Tag Archives: Pray

Day Fifty-Four: Open Arms

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READ:  Read the passage several times.

2 Chronicles 30:1, 5-9

(1, 5) Then Hezekiah invited all of Israel and Judah, with personal letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to The Temple of God in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God…. And they sent out the invitation from one end of the country to the other, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north:  “Come and celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God in Jerusalem,”  No one living had ever celebrated it properly.

(6-9) The king gave the orders, and the couriers delivered the invitation from the king and his leaders throughout Israel and Judah.  The invitation read:  “O Israelites!  Come back to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he can return to you who have survived the predations of the kings of Assyria.  Don’t repeat the sins of your ancestors who turned their backs on God, the God of their ancestors who then brought them to ruin–you can see the ruins all around you.  Don’t be pigheaded as your ancestors were.  Clasp God’s outstretched hand.  Come to his Temple of holy worship, consecrated for all time.  Serve God, your God.  You’ll no longer be in danger of his hot anger.  If you come back to God, your captive relatives and children will be treated compassionately and allowed to come home.  Your God is gracious and kind and won’t snub you–come back and he’ll welcome you with open arms.

THINK:  As you read, listen for a new perspective on the way life is, or the way God is, that stands out to you today.  Perhaps you will notice that God can have dangerously “hot anger,” yet under other circumstances he is tender and open to a people who have walked far away from intimacy with him.  Maybe you’ll be struck by the pigheadedness that kept some Israelites from taking “God’s outstretched hand.”

PRAY:  Study the perspective you’ve absorbed, looking at it from different angles and holding it up against different experiences you’ve hand.  Do you ever fear approaching God because you worry he might snub you?  Have you ever refused grace?  Consider a specific situation.  Then become aware of God’s presence with you.  Tell him what was going on during that time.  How does the God of this passage (offering his “outstretched hand” to the Israelites) compare to your image of God in that situation?

I have frequently worried that God might snub me and, many times, that fear has kept me from approaching him boldly.  It has kept me from feeling like I could hold Him to His word.  The Bible is full of promises.  I know this.  But it’s so much easier to believe that those promises will hold true for others than for me, especially when I’m in the throes of a pity party.  I constantly have to remind myself of the verse that says that God is no respecter of persons.  I know that verse was referring to judgment, but wouldn’t it also extend to his promises.  If His grace is sufficient for you, then it must be sufficient for me too.  If his provision, his timing, his love are always perfect for you, then, they must always be perfect for me, as well.  So then…that means the problem is not God, but me.  Refusing to reach out and grab hold of God’s hand because I fear He will snub me says more about me than it does about him.  It says I have a faith problem.

A friend of mine once gave me an analogy that, I think, fits this situation perfectly.

Imagine there’s a chair in front of you.  Do you ever wonder if the chair is going to hold you up before you sit in it?  If it looks rickety, maybe.  But if it looks new, if it looks sound, you just sit.  You don’t stop and wonder.  That’s faith.  It isn’t faith until you place your bottom on the seat and let it have your full weight.  It’s not faith to think the chair can hold you.  It’s not even faith to know that the manufacturer says it can hold up to 200 pounds.  Faith comes with the sitting and resting on the chair, trusting that it won’t crumble under you and let you fall hard on your backside.

I have to admit:  for a huge chunk of my life, I have not had that kind of faith.  I’ve had the dip-my-toes-in-the-water kind of faith.  Yes, I can swim.  But, yes, I could also drown.  I’ve let fear of drowning keep me from plunging into the depths of this walk of Christianity.  This time 18+ months ago, I was operating on faith.  I took a plunge.  A scary one.  And for the better part of the last 18 months, it has felt like a sat on a chair that gave way underneath my weight.  But I think what I’m finally starting to see is that I had constructed the chair that I tried to sit on.  Jesus was not my foundation.  No…my foundation had been the carefully constructed plan I had made for my life, and that had pretty much worked out the way I thought it would.  Sure, there had been times when all I had to go on was actual faith.  Many times.  What I have discovered over this last year-and-a-half is that those time when I was operating purely on faith in the Lord were times when I was struggling, times when I knew there was no way I could help myself out of the situation I was in.  All I could do was obey God, every day, and pray that He knew what was best for me and that His plan would work itself out.  And it did.  Every.  Single.  Time.  That simple fact is the one thing that has kept me afloat since this whole thing started.  Everything hard I’ve ever had to go through, for which I’ve had nothing to rely on other than God, has worked out just exactly the way it needed to.  And, it was not over one second sooner than it needed to be, and it didn’t last one second longer than He needed it to.

Have I snubbed God’s grace?  Sure.  Who hasn’t?  But the one area where I have not, the one area that I never really realized that grace was active and abundant in my life:  perseverance.  It takes grace to persevere.  There have been many days where, by the end of the day, I was “SO DONE.”  But the grace of God is that tomorrow does not have to be like today.  And I can get up and do what I need to do tomorrow because I need to get up and do it.  I have children at home, watching me.  If I give up, what kind of example will I be setting?  Do they see me low?  Of course.  There have been days when I have told them that I just need a “mental health day” and they have to go to their rooms and I go to mine, and “we” let me recover.  My youngest is not fond of having to spend too much time alone, so this is practically punishment for him.  This means that I have to use a lot of finesse when I am breaking this news to him.  Lots of reassurance that he is NOT in trouble is often needed.  So, I cannot take these days often.  Besides, it feels indulgent.  And not in a good way.  I know, deep down, what I really NEED most on those days is to get up and do something for someone else.  But sometimes, it takes me a little bit to remember that.  So, once I do, I get up, get over myself, and get on with life.  I think that is a measure of grace as well.

