Past Devotions

One of my favorite books in the New Testament is Colossians, and my favorite chapter is Colossians 3. I love the beginning where it admonishes us to “seek those things which are above,” and the middle section which sets the character of our new nature in Christ Jesus. Part of that new nature is to sing “with grace in [our] hearts to the LORD.”

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” [Colossians 3:16 NKJV]

The NIV says we are to sing with “gratitude in [our] hearts,” and the NLT says we are to sing with “thankful hearts.”

The word there is Charis which we always say is the unmerited favor of God. But Strong’s says that charis [NT:5485] can also mean “especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude.”

It takes a heart filled with grace to sing with gratitude and thanksgiving. It takes a heart of grace to sing when we are in pain, or when circumstances seem to be against us. It certainly took grace for Paul and Silas to sing in that Philippian prison [Acts 16:22-25].

My “Valley of Vision” prayer this morning ended with “Let me never lose sight … of the exceeding wonder of grace.” Amen & Amen

When Israel was released to return to the Promised Land from Babylonian captivity to rebuild the temple, their enemies decided to have a go at them. They wanted to make them afraid to go on building the temple and even hired “counselors” to work again them to frustrate their plans. And it worked. They put down their axes and hammers and walked away from their mission. [Ezra 4:4-5]

 “Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They hired counselors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.” [NIV]

 Discouragement. Ugly word. Ugly concept. Here the word used is OT:7503: raphah (raw-faw’); meaning to be weak(ened).

The enemy is wily, he is still hiring all kinds of ‘discouragement counselors’ to try to stop the work of the people of God. We must be aware that discouragement can blindside us. We are walking or working and suddenly the unexpected happens … something we thought we were past, something we thought would never hinder us, something that takes our minds off God in the work and places them on the difficulty in the work, something that cause us to stop and move from triumph into fear.

It wasn’t until years later that a couple brave Jews picked up their axes and hammers again and began rebuilding, and only after they did so, did a letter come from the king with his approval and protection to rebuild.

I have been thinking about that heartbreaking declaration in Jeremiah 2:13: “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!” [NLT]

I wrote about it in yesterday’s devotion, noting that Christians must cling to two values. One, is that we believe the Bible to be the true word of God no matter how unpopular that view is. Two, is that Jesus ministered and fellowshipped with sinners, and in the end, we are those sinners now saved by grace.

Too often, Christians think that because this country was founded on Christian principles, all its citizens think and act like Christians. Then they are surprised when the world acts not like a Christian but like the world. Why do we expect the world to act like the Church when it is often difficult to get the Church to act like the Church?

Jeremiah’s declaration was not calling out the world for two evil things … it was calling out “my people,” God’s people.

We must be so careful that we do not substitute our ways (cracked cisterns) for His Ways (fountain of living water.) We must hold to the True Word of God no matter how unpopular that view is in our society.

The subdivision where we live has irrigation water. The snow melts, fills the lakes and dams where it is funneled into canals that cross the Treasure Valley. Depending upon location, farmers and homes have access to this water to irrigate crops and yards. Our subdivision has irrigation water. It usually begins to flow in April and ends in October.

Every year my husband eagerly awaits the filling of those canals so that he can plant his garden and flowers and water his lawn. That water is a wonderful blessing to him.

Water in the Bible is symbolic of many things. It symbolizes life and growth both physically and spiritually. It also symbolizes the Word of God and highlights its life-giving power. That is why the declaration found in Jeremiah 2:13 is so heartbreaking. “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!” [NLT]

Christians must always cling to two values. The first is that we believe the Bible to be the true word of God and no matter how unpopular that view is, we uphold it. Truth doesn’t change just because you don’t agree with it! The second is that Jesus ministered and fellowshipped with sinners, and in the end, we are those sinners now saved by grace.

The tension in our lives will be where those two values meet. To hold to the truth and love those who don’t is never easy. Yet that is absolutely necessary if we want to live like Jesus.

Have you thought about the desires of your heart? What are yours? Today, I would have to say the greatest desire of my heart is to see the LORD powerfully present in our midst. We have been praying at CFC Middleton that the City of Middleton would be won for Christ. We are waiting, and expecting, and continuing to pursue Him in prayer. I know He is going to reveal Himself to us, I just don’t know when or how it will happen.

How can I be certain? Because God has promised to give us the desires of our heart. Ps 37:3-4:  Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. [NKJV]

What does it mean that God will give us the desires of our hearts? Does it mean God gives us everything we want? Does it mean He will give us everything we pray for? Of course not. I’ve had a lot of strange desires in my lifetime, which had God given me would have made me miserable for years to come! No, God doesn’t give us everything we want.

He gives us the desires of our heart. What that means is that He placed His desires in our hearts so that they now become ours. How do I know the LORD will reveal Himself to us in what some have termed “Revival?” Because that is my greatest desire … and I know that desire was not conceived in my fallen nature, nor even in my saved one! It was birthed in the heart of God and transplanted in mine.

Since He placed that desire in me, I can trust Him and delight myself also in Him. And I can know for certain that He will fulfill that desire.

I have been writing daily devotions off and on (mostly on) since 1993. That’s a lot of words about our Lord. I’ve tried to look around me and see God’s moving in the daily part of life, as well as in the Word. I think over all those years and with all those words I have surely repeated myself—a lot! If you’ve been reading these devotions for very long, you can probably testify to that.

