Devotions

Acts 3:8:  Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.  

That’s the reaction of the crippled beggar at the Gate Beautiful after Peter and John lifted him to his feet and brought healing to him … in the name of Jesus.  Crippled from birth, the man instantly walked, then took to jumping and leaping.  He didn’t have to go to rehab to learn how to walk, when Jesus touched him through Peter and John, his feet and legs knew just what to do.

And so did his spirit. He immediately began to shout praises to God for his healing.  This drew a crowd, which prompted Peter to preach to the crowd about the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus and the salvation found in Him alone.  And Peter didn’t pull any punches …. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.  [Acts 3:15]

The physical healing of the one man became the opportunity of eternal healing for the many. 

God blesses us with so much today.  We see physical healings in the body of Christ, we see emotional and spiritual healings. We witness restorations of finances, relationships, sobriety and so many other intersections where God touches our lives.  These should lead us to witness that our God is the Living God and He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him through Christ Jesus.

God gives healings and miracles … He loves His people … but no healing or miracle should stand alone.  Each should be opportunity to witness what our God can and does do!

Psalm 18: For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

David sang, “I love You, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.” [Ps 18:1-3 HCSB]

This song has another one of those superscriptions.  It is thought it was written and then sung on various occasions as David looked at God’s deliverance in grateful retrospect.  Although David is king, he identifies himself as “David, the servant of Jehovah.”

In his opening stanza, David speaks of the personal nature of God’s work in his life.  Look at how he identifies Jehovah by using that little word “my.”  To David, Jehovah is:  my strength, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my shield, my salvation, and my stronghold.  No wonder David is praising Him.

David then goes on and recounts what God has done for Him.  In grateful poetic beauty, David reminds his listeners of his great debt and thanksgiving to His God.  David is what he is because throughout his life, God has been all in all to him.  Through the best of times and in the worst of times, God was always David’s rock.

The song climaxes in verse 46: “The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!”

As David remembered all the troubles he had suffered at the hands of his enemies and the former king, Saul, there is only one conclusion – The LORD lives!

Beloved, our God is the Living God.  Our Rock.  Our Savior.  Blessed be His Holy Name.

“But I will sing of Your strength and will joyfully proclaim Your faithful love in the morning. For You have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble.” [Psalm 59:16 HCSB]

In some of our Bibles there are identifying instructions before the psalms.  These are called superscriptions and were added as the book was compiled.  The contents of the superscriptions vary but fall into a few broad categories: (1) author, (2) name of collection, (3) type of psalm, (4) musical notations, (5) liturgical notations and (6) brief indications of occasion for composition.

The superscription for Psalm 59 is:  To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him.

You can read about the incident David’s song describes in 1 Samuel 19.  King Saul was jealous of David and seeking ways to kill him.  So, “Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning.” [1 Sam 19:11-17]

Both Saul and David had expectations for the morning. Saul EXPECTED David to be dead.  David, on the other hand, EXPECTED God to be strong on his behalf and save him.  David trusted God through the night and EXPECTED to be singing in the morning … “I will … joyfully proclaim Your faithful love in the morning.”

Sometimes the nights are long, the enemy of our soul works to keep us restless and worried. But God is our strength, our stronghold [fortress] and our refuge.  Like David, no matter what the enemy plans for us in the night, when morning breaks, we will be singing of God’s love.

Father, help me to sing in the morning of Your great love – no matter what the night may hold.  Amen

I am still singing this morning about the “Joy in the House of the LORD.” [Jonathan Smith, Phil Wickham]

I love that song and the Phil Wickham video. Phil Wickham wasn’t the only one to write a song about the House of the LORD. David wrote a few songs about it also.

There’s a verse in Psalm 26 that had me pondering the House of the LORD this morning. Verse 8 proclaims, “Lord, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.” [HCSB]

Too often we consider the building wherein we meet with others to be the House of the LORD. That may have been true in David’s time, but it is not true in ours. The House of the LORD has moved from building to believer.

“You know that you are God’s house. The spirit of God lives in you.” [1 Corinthians 3:16 HCSB]

What signified the House of the LORD in the Old Testament was the Presence of the LORD. Now the Presence of the LORD is in us. We are indwelt by the very Spirit of God. He lives in us.

And in this living, breathing House of the LORD, there should always be great joy!

I have a series of exercises from physical therapy that I try to do every day. The goal is to regain some of the muscle and flexibility lost over the last four years because of the auto-immune disease PMR.

I use the bed in the spare bedroom. At first exercising was boring. Then I livened it up by adding some praise and worship. I start my playlist and sing along while I exercise. It sure goes by fast now!