So, dear readers, I don’t know where you are in life, right now.  Maybe you are going through a hard time and feel like nothing is making sense and like you are struggling just to make it through the day.  Maybe you are a mom, living for naptime and bedtime because you feel like you are going to go crazy.  Maybe you are a dad just hoping you don’t screw up your kids because you are the man of the house and there is more pressure associated with this job than you ever dreamed.  I have just one prayer for you, just one word of encouragement.

PERSEVERE.

Keep going.  Don’t stop.  God will meet you every single step of the way.  When you find that He isn’t meeting you, or you feel like you haven’t heard from Him in a while, pull back from your “schedule” and see if maybe you haven’t run ahead of God.  He has plenty of grace for the step you are on, but you have to stay on the step He wants you on.  Otherwise, you are just running on your own steam.  And, eventually, you are going to run out of steam altogether.

LIVE:  Close your time today by saying the Lord’s Prayer.  Speak the words aloud very slowly.  Picture the righteous but compassionate God described in this passage, the One who is hearing your prayer now:  “Our Father in heaven, reveal who you are.  Set the world right, do what’s best–as above, so below.  Keep us alive with three square meals.  Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.  Keep up safe from ourselves and the Devil.  You’re in charge!  You can do anything you want!  You’re ablaze with beauty!  Yes.  Yes.  Yes.  (Matthew 6:9-13)

I pray you all have a blessed day!  Take care of yourselves.  And remember, God gives us EACH DAY our DAILY BREAD.  We don’t get to keep yesterday’s bread.  And he won’t lend us the bread for tomorrow.  Trust that he has rationed you just enough bread for today because He loves you fully.  Today.  And because He wants you to trust Him for tomorrow’s ration tomorrow, He has set aside for you a ration for tomorrow as well.  He is already there.  He has a place prepared for you.  So, walk today, trusting that today He’s got you covered; and tomorrow, He will too.

Day Fifty-Three: F.R.O.G. – Fully Rely on God

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READ:  Read this passage aloud slowly.

2 Chronicles 16:7-9

Just after that, Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said, “Because you went for help to the king of Aram and didn’t ask God for help, you’ve lost a victory over the army of the king of Aram.  Didn’t the Ethiopians and Libyans come against you with superior forces, completely outclassing you with their chariots and cavalry?  But you asked God for help and he gave you victory.  God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.  You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God’s help.  Now you’re in trouble–one round of war after another.”

THINK:  Read the passage again slowly.  Previously Asa had been a good king.  After hearing convicting prophecy, he “took a deep breath, then rolled up his sleeves, and went to work” cleaning out the temples (15:8).

(1) Which phrase or idea sticks with you?

…that Asa “went for help to the king of Aram and didn’t ask God for help”

…that “God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him”

…that not relying on God results in “one round of war after another”

…other

(2) Why does that idea stick with you?

(3) The theme of this passage could be summed up in the acronym FROG, standing for Fully Rely On God.  Consider your life – for what large or small issues might you FROG that you have not thought of before?  (Don’t use this passage to beat yourself up; that’s not profitable.  Use it instead as a springboard to ask God for guidance.)

The thing that sticks with me in this passage, because I’ve been so guilty of it over the years, it “You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God’s help.”  There are times when God puts you in the position that you have to go to others for help.  But there are also times when God just wants you to turn to Him.

For instance, there have been times in my marriage when my husband and I have had a plan.  We’ve worked the plan.  Things have gone well.  Then, all of a sudden, someone will come along with an idea that stirs up some of my old insecurities, and I immediately go off-script in an effort to make what we are doing seem less weird to the person I’m talking to.  Once I go off that direction, it can be hard to get me back.  Eventually, I reached a point in my walk with the Lord, that He started letting suggestions and advice from others take their toll on my marriage.  That, in turn, fed into my old insecurities, seeming to justify the fact that I felt that way already.  Things would start going poorly, the insecurity would grow, the plan would go awry, and then, I would have to go to my husband and apologize for not trusting the plan, and then I would have to ask forgiveness from God for not trusting Him.  All of this from trying to please someone other than God.

PRAY:  Thank God that you can fully rely on him.  Admire God for his divine alertness and for how relying on him keeps you out of “trouble – one round of war after another.”  Take your time so that you fully explore your gratitude and admiration.

Abba Father, it is a little embarrassing to admit that what I know of the peace that comes from relying on you far too often has come from having to live through the lack of peace I’ve had from not trusting you.  But, I am thankful that I have that experience to draw off of.  Now, especially.  In a time when I have no idea what in the world to do, and it seems like I’m trying to plan for the future and live day-by-day, both at the same time, and not knowing how in the world that is supposed to look, all I can do is take the next step I feel is being directed by you.  Most days, it makes no sense, though I desperately want it to.  And sometimes, even more than wanting it myself, I wish that I could explain it to others.  If I could make some sense out of things, I could relax a little bit.  But, yes, I hear you tell me:  where would be the need for faith!?

Dear Heavenly Father, for everyone reading who is going through something tonight they really wish they understood, or wish was over, I pray for peace.  I pray for the faith to keep walking.  I pray that they would not pluck up in doubt what they planted in faith.  Give them the strength and grace to keep walking toward you, and toward your plan for their lives, even when they are surrounded by nay-sayers.  Put people in their way who will encourage them to keep searching for your will for their lives, and who will encourage them to pursue that will regardless of whether or not they themselves understand it.

