Past Devotions

A few years ago, the local university ended its wrestling program in favor of putting its resources into a new baseball program. I like baseball, but I like wrestling too.  Not the kind of showboat fake wrestling you see on television now, but good old-fashioned wrestling with two people using their strength, leverage and smarts working to pin the other to the mat and render them unable to move.

Sunday, I was reminded that Christians in this world are called to wrestle also. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” [Ephesians 6:12 NKJV]

Some translations have substituted the word “struggle” for the word “wrestle.”  Both words convey the idea of a battle.  We need but follow the events of our day to understand that, yes, Christians are in a battle on many fronts. Evil is manifesting itself in our generation from every direction and there seems to be no limit to how low we can go as a nation.

We must take Paul’s warning in Ephesians 6 to heart. This is a struggle; we are to wrestle. The church seems to have forgotten this. Maybe we have grown too comfortable sitting in our nice padded chairs when we should be on our knees. We aren’t going to change the climate of our society by only changing which political party controls the governments and municipalities. We aren’t going to change the climate of our society by just carrying signs at rallies and protests.

Nothing will change until we go to the source (the rulers of the darkness of this age…the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places) and use the strength God has given us; the truth, wisdom and knowledge He has provided; and, the leverage of God’s Holy Spirit to pin them to the mat.  Only then will we be able to reach the hearts of those who have been blinded to the truth.

Science has done a study on when we are the happiest across our lifetime.¹ “Researchers noted the two most important years when happiness peaks: ages 23 and 69.”  I missed that one. Well, I think I actually missed both.

Eccl 2:26: “To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness.” [NIV]

Eccl 2:26: “For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight.” [NKJV]

Vine’s Expository Dictionary² defines the Hebrew word for happiness / joy used here. It is simchah (a noun). It is found 94 times in biblical Hebrew. Simchah is both a technical term for the external expression of “joy” [Gen 31:27], and a representation of the abstract feeling of “joy.” [Deut 28:47]

Vines adds that in another use this noun signifies the entire activity of making a feast before God: “And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth.” [Neh 8:12]

I guess if you are a person who pleases God, happiness is not limited to a certain year or two. It doesn’t just peak at 23 and again at 69 and then fade into non-existence. True happiness / joy comes from pleasing God and from making a feast before Him.

So, if you are like me and you missed those natural peaks of happiness at ages 23 and 69, take heart!  You can have a peak of happiness that lasts as we feast with God for all eternity!

¹  https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/mind-and-soul/you’ll-be-happiest-during-these-two-years-of-your-life-according-to-science/ar-BBSJ9qi?ocid=spartandhp

² Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

This past week, the Governor of New York signed a bill strengthening abortion rights in his state. Abortions can now be performed past 24 weeks gestation, right up to the child’s due date.  Charisma News sent a link to an article written by Pastor Shane Idleman, Westside Christian Fellowship, in California.  (I’ve included that link to that article at the end of this devotion.)

While the subject of the article broke my heart, there was one sentence Pastor Idleman wrote that spoke to me personally.  “The silent pulpit is not God’s pulpit.”

He then went on to say, “Today, the truth is often neglected, watered down or avoided altogether in the hope of not offending and building an audience. Abortion is rarely mentioned, so repentance is rarely sought and hope is elusive. We want to build a church rather than break a heart, be politically correct rather than biblically correct, coddle and comfort rather than stir and convict.”

At “The Way Church” we are not silent. We have taken note that the church today would rather meet the wants of an audience than their deepest needs. She will do anything to grow, even if it means compromising biblical truth, eliminating parts of the Scripture thought offensive, or trying to change the unchanging nature of our God. We will not do that.

I see people bolder on Facebook than pastors behind pulpits, but I truly believe that’s about to change. I truly believe that judgment is coming, first to the house of God. Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” [Matt 10:34}

That sword will divide those who are willing to compromise from those who will stand firm on biblical truths. It won’t be pleasant, but it will be God moving. I pray that I and my church are moving with Him!

* https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/74895-new-york-passes-horrific-late-term-abortion-bill?utm_source=Charisma%20News%20Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:663209&utm_campaign=CNO%20daily%20-%202019-01-24

I was reading in Genesis this past week. When Abraham was old, he sent the chief servant in his household to go back to his relatives and find a wife for his son, Isaac.  (Genesis 24)

When the servant arrived at his destination, the town of Nahor, he stopped at the well outside of town. This was where the women came to draw water in the evening.  He prayed, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham ….” Then he spoke the prayer to God about how he would know the right choice for Isaac.  The Scripture records, “Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder.”

We know from the rest of the story Rebekah became Isaac’s wife. Before he had finished praying, the answer to his prayer walked into his presence.

Daniel had a similar experience. “While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill- while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me….” [Dan 9:20-21]

When we pray, do we expect God to respond? Or is our prayer simply telling God what we think He doesn’t know and reminding Him of what we think He should do to fix the problem.

How shocked would we be if the answer to the prayer appeared before we even finished praying!

I know I should not be, but I am still amazed when those who do not know Christ, who do not live for Him, or desire to serve Him will say to me, “Jesus would” or “Jesus wouldn’t.” They often tell me that Jesus fellowshipped with sinners (yes, He did) and that Jesus would accept people just as they are (yes, He would). But how they mean it, and how it truly is, doesn’t quite mesh.

