Past Devotions

Bob was fishing on Saturday, so I pulled out some old DVDs to watch. The first was “Chariots of Fire.” The movie is about the great Scottish missionary Eric Liddell.  There are a few scenes and quotes in that movie that I really like.  The first quote comes from a scene near the beginning which shows rather unorganized races throughout Scotland, slugging along in the rain and mud. He asks the audience who gathers to hear him preach after the race, “Where does the power come from?”

And then he tells them. “It comes from within.” (link below to movie scene)

He explains that it comes from having a relationship with Christ.  Paul said it this way to the Ephesians, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”  [3:16-17 NIV]

The power to participate in and win this spiritual race comes from Christ who takes up residence in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. That happens when we place our faith in God’s Son.

When we are slugging through the mud in life, running while the storms of life dampen everything, we need to remember that it is the power of Christ within us that will lead us to finish the race as winners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbgR-pOIFbE

Spring and summer in the Treasure Valley in Idaho are a constantly changing weather picture. We can be cold one day, blazing hot the next. But the best are the thunderstorms that just seem to appear out of nowhere.

I was at the church the other day when one hit. Suddenly the front door blew open and the fierce wind began to shove the fallen leaves and tree blossoms inside. It began to pour. I could hear the thunder and lightning accompanying the noisy wind.  It was great.  I stood in the doorway and watched the clouds race across the sky.  And then just as suddenly as it came up, it was gone. Weather peace descended again.

Everyone has storms in life. Sometimes they come up just like the Treasure Valley thunderstorms that dot our weather pattern in spring and summer.  It is when the storms are buffeting us that we need to remember that Jesus is our song amid the storm.

There is a marvelous song that I listen to during my worship walks, “Let It Be Jesus.”  It begins with these words, “Let it be Jesus. The first name that I call. Let it be Jesus. My song inside the storm”

My song inside the storm of life is this, “for me to live is Christ.” And one day when that final storms wins its battle over my body, I shall know firsthand that “to die is gain.”  [Philippians 1:21]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2h9Hm9JZho  (“Let it be Jesus” link)

I’m getting ready to head out the door for my morning walk and I’m thinking about the new “sidewalks” upon which my feet will soon step. I’m anticipating their level, smooth surface. I know it sounds silly, but while walking outside is such a delight in many ways, for an older woman with balance issues, it can be distracting or difficult also.  I find that instead of focusing on the beautiful sky or listening to my worship music and singing along with it, I’m focused on my feet and my balance.

With these new, level sidewalks, I am not walking with my head down looking at the ground. I am head held high and striding with confidence.  I wrote yesterday about what joy there is in giving God our best in the mornings and on these new level walkways I can do just that.  Thinking of these sidewalks also reminds me of a  verse in the psalms.  “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” [Ps 143:10 NIV]

The KJV says, “lead me into the land of righteousness.”

The word for “level ground” and “land of righteousness” is miyshowr (mee-shore’) and means literally a level, even place. It is used figuratively as uprightness, or righteousness. I truly appreciate the NIV’s translation of this verse.  Anyone who has walked on uneven ground knows the toll it takes compared to walking on level ground. That applies to the spiritual as well as the physical!

God, teach me! Lead me! May Your Good Spirit lead me on level, even ground as I walk this journey with You. Amen & Amen.

I’m just back from my early morning worship walk. I’ve had to vary my routine now that summer weather is upon us. Rather than wait for the warm afternoon sun in fall and winter to head out, I now leave very early to enjoy the cool morning. I prefer afternoons, so much easier to get everything done that needs doing in the morning when I am my brightest and best.  Yet maybe I need to be my brightest and best (at least for half the year) when I worship God as I walk.

This morning I discovered a new “sidewalk!” I have sidewalks inside our subdivision, but in the mornings, inside the subdivision I am dodging misaligned sprinklers, people pulling out of their driveways, and often garbage cans and trash containers. Living in the rural part of a rural city, sidewalks are a luxury. If I leave my subdivision I’m on uneven gravel shoulders alongside roadways.

This morning I was walking the edge of our subdivision and noticed a new commercial section across the road. It’s been mainly farm fields, but now they are cutting roads through it and construction is in full swing. One section has all the sidewalks finished, but not the roads yet. I headed over in that direction. The only thing I had to dodge was the occasional quail and killdeer as they tried to lead me away from their nesting grounds.

