What are Devotions?

I thought it would be interesting today to take a step back and look at the genre of writing we do here each day and ask the question, What exactly are devotions?

I know Wikipedia isn’t the place where Christians get their information, but I wanted you to see their definition; I’m not sure they got it right:

Christian devotional literature, also known as devotionals, is religious writing that is neither doctrinal nor theological, but designed for individuals to read for their personal edification and spiritual formation.^[1]

The footnote is from The Encylopedia of Christian Literature and reads:

After the Bible, Christian devotional literature has provided the most popular and instructive kind of reading and guidance for believers. Most broadly considered, Christian devotional literature may be thought to encompass any inscribed verbal artifact employed to stimulate the production, sustenance, and direction of the unique interior Christian self, whether solely in relation to the divine or including also service to fellow believers, neighbor, and/or world.

Everybody got that?

Their entry for “Bible study” clears this up (a little):

In Christianity, Bible study is the study of the Bible by ordinary people as a personal religious or spiritual practice. Some denominations may call this devotion or devotional acts; however in other denominations devotion has other meanings. Bible study in this sense is distinct from biblical studies, which is a formal academic discipline.

I like the idea that devotion is a personal activity, and that it’s not about building up academic knowledge. But the first definition implies that it’s not theological in nature, but then what are you left with?  And where does it leave those of us wanting to process at a “201” and not “101” level, and go deeper? Their definition leaves you in an “inspirational” category that can be theologically vacuous. Theology is the study of God, and while that implies (to some) something taking place in a lab, we do want to know God and learn His ways, as part of our daily walk with Him. It’s going to involve, at the very least, an open Bible.

The word devotion is used eleven times in the NIV, the first few always preceded by the adjective wholehearted. That’s a point we don’t want to miss. Our devotion should not be brief, perfunctory or done out obligation, or done with grumbling. It should come from the heart.

^{2 Kings 20:2} Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³ “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” …

(That exact verse, word-for-word, is repeated in Isaiah 38:3.)

Two of the uses are in the New Testament.

^{I Cor 7:35} I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

The second one is a warning:

^{2 Cor. 11:3} But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Here we’ve picked up two more adjectives, pure and undivided, which we add to wholehearted.

The word devoted is used even more frequently.

^{Matthew 6:24} “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

You can read all of the uses of devoted here.

On a personal level, when I think in terms of devotion, the verse which comes to mind most frequently is:

^{Acts 2:42} They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The modern devotional readings we do could fall under the “teaching” or the “prayer” category, but either way we see a four-pronged devotion in the early church: Teaching, fellowship, the common meal and prayer. (I know prayer is one area where I’m weak; what about you?)

In our modern world, we sometimes despair when somebody takes a noun and makes a verb out of it, but perhaps here we have an example of someone taking a verb and making a noun. Devotions have become a thing, something printed in a book or on a computer screen, when in fact devotion to God is an action; an action perhaps based on an underlying attitude or approach toward God.

One of my longtime favorite devotional books is a one-year tour through the NCV New Testament called Time With God. But you can read the book and miss the title: God wants us to spend time with him, and he wants to spend time with us.

If you’ve read this far, the title at the top of the page is clearly wrong. The question is not “What are devotions?” but rather “What is devotion to God?” or perhaps “What is my devotion to God?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If Ever I Loved Thee, My Jesus ‘Tis Now

^{Psalm 116:1} Ilove the Lord because he hears
    my requests for mercy. (CEB)

^{Psalm 116:1} I love the Lord, because He has heard [and now hears] my voice and my supplications. (AMP)

^{I John 4:19} We love because he first loved us. (ESV)

David Michael Lee is one of the latest bloggers on the Faithful Bloggers aggregator. This appeared on his blog as More Than Just Words on a Page. Give him some encouragement by clicking the title and reading this at source.

The other day I was talking to a good friend of mine about blogging. He was asking if I took a special class or studied it in college. I had to be honest and tell him that my English teachers would find it rather hilarious if they knew I was keeping a blog and writing on a regular basis. Let’s just say I wasn’t the best student (as evidence by the frequent rate with which I destroy grammar and the English language on this blog).  Sure, I’ve dreamed of writing a book one day, but whenever my thoughts get semi-serious, I bail. A blog is so much less intimidating.