Dear Lord, you exist outside of time and space.  All that is happening to us, has already happened in your timeline.  You know all, you see all, and you have orchestrated all this for our own benefit and your own glory.  Help us to trust that nothing is taking you by surprise.  Help us to remember that, in your timeline, all that is happening to us now has already happened.  Therefore, you already know the beginning from the end, and have our steps ordered in such a way that we will come to the end you want us to come to IF we trust you enough to seek your help and walk in the way you lay out for us!

So, Lord, we believe, but help our unbelief.  Help us to seek you for each step of the way, every day.  And help us to remember, each day, to F.R.O.G. – FULLY RELY ON GOD!

LIVE:  Take some deep breaths and ponder what it would feel like in your gut to rely on God all the time, every day.  Taste the sweetness of reliance so it’s not a chore but the absolute best way to live.

Day Fifty-Two: Dedication Ceremonies

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READ:  2 Chronicles 6:12-18

(12-16) Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took his position at the Altar of God and stretched out his hands. Solomon had made a bronze dais seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high and placed it inside the court; that’s where he now stood.  Then he knelt in full view of the whole congregation, stretched his hands to heaven, and prayed:

God, O God of Israel, there is no God like you in the skies above or on the earth below, who unswervingly keeps covenant with his servants and unfailingly loves them while they sincerely live in obedience to your way.  You kept your word to David my father, your promise.  You did exactly what you promised–every detail.  The proof is before us today!

Keep it up, God, O God of Israel!  Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, “You’ll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel’s throne, on the one condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have.”

(17) O God, God of Israel, let this all happen —

Confirm and establish it!

(18) Can it be that God will actually move in our neighborhood?  Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I’ve built.’

THINK:  King Solomon, son of King David, built the famous temple to the Lord on Mount Zion in Jerusalem as a gathering place for the Jews to worship Yahweh.  It took him years to build this temple, and at its completion he assembled all the people for a public dedication.  To dedicate something is to set it aside for a special purpose.  As you read the dedication prayer of Solomon, notice the gratitude and the humility of the king as he prays.

What precious aspects of your life (for example, people, positions, locations, important events, yourself) do you need to set solely aside for the Lord as a public reminder that all you have belongs to God?  What would it take for you to do that…and with the attitude of Solomon?

One thing that has been difficult for me over the course of this past year is remembering the words of a picture I saw once that says:  “Don’t pluck up in doubt what you planted in faith.”  This has applied to my life in so many ways this past year, but in the pursuit of my education, I have really had to cling tight to those words.  When all this mess started, my plan was to continue with my education until it was done, and then, use it.  I had no idea what else to do.  I still don’t, most of the time.  What I do know is that every time I’ve set out to get a job, something has happened to get in the way.  I’m not talking about part-time work, that’ll allow me to make a little extra cash.  I’m talking about full-time employment so that I can fully support the family.  Surely, that’s what an able-bodied person ought to do.  Yet, every time I’ve put in an application, I’ve been passed over.  I’ve been close on two or three jobs, and something has happened – at the last minute – that stopped me from getting the job.    I still have applications out.  I’m still looking.  But…my practicum starts in the spring, and my internship in the summer.  And both of those are going to need to be paid, or else God is going to have to open other doors that I’m not able to see right now.

PRAY:  Write out a prayer of dedication to God for an individual, situation, event, or position.

Dear Heavenly Father, only You know the plans you have for me right now.  I wish I did, but something tells me that I’d most likely jump the gun and run ahead of your will because I just so desperately want something resembling normal in my life right now.  The thing is:  I’ve never wanted normal.  Not for my Christian walk.  So, please, help me to trust you with these plans.  Keep my eyes open for the opportunities you are making available to me, and help me to know when you are shutting doors that I am tempted to try to push through.  Though there are so many things I should dedicate to you and leave them in your ever-capable hands, right now, I am entrusting my education and my future plans to you.  Help me to leave them there, rather than always trying to snatch them back out of your hands.

In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

LIVE:  Keep your dedication prayer so you can occasionally refer to it.  In fact, if you wish, make a note on your calendar a few weeks from today to reread your prayer.  At that time, think about what’s different in your life due to your dedication.

Day Fifty-One: Our Lives are Mere Shadows

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READ:  David is blessing God in this passage.  To see his entire prayer, read the expanded passage, seeing how he dedicates to God the money and materials generously given by him and all the Israelites for building the temple.

1 Chronicles 29:12-19

(12-13) Riches and glory come from you,

you’re ruler over all;

You hold strength and power in the palm of your hand

to build up and strengthen all.

And here we are, O God, our God, giving thanks to you,

praising your splendid Name.

(14-19) “But me — who am I, and who are these my people, that we should presume to be giving something to you?  Everything comes from you; all we’re doing is giving back what we’ve been given from your generous hand.  As far as you’re concerned, we’re homeless, shiftless wanderers, like our ancestors, our lives are mere shadows, hardly anything to us.  God, our God, all these materials–these piles of stuff for building a house of worship for you, honoring your Holy Name–it all came from you!  I know, dear God, that you care nothing for the surface – you want us, our true selves – and so I have given from the heart, honestly and happily.  And now see all these people doing the same, giving freely, willingly – what a joy!  O God, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this generous spirit alive forever in these people always, keep their hearts set firmly in you.  And give my son Solomon an uncluttered and focused heart so that he can obey what you command, live by your directions and counsel, and carry through with building The Temple for which I have provided.

THINK:  When David talks about our lives as “mere shadows”–that everything we have is actually only being borrowed from God–how does that strike you?  What item do you own, or what relationship do you have, that you hold more tightly that you would a shadow?  Be honest.