For me, my daily devotion is just that a daily, current thought about Christ Jesus, my Lord. It’s like daily bread, fresh, new, each morning. I sit with my laptop, I read Scriptures, I look at the world around me, and I think about Jesus.

Yesterday, I was reminded of God’s faithfulness to us … as seen in the flowers blooming all around me. Today I was reading what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, and I was overcome with wonder.

“It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.”  [2 Cor 1:21-22 NLT]

God enables us to stand firm for Christ. God commissioned us (anointed us). God has placed the Holy Spirit in our hearts. God has promised (and guaranteed) an inheritance!

 I’ve probably said all that before. And I will probably say all that again. But today, right now, I am basking in all that as if it were the first time I’ve heard it.  It’s my daily devotion.

It was a beautiful Idaho spring day. I took an early morning walk. There was a gentle breeze, and the sky was filled with clusters of clouds lazily moving from west to east. I watched as they would occasionally block the rising sun and then move on their appointed rounds. I was singing and praising as I walked.  I’m not sure any man-made cathedral could have felt more holy.

“For Your mercy [love in the NLT] is great above the heavens, And Your truth [faithfulness in the NLT] reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth.”  [Psalm 108:4-5 NKJV]

I love that phrase … Your truth (faithfulness) reaches to the clouds.

 The word for “truth” is ’emeth (eh’-meth) in the Hebrew. It means stability, certainty, truth, trustworthiness, and is often translated as faithful, sure, or true.

God’s faithfulness is established in His truth, which never changes. The NT reminds us in Hebrews that it is impossible for God to lie, thus it is impossible for Him to be unfaithful. [Heb 6:18]

God’s truth, His faithfulness reaches to the clouds. What a picture! And if we really think about it … God’s truth, His faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds, reaches beyond time … reaches into eternity. “For God so loved the world that He gave ….”

One of the things I love best about living in the Treasure Valley is the surrounding mountains and foothills. They are beautiful year-round, but I especially love them in the winter when the snow covers them. There are certain roads where I drive that present a clear view and I always have the sense of being up high, even though our elevation is just a little under 3000 feet.

The psalmist asks a question in Psalm 121. “I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from?” Then he answers his own question. “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” [Ps 121:1-2 NIV]

Psalm 121 is labeled as “A Song of Ascent.” This group of psalms (120-134) are also called “Pilgrim Songs.” Jerusalem is situated on a hill. Several times a year the pilgrims traveling to the city for one of the Jewish Festivals would sing these songs as they ascended the uphill road.

Where does our help come from? As much as I love the mountains and the hills around the Treasure Valley, I know that our help doesn’t come from them. Our help doesn’t come from the government nor society. Our help comes from the LORD God Almighty.

The psalmist reminds us in this song that the One who watches over us does not slumber nor sleep. He reminds us that the LORD is our shade in the heat of the battle. He reminds us that the LORD will watch over our lives … when we come in and when we go out … both in the present and for all eternity.

Take a moment today and use this lovely song to praise God for all He is to us, Creator, Sustainer, Protector.

It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon when the man was confronted by a sight he had never seen. He was a soldier, a man of courage and had seen much that would shake lesser men, but this was unlike anything he had ever encountered on a battlefield. It frightened him. His name was Cornelius, a Roman centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment, and what he saw was an angel from God.

According to Acts 10, Cornelius and his family were devout and God-fearing and gave generously to those in need. He was also a man who prayed regularly. As Cornelius stared at the angel in fear, the angel gave him a message. “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering!  Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.” [Acts 10:4-6 NLT]

Cornelius obeyed. The Apostle Peter also obeyed a message from an angel and went with the men to the house of Cornelius. And with that, the Gospel was opened to the Gentiles. Paul would become the principal Apostle to the Gentiles, but it was Peter who first opened the door through his obedience.

As I was reading the story of Cornelius this morning, I was touched by one part of the message brought by the angel. “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering!”   

Cornelius apparently had aligned himself with the True God of Israel. He would have still been excluded from the Temple, held to the Court of the Gentiles, yet his prayers and what he did for the poor were seen and received by God Himself. While EXCLUDED from the earthly Temple, He would soon be INCLUDED in the Heavenly One.

Peter’s visit would lead Cornelius and his family to Christ, and the Holy Spirit would fall on them just as He fell on those in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost. What a wonderfully amazing God!

Paul commands us to make it our goal to live quiet lives. “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.” [1 Thess 4:11-12 NLT]

March 26 was my father’s birthday. He was born in 1913 and died 1988. Seeing his birthday on my calendar turned my thoughts to my dad. When my brother and I were youngsters, I would not have described my dad as quiet. He had a temper and could often shout his displeasure. But as my father came to know Jesus in a more personal experience, his temper quieted. In his last decades, he lived the life Paul describes above.

He had a strong work ethic and always shouldered the responsibility of providing for his family. His love for people increased as he aged. When people remember him, they tell me they never heard him say a bad word against anyone, that he always had a smile and a hug for them along with a word of encouragement. They remember him with respect.

He may have had very little in the way of material things, but in his quiet way he won the respect of others and possessed the love of his family. He left a good legacy and a good testimony for Christ. I pray to do likewise.