So why even keep a blog?

In 1862 a 16-year-old kid named William Ralph Featherston put pen to paper to write a love letter of sorts. I like to think that if blogs existed back then, William would have just written a post and clicked “publish.” But there were no blogs so his letter went unnoticed. William would pass away at the age of 27. Three years after William passed away, a man named Adoniram Gordon put music to William’s “Love Letter” and got it published in a hymnal the same year. You may know the love letter by its official title…..

My Jesus, I Love Thee

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ’tis now.

I love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus ’tis now.

In Mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Near as I can tell, William Ralph Featherston has no idea that his love letter ever made the impact on the world that it did. Just today, the words of that love letter have been rocking my world as I heard the song. I’m just one of the many, many people who cherish this old hymn. I’ll never get to meet William this side of heaven. I’ll never be able to thank him (or Adoniram Gordon) for putting it together. Yet it’s words have impacted my life.

His poem is so much more than words on a page.

At the end of this road, I guess that’s the goal of this little piece of real estate on the internet too. I don’t have a platform, vision or even mission statement. I’m not looking to write books or sell advertising space. I guess I just put it to paper (or the web) like William did all those years ago.

My greatest hope is that my kids and grandchildren will forever have an archive in my own words to look back on.

Hopefully they see my heart.

Hopefully they read my thoughts.

Hopefully they’ll know that for me… what I write is more than just words on a page.

While online journals aren’t for everyone, if you feel even the slightest call to write, I encourage you to give it a try. You never know where your writing might reach someone. Today’s piece also contains one of the richest lyrics in all hymnody. Take an extra minute to soak in its words.

Today’s bonus: We used this recently in June…

R. G. LeTourneau is quoted as saying,

If you know the Lord
You will love the Lord
If you love the Lord
You will serve the Lord
If you’re not serving the Lord
You don’t love the Lord
If you don’t love the Lord
You don’t know the Lord

Teaching Emphasis versus Liturgy and Sacrament

^{NIV Acts 2:42} They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

With the exception of some early Christian writings, we don’t have a lot of concise snapshots of the early church better than the closing six verses of Acts 2. But ask anyone with even a superficial knowledge of church history, and they’ll tell you that the way we do church in 2013 doesn’t follow the pattern known to those who came before us.

This article didn’t have a specific scripture reference, but for people processing their faith at the “201” level, it raises issues worth thinking about today. It’s from Matthew Marino who has a blog called The Gospel Side, where this article appeared recently under the title, Spiritual Baseball: The Unlikely Path to Intimacy with Jesus.  Send Matthew some stats love by clicking the title to read at source.

Every once in a while you meet someone and immediately sense they are wise and grounded. One of those for me was a Roman Catholic youth pastor. We met some fifteen years ago at an outdoor cafe. While the coffee cooled he made small talk by mentioning the Protestant activities his children were involved in: Awana, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Young Life, and attending a Christian high school. I laughed and probed just a bit: Was he a wanna be Protestant? He laughed back and said, “Absolutely not. It’s just that it is pretty hard to come to faith in my Church.” His answer baffled me. Why, I asked, would he choose to be involved in a church in which it was hard for his children to come to faith? How, I wondered, did he not see himself as making my point for me? The jovial youth minister grinned again, handed me a pen, pushed a napkin toward me and said, with the hint of a smirk, “Make a list of your ten favorite authors.”

I scratched names on the napkin until he reached over and grabbed the pen, and said, “Ok, I’m stopping you at fifteen. I notice that of your fifteen favorite authors, thirteen of them are liturgical Christians.” I had never heard the word ‘liturgical’ and didn’t want to admit it, so I glossed over that detail and asked him what his point was.

He asked, “Why do you like those authors: Nouwen, Lewis, Temple, Wesley, Chesterton, Wright, Manning, Stott?”

“I guess because they write as if they have intimacy with Jesus,” I said.

He answered without hesitating, “Exactly,” he said, “I’m in my Church because it is how you become intimate with Jesus.”

“O, come on!” I objected.