So…be honest, huh?!  Well, the one thing that I held the dearest – more dear to my heart than God (remember, I am being honest) – was my relationship with my husband.  Then, my control over my life.  Actually, I guess those two were probably interchangeable.  I’ve realized that in the last year-and-a-half.  I’ve always had a pretty tight grip on most things I love.  It’s hard to learn to let go, or to hold things with an open hand, as some of my friends put it.  The scripture from Job:  the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away comes to mind.  I don’t know, but I’m curious if this last year we’ve been through would’ve been so hard had I not been so determined not to let go of what God was asking of me.

PRAY:  As you approach God in prayer, picture yourself bringing with you the item that is hard to hold loosely.  Talk to God about what keeps you attached to it.  Don’t try to navigate the prayer so that by the end you are letting go of your treasured thing.  Don’t try to force yourself to be less attached to it than you actually are.  Simply talk to God while you imaginatively hold it tightly in your hands, and tell him about why it’s so important to you.  Keep in mind that if you are still in the same position internally at the end of your prayer time, that’s okay.

I find it interesting, and a bit convicting, that this part of the day’s devotional says not to try to manipulate the prayer so that, by the end of it, I am letting go of my treasured thing.  Usually, that is precisely what I end up trying to do because I would rather be “right” than be honest.  Sometimes, honest is not pleasing.  Sometimes, my honest feels down-right nasty.  And I find myself questioning, why on earth, would God listen to a prayer that is not nice, let alone answer one.  A part of me knows that God is more interested in my being able to be honest with him, since honesty is a sign of intimacy in a relationship.  However, the part of me that does not want to be a disappointment, just wants him to be pleased with me.  So…I try to tell Him what I think He would rather hear.  It seems, we are always children in some respects.

Luckily, this part goes on to encourage me not to try to force myself to be less attached to “it” than I actually am.  Good thing!  I would have a hard time not being attached to my husband and marriage.  Especially since I took vows (twice – once in a marriage, and once in a renewal) stating that I would stick with the guy until death we do part.  How can I offer that up to God and pretend that I am not attached to it?  I know, essentially, what I have to do is to not place that marriage in a position above where I place God.  I know that my prayer needs to be that our marriage would honor and glorify God.  But, HONESTLY, most of the time, I just want to live with and grow old with this man.  I know that God has not taken that away from me for good, just for now.  But the just for now has also taken a father away from his children.  The Navy did that for years.  But, he was ready to be home.  He was about to retire.  We were about to have him all to ourselves.  And now, THIS!
LIVE:  Take a few more minutes to reflect on what talking to God was like as you held on to the item you’re unwilling to give up – at least not easily.  Did you feel guilty or uncomfortable, or do you have trouble being honest with him?  Why might that be?

I haven’t had trouble being honest with God.  This time.  I don’t feel guilty not wanting to let go of my marriage or relationship in order to fully entrust it to God.  I’ve come to realize that it’s a process.  I want to want what God wants for me.  But, the truth is, quite often it’s a scary prospect.  I know that He has plans to prosper me, to give me a hope and a future.  And I know that future will include my husband.  It has to because we are not divorced, and he did not die.  He has just been removed from us temporarily.  We often joke that, instead of being on deployment for the Navy, now he is on a deployment for the Lord.  The reasons he is gone ABSOLUTELY BITE!  We did nothing to “deserve” this.  Standing accused and being convicted of something you didn’t do is AWFUL!  But my man is not the first, and he certainly will not be the last.  Especially in a society where the victim must always be right and the repercussions for lying are non-existent.  But…that is not my responsibility.  My responsibility is to live my life in a way that honors and glorifies God, and train up my children to do the same, regardless of what life throws at us.  I wish I could say that I’m getting it right.  Maybe more than that, I wish I could say that I felt like I was getting it right.  Or at least, I wish I felt like I was striking out less than I am.  I also wish I felt like I was standing on ground that was a little sturdier than I feel like it is.  Most days, all I’ve got is the will not to quit.  And, I’m convinced that is what’s going to propel me through to the end.  Proverbs 24:16 says that a righteous man falls seven times but gets up again; so, I’m going to keep getting back up.

How about you?

Day Fifty: Shout From the Mountaintops

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READ:  1 Chronicles 16:23-29

(or the extended passage of 1 Chronicles 16:7-36, also known as “David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving)

          Read the passage slowly, keeping in mind that “Shout Bravo!” here means something like “give credit to.”

 

(23-27) Sing to God, everyone and everything!

     Get out his salvation news every day!

Publish his glory among the godless nations,

     his wonders to all races and religions.

And why?  Because God is great–well worth praising!

     No god or goddess comes close in honor.

All the popular gods are stuff and nonsense,

     but God made the cosmos!

Splendor and majesty flow out of him,

     strength and joy fill his place.

 

(26-29) Should Bravo! To God, families of the peoples,

     in awe of the Glory, in awe of the Strength:  Bravo!

Shout Bravo! To his famous Name,

     lift high an offering and enter his presence!

Stand resplendent in his robes of holiness!

 

          Read the passage aloud again, but do it this time as if you are speaking convincingly, first to “everyone and everything” (verse 23 addresses the entire planet, including the vegetation and animals of the earth), then to all the “families of the peoples” (verse 28, all nations, all tribes, all classes of people).

 

THINK:  Read the passage again silently and ponder the following:

  1. Consider the words you most relish. What phrase did you particularly enjoy saying as you read the passage dramatically?

The part of this psalm that I most enjoy saying is:  “…God made the cosmos.  Splendor and majesty flow out of him, strength and joy fill his place.”