As I walked along, I began to sing with my worship music. There was no one around, only me and the birds chirping their worship along with mine. “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” [Ps 100:2 NIV]

Giving our wonderful Lord worship when we are at our “best and brightest” is a good thing. I think I am going to enjoy my early mornings with Him as I stroll along brand new sidewalks!

Ah, the “Saga of the Sink” is writing a new chapter this morning. They are beginning the process of building it back up. It only took them four hours to tear it all apart, rip up floor, remove cabinets, etc. Four hours that left us with a big hole in the cabinet, a laundry tub for a sink, and exposed sub-floor. We’ve been living like that for six weeks.  But today, TODAY, they are starting the re-build.

Unfortunately, it will take a lot longer than four hours. It will take multiple days across a couple weeks as they bring in different sub-contractors to do the different work needed.  In the end, however, we will have a kitchen that is much better than the original.

Funny how tearing down is a lot faster, cheaper and easier than building up. It doesn’t take much to tear down, rip apart, and leave destruction in the wake.  Our society is proof of that.  We seem to be geared to it. If someone attempts to raise their head above the crowd, someone else is waiting in the wings to take them apart.

Paul told the church at Thessalonica that they were to, “encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”   Paul even gave them a “therefore.”  They were “therefore” to encourage and build up others because “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”  [1 Thess 5:9-11 NIV]

Life is rough and often unfair. Society is moving away from compassion and kindness. Hopelessness is becoming the norm for so many. Opioid use is epidemic. Bullying, suicide, violence commonplace.

Church, we must become a bastion of encouragement. We must always seek to build others up. There are more than enough ready to tear down.

It’s a beautiful day. My kitchen is still torn apart. Our finances are tight. We haven’t had a real vacation in three years since we toured the Grand Canyon area. We probably won’t see our grandsons from California until fall and our oldest grandson is moving from Idaho to Western Oregon in July. Summer is coming and with it the hot weather that I really don’t like. And it’s still a beautiful day.

As I look and listen to what is around me, I realize that today God is calling me to focus on the small delights that so often are ignored. The sunshine after so many cloudy days. The sounds of the birds outside my window. And perhaps most of all, His still small voice.

Last Sunday as we prayed for people in church it became obvious that the enemy of our soul was reminding people of all the things that were wrong and using that reminder to make people think that God didn’t care about them and had abandoned them to their circumstances. The noise of life’s difficulties can often drown out the voice of God.

God adamantly refuted the enemy’s message during prayer time by reminding us that He cares for us. He reminded us how much we are worth to Him.

Remember, our worth is determined by what someone is willing to pay for us—and God was willing to pay the very life of His Son for our redemption. If He is willing to pay that, why would He abandon us now?  “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”  [1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV]

Yes, God is speaking His love and it’s a beautiful day!

I was scrolling through my email inbox and spotted this. “STOP EVERYTHING! something HUGE is coming!”

I started to laugh! Of course, it was an announcement of a semi-annual sale by a company who wants something from me – my money. Still, maybe it is more than that. Maybe it is God’s way of reminding me this early morning that something HUGE really is coming. And it won’t cost me money, but it will cost me everything.

It will cost my worship, prayer, sacrifice, and giving. Oh, and one other thing, my obedience, my complete obedience.

Obedience opens the door to power. Obedience opens the door to God’s presence. Obedience will open the door to Revival!  Remember what God told King Saul through the prophet Samuel in 1 Kings 15? “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice?”

Read 1 Kings 15 today. Read how King Saul did almost everything God told him. He obediently destroyed all the people but disobediently kept their king alive. He obediently destroyed all the worthless animals but disobediently kept the good ones. Then he made excuses for his partial obedience. God would have none of it.

Our obedience must be complete obedience. What does any of it matter if we don’t obey God?

I got together last Thursday with a couple pastors from Middleton to pray. We spent a few minutes just talking and the subject at one point turned to Revival. I related what the evangelist had told us on Pentecost Sunday. I even told them how I wrestled with the heaviness of the first message, that God would honor “Pastor Terry’s desire” for His Presence and bless all those with that same desire.  Then I conveyed the second part of the message – the part that I had to reconcile – that Revival would be different than I expected.  It was in the telling that I found my peace.