Today, “Joy in the House of the LORD” was the last song. One verse really ministered to my soul, “We sing to the God who heals, We sing to the God who saves, We sing to the God who always makes a way. ‘Cause He hung up on that cross, Then He rose up from that grave, My God’s still rolling stones away!” [Jonathan Smith, Phil Wickham]

Since I exited that room, that one phrase keeps turning over and over in my mind …. “My God’s still rolling stones away!”

 When the stone was placed in front of the entrance to the borrowed tomb in which they placed Christ’s body following the resurrection, it was to assure that Jesus was kept inside. When God rolled that stone away, He announced to the world that nothing – not even death itself – could hold Christ Jesus in that tomb.

Resurrection life flowed out … flowed all the way to the stone that encased me in death … and rolled my stone away!

Glory to God. Yes, my God’s still rolling stones away! Resurrection life still abounds. Death still surrenders to life in Christ. God still heals, saves, and makes a way!

I had some good days recently (before my husband graciously shared his cold with me). I define “good days” as those days when I get to the end of the day and realize I have not spent much time dealing with pain or fatigue. I may not have a 35-year-old’s energy and ability, but I am not doing bad for a 77-year-old.

Good days have been a rarity over the past four years. Since last October, however, they have become more common. I have been working with new medical staff and changes in medications that have eliminated some of the fatigue and pain.

I am trying to remain grateful for what I have in this moment. Things may change in the future, but I cannot live worrying about what might happen then.

(Jesus reminded us to not worry about tomorrow in Matthew 6:34. We are to instead live in the moment.)

So today, January 25, I am grateful.

Psalm 138 (a Song of David titled, “A Thankful Heart) says it all.

“I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing Your praise before the heavenly beings. I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your constant love and truth. You have exalted Your name and Your promise above everything else. On the day I called, You answered me; You increased strength within me.” [vs 1-3 HCSB]

I have to clean the shower again. If there is a job I hate, it is cleaning the shower. Our house was built in 2003, we bought it in 2007. In those four years whoever owned the house before us destroyed the master bath shower. I fought to keep it clean. Finally, after struggling for years, we had the shower replaced. I have tried to keep it in mint condition, but the only way to do that is not to use it. That is not an option. So now I struggle once again to keep the shower clean.

Nothing stays the same. Things are either progressing forward, or they are moving backwards. My shower is moving backwards. My spirit, however, is moving forward.

I love Psalm 1. It shows us both spiritual progression and spiritual decline. And it tells us where true happiness is found.

Spiritual decline is seen in verse 1. First step backward, “follow[ing] the advice of the wicked.” Second step backward, “take[ing] the path of sinners.” Third step backward, “join[ing] a group of mockers!” [HCSB]

Spiritual progression is seen in verses 2-3: It begins with “delight[ing] in the LORD’s instruction.” That leads to “meditate[ing] on it day and night.” Then those who delight in the LORD’s instruction become like “a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither.”

Finally, spiritual progression results in “whatever he does prospers.”

AND Happy is that person!

Have you ever felt like you live in Romans 7:13-24? “For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.”

I have such great intentions but often do not have the resolve to carry them through to completion. I recognize my own impatience, arrogance, self-centeredness, and yet I still frequently operate in those.

I want to be a good, healthy, Spirit-filled disciple, and yet so many days I seem to function in my own strengths and succumb to my own weaknesses.

“What a wretched man that I am” could be my life’s motto.

Could be, but it is not.

Fifty years ago, my life’s motto changed. “[I] have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in [Christ Jesus my LORD]. [Colossians 1:14 HCSB]

And as Paul reminds: “How joyful are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered!” [Romans 4:7 HCSB]

No longer am I a “wretched man.” (Even thought I may feel that way some days!)

Now I am a joy filled child whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. PTL.

Merriam-Webster.com defines humble as not proud or haughty: not arrogant or assertive.  I think humble is one of the hardest words to define. I think even Merriam-Webster found it difficult to define because they simply tell us what being humble is not.  It’s not pride nor arrogance. So, what is it?

I’ve heard being humble defined as “not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”

That helps a little, but perhaps being humble is best defined with an example.  And the best example is found in John 13: “Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God.  So He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself.  Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him.”  [Vs 3-5 HCSB]

Jesus knew … He KNEW that all power in heaven and earth was given to Him. He KNEW He had come from God and was soon returning to God. He KNEW who He was, the Son of God, the Almighty Creator of all things. So, what does He DO? He performs for his disciples the task of the lowliest slave in that society, that of washing dirty feet.

He then tells them that He is giving them an example of what true humility is.  “For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you. I assure you: A slave is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” [Vs 15-17 HCSB]

We are not to ignore or discount who we are, or the talents or abilities we possess. We are not to “pretend” to be anything other than what we are. We are, however, to use everything we are and everything we have to serve others … even performing the lowliest of tasks … and in that we will find true blessings.