March 23, 2022

Genesis 12:1

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 

It is one thing to agree with the statement, “I depend on God for everything in my life.” It is an entirely different thing to actually step out in obedience, without the extra assurances we rely on like bank accounts and family ties. Even men and women who take the gospel to foreign nations have sending organizations, language schools, and detailed maps before they go. What would it take to actually pick up and leave, without even a destination in mind?

Once we recognize that every breath comes from the Lord, every sunrise, every heartbeat, trust comes more easily. Abraham had for evidence of God’s faithfulness 20,000 breaths per day for 75 years. Each of those days had a sunrise and a sunset as God continued to guide the earth around the sun. Sin breeds fear in us. We don’t trust because we’re not trustworthy, so we have a hard time believing God will be. When we open our eyes to His faithfulness, our obedience can begin to flow.

Prayer prompt: Lord, You have taught me to trust You from my first breath. Help me to step out in trust today.

March 22, 2022

Romans 11:34

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

I don’t understand why. The scriptures tell us not to exasperate our children, and I assume telling them a reason for every command I give them somehow helps with that. It’s a good policy, until you can’t explain why and they still have to obey. That’s when you just need them to trust that you know more than they do. 

When Paul praises God as so wise that no one can be His counselor, he has just been thinking about something he can’t understand. Paul starts Romans 9 with a wish that he could trade his salvation for that of his people, the Jews. He ends with this exquisite statement of praise for a God so much higher than the thoughts of men. Without understanding, and even through tears, Paul can trust the wisdom of God. Ask yourself seriously if you trust God even when it doesn’t make sense.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to look at the good You brought from the scandal of the cross that I might trust You with my much smaller worries.

March 21, 2022

Romans 11:33

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

There’s a question in the political world about the way a candidate should be presented. Should he or she be a man of the people, just like the average Joe, or above the people, truly the best candidate for the job? Many folks seem to want a God who is just like them, judging others the way we judge and forgiving us the way we want to be forgiven. While we want a God who knows what it is like to be us, we need a God who can handle the incredible task of running the Universe.

In Jesus, we have both. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” He knows what it’s like to be you. Yet, as Paul declares in Romans 11:33, He is beyond our understanding in every way. God has the wisdom to bring about His good ends no matter what comes. Trust in His unsearchable wisdom.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust Your inscrutable ways, no matter what it seems like from here.

March 18, 2022

1 John 4:19

19 We love because he first loved us.

Where does love come from? It’s a good question if you’re the Grinch, or like me, and your heart is too small. Looking at your kids and having to clean the same messes, or at your spouse and having to bear up under the same pains takes love. If we don’t have it we get ground down, easily angered, and confused by the pain. So where does it come from?

All love comes back to one source. The fruit all comes back to a single tree. If we are to know love that doesn’t end, love that grows and deepens, it all comes from Him. From God we learn that love never fails, that love is self-less, that love can make something ugly into something lovely. Maybe it’s better to think of it the other way, from love we learn that God is good. Go to God today to experience true love.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me love by showing me Your love.

March 17, 2022

Song of Solomon 8:6

6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave.

In Viktor E. Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he retells his experiences as a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps. As a psychologist, he analyzed the inner life that made it possible for some physically weaker men to out live physically stronger ones. He shared his own experience of looking up from his torture to remember the love of his wife. In that moment, love transcended the living hell he was enduring, and he saw something heavenly, leading him to quote the verse above.

Knowing God is not about being a more pleasant person. We aren’t playing with children’s concepts or small niceties. When you know love, and come to know the Source of all Love, you find something infinitely stronger than death. Set that love above everything else in your heart and on your life for all to see.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I choose to make Your love, stronger than death, my life’s joy and purpose.

March 16, 2022

Psalm 86:11-13 

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

Look at the way the Psalm writer prays. He asks God to teach him, then to unite his heart. Do you understand the feeling of both wanting and not wanting God? It’s a cruel place to be because you’re never happy with any decision you make; part of you is always disappointed. How do we get a united heart?

Gratitude unites the heart. Whatever else is corrupting his affections, this guy feels a whole-hearted thankfulness to the God who delivered him from death. God’s steadfast love blazes with enough heat to weld your heart to His forever. Spend time this morning giving thanks for this God and His love.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for loving me even when you can see my wayward heart.

March 15, 2022

Psalm 119:54

54 Your statutes have been my songs

    in the house of my sojourning.

Hear the words of Origen, a pastor born in 186AD and know that our Lord has been faithful to suffering Saints from Christ’s time to today:

“Understand, then, if you can, what the pilgrimages [sojourning] of the soul are, especially when it laments with groaning and grief that it has been on pilgrimage so long. We understand these pilgrimages only dully and darkly so long as the pilgrimage still lasts. But when the soul has returned to its rest, that is, to the homeland of paradise, it will be taught more truly and will understand more truly the meaning of what the pilgrimage was. He is right. On this side of heaven we walk by faith and don’t have all the answers we would like. But there is reason to believe that you will find certain hopes fulfilled even on this side of paradise.”