  1. What would you most want the earth to know or understand about God?

What I most want the earth to know or understand about God is that the salvation that Christ will bring when He comes again will be for the entire earth, not just for mankind, but for the rest of creation as well.

  1. What would you most want the families of the earth to know or understand about God?

What I most want the people of the earth to know is that there is no god or goddess that could come close in honor, to include ourselves. 

 

PRAY:  Being by asking God to lead you in your prayer.  Wait for him.  Once you get started, you may wish to say something like, “O God, I’m so glad you are…” and finish with ideas from this psalm.

 

O God, I’m so glad you are merciful to us when we fall.  I am glad that you hear our prayers even when we do not deserve your kindness.  Your kindness do not just extend to us, they extend to the whole earth.  Everywhere we turn, there is something remarkable and beautiful and terrific to look at and appreciate.  May we give your creation the respect it deserves, but never more than the Creator.

 

LIVE:  If you could shout this psalm from anywhere in the world, where would that be?  (It might be on a specific mountaintop or by a certain waterfall or even before an international group, such as the United Nations.)  Picture yourself saying these verses from your heart in that setting, without embarrassment or any other reservation.  Rest in your boldness.

 

The weather has been so nice today, that we opened the windows and doors to let the fresh air in.  It’s dark now, and I still have my windows open, and I can hear crickets and tree frogs outside.  It’s such a soothing sound that my son has even made a “playlist” of crickets and rain on a nature sounds app I have on my iPad.  The thing is:  the window has been open for so long and I’ve gotten busy doing other things so that I had practically forgotten about having my windows open or being able to hear the crickets.  Perhaps that’s why God says to “Be still and know that He is God.”  He’s there.  He’s talking.  But with our busy-ness of life, we get so used to the noise around us that we forget to pay attention to His voice.  How about we all slow down a notch or two, throttle down, and see if we can’t hear God whispering to us in the stillness and quiet.

Day Forty-Nine: Reflections on Week 7

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There are a lot of things going through my mind as I start this not the least of which is that there is no way I am ever going to be able to pay back everyone for the kindnesses my family and I have received over the last 3 years.  There are two main reasons for this.  ONE:  even if I had been keeping track of all the monetary kindness I have been shown, there is plenty that I haven’t known of, and even more that nobody would ever cop to because of the desire to remain anonymous.  TWO:  many of the gifts and kindnesses I have received are priceless and, as such, I couldn’t even begin to assign a dollar value, or even hope to repay the favor exactly.  For how does one place a price-tag on a well-timed sermon that is just what you need right when you need it?  How does one place a dollar value on a hug from a friend? 

 

Nobody is asking me to pay them back.  That’s not where I’m going with this at all.  No, what I’m thinking about has more to do with the my inability to ever fully repay a debt when I cannot even comprehend its breadth.  Sounds a little like having one’s sins paid for by someone who never knew sin, who was perfect. 

 

The friends and church family who have helped me out so much, who have been there for me in ways I will likely never be able to comprehend, in many ways, I feel I owe my life to them.  Maybe not literally, but figuratively for sure.  There was nothing I could’ve done to deserve their kindness.  They just felt compelled to bless me and my family out of their own blessings.  As a friend of mine said today, “What?  It’s not ours anyway.  We’re just giving it back to God.”  Knowing that is the truth, but really experiencing the truth of it are two TOTALLY different things.  And if I feel like I could never repay these people for their kindness, and like I owe them a debt of gratitude for just making my life possible for the time being, how much more do I owe Christ who has, most assuredly, given His very life for me and, with his sacrifice, has paid my way into Heaven by paying off debts I didn’t even know I owed.  Is my obedience enough?  Is my praise enough?  My worship?  I could be cliché and say that I would pledge my undying devotion to Him, but I’m human, and that’d be a lie.  The truth is that my devotion will wane.  It has many times in the past, and likely it will in the future because I forget just how much I’ve been given and forgiven.  Then, something will happen that will remind me, and once again, I will be “on fire” for Jesus again.  Until the next time. 

 

Why is it always like this?  Because, far too often, I forget to remind myself of what all God has done for me.  I get bogged down in the busy-ness and daily-ness of life, and I forget to remind myself of the gospel of Jesus Christ that says I was a sinner and I needed a Savior. 

 

I can even take it one step farther.  Given all that I have received so freely from a God that I could never repay, how could I hold onto that gift so selfishly?  I did nothing to deserve it.  I could never earn it.  And yet, I benefit from the blessing of that gift everyday.  Yet, when it comes time to share with others, I balk.  I let fear stand in the way.  Where’s the undying devotion then?  Where is my obedience?  My praise?  My worship of the God that made my very life possible? 

 

Well…guess what?!  This week the county fair starts.  Our church has an evangelism booth at said fair.  I’ve worked the fear a couple of times, and have always let fear stand in the way of my saying anything substantial to passers-by, or even to those who stop.  Perhaps there is a reason I am having these thoughts and feelings on the eve of the week that I am scheduled for two shifts at that booth………..

 

Day Forty-Eight: Linking Arms

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READ:  1 Chronicles 11:10-11 (or see the extended passage of 1 Chronicles 11:10-12:15)

 

10-11  These are the chiefs of David’s Mighty Men, the ones who linked arms with him as he took up his kingship, with all Israel joining in, helping him become king in just the way God had spoken regarding Israel.  The list of David’s Mighty Men:

          Jashobeam son of Hacmoni was chief of the Thirty.  Singlehandedly he killed three hundred men, killed them all in one skirmish.

 

THINK:  David’s Mighty Men were willing to risk their lives by crossing the Philistine military camp in order to bring David water from the Bethlehem well.  What incredible friendship!

