Tag Archives: Devotional

Handle With Care

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Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15, NIV*

Don’t you love it when God takes a verse you’ve known for years and shows you something new in it?

What does it mean to correctly handle the word of truth?

Well, if we prayerfully study the Bible, mindful of context and culture, looking for what God really says instead of for ways to justify our own opinions, we’re learning to handle it correctly. We can learn to live by its precepts and to trust God’s character. (And we need to learn how to share it appropriately as God leads, in a loving and non-aggressive manner, but that’s another blog post.)

This week I’ve seen another layer of meaning. Although it may be blindingly obvious to everyone else, my Wednesday posts are where I share what God is teaching me, so here goes:

To correctly handle the word of truth, we have to believe it.

Not just believe intellectually that it’s the inspired, inerrant Word of God, but believe the promises God whispers to our hearts and spirits.

Believe God instead of believing the lies.

If I’m feeling scared, am I going to believe the fear and its many whispered lies about inadequacy and failure, or believe the truth? God is with me. In Christ I can do all things. And if I fail, He can do something with the pieces and He will still love me.

Feeling down, will I believe what that insinuates about my worth or will I receive the truth that God delights in me?

Last week’s post was about not believing the lies. And I’ve posted before about not believing our feelings. I don’t think I’ve clearly seen until now that not only do the feelings often lie, but that we have a choice over which source we’ll believe.

Promise-keeping God, thank You for Your written Word. Help us recognize Your truth, and help us to use that truth in defence against the lies of the enemy, of the culture around us, and our own feelings and misunderstandings. Help us believe You, not just in our minds, but in our hearts and spirits. Help us act on the truth You give, so that others can see the difference You make.

∞

 “You Shine” by Brian Doerksen asks why we should be afraid or discouraged when God is Who He is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEuuoqMsD9Y&feature=related

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Believing the Truth

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We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV*

Tuesday morning, yesterday now, I curled up with my Bible and journal, tea at hand, reminding the Lord that I still didn’t have anything for today’s post.

Since He nudged me into blogging in 2008, He’s given me a devotional thought to share each week. Sometimes it comes early, sometimes it’s pretty close to the finish line, but He provides every time.

I don’t fret about it anymore, although I do like a few days’ breathing space in case something else in my schedule goes boink. So no stress on that account, but something else was bothering me this time.

When I tried to read the day’s psalm, my spirit felt tight, shrink-wrapped. Instead of pushing on, I stopped to pray. “Lord, there’s some kind of blockage. I feel… well… like You’re holding out on me.”

Everything seemed to hush.

Okay.

I knew that lie! It’s so old, it goes back to the Garden of Eden.

Truth defeats the lie, so I asked God to give me a verse to counter it. I knew He wasn’t holding out on me, because He’s not like that. He gives good gifts. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17, NIV*)  That was my answer, although I didn’t remember the reference.

And if we ask Him for bread, He won’t give us a stone.

“Recognize the lie—defeat it with truth.” I’m hearing that a lot lately. It’s one of the things God is working on in me, but it’s also something to share today. I’m not the only one learning this particular lesson.

God who is holy, faithful and true, You know we’ve accepted lies and they’ve diminished us. Some of them are so rooted-in that we think they’re true. Shine the light of Your Word into our darkest places, reveal the deceit, and help us to replace it with Your truth. Teach us how to believe and rely on Your Word.

∞

Jonny Diaz’ song, “More Beautiful You,” counters one type of lies we face. The line “Don’t buy the lies” applies to them all…

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

How Irritating Are We to God?

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The LORD said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.

The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?”
Numbers 17:10-14, NIV*

Do you ever think about how irritating it is for God to put up with us?

Yes, He loves us. He wants to rescue us from the mess we’ve dug ourselves into—even at the cost of His own Son’s life—but so many times we just don’t get it.

I’ve been reading the account of Moses, how God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to bring them into the promised land: a place of peace and safety where they won’t be slaves anymore.

All they do is grumble and complain and wish they were back under Pharaoh’s thumb. The context of today’s passage is that some of the people accused Moses and Aaron of taking too much authority, of elevating themselves as better than the rest.

God settled it in dramatic fashion, destroying the usurpers. The people hurled more accusations, and God sent a plague. You can read the whole account in Numbers 16.

So God told Moses to get a staff from each of the tribal leaders, including Aaron. “The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.” (Numbers 17:5, NIV*)

Next day, when Moses collected the staffs, Aaron’s “had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.” (Numbers 17:8, NIV*) The others remained inert sticks of wood.

All this to give the people an enduring sign of approved leadership, so they’d quit complaining and would not die. And what do they immediately do?

God’s trying to protect them and they yell, “We’re all gonna die!” And they exaggerate: “We can’t even go near the tabernacle now!”

What if they’d trusted and obeyed?

What if we trusted and obeyed, instead of misunderstanding and overreacting?

