Past Devotions

Before I went to bed last night I listened to my playlist as I always do. As I sat quietly my soul rested in the second verse of “The Goodness of God.” [Bethel Music, Jenn Johnson]

“I love Your voice. You have led me through the fire. In darkest night You are close like no other. I’ve known You as a Father. I’ve known You as a Friend. Oh, I have lived in the goodness of God.”

This is one of my favorite songs and always ministers to my soul. I assumed I would sleep well. Instead, my mind would not be quiet. Around 3:30 AM I began to repeat … “how can it be ….” I could not remember where that phrase came from until finally, I realized it was a phrase from the song “Amazing Love.” [Billy James Foote]

“Amazing love, How can it be? That You, my King would die for me? Amazing love, I know it’s true. It’s my joy to honor You, In all I do, I honor You.”

Isaiah 53:5: “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” [NLT]

What Amazing Love! That the King of Glory would die for such a one as I. In all I do, I strive to honor You. Amen

It is winter outside. Outside my window it is all bare. Inside the window of my soul, there is a garden. A luxurious garden found in Romans 12. It all beings with God’s mercy. In full view of God’s mercy, we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Then it notes: “this is your spiritual act of worship.”

I love church on Sunday. I love the fellowship, the preaching of the Word, and I love the song service, singing and praising God with all my heart, soul, and body. It is unfortunate that we often call that part of the service the “worship service.” It is a wonderful time to sing and praise, but it leaves too many people with the impression that the short time spent on Sunday morning singing songs to God is all there is to worship. Worship is a part of that, truly must be for it to have any relevance at all, but worship is so much more than just singing to God on Sundays.

Romans 12 true worship: “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”  THIS is your spiritual act of worship. What is? This is — the offering of your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

Worship is not lived solely in church; worship is lived in the trenches of life. It is not just what we do IN church; it’s how we live OUTSIDE of church. Worship is honoring God with every aspect, in every part of our lives.

We talk about the spiritual and the secular, separating life into sections. For the Christian, every part of life is a spiritual honoring of God. How we perform in school, how we do our jobs, how we relate to people in the grocery store is all part of our spiritual act of worship.

Romans 12 is a spiritually warm place to spend time while we wait for the winter to pass into spring. It is like a garden for the soul. The thing that makes everything in Romans 12 possible is presented at the very beginning.  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” [NLT]

By keeping God’s mercy always in view, we can now offer our “bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” God wants us to live for Him. He who gave us life, not just our physical life but also our spiritual life in Christ Jesus wants us to live for Him!

There is a provision given in the law in Deuteronomy 15:12-17, which freed a Hebrew servant in the seventh year. He was to be released and given a liberal provision from the flocks, threshing floors and winepress.

The servant had a second option though. He could say, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loved his master and was well off with him. When that happened, the master was to take an awl and push it through the servant’s ear lobe (“my ears you have opened” Psalm 40:6) and he would become the master’s servant for life.

That is the provision of Romans 12:1. We have been set free by the mercy of God, but in view of that very mercy, we now declare to our master, “I do not want to leave you.”  We are now servants who offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to Him.

I have a favorite chapter of Scripture. It is familiar territory that is both comforting and challenging. I visit it often – like a beloved garden. It is Romans 12 and it begins: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” [NLT]

Once I hit that opening verse in Chapter 12, I slow down and begin to savor every word, every thought. This is the chapter of living sacrifice. But before we can present our bodies as living sacrifices, something else is needed.

Five beautiful words in this first verse sets the stage for all that will come after, “in view of God’s mercy.”

 God’s mercy is what makes everything happen in Romans 12. It is what brings life and warmth to the soul. Without God’s mercy, everything that comes after in the chapter is utterly impossible.

We cannot live Romans 12 apart from God’s mercy. We do not have even have LIFE apart from God’s mercy!

I will be meandering in and out Romans 12 over the next few weeks, alongside other things. It’s a good place to stay spiritually warm while we are waiting for winter to slide into the rear view.

A week ago Thursday was a day that began on a sweet note and ended on another one. Thursday morning I attended corporate prayer at church. There were just a handful of us. The atmosphere was quiet. Prayer topics were arranged on a slide show. I admit there were times when I did not really go “with the show,” but instead found myself just sitting quietly in the love of God.