          Discuss this passage with a friend or spiritual mentor.  What do you think about the idea of linking arms with others?  Is it awkward?  Is it worth the effort?

 

PRAY:  Tell God about any worries or insecurities you have about linking up with others.  Pray for the discernment to choose a few mature, like-minded people to link arms with you and the boldness to ask them for help.

 

LIVE:  Approach these individuals and ask them to link arms with you.

 

Merciful Heavens, Dear Readers.  If I’ve had one discussion about linking arms with people over the course of the past 18 months, I’ve had dozens.  It seems that God has me right smack-dab in the middle of having to link arms with people when all I really want is to not have to.  Funny thing is:  I never really considered myself to be a person who had a hard time asking for help.  I guess I just never really ran across anything I thought of as insurmountable.  And if I did, I guess I just deemed it outside of God’s will, so I didn’t try. 

 

So, let’s see.  What could possibly worry someone about having to link up with others?  What worried me?  Well….what if what I think is important isn’t?  What if I need help and nobody is there?  I was asking God to deliver me from this situation – that would’ve been help that I couldn’t do for myself – and he wouldn’t do that.  So why should I believe that he’s going to put it on the hearts of others to help me in my hour of need?  Why would he do that when he could’ve just delivered me and wouldn’t? 

 

The conclusion I’ve come to – the only one I’ve been able to draw that seems to make any sense for where I am in my life right now – is that I needed to see how the body of Christ can work when they are led by the Lord.  In all my desire not to have to link up with people, I’ve had no other choice.  And what I have witnessed, and what my children and parents and husband have witnessed, is God working through people – is Jesus with skin on, working to support one of his own.  When I felt like God had dropped me on my head, and had no reason to believe that others wouldn’t do the same, what He has shown me is that we do all need each other.  There are some gifts that I have that the body needs.  That’s why God gave them to me.  Likewise, there are gifts that people around me need to share, and they needed to be shared with me (for now), and I needed to see them being shared.  And my kids and my husband and my parents and countless other people around me who I’m sure I will never realize needed to see this, have needed to see these gifts being shared.  I have no idea why God chose my family for this time or this time for my family, but I believe that someone needs to see our church family being the church family RIGHT NOW for this season.  And maybe, just maybe, someone in our own congregation needed a chance to take a step up and BE the church, to be the participant in the body of Christ that He called them to be.  I don’t know.  I am sure that there are wonderful and glorious things happening through our situation that I will not get to know this side of Heaven, but they are happening for sure. 

 

I do have to say that there is one thing I am grateful for, that I knew even before I got the point where I am now that I would be grateful for.  Under PRAY, it says to ask God for discernment to choose a few mature, like-minded people to link arms with.  I knew, when all this first started that, if things didn’t go my way, I wouldn’t even have the luxury of turning my back on God because of the people I had surrounded myself with.  My closest friends through this whole ordeal have let me whine and cry and mope, but they have not let me live in a pit of despair.  These friends have known me long enough to see things in me that I have doubted or lost sight of or questioned if those things were ever there, and they have repeated back to me things I’ve said in the past that I’d forgotten I believed when I was at my lowest.  They have helped me to stand back up and brush myself off.  But, they have also challenged me through my doubt.  They have made me ask myself if I ever really believed those things I said.  They have not shied away from asking me hard questions and telling me hard truths even when they’ve tried to make me laugh and told me to take it easy on myself.  They have been gracious and merciful, but they’ve worn their steel-toed boots in the process, because sometimes I just need a good, swift kick in the pants.  They have laughed with me (and sometimes at me).  They have cried with me and they have cried for me.  They have prayed with me and they have prayed for me.  They have rejoiced with me and mourned with me, and they have all comforted me with the comfort they themselves have received (at one time or another) from Christ Jesus himself.  In short, they have been to me – and my whole family – the very representation of the God and Christ that I thought had deemed me unworthy of helping by not delivering me in the first place. 

 

Dear Friends, if you find yourself floundering tonight, wondering where God is, why He seems to have left you out in the world, all alone, with no intention of saving you, might I suggest you look around you.  Is there someone in your life who just won’t go away?  Is there someone in your life who insists on being nice to you and you find yourself wondering why, or what it is this person could possibly want from you, because you know you have nothing to offer?  Maybe that is your lifeline and you don’t recognize it.

 

Or maybe you find that there is someone in your life that you’re drawn to and don’t know why.  Have you made an effort to talk to that person?  Might I suggest that by refusing to talk to that person, you may be missing a divine appointment.  It takes a little bit of effort.  You might even be really uncomfortable at first.  Please, please, please…make the effort.  You never know if your next best friend is just a conversation away.  You never know if someday that person will be your lifeline when you need a friend.  Without a doubt, God has put you right where you are for some reason.  Without a doubt, he has put in your way the people who are in your life right now.  Aren’t you the least bit curious to find out why? 

Day Forty-Seven: God’s White-Hot Anger

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READ:  2 Kings 22:11-17 (or the extended passage at 2 Kings 22 & 23)

 

(11-13) When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay.  And then he called for Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide.  He ordered them all:  “Go and pray to God for me and for this people–for all Judah!  Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this book that has just been found!  God’s anger must be burning furiously against us–our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”

(14-17) Hilkiah the priest , Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went straight to Huldah the prophetess.  She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, who was in charge of the palace wardrobe.  She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.  The five men consulted with her.  In response to them she said, “God’s word, the God of Israel:  Tell the man who sent you here that I’m on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people.  Every word written in the book read by the king of Judah will happen.  And why?  Because they’ve deserted me and taken up with other gods, made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making businesses.  My anger is raging white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out.”

