Tag Archives: Devotional

Following the Leader

In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.
Exodus 15:13, NIV*

This is part of the Israelites’ song after God brought them through the Red Sea on dry land and let the sea flow back to drown the enemies on their trail.

God rescued the people, and the word “redeemed” here reminds me that His work with Israel in the Old Testament was often a prophetic picture of His work to rescue and redeem us all through Jesus.

Today’s verse declares that the God who has shown Himself mighty to save is able to lead His people into the land He has promised. They didn’t make it easy for Him, and He had to keep reminding them to obey Him.

He led them out, but because of disobedience, that generation lost the chance to be led in to the Promised Land.

Believers in Christ face the same danger. He’s rescued us from bondage to sin’s destructive ways. Let’s not drop our guards now and get stuck in the wasteland, or what Mark Buchanan calls the “borderlands” in his book, Your God is Too Safe.

We need to trust and honour Jesus as Lord as well as Saviour. All the way into the deepening relationship He that promises, and that we won’t fully experience in this life. But let’s get further up and further in, as much as we can.

Our God and Shepherd, Strong Deliverer and Redeemer, thank You for saving us and promising us abundant life. Help us rely on Your unfailing love and live in trusting obedience to Your guidance.

∞

Our song is Carolyn Arends’ “Go With God.”

Pleasing God

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Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24, NIV*

I’m still thinking about “seek God first” and how that applies to my life. These verses talk about seeking His approval first—before that of others.

Motivation.

Why am I doing what I do, or not doing what I don’t? For His glory and praise, or to please myself or others?

If I raise my hands in worship at church… is it to please Him? Or to defy those who stay still? If I keep my hands down, is it sensitivity to my neighbour… or fear of what someone might say?

That’s a silly example, maybe, but we all know about small things and small minds…. Seriously, the little choices can matter as much as the big ones, because God sees the heart.

What am I thinking about when I’m slicing strawberries for jam? Grumbly thoughts about how such tiny berries make the job take longer, or thankful ones about fresh strawberries and how sweet the small ones are?

When I’m tired at the end of the day, does it please God if I slip into a mental pity party? Or does He still want me praising Him?

Father God, You know me better than I know myself. You see my heart and deepest thoughts. Help me to seek Your approval first—to want to please You most. Help me take every thought captive and to examine it to see if it’s pleasing to You. I can’t help what thoughts come in, but in the strength of Your Spirit I can evict those that aren’t welcome to stay.

∞

Here’s a song that’s new to me, from a new-to-me Canadian group called Christ Our Life: “Search Me, Oh God.” This song and others from the same group are available for free download at Free Godly Christian Music.

Who’s Bringing the Water?

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[Moses] and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”
Numbers 20:10, NIV*

When God called him to lead the Israelites to freedom, Moses was a man deeply aware of his own inadequacy for the task. God gave him power to do miraculous signs, and promised to be with him, but he still resisted.

Fast-forward to the Desert of Zin. Moses has led the people out of Egypt, they’ve balked at entering the Promised Land and so God has sentenced them to roam the wilderness until the faithless generation has died. Moses and Aaron’s sister Miriam has died. The people—surprise!—are complaining because there’s no water.

Never mind the fact that God has provided water before now.

Moses has relied on God’s power every step of the way. He has stood between God and the people when God was angry with them, but this time it’s Moses who’s angry, and he loses it. One frustration-laden sentence, one whack of staff against stone, and Moses forfeits his own entrance into the Promised Land.

God said it was “Because you did not trust in me enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites.” (Numbers 20:12, NIV*)

It looks like such a little slip to me, but God has the full picture and is the righteous judge. One thing I see here is “must we” bring the water? It’s God who supplied the power and the water, but Moses is taking on the responsibility, the burden—the credit—for the miracle.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “seek God first” and from that perspective I see an application to my own life. When there’s a need or a demand, the natural human instinct is to meet it in my own strength and from my own resources.

God wants me to look to Him first, and to respond out of His equipping… His strength, His wisdom, His resources. If I try to do it on my own, I’m getting in the way like Moses did. And I get the whole “Moses burnout complex and attitude” if I’m not careful. Not pretty.

Creator and Sustainer God, You never meant us to rely on ourselves, but we do. You said to trust in You with all our hearts, and not to rely on our own understanding. Forgive me for taking on more than You intended, and teach me to seek You first in everything. Help me trust You enough to honour You as holy in the sight of those around me. Help me rely on Your provision instead of trying to manufacture enough resources on my own.

∞

Here’s a light-hearted look at Moses’ mission: Larry Norman’s “Moses in the Wilderness” set to flannelgraph images. Love it!

Being Still, and Knowing

Scattered Thoughts

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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 10:5b, NIV*

Take captive every thought…

Paul is calling Christians to live “in the world but not of the world” and not to judge by human standards but by God’s. He’s talking about spiritual warfare and tearing down everything that “sets itself up against the knowledge of God”.

There’s a fierceness to his tone even though he starts with “By the humility and graciousness of Christ I appeal to you.”

For me, the idea of taking every thought captive has meant not allowing myself to dwell on negatives and other temptations, but choosing to think about good and positive things. In reading Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts I’ve come to apply the verse by choosing gratitude instead of ingratitude.

But what if there’s more?

Take captive every thought…

Sometimes when I’m tired, this means pulling my thoughts together and marshalling enough mental energy to carry on in His strength.

