Past Devotions

James 3:17:  The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Wow. What a description James gives of godly wisdom – the wisdom that comes from heaven. Look at the words James uses.

Pure. In the Greek it comes from the same root word as holy. God’s wisdom is uncorrupted, morally pure. James says it is holy first of all. Holiness is its origin and its foundation.

Peace-loving, considerate (gentle) and submissive.  Godly wisdom is neither harsh nor demanding. Instead it is … Full of mercy (active compassion). Don’t you love that word “full!” There is no lack of active compassion in God’s wisdom.

 Good fruit. (And it is after all by their fruits that we shall know them. Matthew 7:16-20)

Finally, it is impartial and sincere (without hypocrisy).

I was thinking as I focused on those words how lacking our society is in wisdom. We are perhaps one of the most knowledgeable in the world, but I really doubt we could apply James’ description of wisdom to our politicians, universities, media, corporations or organizations. Maybe we could not even apply them to our churches!

Father, as we begin this new year 2018, help us to strive for wisdom in all areas of our lives.

James, Chapter 3, is one tough chapter! It begins with a warning to teachers that they will be judged “more strictly,” and then goes on to talk about the tongue (our speech) being unruly and a “world of evil among the parts of the body.” And he doesn’t stop there, he reminds us of the hypocrisy of using our tongue to bless and praise our Lord and Father one moment and curse men who are made in God’s likeness the next. (Both of which I seem to accomplish on my daily traffic-laden commute!)

James then turns his attention to wisdom.  “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”  [James 3:13-14 NIV]

Read James’ instructions again, “Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done….”

How often we think of wisdom as being expressed solely by words, James says wisdom is expressed by “deeds done.”  Then he adds a caveat … our deeds are done “in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

Knowledge alone often gives rise to arrogance. Wisdom, on the other hand, breeds humility. Wisdom governs how we use our knowledge and apply our good deeds so that they produce a good life. A good life is one that has its focus on God and His good and pleasing will.

Father, may I be wise as well as knowledgeable about the principles and ways of the Lord for my life. Amen.

My son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons head back to California today.  It’s hard for us to say goodbye. While they were here we tried to make memories, snow ball fights, building a snow man, movies, time together just talking. Building good memories with my grandsons is important to me since I have very few memories of my own grandparents.

My paternal grandparents were never close. My maternal grandmother died before I was born. The only memory I really have is of my mother’s father.  He was a tough atheist, a house painter by trade who liked to visit the “French Club” and drink with his cronies. He’d often take me with him.

That ended when my parents moved out of town. I started Catholic School and began to write letters to him about God and going to heaven. They were a little child’s viewpoint and he never responded nor acknowledge them. We moved again, this time to California, and he died shortly after.  As he was dying, he asked for a priest and turned his life over to God through a sinner’s prayer.  Later my aunt found all my letters tucked away under his mattress; he’d kept everyone.

When I think of my grandfather, I think of the thief crucified next to Jesus, and how he waited until the very end of life to get right with God, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus promised that He would.  [Luke 23:42-43 NIV]

I am thankful that I will see my grandfather again, but it sorrows me that he waited until the very end to find God. What opportunities and delights he missed.

Father, I pray as we begin this new year, we embrace loving You and delighting in You. May we not miss any opportunities you place in our path in 2018. Amen.

Back to work today for the final two weeks of my 4-month temporary placement with the State of Idaho.  I’m tired. Not the kind of tired that a good night’s sleep cures. I’m the bone-weary kind of tired that has slowed my thinking processes as well as my body’s.  It’s going to take a couple weeks or maybe even a month of not having to drive a 60-mile commute each day and work an 8-hour day to recover my energy.

If there is a way to describe this past autumn season it would be ‘too busy.” I was too busy to read my Bible the way I should, too busy to pray as I should, too busy to study, too busy to do the things I needed or wanted to do … too busy.

In a way, my past autumn season reflects our culture … too busy.  We are too busy with the trivial and immediate, too busy trying to stay ahead financially, too busy with activities and sports and what-not to do the really important time investments.

Each of us has a daily allotment of time. No one gets more, no one gets less.  It’s 24 hours per person per day. Some of those hours are relegated to sleep, the rest are ours to spend wisely. That’s the hard part – applying wisdom to the allocation of our time.