The rest of the day was busy. Just before bed I put in my earphones and started listening to my playlist. The last song before I went to bed was “The Anchor Holds.” I sang quietly … “The anchor holds though the ship is battered. The anchor holds though the sails are torn. I have fallen on my knees as I faced the ranging sea. The anchor holds in spite of the storm.”

As I sang, I thought of my friend Patty. Decades ago, we decided to surprise our friend Vaunda at a party her church was holding. Patty, who was in Montana, picked me up in Idaho, and we drove to California. We learned “The Anchor Holds” as we drove, singing it over and over and over again.

As I sang Thursday, I could almost sense Patty singing it with me from heaven. She went into the Presence of her Savior about 1 ½ years ago and I miss her terribly. She was only 68 years old, and I often wonder why she died so young. I just know that in this life, I only see things darkly. God had His reasons and I trust Him. “The Anchor Holds.”

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” [1Corinthians 13:12 NLT]

There is a wonderful question in the Baltimore Catechism that I was taught to memorize as a child. It comes in the section “Why Was I Created,” and the question is, “Why did God make you.”

The response I learned was “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.”

“Why was I created” is a most profound question. How we answer it will determine if we live this life with a purpose or if we are blown about on the winds of cultural change.

Our wonderful Creator, the Omniscient, Omnipresent, All Powerful, Infinite Father wants us to know Him and love Him! While we are in this world He wants us to serve Him so that others are led to the salvation He has provided through His Son, Christ Jesus.

There is something every person must learn in this life if they are going to thrive and that is that “the world doesn’t exist to serve us.”

There is something every Christian must learn in this life if they are going to thrive and that is that “God doesn’t exist to serve us.” We exist to know, love, and serve Him.

Recently I had to take my laptop to the Geek Squad for repairs. It was doing some squirrelly things, and the battery would not hold a charge. While waiting for a new battery to arrive from Amazon, they kept the computer to run diagnostics and do any needed repairs.

I didn’t realize that being without the laptop for four days would be so difficult. I depend on the laptop for access to our finances, my health journals, bible studies, concordance, devotions, and a myriad of daily things.

As I thought about my daily dependency on a piece of equipment, I also thought about my daily (maybe moment by moment) dependency on the Holy Spirit in my life.

David wrote Psalm 51 when he was confronted by the prophet Nathan for his sin with Bathsheba and for arranging the death of her husband. He asks God for mercy, purification, cleansing of sins, forgiveness, and restoration. There is one verse, however, which sounds to me like an expression of deep fear. It is vs 11b, “Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.”

I think David knew what he would be without the Spirit of God. I know what I would be without the Spirit of God. I also know that God did not remove His Spirit from David, and I have been promised that He will never remove His Spirit from me. Thank you Father! Amen & Amen

The last thought from Psalm 97 that I have been meditating on is: “May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name!” [vs 12 NLT]

Verses 10-12 in this song remind us that those who love the LORD are to hate evil. We are promised that our Father God will rescue and protect (eternally) no matter what we face in this life. And glory(!) we are promised that light and joy will shine on and through those whose hearts are made right through surrendering our lives to Christ Jesus as LORD.

What is our response to knowing those things? Rejoicing and Praising the One Who took us from the realm of darkness and transplanted us into the Kingdom of His Dear Son! [Colossians 1:13 NLT]

Our lives are to be filled with rejoicing! We are to have an attitude of praise no matter what we see with these temporal eyes.

I think of Mary’s response to the news that she would be the mother of the Savior – even thought she had no idea what that would mean or the sorrow that would hold for her, she responded with rejoicing and praise. I want her response to also be mine.

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!”  [Luke 1:46-47 NLT]

The past two days I have been in Psalm 97, verses 10-12. Those three verses contain four thoughts that I have been meditating on. The first is that those who love the LORD are to hate evil; and the second is that God rescues us and promises eternal protection no matter what trials and sorrows we face in this life.

The third thought lifts the soul and spirit! “Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right.” [vs 11 NLT]

Light & Joy!

Light: “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.” [Colossians 1:13 NLT]

Joy: “Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord.” [Psalm 40:4 NLT]

The promises of light and joy are for those whose hearts are right. And how do we make our hearts right?

We can’t become godly through our only efforts – but we can see our hearts made right by surrendering our lives to the One who died for us, Jesus the Messiah. Amen & Amen