Far more frequently than that, it means not letting my thoughts skitter away in all directions. Some of them rabbit-trail, others try to get into the future ahead of me.

“Take captive” is a good picture of what’s needed: they can bolt like a herd of wild horses, and I need a firm hand to lasso them and get them back into the corral.

Father, I want to live in the present, grounded and aware, seeking You first. I can’t do this on my own. Help me bring every thought and focus in line with You. Help me take one thing at a time, walking with You, open to hear anything You might say.

∞

Here’s Michael Card’s “In Stillness and Simplicity.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI39pI7GNow

God Has Plans for Us

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The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Psalm 138:8a, NLT*

I love David’s quiet assurance in this psalm. There’s danger all around, he’s calm in his confidence that A) God has plans for his life, and B) God will fulfill those plans despite circumstances which give evidence to the contrary.

The psalm says nothing about what God’s plans for David are, or even whether David knows them or not. I don’t know if this psalm was before or after he became king, because he definitely knew that plan.

God has plans and purposes for each of us, sometimes large-scale leadership roles, but also smaller ones in the everyday.

And we don’t need advance notice of what they are, although we try to insist on it. It’s enough that He knows, and that we be ready and recognize them when it’s time.

Father God, help me be content with the step I’m on. Help me trust You to make the next step clear when I need to take it. Forgive me for those times I’ve strained to see ahead and felt entitled to know what’s next. You know. Let that be enough.

∞

Here’s a song of trust in God from Robin Mark: “All is Well,” from his Year of Grace album. It’s a long one, but it’s beautiful.

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Dependence on God

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Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud.
Psalm 138:6, NLT*

This reminds me of the psalm where the writer would rather be a gatekeeper in the Lord’s house than to dwell (presumably in luxury) in the tents of the wicked.

Why do we get so caught up in wanting it both ways? We long for closeness with God, but at the same time we want to be powerful enough to handle things on our own.

We’re not God, we can’t do it all, and in the grand scheme of things we’re pretty insignificant. But He loves us. And He cares for us. And He works His strength through us for far greater impact than if it came from us.

Dependence on Him doesn’t diminish us. It completes us and lets us live in close relationship with the One who embraces us as His sons and daughters.

Father God, help me quiet myself in Your care. Help me remember to live in confidence in You instead of wanting to put confidence in myself. Help me delight in what You’re doing.

∞

Our song this week is from Steven Curtis Chapman: “God is God,” from the album Declaration.

Unless the LORD

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Unless the LORD builds the house,
the builders labour in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127:1-2, NIV*

We need God in it—in each day, in each part of it—at a foundational level. Or there’s no point in what we’re doing.

I know that, but somehow this psalm reminded me in a fresh way. Then Jan Cox’s post, “First,” from A Better Way, showed up in my inbox.

Jan challenged me to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and she quoted the previous day’s entry for My Utmost for His Highest, which I’d only half processed. Oswald Chambers had written:

So often we mar God’s designed influence through us by our self-conscious effort to be consistent and useful. Jesus says that there is only one way to develop spiritually, and that is by concentration on God. [My Utmost for His Highest, May 18]

Concentration on God. Seeking Him first in the day and in each endeavour.

A comment at the end of the “First” post led me to the Pursuing Heart blog, where Cherry had posted “The Source of Beauty.” She also referred to that same Oswald Chambers quote, and she said:

How often do we put our focus in the wrong place? …Forgetting that all that is needed is to let our roots go down deep, and our hearts to reach up to Him… I am called back to this simplicity over and over again.

Simplicity.

All our running around, self-directed and self-powered because we’ve forgotten to let God be God, in first place in our lives. We’ve complicated it. And added stress.

In vain.

Father God, our Creator and Sustainer, forgive us for the times we run ahead of You. Quiet our spirits to seek You first. Remind us we’re never too busy not to pray. Root us deep in Your love. Show us where You’re working, and how we can best work with You.

∞

Here’s a new-to-me but classic hymn, sung by the Antrim Mennonite Choir: “Day by Day.”

For the Sake of the House of the Lord

Expecting God’s Mercy

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Turn to me and have mercy on me,
as you always do to those who love your name.
Psalm 119:132, NIV*

Do you hear the absolute trust and confidence in God’s character and in His commitment to care?

“As You always do.”

We may not have a clue of what God will do, or how or when, but we can know that He will always keep His word. For those of us who love Him, part of our responsibility is to actively trust Him, and to keep alert to recognize His mercy when it comes.

Or, as Oswald Chambers expressed it in My Utmost for His Highest, we need to live in “Gracious Uncertainty”:

Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in—but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, April 29. [Click the link to read his entire message—it will bless you.]

It isn’t easy for people who like to see, touch, and forecast our world. People who are used to instant fixes. But that’s how God works, and it trains our spirits to trust Him.

Sovereign and loving God, thank You for Your Word that teaches who You are and what You’ve said. Help us in our unbelief, increase our faith, and open our spiritual eyes and ears to notice Your touch on our lives and circumstances. Help us to give You praise, and to live in this “gracious uncertainty” that is certain of You—for our own benefits and for a demonstration of Your goodness to the people around us.

∞

Here’s a new-to-me version of Ira Stanphill’s classic hymn, “I Don’t Know About Tomorrow,” sung by Ernie Haase and Signature Sound.

Janet Sketchley

Writing Christian Mysteries & Suspense