Holy and patient God, how simple life would be if we’d just let You shepherd us, instead of trying to be in charge of our own lives. You tell us to trust You and not rely on our own understanding. But like sheep we’ve all gone astray. Teach us to seek You first, to trust You. To stop ascribing frightening motives to You and instead remember You are the only trustworthy one. Help us believe You instead of trusting our own fallible understanding.

∞

Todd Agnew’s song, “Shepherd,” speaks to where we too often find ourselves.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Source of Our Worth

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The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

[Jesus] replied… “I have given you authority… However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:17-20, NIV*

No wonder the disciples are pumped: their mission succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. That’s a good thing. And I don’t think Jesus is rebuking their excitement. I think He’s giving them perspective.

Oswald Chambers interprets Jesus’ words here as “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” (My Utmost for His Highest, August 30: “Usefulness or Relationship?)

I’ve been reading about the damage perfectionism does, how much harm comes from basing our worth on how well or poorly we perform, and what a widespread problem it is even among Christians. (The Search for Significance, by Robert S. McGee)

From that angle, I see this verse as an antidote I can use when I don’t meet my own (or others’) achievement standards.

Step one: seek God’s direction first, not my own or someone else’s arbitrary standard.

Step two: rely on God’s strength.

Step three: celebrate success, acknowledge and learn from failure. Ask God’s opinion.

Step four: know my value isn’t performance-based but redemption-based.

Mighty and righteous Creator God, all our righteousness is only filthy rags compared to Your perfection. We can’t earn Your love or approval. Thank You for Your grace that redeemed us and made us acceptable—adopted—valued. Help us truly believe this, at the deepest level. Help us find our worth in You.

∞

This week’s song is “He Knows My Name,” from Geoff Moore’s Speak to Me album.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

A Sign Between Us

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Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.’
Exodus 31:13, NIV*

For a people liberated from slavery, being commanded to observe a weekly day of rest would be a definite switch.

The Old Testament is filled with visual aids: markers and activities that remind the people who God is and what He has done for them. Exodus 31:13-18 twice calls the Sabbath “a sign between us”.

Mark Buchanan (The Rest of God, Spiritual Rhythm) said recently that the Sabbath is the only one of the Ten Commandments that Christians don’t seem to think we need to keep. Not that we’re perfect at the other nine, but at least we either try or feel guilty about failing.

Ignoring the taint that legalism has given the Sabbath, I see some benefits to this gift from God:

  • work without a break is not healthy
  • identifying ourselves by our work isn’t healthy either
  • allowing work to take first place—making it an idol—is dangerously unhealthy
  • abstaining from work lets us be still and know that God is God, and it lets us seek Him

I think this is where the Sabbath (for Christians, Sunday or whatever day our work schedules allow us to observe) is a sign between us and God. It’s a spiritual marker that celebrates our freedom from slavery to the world’s ways and praises the God who rescued us.

And it reminds us that our God is good.

Holy and Almighty God, who chose Israel to show Your glory to the world, thank You for Jesus’ blood that makes a way for all people to belong to You. Thank You for the gift of Sabbath rest and its benefits to us. In the bigger picture, it’s still about revealing Your glory to all who can see: You rescue. Your way is best. You are a good Master.

∞

Brian Doerksen’s song, “Enter the Rest of God,” is a gift too. He’s talking about way more than Sabbath rest, but let it be a balm to your spirit today.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Personal Holiness

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You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
Leviticus 20:26, NIV*

God chose the people of Israel as a living example or sign to the rest of the world of what relationship with Him would look like. They didn’t do very well over the long haul because they weren’t very faithful.

I’m not sure our churches today are doing much better, and Christians have the Holy Spirit within us instead of depending on hearing Him speak through the occasional prophet.

We’re meant as a sign, and we forget that. We get so caught up in our needs and desires that we miss the bigger picture.

Personal holiness is important. Legalism and rigidity aren’t appropriate (certainly not attractive displays of the joy of belonging to the Lord) but we need to live in obedient trust in God. We need to “learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” (Matthew 11:28, MSG**)

We need to be good. Not because we must, but because in Jesus Christ—and only in Him—we can. And living in confident trust in Him even in the hard times shows others the truth about God. It can show us too.

Holy and perfect God, thank You for the privilege of belonging to You, and for the grace that washes us clean. We could never earn the right to be Your children, but You give it freely. Help us to be holy, by Your grace, as You are holy.

∞

Here are The Imperials with “Not To Us, O Lord.”

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

**The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Reminded of God’s Holiness

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Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
Exodus 19:18-19, NIV*

The people of Israel have gathered at Mount Sinai three months after leaving Egypt. They’ve had to consecrate themselves for three days before this meeting, and they still can’t be near enough to God to even touch the mountain—on pain of death.

Many Old Testament passages emphasize God’s holiness and power, the splendour of His majesty that make Him unapproachable except by His chosen few like Moses.

Since New Testament days, believers can come to Him in boldness and confidence.

God didn’t mellow over the years or decide to have an open-door policy. From the very beginning He wanted a close relationship with us. Our sin broke that fellowship.