The night before, I had wrestled with God over my expectations of what Revival would look like. I heard God ask me if I would still love Him if He brought it through a different church. The Way is probably the smallest church in Middleton, in both population and building size. And we all know the rap against small churches – that we must not be doing something right or we would be growing. My expectation of what Revival would look like definitely centered at The Way.  So, could I rejoice if it came through another church after all the praying we’ve done? At the end of prayer on Wednesday I had not yet settled that question in my spirit.

But Thursday afternoon, as I sat with these precious pastors I could feel the same yearning in their spirits – they, too, want to see the Lord’s Presence in their churches, they want to see their people alive in Christ, they want healing and harvest. I knew I could rejoice with them if Revival came through them. The minute I resolved that in my spirit, I knew what the evangelist meant when he said that Revival would be different than we expect. It’s going to come to all of us in this little town!  Instead of through one church, each church that is praying for life will get it. Each pastor seeking the Presence of the Lord will receive.

There will be no jealousy or envy, we will rejoice together. It will matter not our denomination nor theological alignment. We will see the One who will unify us all, Jesus our Lord and Master, and when He comes, walls are going to come down!  The last great spiritual awakening in our land will not be denominationally led or owned, it will be led by pastors who have grown hungry in the dry and lean years and who are now crying out together for the rain.

The evangelist that brought a message to us on Pentecost Sunday said two things, that God would honor the desire for His Presence, and that Revival would come but would be different than we expected. As I wrote yesterday, I wrestled with the first part of that message for a good week, but finally gained a peace. I hardly thought about the second part of the message, mainly because I never fully outlined my expectations of what Revival would look like.

That changed Wednesday evening. I was the only one at prayer. All alone I felt led to not even turn on the worship CDs but to just walk around the church and listen and pray about what I heard God speak. To say I was stunned would be an understatement. The second part of the evangelist’s message came to me – that revival would come but be different than what I expected. I realized in that moment I do have an expectation about Revival – one only – that it would through our church. I heard God ask me, “will you still love and serve me if it comes to a different church in your city?”

I began to wrestle and weep. I knew I would still love God and serve Him, no matter what. But would I be able to rejoice and be glad that Revival was here. I picked up my Bible and turned immediately to Philippians 1 and began to read verses 12 to 20, especially verse 18: “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice…”

Paul was in prison and might possibly be condemned by Rome to die. Others were preaching the Good News – some from good motives, others hoping to make things even more difficult for him. As he thought about that he rejoiced in the fact that no matter what, Christ was being preached and he could rejoice.

If revival comes through another church, if it begins in a different church, could I rejoice like Paul. To be perfectly honest, I was still wrestling with that when I left for home.

Decades ago I began the practice of journaling. I followed “ACTS,” Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. I also added an “L” for Listening. As I finished each day’s entry I would put my pen down and simply listen. Then I would write down whatever popped into my head. Sometimes it was a Scripture, or its address. Other times it was a word, a sentence, even a paragraph. That process greatly enhanced my ability to hear and recognize God’s voice from all the others.

I no longer journal, now I write daily devotions. I realize writing the devotions often has the same effect on my life as journaling did all those years ago. In the devotions I often wrestle with my will and aligning it with God’s.

I’ve been wrestling in my spirit with the message the evangelist had for us on Pentecost Sunday. The first thing he said was that God would honor “Pastor Terry’s desire” for His Presence as we have pursued Him in prayer, and those who have joined in that pursuit would also be blessed.

“Pastor Terry’s desire.” That was the first thing that shook me. “My desire?” A heavy burden fell on me at that moment. I was flooded with questions. What if I grow weary and stop pursuing? What if I lead incorrectly? What if I miss “what the Spirit is saying to our church?” What if I take my congregation to the “North Gate” only to find that Jesus has entered the “South Gate?” What if ….?

Fear entered my mind. It took me a very long week to remove that fear and trust that as God has led me to this pursuit, He will lead me to the place at the right time when His Presence comes (Revival!). I have nothing to fear.

Ps 56:4:  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? [NIV]