Eph 5:15-16a:  “Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity….” [NIV]

Father, help me to apply Your wisdom to my hours. May I make the most of every opportunity You place before me, and never be “too busy” to hear Your voice and do Your will. Amen.

Ah, where to start at the beginning of a new year? Today, of course, is just another day. Football, both college and pros are wrapping up the previous year with playoff games in the next couple weeks. It’s a new tax year, that deserves a big “yippee” and who knows how the new tax laws are going to affect us. I started a new sermon series yesterday on “Godly Principles – Beliefs Impact Behavior.” That seemed a good place to begin a new year’s study at church.

But how to begin a new year. Just before years end I got an email from a business trying to sell me something I probably don’t need.  The subject line read … “How to Stop the Aging Process.”

Well, maybe that is something I need; however, I doubt they have discovered the secret to stopping the aging process altogether.

I know I can fight the aging process.  I may be able to postpone it by eating right and exercising. I can get cosmetic surgery to make me look like I’ve halted the aging process.  I could lie about my age.  But those are only stop-gap measures.  The aging process came in with the curse on mankind because of sin and it will remain in place until sin is banished completely.  Then upon Christ’s return, with our newly resurrected bodies, we will at last understand what it means to be completely ageless.

Rev 21:4: “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” [NIV]

Thank you, Lord, for the giving of eternal life.  Thank you for the promise that one day our bodies will experience what our spirits now enjoy. Oh Father, I long for that great and final “new year!” Amen.

Tomorrow is a new year, in a way it is a new beginning.  But I thought it would be great to end this year with this verse from Galatians 4:7:  Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Therefore.  The reason the therefore is there for is to remind us that this is the outcome of what preceded it.  Because God brought forth His Son in the fullness of time, because God brought forth His Son so that we might be redeemed and receive the adoption as sons and daughters, because God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts so that we might share the same intimacy Jesus had and call God our Father, we are now no longer a slave but a son, and in addition an heir of God through Christ.

No longer are we a slave bound to sin, serving the god of this world, frightened by death and the grave, outcast, shunned, unclean, full of evil thoughts and desires.  Now we are a son and have been qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.  [NIV Col 1:12]

Too often as we approach a new year, we look back on the old one thinking only about the things we want to do differently.  We want to eat better, lose weight, make better choices, save money, spend less, be more thankful, find a new job, etc.  This year however, I want to approach this New Year knowing that I certainly did something right so many years ago when I came to Christ.  I want to remember that I am no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

“Wonder of Wonders!”  See you in the New Year!

Gal 4:6:  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

 Because we are sons (and daughters).  I love the past tense, especially in Scripture.  We are already sons and daughters of God.  We are not waiting until we get there to become sons and daughters.  Our adoption is a done deal.

Isn’t it interesting also that in the Old Testament God is not addressed as Father?  He is referred to as the Father, but the intimacy of addressing Him as Father is absent.  Not until the New Testament when Jesus arrives on the scene do we hear God addressed as Father, and not just Father, but our Father.

God, as part of the redemption brought to us by Christ, has now placed the Spirit of the Son in our hearts so that we can share the same intimacy that Jesus had.  We can boldly approach God as our Father and not fear that we will be spurned or ignored.

We need to remember that this intimacy comes to us when the Spirit of the Son is in our hearts.  It is not an intimacy shared with those who have rejected God’s plan of salvation.  They may think of God as a Father, such as the Father of Creation, but without the Spirit of the Son, which comes to us through redemption, they cannot understand the intimacy found in those two little words … our Father.

“Wonder of Wonders!” 

Galatians 4:4-5: But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

God had a plan for Mary, Joseph and the Christ Child.  When the fullness of time arrived for Jesus to be born, God’s plan was working right on time.  God’s plan for us, unveiled in that Child was also right on time.  That plan was redemption, so that we might receive the adoption as sons.  Adoption. Adoption is a wonderful word to me.