When we read passages like this one from Exodus, it’s a good reminder of how holy and terrible our God really is. A good reminder to cultivate a holy fear of Him even while we’ve been granted safe access through Jesus Christ. A good reminder to live holy before Him in the Spirit’s strength, and a good reminder that He who is for us is greater than whatever is against us.

Holy and majestic God, who dwells in inapproachable light, we could never be clean or pure enough on our own to approach You. Thank You more than we can say for Your grace poured out through Your Son to redeem us and to clothe us in His righteousness. Thank You for the wonder of restored relationship with You. Help us not to take it for granted, and let the open door to Your throne room not lull us into forgetting the holiness that dwells within.

∞

To help us think about God’s holiness today, here’s Third Day with “God of Wonders.”

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Praying in Trust

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The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarrelled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?”
Exodus 17:2, NIV*

God had already given them a daily supply of manna in the desert. Now He patiently—and miraculously—provided water from a rock.

And he called the place Massah [testing] and Meribah [quarrelling] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?
Exodus 17:7, NIV*

The Israelites knew, better than we often do, that if God is present He can help. And they weren’t subject to our common fear that we’ve already asked too much and used up His gifts for us.

I think they feared abandonment. “If trouble hits, does that mean He left us?”

They knew they had nothing in themselves to convince Him to stay. They didn’t think about His character that keeps Him faithful to His commitments. Of His covenant that they would be His people and He would be their God.

We often need to be reminded of the same thing. As we persist in prayer, the proper attitude is not to nag for answers but to pray continually in thanksgiving and confidence, and keep alert to recognize the answers… especially if they come in small stages.

Father God, help me remember that You’re leading me. Help me trust Your character and Your promises and rely on You. Whatever my needs, I have Jesus. All I have to do is ask for help and be alert to recognize the answer. I understand it may well not come in the form I’d like, but I pray with confidence in Your perfect wisdom and timing.

∞

Here’s Robin Mark singing Brian Doerksen’s “Faithful One.”

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Confident that God is at Work

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Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendour of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

   “Give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures forever.”

As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
2 Chronicles 20:21b-22, NIV*

The attacking armies were overwhelming. King Jehoshapat cried out to God for help and received one of God’s more dramatic answers:

Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. … You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give…. (2 Chronicles 20:15b, 17a, NIV*)

I love this story. Jehoshaphat led the army out with praise, trusting God to keep His promise.

We don’t often know when a crisis is approaching, and even then God rarely tells us what He’s going to do and how it’ll turn out. But we can know He’s always with us, at work and in control.

What if we went into each day, each situation, with praise going ahead of us? Expecting to see God working, even when we don’t know how or where?

As Violet Nesdoly said recently at Other Food: Daily Devos, “let’s position ourselves under the spout of God’s blessing … no matter what our situation looks like on the outside.” (see the full post: “God’s Blessings, Man’s Defraudings”)

God promised to never leave nor forsake us. We can go forward in confident praise and trust that He’s working—whether we see it or not doesn’t change the fact of His active presence.

I suspect that, in the looking, we  might be more likely to see Him at work and to respond with gratitude.

God who saves and shepherds us, help me rely on Your grace and power. Whether I see trouble approaching or think I’m safe, help me remember that You are with me. Help me trust Your plan. Train my spirit to step out in praise and to recognize and give thanks for Your touch.

∞

Here’s Don Francisco’s song about Jehoshaphat. You can take the catchy praise chorus into your day and be blessed.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

God is Present

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When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
Genesis 28:16, NIV*

This is the Jacob who stole his brother’s birthright and was now fleeing for his life under the guise of visiting extended family to seek a wife. Not exactly abiding in God’s presence at this point in his life, was he?

On the road, “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” (Genesis 28:12, NIV*) And he saw God, who spoke to him.

God had been with Jacob all along, and Jacob hadn’t known it. Or lived like it. But when he recognized God, he worshipped.

It’s so easy to worship God in church and daily devotions, but then to go into daily life as if He’s not present. Violet Nesdoly touched on this recently at Other Food: Daily Devos when she quoted Nancy Pearcey’s book, Total Truth: “Sadly, many Christians … give cognitive assent to the great truths of Scripture but they make their practical, day-to-day decisions based only on what they can see, hear, measure, and calculate.”

Violet was talking about choosing to live daily life based on God’s Word, but the principle applies to living with awareness of God. You can read the whole post here: “Word-Directed  Living.”

I’ve seen a few references lately to a book called The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel. One of the questions Craig asks on his website is “Do you live your life as if God is in the room, or do you assume He’s not paying attention?”

It’s so easy to forget, or to get distracted. If we’re not vigilant, intentional, and reminding ourselves to rely on God, we can act as if we’re on our own.

Promise-Keeping God, You said You’d never leave nor forsake us and yet we sometimes live like you’ve set us loose. Forgive us for being so easily distracted by life, and remind us of Your nearness. Help us learn to live daily in Your presence, confident in You and following Your leading.

∞

Our song is Michael Card’s “Emmanuel.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlXM98lRwwI&feature=related

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.