer when He died upon the cross to take us from the realm of darkness and lead us into the Kingdom of the Son of His Love.

We stand whole and clean today because of God our Savior, our Deliverer, our Redeemer, our Lord. His love endures forever.  Let us give thanks.

Ever noticed that at times things get worse before they get better? You pray for something and instead of seeing relief, circumstances get even harder. The children of Israel experienced that prior to their Exodus from Egypt. Moses and Aaron obeyed God’s command and approached Pharaoh about letting God’s people go. Rather than obey God, Pharaoh made the children of Israel work even harder.

Ex 5:6-9: “That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen: ‘Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves. But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, “Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.” Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!’” [NLT]

 When Moses and Aaron first told the people that God had sent them to obtain their release from slavery, they were excited. After centuries of suffering at the hands of the Egyptians, they were going to be free. That excitement soon disappeared when the declaration of Pharaoh came down and they needed to go out and gather straw for their brickmaking. Moses and Aaron weren’t too popular at that moment.

Then the plagues began. And something began to change. They found themselves exempt from the fourth to the tenth plagues that affected all of Egypt. In a few months, the children of Israel were gathering riches from their captors and setting out for the Promised Land.

Sometimes when we pray for a release, for a promise to be fulfilled, for a bondage to be broken, or for the Lord to move in our lives, things get worse. We end up having to gather straw to make our bricks.

The children of Israel had no other choice but to hang in there and put their trust in the word of the LORD brought by Moses and Aaron. In our life, we too have no other choice but to cling to the promises of God brought to us by Christ Jesus our Lord and wait for our liberation to come.

Have you read Psalm 25 lately? It is mainly a prayer to the Lord by David. Except for a few verses in the middle where David seems to be telling others about his God, David primarily addresses God.

I’ve heard people say they don’t know how to pray like they should. I know Jesus gave us the outline and main points of prayer in “The Lord’s Prayer,” but David was also good at praying. He put his prayers to music in Psalms. We can learn a lot about prayer from Psalm 25.

It begins: “O Lord, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat. No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.” [NLT]

That’s where it all starts … “I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God!”  Every prayer we pray is because we have first given our life to God, we have placed our trust in Him and Him alone. Now we have the assurance that our enemies are defeated and that we will not be put to shame.

I remember the day I prayed that first prayer of trust in God, August 1973. It was at a small interdenominational Charismatic Prayer Group run by perhaps the oddest couple in history. She was 80, he was 50. I had been witnessed to by my Pentecostal great aunts for years. I had been bullied into driving my mother that day. I had no desire, no intention of being anything but a chauffeur. And God met me there.

My life turned around forever with one little prayer, which was nowhere near as eloquent as David’s “O Lord, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God!” but still every bit as effective. I became His and my trust and my hope in my Savior, Jesus Christ, has only increased over the decades.