Before our California kids arrived yesterday to celebrate Christmas, we spent Christmas Day with our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson here in Idaho.  Our grandson carries none of Bob’s or my genes, but he sure carries our hearts.  I wanted nothing more than to be a grandmother, it was one of my greatest desires.  Then little Carter miraculously appeared, 9-months old, big blue eyes, blond and beautiful. He became my ‘bud’ and was my only grandchild until Marcus arrived eight years later, and Travis six years after that.  Now I have three grandsons. The love I have is the exact same love for all three.  Each one is a delight in his own way, each one fills my heart with joy.

When we came to Christ in our helpless state, He redeemed us by His sinless life, His death on a cross, and His Resurrection and Victory over sin and death.  That redemption allowed us to be adopted into the family of God, to be called children of God, sons and daughters of the King.  God’s plan for each of us might be different here on this earth, in the here and now.  It might take us to different places, involve different ministries and life experiences, but the one thing that is sure in God’s plan is our adoption.  The love that He has is the exact same love for His adopted sons and daughters as it is for His Only-Begotten Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord.

“Wonder of Wonders!”  What a thought to focus on as this 2017 winds down!

Our son, daughter-in-law and grandsons arrived yesterday by plane from California. We can’t wait to get together with them today!  I remember Bob and I driving to California for Christmas two years ago to spend it with them. We were hoping for non-eventful-weather driving.  We watched the Weather Channel and picked what we thought was the best day for winter traveling.

Hopes for uneventful were dashed about 25 miles from home.  As soon as we hit the Owyhee’s, we had snow, which at times became sleet. Roads were slick.  At Jordan Valley turning south, we thought it would improve.  Snow got heavier.  Roads were slicker.  All the way to Winnemucca, and then we had rain and heavy rain.  Over Donner Pass we had heavy rain and fog, and one lovely microburst which pelted us with rocks.  Finally, around Sacramento, we had sunshine and 55-degree temperatures.  We laughed and noticed that we hit everything but hail.  Shouldn’t laugh at Mother Nature.  We had hail and fierce winds on Christmas Eve in Modesto.

All in all, a typical winter trip of 635 miles and about 12-hours. At least it was in a warm comfortable car. I read that it is about 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, that’s how far Joseph and Mary traveled … with Mary 9-months pregnant.  I wonder what the weather was like then.  I wonder how many days it took, if there were places to rest along the way.  I wonder if they understood that the Child she carried had to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill the prophecies.  I wonder if they truly understood God’s plan or if they were simply obeying the king’s decree to be registered for military and tax purposes.

Gal 4:4:  “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…” That first Christmas the fullness of time had come.  God was appearing in human flesh, in Bethlehem, in humility. God had a plan, and the time had come for God’s plan to be unveiled.

God has a plan for each of us.  We don’t always see the pieces and parts as they fall into place, any more than probably Joseph and Mary understood all the reasons behind this arduous trip at this time, a trip that ended in a most humble place, a gathering place for animals.  God, in flesh appearing.

“Wonder of Wonders!” 

Our plans for Christmas Eve to drive to Boise and spend time with our daughter and son-in-law at their Annual Christmas Eve Chinese Restaurant “event” were spoiled by snow. All those people around here who were “Dreaming of a White Christmas” got their wish.

It definitely snowed … there were numerous accidents (mainly slide-offs) on the interstate and side roads. It was a mess throughout most of the evening. Maybe if we were younger and had a little more adventure left in us we would have tried to go the 20+ miles, but Bob was reluctant and I agreed it probably was a bit foolish to put ourselves through that. Still, I missed seeing any family on Christmas Eve.

In spite of not seeing my natural family, the snow held off until afternoon so my church family was able to meet in the morning. We had a different style of service with music and message divided into three parts (Let Us Go and See, Let Us Go and Tell, Let Us Worship). We had special music, Christmas carols, and corporate worship at the end.  And while it seems silly, we had an altar call for salvation at the beginning in which several people responded. It was a lovely time with people I have grown to love and appreciate over the years, along with new people I only met that morning.

There was one special song that touched my heart that morning. I’ve provided a link below so that you can listen to it also.  It’s a simple song. Yet it reminds us that everything on earth changed because of that first night, “When Love Was Born.” God Who is Love, came to us, so that one day we might dwell with Him forever.

That truly is a “Wonder of wonders.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKSU9Dbxvrw