 

THINK:  Read the passage again.  As you do, listen for words or images that especially impact you, such as raging anger that “nobody is going to put…out,” or the king ripping his robes “in dismay.”

 

PRAY:  Take time to silently repeat this word or phrase from the passage or to let the image play itself out in your mind.  See how it matches with your thoughts, feelings, and memories.  Eventually let your contemplation lead you to consider whether there are any questionable or sinful areas of your life that you have been ignoring lately.  Can you tell why you’ve been ignoring them?  Bring them before God.  What is your posture?

 

LIVE:  Picture this God whose “anger is raging white-hot.”  What’s it like to be before him?  Now see Jesus, the mediator between the holy God pictured in this passage and the sinful people God loves.  Turn to Jesus and together examine your heart.  Watch his response to the sinful areas you noticed.  What is he inviting you to do in response to what you see?  Respond to his invitation.  Watch God the Father accept Jesus’ redemption of your sin–see God’s white-hot anger cool–and experience being welcomed back into full fellowship with him once more.

 

My dear readers, I am happy for the chance to deliver each of these devotional days to you.  I think this one, however, does not need anything more from me.  You know what God is speaking to you.  I know what God is speaking to me.  I pray that each of us has the courage to take a good, honest look at ourselves and find those areas God would have us see, those areas that need to be addressed, that we’ve been withholding from God, and find out why.  I pray for the strength to get brutally honest, knowing that God cares more about our character than our comfort, and that we would allow him to do the work necessary to pry those sinful areas out of our heart, regardless of how deeply lodged they are.  Then, I pray that we would allow Him to fill those areas of our hearts with what ought to be there:  more of Him and more of His Word.

Day Forty-Six: Investing in People

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READ:  2 Kings 11:17-12:2 (or the extended passage of 2 Kings 11 & 12

 

(17) Jehoiada now made a covenant between God and the king and the people.  They were God’s people.  Another covenant was made between the king and the people.

(18-20) The people poured into the temple of Baal and tore it down, smashing the altar and images to smithereens.  They killed Mattan the priest in front of the altar.

          Jehoiada then stationed sentries in The Temple of God.  He arranged for the officers of the bodyguard and the palace security, along with the people themselves, to escort the king down from The Temple of God through the Gate of the Guards and into the palace.  There he sat on the royal throne.  Everybody celebrated the event.  And the city was safe and undisturbed–they had killed Athaliah with the royal sword.

(21) Joash was seven years old when he became king.

(1) In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash began his kingly rule.  He was king for forty years in Jerusalem.  His mother’s name was Gazelle.  She was from Beersheba.

(2) Taught and trained by Jehoiada the priest, Joash did what pleased God for as long as he lived.

 

THINK:  Read the passage again slowly, trying to picture the priest Jehoiada and his young pupil, Joash, who becomes one of the few good kings of Judah.

          (1) What about Jehoiada do you most admire or dislike?

          (2) How would you like, or not like, to resemble Jehoiada as a teacher and leader?  (Think of a teacher as anyone from whom others learn, and think of a leader as anyone who finds others following him or her.  Even in friendships, sometimes one friend is the teacher and the other is the student, although they may not realize it.)

 

In this day and age, I appreciate anyone who is capable and willing to pick a hard to place to stand and stay there.  It takes courage to do the right thing, especially when it becomes uncomfortable.  So, when I see someone able to do that, even fighting against the odds to stand there, and remain steadfast, I cheer them on.  THAT is what I admire about Jehoiada.  In a time when the nation of Israel had basically turned her back on God, there as a man who would not.  This man went on to be a teacher to one of the last good kings of the Israel.

 

In response to question #2, my kids come to mind.  I pray that I am setting a good example for them.  There’ve been times when I’ve had my doubts.  For sure, they will have plenty to tell their future spouses or a therapist about all the times I’ve messed up.  But, I hope that they can always say that, when I did them wrong, I always made an effort to right that wrong and that I did so without making excuses, or without trying to justify or rationalize my errors in a desperate attempt to look less guilty or to make myself feel better.

 

PRAY:  Pray for people who look up to you–either for good or bad.  In that case, you are their teacher and leader.  Ask God who he is asking you to reach out to as an informal teacher or leader.  Or you may want to simply pray about what you pass on to others.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, there are days when I am painfully aware that I do not put forth the example you prefer.  Some days, I don’t even put forth the example I would prefer.  But Lord, I pray that, on those days, I would not diminish terribly your name in the eyes of those that desperately need to see you.  I ask forgiveness for when I’ve led others astray.  I pray for the wisdom to know when to speak and when to listen.  I pray for the words to say that I might honor you, and for the appropriate actions to take when something more than words are required, and I pray for discernment to know the difference.  I pray for strength not to act when I shouldn’t.  I pray for the courage to act when action is necessary. 

 

LIVE:  Sit in the quiet with God, holding before him those who follow you or look up to you.  You might wish to ask God, “What do I need to know about myself as a teacher or leader?”  Ideas might not come to you right away.  Note those that do, and keep watch for them in the coming days and weeks.

 

If you are a parent, then you already have an idea who your followers are.  But, what you may not have realized yet is that your children’s friends, if they visit often, could also be your followers.  It never occurred to me until my kids were in high school, and one of my daughter’s friends remarked about how cool it was that we had “rules and stuff.”  For her, it was a given, and sometimes an annoying one.  But for her friend, who seemed to have no curfew, and who frequently was locked out of his house, it was a novelty.  Not long after making that remark, this young man found out that his family was about to move, and he asked if he could come stay with us.  It didn’t happen for a number of reasons, not the least of which comes down to the fact that moving is just a part of military life, and for whatever reason, God decided this young man needed to be born into a military family, and with that, comes having to move. 