He pointed at the napkin and reminded me it was my list. He then said something that took me a decade to understand, “If you want true intimacy with Jesus, it will probably happen in a liturgical church: Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopalian, old-school Lutheran.”

We sat there another half hour and I decided that what he was saying is that if the spiritual life were a game of baseball, then first base is a relationship with Jesus. If one does not get on base, nothing else matters. That was why his kids were in evangelical activities. Second base might be knowing the Bible. Third, giving your life away in service for God and the Kingdom. But a “home run,” in the Christian life, is intimacy with Christ…what the Orthodox masters call “theosis” – a fulfillment of the image of God. I left that meeting wanting to “make it home,” but without the least awareness that, for millions over the last 2,000 years, the “home run” I longed to experience has been a common one in liturgical traditions.

And yes, I do realize that statement sounds arrogant and just plain incorrect to evangelical ears. After all, every evangelical church in America has a healthy collection of members who left the liturgical world precisely because they hadn’t gotten “on base” in a liturgical church.

What you may not realize is how non-normative the American 4 song/sermon worship format is in the scope of things. For 3/4 of Christian history, the liturgy was the only form of Christian worship. Even today, nearly 3/4 of the Christians on the planet worship God in the ancient pattern of Word and Sacrament. That doesn’t make the liturgy better, worse or more or less biblical, it does say that what most Christians know as “worship” is a bit of an outlier.

I am not saying that liturgical churches are perfect or have more holy people or that there are not dead liturgical churches…I’m fairly sure that dead liturgy might be the worst sort of dead. Just that for the lion’s share of Christians who have ever lived, worship was not song and sermon but Scripture and Supper.

…for the lion’s share of Christians who have ever lived, worship was not song and sermon but Scripture and Supper.

I didn’t understand what my Catholic friend was talking about precisely because I had been to a liturgical church a few times and found it repetitive and, frankly, numbing. What I discovered was that the power is precisely in the repetition…that, as a rough rock in a stream becomes a smooth stone from years of water flowing over it, the Christian is formed into the image of God when we surrender ourselves to the three-fold pattern of daily immersion in the Scriptures, weekly feeding in the Eucharist, and the annual cycle of the Christian year, combined with contemplative practices like those of the desert fathers. I have found that these are re-orienting my perception of reality, the way I view time, life, and the world around me, in ways that words on a page cannot fully capture. It is freeing me to love those who oppose me and work for the good of those who seek my harm.

You may not be interested in walking the path to the ancient Church, known in Anglicanism as “the Canterbury trail.” I was not either. Ironically it is a journey that has given a depth to my walk with Christ that I never imagined. Like someone who has never tasted ice-cream, I didn’t know what I was missing.

What about you? If you have walked with Jesus for several decades, is intimacy/spiritual union something the church you worship in is nurturing in you? In what ways, corporately and individually are you finding intimacy with Jesus? Or have you, like many, given up on intimacy with God as having a corporate expression? If so, I invite you to the sandlot to play ball.

More Love Than You Can Imagine

^{NIV Isaiah 49:14} But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵ “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!
¹⁶ See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are ever before me.
¹⁷ Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste depart from you.
¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather and come to you.
As surely as I live,” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

We’ve taken you to the blog Faith Rises several times. This one appeared a few weeks ago under the title Can a Mother Forget?

Sometimes when we’ve been praying for something for a very long time, we begin to lose heart, and wonder if the answer will ever come. I know exactly how that feels. I remember praying and praying for God to work a miracle in my life, and sometimes, I felt that God had forgotten about me and my situation. Of course we know that God sees us always, and knows everything about our lives, but still, it is true of us as humans, that we sometimes think that our situation may not be as urgent to God as we would like for it to be.

This is so not true!