Origen, Homily XXVII on Numbers, sec. 4, CWS, 250; cited in Thomas Oden, Classical Pastoral Care, Crisis Ministries, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 6.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to trust You even in the sojourning You allow until you bring me home.

March 14, 2022

Psalm 81:11-16

11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;

    Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,

    to follow their own counsels.

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me,

    that Israel would walk in my ways!

14 I would soon subdue their enemies

    and turn my hand against their foes.

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him,

    and their fate would last forever.

16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,

    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Take some time today to work though these verses slowly and answer some questions.

Am I listening to God’s voice by submitting to His way for me to live? Or am I stubborn and following my own ideas?

What anxieties or fears to I have? Would they still be part of my life if I trusted God to handle them? 

What would the blessings of God look like? Where are desert places in my life that He could bring life to? 

Prayer prompt: Lord, I trust you to bring honey out of rocks. Teach me to follow You into a life without fear!

March 11, 2022

Romans 15:14

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Where do you go for help? We need to have our in-case-of-emergency plans ready to go. We know 911 and where the nearest Emergency Rooms are. I hope you have walked with your family through exit strategies if a fire flares up. But where do we go for the everyday pains and worries that add up to a miserable life?

Many people are tempted to wait until things are really bad and find a counselor, but Paul points you somewhere surprising. The other Christians in your church have the Bible, the Spirit of God, and God’s commands to care for one another. We are able to instruct one another. Invest in relationships in your church this year with the intention to have someone to lean on and be there for someone else to lean on you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, prepare me to be someone my church can lean on and teach me to look to my brothers and sisters for help.

March 10, 2022

Exodus 28:11-12

11 As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. 12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance.

Who could forget their kids? I’ve forgotten to grab their water bottles or forks for dinner, and one time left one in a car for 15 minutes, but I’ve never had to be reminded they exist. Yet many Christians think God has forgotten them. How can you know that He remembers you, that He thinks of you?

Aaron, the first priest of the tribe of Levi, was given a fancy outfit. It was beautiful, and it was incredibly meaningful. On the shoulders, God told Moses to place onyx stones set in gold and engrave the names of the tribes on the stones. Of course the engraving wasn’t a reminder for God, but a reminder for Israel. His love for them, His thoughts of them, are set in stone. What will you do with a love that will never go away?

Prayer prompt: Lord, if Your love never fades, why do I look for love in other places? Help turn my heart always to You.

March 9, 2022

Hebrews 13:20-21

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

God is going to make something pleasing in His sight through your hands. It’s entirely possible that you are an amazing craftsman, but probable that you’re not. It’s a good thing the passage starts by reminding us that God brought a live Jesus from a dead body. Only a God like that could make something beautiful through us.  

But surely these verses aren’t referring to art at all. Jesus laid down His life as the Good Shepherd even shedding His blood to bring people to God. Our work must be in bringing our heart and the hearts of those around us to the Lord. Truly that will be pleasing in His sight.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please make through me more people who see and know Your love.

March 8, 2022

James 3:4-5

4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

If you had to pick, what is one pattern in your life that is foundational to everything else? What one thing is so influential James could call it the rudder to your ship or the bit in your mouth? It isn’t the way you use your money, or even your time. It seems crazy to think, but God considers your speech, both to yourself and others, the steering wheel to your whole world.

Resolve to tell yourself the truth. Spend time every day this year reminding yourself of what's true. How much of a course correction would take place if everyday began with remembering God rather than just beginning the scramble to thrive?

Prayer prompt: Lord, change me by teaching me to tell the truth.

March 7, 2022

Psalm 103:4-5

4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

I don’t know if you’re much for verb tenses, but the verb tenses in this passage should blow your socks off. God redeems, crowns and satisfies you. Those aren’t future verbs laden with hope but with no present benefit. Those aren’t past verbs expressing God’s grace, but leaving you with a terrible fear that you may fall again and He won’t come. Those are present verbs that continue.

I don’t just need one redemption; I keep falling down. I could never deserve one crowning, but if He wants the crown on my head, He’ll have to keep placing it back on. One look at God was all Moses asked for, but here God says He will satisfy so that I’m always renewed in strength. Make a resolution for 2021 to think about God’s unspeakable grace that continues every day.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to remember the strength, love, and redemption You give every day.

March 4, 2022

Matthew 1:12

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Matthew divides his genealogy into 3 parts: Abraham to David, David to the Deportation, and the Deportation to Jesus. That breakdown points a trembling finger at the whole of Israel. Israel didn’t just have crazy Judah or fallen David, Israel was a fallen people. So why would God choose to use Israel as the people Jesus would come from? 

When I was a boy, our pastor took a huge bin of legos and threw them up in the air. I still remember the cloud of primary colors as the thousands of legos hung for a moment before crashing down everywhere. He then stooped down and picked up a single yellow brick. God choose Abraham out of all the people because of His sovereign will. If Abraham, the Kings, and all the people fall, God can redeem and has redeemed them. What sin disqualifies you from God’s love? He knows not any.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I repent of my sin and call on Jesus to redeem me like You redeemed Israel.

