Devotions

Sunday afternoon, as I was writing the devotion I sent out yesterday, I looked up Psalm 51 because I wanted to use one of the verses in the devotion. David wrote that song about the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. David came face to face with his sin and realized that not only had he sin against Bethsheba and her husband Uriah (by having him sent to the front lines to be killed in battle), but he sinned against God.

He admitted his sin before God “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.” [Psalm 51:4 NLT]

As I usually do, I read the quote in context. Then I came to David’s plea for restoration. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.” [vs 10-12 NLT]

I had asked God that very morning in church to cleanse my heart. I wasn’t paying attention during worship, but instead my eyes were roaming the room, and my focus was far from worship. I was singing but paying little attention to the words … and far less attention to my LORD.

Anyone looking at me would have thought I was totally engaged. Unfortunately, God wasn’t too impressed with my outward engagement, He was looking at my heart and it was anything but engaged. And suddenly, I knew that. So I prayed, “LORD, create in me a pure heart!” And I turned my attention fully to Him. Oh the blessings of godly sorrow.

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted.” [2Corinthians 7:10 NKJV]

Have you ever been asked why you are a Christian? I have, many times. Looking back, I know what brought me to God in the beginning, 51 years ago. I was miserable, in pain, confused, hopeless. The circumstances in my life demanded a change.

What I thought I needed was comfort and peace and security and a host of other things – things that only God can truly and securely provide. But if I could have gotten those things without getting God, I would have done so. Unfortunately (or FORTUNATELY) you can’t get what God provides without getting God Himself. It’s a package deal.

And as part of that package, we must come face to face with ourselves – just as Peter did in the courtyard of the high priest when Jesus was arrested and Peter denied his LORD three time … and what Isaiah did when he saw the LORD high and lifted up and found himself undone … and as David did when he cried out to God “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.” [Psalm 51:4 NLT]

For us to remain strong and steady with God across the years takes more than the initial things that drove us to God in the beginning.  Somewhere, sometime in our walk, we must see God’s justice as it relates to us and understand what we truly deserve.

Only then can we truly appreciate God’s grace that is granted to us.

Only then will we look past the “gifts” and see with awesome wonder the Glorious Giver of All Things.

Only then will we bow down in worship before Him not expecting anything in return.

He is Enough!

I love Peter. He was bold, brash, and fiercely loyal to Jesus, until he wasn’t.  In other words, Peter was human. Brave one moment, cowardly the next. Saying the most profound truth in one breath, and something really dumb with the next.

One day Jesus was standing by the Sea of Galilee talking to the crowd that had gathered around him. Being pressed by the crowd, he got into the boat belonging to Peter. When he finished speaking to the crowd, he told Peter to “Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.” [5:4]

Jesus was a carpenter, and Peter was the fisherman who had been out all night and hadn’t caught a thing. But with a cocky attitude he does what Jesus tells him to do and ends up catching so many fish they were in danger of sinking. “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’”    

In one moment over a catch of fish, Peter saw Jesus, and in that glimpse of the Holiness of God in this itinerant preacher, Peter recognized his own ungodliness. There would be another time, even more devastating.

Jesus had warned Peter that Satan wanted to sift him like wheat and that before the night was over Peter would deny even knowing Him. Peter denied that would happen, but before the night was over, standing in the courtyard of the high priest after Jesus was arrested, Peter did exactly as Jesus told him he would. Just as he was speaking his last denial of his master, the rooster crowed and “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” 

I can only begin to imagine what that one look from the Lord did to Peter’s heart. In that one look, Peter saw himself no longer as the big brave fisherman, the right-hand man of his master, but as a sinner deserving absolutely nothing from God except justice.

Peter, undone, unraveled, cursing his own sinful heart, would soon discover the amazing grace God so wanted to shower upon him.

If you are reading Psalm 95, the first thing you might notice is that little invitation “come.” The song begins with that invitation.

“Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him” [vs 1-2 NLT]

Then the psalmist goes on to tell us why we should sing, shout, praise and thank him. “For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land, too.” [vs 3-5 NLT]

Yes, our God is the Great God and King. All creation belongs to Him alone. Suddenly, though, the psalmist extends another invitation to “come.”  And this time it is because he remembers that it isn’t only the physical creation that belongs to God, it is us.

“Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care.” [vs 6-7 NLT]

When we worship, bow down, and kneel before the LORD, we surrender our lives to Him. He is our Creator and God, but suddenly with that surrender He is also our Great Shepherd. We enter that people “He watches over,” and become part of that “flock under his care.”

What JOY(!) to know Him not only as Creator, but also as Jesus, our Great Shepherd!

I had a recent conversation with my doctor. She, like just about every other physician, asked me how I was doing. I told her I thought I was doing better. The intense pain and fatigue were less. I was off some of my meds and others were reduced (which often alleviates the fatigue). All in all, while I still have some “structural issues,” I thought I was doing well for an almost 78-year-old woman.

On the way home, I re-thought that. Just what does it mean for an almost 78-year-old woman to “do well.” I have never been 78 years old before. I don’t know what I should feel like. Every day now is an adventure into old age.

I still feel surprised when I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror or window. I wonder who that old woman is looking back at me. That is because, as I have said before, the part of me that is truly me feels like I am 35 years old. At times, even though I know I live in this body, I do not feel “part” of this body.

When that feeling arises, I remember Jesus’ description of how we are to relate to this world. We are “in it but not of it.”

That phrase comes from Jesus’ prayer in John 17. It means that while we live in this world, the world’s values and priorities do not live in us – we are not to align ourselves with the world’s standards, but with God’s holy standards. We are to be different in that God’s ways always, ALWAYS, have priority in our lives.