They forget that while Jesus ate and fellowshipped with sinners and allowed all kinds of people to come to Him – His purpose was not to leave them the way He found them (in sin) but to bring life-changing truth into their lives.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus called Matthew to be His disciple. Matthew was a hated tax collector. Tax collectors were considered one of the most grievous of sinners. Matthew, in response to Jesus’ call hosted a dinner for others to meet the Lord. He invited his circle of friends, which are described as “sinners and tax collectors.” When the religious leaders saw this, they rebuked Jesus. “Why do you eat with sinners and tax collectors,” they asked.

His response is telling. “On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’” [Mark 2:17 NIV]

Why do we call a doctor? Because we are sick. What do we expect the doctor to do? Leave us in our sickness? No, we expect the doctor to heal us.

Jesus compared Himself to a doctor—a spiritual doctor. Why does Jesus fellowship with sinners? Because they are sinners—spiritually sick. What does He want to do? Leave them in their sickness? No, He intends for them to be made well—spiritually well.

I went walking at a local mall on Monday. It’s not the nicest mall, and while the weather was warm for January, it was very windy and felt very cold. Thus, walking indoors looked much more appealing. There isn’t much to see as you walk, a couple furniture stores, some small shops, a couple kiosks selling phones and services, two little snack shops. Most of the big box stores have long since moved to other locations. There is one sports gear store, however.

What caught my eye was the discount rack placed outside the door. It held New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs gear. Those two teams were the losers in the two championship football games played the day before. The gear from the two winners were still on racks inside at full price. I thought how quickly we can fall from glory in this world and end up on the discount rack. It wasn’t even 24 hours!

That same day I was reading a scathing rebuke of Vice President Pence and his wife because she works in a Christian school that does not accept LBGTQ students. She teaches art. Some of the things written about them and their faith turned my stomach. There are those in our society who hate anyone who aligns with Christ and His church.

Paul to the Galatians said, “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” [1:10 NIV]

We need to decide just whom we are trying to please and what makes us a winner in life. The world may look at us and the message we proclaim regarding sin and salvation and move us outside their realm – onto the discount rack labeled as losers. Trying to please mankind never works, what pleases them is always changing. What pleases them this season will not in the next.

Beloved, let’s make sure that we are striving to please God, to be a true, faithful servant of Christ. I want to hear at the end of my walk here on earth, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter in to your reward.”

Sunday Bob and I watched the two championship football games that would determine the teams to go to the SuperBowl. Both games were exciting, both went into overtime. In the end the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots emerged winners. But not without controversy over the officiating.  To be blunt, it was awful.

There was a “mugging” by a defensive player on a receiver that should have been called, which more than likely would have changed the outcome of that game. Even the NFL has come out to say it was a horrible “non-call.” Nice apology but it can’t be reversed now.

The other game has a “call” that seemed downright silly. What appeared to be an accidental love-pat-like-tap on the quarterback was called roughing the passer and came with a large penalty. That might not have changed the game, but the scores were close enough that it could have.

None of this was the fault of the players. They played the game and fought hard for a win. They gave it their all, but they could not trust or do anything about the officials interpreting or ignoring the rules. That part was out of their control.  When you play the game and someone else oversees the officiating – and they don’t do their job well – it goes beyond discouraging, it can change the direction of your life.

As I watched these games, I thought about the One officiating our game.  “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.” [Heb 6:17-18 NIV]

The One officiating our game never changes, never makes a mistake. We who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us through His Son, Christ Jesus, can be greatly encouraged.

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” [Isa 41:10 NKJV]

I was walking around the church the other evening before Bible Study. It was dark outside, but the church itself was well lit inside. We have six windows in the sanctuary with horizontal blinds. I was walking and praying and as I did so I realized how easily it was for anyone outside to see me and know that I (an old woman) was all alone. A moment of fear rose in my heart.  As I made my way around the sanctuary, I closed each blind and made sure all the doors were locked.

That morning I saw a headline about a pastor who was shot while opening his church. I would like to say I was just being cautious, making reasonable accommodations anyone might make. But I’d be fooling myself. This was fear. And it didn’t just go away when I closed the blinds and checked the doors.

I began to pray, asking God to surround the church with His heavenly hosts. I asked for His protection. As I did that, the fear receded.

Fear. It’s real; it’s always near us. It can rise when least expected. I had just been in the church praying the night before, blinds wide open, and was just fine. One day later, after seeing a news article, fear joined me as I walked the same path that I had the night before.  “Fear not,” God reminds us, “for I am with you.”

 Thank you, Father, for Your presence, Your strength, Your help. Thank you for taking the fear from my heart. Amen.

I grew up in a denomination that mixed grace and law. Every week we recited “The Apostles’ Creed” that told us Jesus was born of a virgin, was crucified, died, resurrected and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. It reminded us that He would judge the living and the dead. He was the source of salvation, sent by God.

What I understood from the day-to-day practice, however, was different—that Jesus came and died on the cross to make the “down payment” on my salvation; now it was up to me to keep up the “installments.”  The installments constituted keeping the rules and regulations (law) as well as certain ceremonial observations.  Miss an installment you just might miss heaven.

I wasn’t very old before I realized that I could not keep up the installments. I wasn’t very good at obeying the rules and regulations. So, I lived in fear.

Unfortunately, too many live in that same fear, governed by rules and regulations instead of allowing the liberty Christ purchased for us to reign in us. Christ came that we might be set free. Not free to sin, mercy no! But free to submit to the Holy Spirit and be led, governed internally by God. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” [Gal 5:1]

The Spirit created in me a love for the Savior. He created in me a desire to live my life pleasing my Father God. He created in me a channel whereby the love of God could flow through me to others. That is freedom, grace, liberty … whatever you want to call it. It governs our hearts with grace.

Why, oh why, would we want to go back under the “installment” system!