Category Archives: Devotional

Healed and Free

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:24-25, NIV*

Peter’s words echo Isaiah 53, and to me they speak of a spiritual healing: from sin into righteousness, from our transgressions and iniquities and sorrows into peace.

I have no insights about physical healing, but spiritual hurts go even deeper—and they are clearly promised to be healed.

The Apostle Paul tells us to count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, and he doesn’t mean to ignore our failings and pretend they don’t exist. I think he means to walk in the truth of God’s Word and not give in to the old ways.

To take Jesus’ promises as true and trust Him to be at work in us. To believe that His power is greater than our pain. To cooperate with Him as He changes us into what He designed us to be.

Father, there are so many things You want to heal and change in each of us. So much pain in the world. You are the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. The Message says You have named us and keep us for good. Help me love, trust and obey You.

I know I referred to this song last week, but I can’t read these verses without hearing Peter Furler’s impassioned recitation of parts of Isaiah 53 in the newsboys’ song (extended version), “I Am Free.” What I’d really like to share with you is the 7-minute version on the special edition Go CD, but this is at least more of it than you’d usually hear on the radio. It’s loud, but take the words to heart. It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God Hears Us

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When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
John 1:47-49, NIV*

I’ve been told an Israelite’s fig tree in those days was a place of prayer. I like to imagine that whatever Nathanael’s prayer time had been that day, it was personal, intense. He meant business with God. Maybe he questioned if God really heard him, and if He’d ever send the promised Messiah.

Now something in Jesus’ words, or a look in His eye, let Nathanael know God had heard.

I’m making this up. But God does hear us, and sometimes He lets us know.

This morning after my quiet time with God, I turned on K-LOVE internet radio. Amid the friendly chatter, a lady called in to say she’d just read their Encouraging Word for the day on her Blackberry—and something in the verse spoke directly to what she’d been praying about. She knew God had heard.

I listened with half an ear until the next song began and my spirit shivered—the Newsboys’ “I Am Free” pointed right back to Isaiah 53, the Scripture I’d read twenty minutes earlier as I prayed for myself and for a friend. When the song started playing, I was typing him an email of encouragement.

Tell me God doesn’t hear prayer. The sun isn’t hot, either.

Father God, You are El Roi, the God Who Sees. Who loves us and has compassion on all He has made. Forgive our doubts when we wonder if You’ve heard us. Thank You so much for those very personal moments when You touch our individual spirits to let us know You hear.

Our song this week is “He Knows My Name,” by Tommy Walker.

God’s Purpose for Me

Choosing God’s Way

When Our Best isn’t Good Enough

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Peter blurted out, “Even if everyone else is ashamed of you when things fall to pieces, I won’t be.”
Jesus said, “Don’t be so sure. Today, this very night in fact, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
He blustered in protest, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” All the others said the same thing.
Mark 14:29-31, The Message*

Jesus has been preparing His disciples for what’s ahead, but it’s too much for them to grasp. Except for the traitor, their intentions are the best – but Jesus knows that won’t be enough. He knows how each one will fail.

He knows the same thing about each of us, and I’m so glad we have this example to keep us from despairing when we mess up.

Instead of condemning Peter – and us – Jesus takes on our unrighteousness so that we can find His righteousness in us. Pastor and teacher Charles Price says this is the heart of the gospel: “Salvation is primarily from unrighteousness to righteousness.”**

There’s nothing in me – in you – that’s worth much, but Christ in us is our hope of glory. He wants to grow us into His image, to direct and equip us to live worthy of His Name.

When I fail, He doesn’t turn me away. He just picks me up again and goes on working with me. I think it was The Shack that suggested God, instead of being put off when someone rejected Him again, counted it as one less rejection left until the person finally chose right. What a comforting perspective.

As the Apostle Paul would say, that doesn’t mean we should be slack and keep going our own ways. But if we’re doing our best and it’s not enough, we can rejoice that God isn’t finished with us yet.

Father God, You are holy and we worship You. Because You love us so much, we want to please You by living righteous lives. Thank You so much for the Holy Spirit who helps us, and for Your patience and mercy to forgive us and to continue the work You’ve started in each of our lives.

Our song this week can encourage us all: Brandon Heath’s “Wait and See (Not Finished With Me Yet).”

**Paul: Moulded by His Message, Charles Price (Kingsway Publications, 2001) page 116.

All I Have to Give

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Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Mark 12:41-44, NIV*

This verse has been with me all week, and I love how Jesus sees the heart and understands the whole story. I’m sure anyone else watching this lady drop in her two coins made two assumptions: 1 – two tiny coins have no value, and 2 – this was all the extra she had to give.

Not so. Jesus said she gave everything she had to live on. And He said it was of great value. That means the attitude behind it was pure. We don’t know what she was thinking, but it obviously wasn’t “let me throw away these worthless bits of metal and go home to die alone.”

Somehow, she was trusting God to meet her needs, and she was loving Him enough to offer all she had. She knew it had no external value, but God could use it if she simply gave.