This body of mine seems to be doing what it wants. So does this world. But just as I need my soul and spirit to rise above what my body often demands, I need to lead a life that follows God’s higher standards – and greater glory.

Amen.

Love. How we love to love. We love this brand of coffee. We love that movie. We love this holiday. We love pie, or ice cream, or cookies. We just love to love. Yet, we really do not understand love. We attach that word “love” to things we like, or our personal preferences. Is that really “love?”

Love, as we are told often, is not just emotions, although it does touch our emotions. Love is action. Like the action our Father God took when His creation rebelled against Him. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave (sacrificed) his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16 NLT]

Love always seeks what is best. That “best” might involve restraint or even discipline. God’s love does not let us run wild. His love keeps us from sin. “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” [Hebrews 12:6 NLT]

The LORD does discipline … but never to destroy us. He disciplines us to restore us to right standing with Him. (Isaiah 38:16: Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health. You restore my health and allow me to live! [NLT])

When we consider God’s love for us, it is so much more than just a feeling. He is the God of all comfort and compassion, and He loved His own with a sacrificial love. He will do what is best … even if what is best is to discipline so that we might be restored to right relationship with Him. Glory!

My favorite subject is The Love of God! I could talk about how much God loves us with anyone, anytime. It was my subject last Sunday when I was privileged to bring the team devotion for the volunteers at church.

That devotion began in Mark 10 (with parents bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed) and ended with a Scripture from 1John 4:16: “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.” [NLT]

I ended yesterday’s devotion with the question: I wonder, do we really know how much God loves us?

God, in His great love for us, was willing to sacrifice His Precious Son Jesus to bring us back to Him. He so graciously wants to shower us with His love, but too often the voices in this life (the world, flesh, devil) have made us feel unworthy to accept His love.

As we mature as Christians, however, we must learn to let God love us, for it is out of His love that we find the capacity to love others, to love ourselves, and to love Him.

We think we do the things we do “for Him,” because of our love “for Him.” But I think we do the things we do “for Him,” because of His love “for us.” We can love others because He loves us. We can love ourselves because He loves us. We can love Him because He first loved us.

Oh, I could go on and on and on about God’s love, and about Jesus’ sacrifice that makes us worthy. But instead, I think, I will put aside the keyboard and just sit here for a while and let Him love me.

Want to join me?

I was privileged to bring last Sunday’s devotion for the volunteers at church. Whenever I get ready to bring a message or a devotion, I also remind myself that “you have to live it to give it.” This message was an easy one to “live,” as it was about my favorite topic – God’s love for us.

It started in Mark 10:14-16 where children were brought by their parents to Jesus for a blessing. They were originally turned away by the disciples until Jesus put an abrupt end to that!

“Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” [NLT]

One of the great traits of children is that they have the capacity to joyfully accept love. Watch a little one spot someone they love. They will race toward them and throw themselves into welcoming arms. Watch a little one sleeping in the arms of someone they know loves them. They sure can soak up the love.

As we mature, we lose that capacity to accept love. We listen to the voices of this life (the world, the flesh, the devil) who unceasingly strive to convince us that we are not worthy of the love of our Father God. That capacity to accept love like a little child is often replaced with a need to be accepted.

It is true, we are not worthy of the love of our Father God. But our Father loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice the life of His Precious Son Jesus for us … and it is in that sacrifice that we now find our worth. We are worth what He was willing to pay for us! What a marvelous honor now to accept God’s love.

My devotion Sunday morning ended with 1John 4:16: “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.” [NLT]

I wonder. Do we really know how much God love us?

I love the beginning of autumn, especially these last weeks of September. They are my favorite. The summer heat is largely behind us. The ugliness (my personal evaluation) of Halloween is still in the future, and the silly, hectic holiday season is a bit further down the horizon.

College football is back (Yes!) and baseball teams are jockeying for play-off berths. AND, the apples are ready for picking at the Emmett orchards. Yep, these last two weeks of September have got to be the best of my year! The blessings are so evident to my soul.

Yet I know that blessings from the Father’s heart are not limited to these two weeks. They are around me and for me every day. Even when I am numb from difficulties or stressed by circumstances, the blessings are there. I just need to stop, re-focus, and reach for them. God so willingly wants me to have them.

The Scriptures are full of God’s promised blessings for us. He promises wisdom for the asking, strength, peace, courage, mercy, grace, hope. He says we can put on His armor to face our battles. He says we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus. He promises that nothing can separate us.

And if we can’t find anything “specific” we might need, there is this promise: “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” [Ephesians 1:3 NLT]

Every Spiritual Blessings is ours. Our God is the Best!

After reading all the news Saturday morning on my online home webpage, I was weary of the complaining. It did not matter what the article was about (politics, sports, medicine, corporations, finances, etc.) the overall attitude was complaining.

God took me to Jude’s Epistle. Jude wanted to write about our common faith in Christ Jesus but began by giving a description and warning about the false teachers who were trying to infiltrate the church. His description sure fit what I had been reading. “These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.” [1:16 NLT]

Jude tells his readers that rather than being grumblers and complainers, we need to be people who defend and contend for our faith. He gives some positive characteristics of defenders and contenders.

We are to build each other up in our faith. We are to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to show mercy to those with wavering faith. We are to cautiously rescue others from judgment (mercifully loving the sinner but hating the sin). We are also to glorify God with great joy! [1:20-23 NLT]

Then after all that, Jude closes his letter with this marvelous doxology!

“All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.” [1:25 NLT]

Yes, All Glory! Amen & Amen!