March 3, 2022

Matthew 1:6

6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah

I’m not sure there is a bigger *hint *hint in scripture than this verse. Name follows name in this list of Jesus’ ancestors with only slight commentary, then you see David the King. If you know the Old Testament, you know there is almost nobody bigger than David the giant-slayer and deliverer of Israel. Yes, David is the king and he is the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. 

Lest we forget, David killed a loyal soldier after taking the man’s wife; adultery then murder in the palace of the King of Israel. Not only does this reinforce the idea that there are no perfect people, God is clearly telling us that even the great ones can’t be depended upon. If we want to look somewhere for strength and virtue, we can’t look at even the super-stars of history. Only Jesus can reign perfectly. Celebrate the True King!

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank You for sending the King we need, not the King we deserve.

March 2, 2022

Matthew 1:5a

and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab,

Let’s look again at Jesus’ ancestors. Rahab wasn’t an Israelite but a sinner from Jericho. She was part of the mess in Canaan who practiced all kinds of horrible stuff. She was also a prostitute. How could she be a fitting ancestor for our Lord? Of so many ancestors from Abraham to Joseph, why was she listed in this genealogy?

Rahab, like you and me, started life far from God and stayed far from God. But when she heard about the God who with grand love delivered a slave nation out of Egypt heard about how He lead that nation across a wilderness for 40 years to discipline them blessing them at every turn with His presence, she wanted Him. Her repentance was her example to us. God doesn’t take great people and show them off. God takes willing people and makes them His.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to see the mercy You show so that my heart will always be Yours.

March 1, 2022

Matthew 1:1-3

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,

Christmas time, and maybe the first of the year, are about the only times we give much attention to the genealogy in Matthew. If you read it though, it’s a trip. For the next couple of days, we are going to look at people from this list and think about the absolute madness that they were Jesus’ family. 

We’ll begin with Judah, the son of Israel who would be father of the royalty of Israel, and wasn’t a great father-in-law. The story highlighted in the genealogy by the mention of Tamar isn’t a nice one. Judah should have given his next son off to Tamar to raise up children as part of a tradition called levirate marriage. Instead, he planned to marry that next son off to someone else. Tamar tempted Judah by pretending to be a prostitute and became pregnant with the twins Perez and Zerah. 

And that is who God chose to make Jesus’ ancestors. It would be outrageous if we weren’t sure that everyone else He could have picked would also never be worthy of the honor. These stories remind us of God’s goodness, not our own. He chose to give us this Son not because we deserve Him, but specifically because we don’t.

Prayer prompt: Lord, it is beyond merciful that You would be so near to sinners like us.

February 28, 2022

James 3:2a

2 For we all stumble in many ways.

Have you ever been caught in the terrible cycle of pride and misery? If you think you’re doing well before God, you swell with pride and look down from your exalted height on all the miserable sinners around you. If you sin in one of the ways you consider really sinful, you fall to the gutter. Misery replaces all that self-congratulations as you try to hide from God and man.

It’s time to be free. God knows you sin. He remembers that you are made of dust and that you, along with all humanity, stumble in many ways. His salvation is for the sinner and He sees you in your up and down of pride and despair. Get off that hell-bound roller coaster and stand before the Father who knows you and, even though He really knows you, loves you.

Prayer prompt: Lord, remind me that You know my stumbling and still love me.

February 25, 2022

Hebrews 11:17-19

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

I’m not sure that I could get into metal detectors, but I think I see the appeal. Purchasing a metal detector allows you to unlock the possible treasures you miss everyday. What if you walked right past a discarded watch, a pioneer artifact, or even a whole lump of gold every day? If only you had eyes to see the riches around you!

Actual metal detectors never find much, but we walk right past incredible riches in the faith daily. Abraham displayed colossal faith in God when he took Isaac to sacrifice, but it wasn’t a faith from nowhere. Abraham had walked with God for 100 years and thought long and hard about the miracle of Isaac’s birth for years and years. He knew God could raise the dead back to life because, in a way, God had done exactly that when He brought Isaac from old Sarah. God has likewise worked in your life. Do you daily consider those riches? 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to look for the ways You have served me so I will grow in my trust of You.

February 24, 2022

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I will never cease to be amazed by this sentence in Scripture. In my sin, I really don’t want to totally forgive people, at least not all the way. If the offense is pretty small, I can forgive. If the offense is a little more intense, I can forgive but try to guilt the person into better behavior. If the offense is huge, I hurt them in the worst way a proud person can: I banish them from my company. By God’s grace, that hasn’t always been the case, but it is my temptation. 

Our sin against God isn’t just big, it’s gigantic. Not only does He offer to forgive us, He will cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. He doesn’t forgive only to condemn us to earning back His favor. He doesn’t forgive then walk away to distance Himself as far from us as possible. He forgives the repentant sinner and then gets to work cleaning us up. This Advent season, take the time to be amazed by Your God’s forgiveness. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, Your forgiveness is crowned with an overwhelming love I could never deserve. Thank You!