 

Take a look around.  See who’s watching you.  Maybe you teach Sunday School.  Are the siblings of your students watching you?  Are their parents?  Are you a crossing guard?  Are you employed outside the home?  There are probably many more people watching you than you think?  Likely, there are as many people watching you as you are watching.  If that’s the case, then isn’t it also likely that your sphere of influence is much larger than you think?  Isn’t it possible that you are affecting many more people than maybe you thought when you initially read this passage?  Keeping that in mind, what example are you setting? 

Day Forty-Five: False Hopes?

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READ: 2 Kings 4:20, 24-29 (or the extended passage of 2 Kings 4:8-37)

(20) The servant took him in his arms and carried him to his mother. He lay on her lap until noon and died…
(24-25) She went ahead and saddled the donkey, ordering her servant, “Take the lead–and go as fast as you can; I’ll tell you if you’re going too fast.” And so off she went. She came to the Holy Man at Mount Carmel.
(25-26) The Holy Man, spotting her while she was still a long way off, said to his servant, Gehazi, “Look out there; why, it’s the Shunammite woman. Quickly now. Ask her, ‘Is something wrong? Are you all right? Your husband? Your child?'”
She said, “Everything’s fine.”
(27) But when she reached the Holy Man at the mountain, she threw herself at his feet and held tightly to him.
Gehazi came up to pull her away, but the Holy Man said, “Leave her alone–can’t you see that she’s in distress? But God hasn’t let me in on why; I’m completely in the dark.”
(28) Then she spoke up: “Did I ask for a son, master? Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t tease me with false hopes’?”
(29) He ordered Gehazi, “Don’t lose a minute–grab my staff and run as fast as you can. If you meet anyone, don’t even take time to greet him and if anyone greets you, don’t even answer. Lay my staff across the boy’s face.”

THINK: Have you ever felt the bitter sting of shattered hopes and desires? The barren woman from Shunem knows the sting intimately–her grief here seems to confirm the doubt she experienced earlier when the holy man, Elisha, prophesied that she would have a son. At the time of the prophecy, not wanting to her hopes up, she wouldn’t even let on that she desired a son. Now she seems to wish she’d never hoped at all.
Notice Elisha’s response to the woman in her fear, grief, and regret. Take several minutes to think about this. How might Elisha’s response reflect God’s response to her? What might God have been feeling as he watched her struggle with her son’s death?

I cannot imagine what God must have been feeling as he watched this woman. I’m still coming to grips with the idea that God’s heart could break for his children when He is the author of some of the situations that cause them such grief. I can somewhat understand it from a parent’s point of view, but I know that I am mostly unable prevent the suffering my children will endure. I also realize that I am not doing my children many favors if I intervene in all their suffering, in an attempt to bring them to an end. I get it.

But, since I’m human, I really just want my suffering to end, and if it can end before it ever has to start, well then…all the better. Especially if I’ve not done anything wrong in the first place. Suffering because I’m guilty is far easier to tolerate than suffering when I’m innocent.
Yes, I know…there’s a verse in Hebrews that mentions how we’ve not yet suffering till the shedding of blood. But…pain is pain. And avoidance of pain is often a greater motivator than seeking out pleasure.

PRAY: Explore your own heart to see if there are any deep desires there that you are afraid to trust God with. Can you tell him why you hold back? Ask him to show you his response to your desires and to help you trust him more, just as the Shunammite woman trusted Elisha enough to expose her anguish to him.

There are only a few desires right now that I do not really want to trust God with. I don’t even want to mention them these days, for the same reason. The phrase “Once bitten, Twice shy” comes to mind. It isn’t that I don’t believe God has my best interest at heart, or the best interests of all the family members involved and affected by our current situation. It’s just that, if my will and His don’t intersect again, I wonder how I’ll handle it. Will I be as upset as before? Will it jar me as much as it did last time? I know that I can’t live in the past, but I wonder if I am really going to be strong enough for the future to which God has called me. Yes…I know that He equips those He calls, and that these present trials are strengthening me for the future ones, but sometimes pain can make one doubt….. Are you like me? Do you often wonder if it matters if you show God your anger or suffering? What if you really think you need for your situation to be over and God doesn’t? Do you have enough faith to ask God to shore up your weak spots?

LIVE: Henri Nouwen wrote, “At every moment you have to decide to trust the voice that says, ‘I love you, I knit you together in your mother’s womb’ (Psalm 139:13).” Ponder this quote. What might your life look like if you were to take God at his word, believing that he knows all about you and cares for you as tenderly as Elisha cared for the Shunammite? How might you pray differently? Live differently?

I am trying to get to the point where I can believe like this, pray like this. It’s simple, really. Just believe. Trust. And then pray. “BUT” the brain says. “Did God really say…?” Satan says. Why is it so hard to take God at His Word? Is it that it’s hard, or is it that we’ve been doing things our own way for so long that we have a hard time letting go of the need/desire to have our own way in exchange for something better?

I am not going to add my prayer here. I think this needs to be something far more personal than ought to be shared here. But, I do pray that if God has spoken to you through this, the way He has spoken to me, I pray that you would share your heart with God, just one more time. For just one more time, allow God a glimpse into your inmost being, knowing (of course) that He already knows what is there; he just wants you to trust Him with it. I pray that you would open your heart up to Him and tell Him, prayerfully, what you think and feel, and ask Him to strengthen you to trust Him with just one more thing. Then, I pray for the courage to do it again tomorrow.