Today is a low-energy day for me. Not a down day, just let me crawl back to bed. I have nothing to offer, at least nothing that looks to have any value. But I’m inspired by this poor widow who also had nothing to give.

On an alert, energetic day, do I really have much to offer the King of the Universe? Perhaps today it’s just more obvious.

Father God, nothing we can give would enrich or assist You in its own right, but Your grace invites us to offer ourselves with persistent, persevering, patient trust… and with willing hearts. Thank You for giving us value and purpose. Please take our offerings, feeble though they may be, and use them—use us—for Your kingdom. Because of Jesus, Amen.

Our song this week is by David Crowder, sung here by Passion: “You Alone.”

Better than Offerings

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The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!”
Mark 12:32-33, The Message*

Before I opened the Bible today, I was thanking God for His love. It’s so wonderful that He loves each of us—loves us—and that it’s unconditional. Nothing I can do will make Him love me any more or any less.

But in response to that love, I want to please Him. To bless Him, maybe. That’s where what I do makes a difference.

Sometimes I think once people get over the obstacle of thinking we have to earn God’s love by our performance, there’s a danger in thinking good works don’t matter. We’re saved by grace, not works.

What we do—on the outside and in our hearts—does matter. Loving God, loving others, shows that our relationships with God matter. It lets us grow in our faith.

And it pleases the Father more than offerings or sacrifices. For me, that’s reason enough.

Father, there are no words to thank You for loving me. Please help my heart to truly grasp that Your love is deep, unchanging and unearned. Help me love You, and help me love those around me. Give me a desire to please You—not because it could make You love me more, but to bless Your heart.

Let’s take Paul Baloche’s song, “Offering,” as our prayer today.

Knowing God’s Nearness Today

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Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24, NIV*

As I prayed for a friend who has serious health trouble, the Holy Spirit seemed to prompt me to ask the Father to reassure her that He’d be with her whatever the future brings, but also that she’d know His nearness today.

We all long for some kind of reassurance for the future – specifically that things will be fine – but God asks us to focus on today. That’s the whole “living in the moment” thing I’m still trying to learn.

Definitely, we need a solid faith that God knows what lies ahead and can deal with it, but we’re not in the future. We’re in the present. And as Jesus said, today has enough troubles of its own. (Matthew 6:34)

Father, I’m so thankful that You know what tomorrow holds. Nothing will catch You off guard. Help me to trust the future to You and to live in the present – knowing You’re with me. Open my eyes to what you want to do through me today, who You want to touch. Help me enjoy Your company on the journey.

This week’s song is the classic “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” sung here by the group Selah.

Peace in Trials

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Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:6-8, NIV*

Reading these verses in 2009, it occurs to me that troubled times are hardly a new thing. Personally and globally, they come and go. Just as they did for King David and the people of Israel.

David found peace in the midst of fearful situations by trusting God. He couldn’t change what was going on, but he anchored his faith in the One who could.

It reminds me of the little girl I read about, who was afraid of water but trusted her mother to carry her safely through it.

Michael Hyatt shares a quote from Max Lucado, taken from his new book, Fearless. Max writes,

Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain? Envision the day when you can trust more and fear less. Can you imagine your life without fear?

This one’s on my to-read list for sure!

Fear steals our peace, and makes us feel helpless. Fear is not from God, but faith is.

The Apostle Paul says “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7, NIV* ). God gave us a spirit of confidence in Him.

Father, as I look around at the fighting, the economy, the sickness…help me remember I’m not alone. You’ve given me Your Spirit. Help me—teach me—to live confident in You. You are more powerful than anything the world or the evil one can dish out, and nothing can separate me from Your love.

Let’s sing to God, “You Are My Strong Tower,” done here by Kutless.

Jesus is in My Boat

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But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat… the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
They said, “Twelve.”
“And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?”
“Seven.”
He said, “Do you still not get it?”
Mark 8:13-21, MSG*

The disciples have a loaf of bread. Jesus has recently demonstrated that He can multiply a little food to feed a lot of people. Yet they’re hung up on not having enough.

But Jesus is in the boat with them! If they stop to think, they’ll realize He’s all they need.

Many times I feel inadequate or uncertain about situations, afraid I’ll mess up or won’t do well. That fear can freeze me up and become self-fulfilling. I feel alone.

These verses tell me something precious: Jesus is in my boat, and He’ll be all I need.

Whether it’s energy, love, ideas: whatever’s needed, no matter how small my loaf, I need to offer it to Jesus, and to remember what He can do.

Father, I know You promised to never leave us, and You’ve given us the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts. Forgive me for the times I panic and believe the enemy’s lies. Thank You for using these verses to finally help me see I’m never alone. Help me remember and be confident in the truth that Jesus is in my boat, and that He is enough.

Our song this week is my prayer: “Presence (My Heart’s Desire)” by the newsboys, from their Devotion CD.

Janet Sketchley

Writing Christian Mysteries & Suspense