At one of my lowest points, the LORD gave me a verse which comforted me and reassured me, and to this day, this verse is very near and dear to my heart. In Isaiah 49:15-16, the Lord says, “Can a mother forget her nursing child?… Yes, she might, but I have not forgotten you… I have you engraved on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”  This is how I understood what He was saying to me through this verse:

1. “Can a mother forget her nursing child?” – Naturally, the answer to this question would be a resounding, “No.”  We all know how attached a mother is to her newborn baby, and so we understand the significance of this question. But…

2. “Yes, she might,” – Although it would seem impossible for a mother to forget or abandon her newborn child, it has happened, as unbelievable as it would seem, sadly, it has been the case for some mothers. But…

3. “I have not forgotten you” – God is saying that His love and care for us is even greater than a mother’s love. Infinitely greater. How so?…

4. “I have you engraved on the palms of my hands” – Here, I pictured the palms of my Savior’s Hands, which still bear the nail scars, pierced for me… And then…

5. “Your walls are continually before me.” – My situation and the circumstances that surround me, are continually before Him!… Oh, Glory to God!!

Here it is in a nutshell…

God loves you, more than you can imagine, He has not forgotten you, and  your situation is continually, always, before Him.

Hold on.  :)

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…This picture and scripture were also found at Faith Rises, and I couldn’t resist sharing it here:

Bitter Roots

Bitterness can prevent people from making progress in ministry and in life in general. This article appeared at the blog of Kevin Rogers who blogs at Orphan Age: Loners Learning About Community, and is pastor at New Song Church in Windsor, Ontario. This appeared there just a few days ago under the title Taking Out Your Bitter Trash

Bitterness causes problems.  No matter how intelligent or crafty a person is, there is no escaping the consequences that follow a life of bitterness. It will not surprise you to learn of great thinkers, artists and power brokers who succumbed to the deadliest disease of the spirit – bitterness.

Their end is misery and spiritual pollution.

Sigmund Freud died at the age of 83, a bitter and disillusioned man. Tragically, this Viennese physician, one of the most influential thinkers of our time, had little compassion for the common person. Freud wrote in 1918, “I have found little that is good about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all” (Veritas Reconsidered, p. 36). Freud died friendless. It is well known that he had broken with each of his followers. The end was bitter. 

 

Discoveries, Summer, 1991, Vol 2, No. 3, p. 1 quoted in Unfinished Business,

Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989, p. 121ff.

Sigmund Freud was wrong.  Most people are not trash, but they do need to take out their trash.  Something that this father of psychiatry was unable to do for himself.

What trash is stinking up the house of your heart?  How can God help us to deal with situations and people that embitter us?

Hebrews 12

15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

·        It is possible to miss out on God’s grace.  Holding unforgiveness puts your spirit into jeopardy.

·        Bitterness roots itself in us and continues to grow.

·        Its end is trouble and causes a stench that sticks to others.

Some will say, “I have a right to be angry and I’m not ready to forgive.  No one else seems to understand what I’m going through, so back off!  Don’t tell me to let go of this hurt!”

Of the 7 deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back–in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you. 

 

Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking Transformed by Thorns, p. 117.

Read more of Kevin at the blog Orphan Age. Here’s another recent post on the passage in Matthew 15, “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth…”  with the provocative title, The Healthy, Politically Correct Pervert.  (Really!)

Spurgeon: Parallels Between Grace and Rain

This was posted in September at the blog Grace Guy, and turned up on my screen just yesterday.  In many denominational circles, C. H. Spurgeon is a most-quoted classic author; you can read more about him here.

Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? Job 38:25-27

God challenges man to compare with his Maker even in the one matter of the rain. Can he create it? Can he send a shower upon the desert, to water the lone herbs which else would perish in the burning heat? No, he would not even think of doing such a thing. That generous act comes of the Lord alone.

We shall work out a parallel between grace and rain.

I. GOD ALONE GIVES RAIN, AND THE SAME IS TRUE OF GRACE.

• We say of rain and of grace, God is the sole Author of it.
• He devised and prepared the channel by which it comes to earth. He hath “divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters.” The Lord makes a way for grace to reach his people.
• He directs each drop, and gives each blade of grass its own drop of dew, to every believer his portion of grace.
• He moderates the force, so that it does not beat down or drown the tender herb. Grace comes in its own gentle way. Conviction, enlightenment, etc., are sent in due measure.
• He holds it in his power. Absolutely at his own will does God bestow either rain for the earth, or grace for the soul.

II. RAIN FALLS IRRESPECTIVE OF MEN, AND SO DOES GRACE.

• Grace waits not man’s observation. As the rain falls where no man is, so grace courts not publicity.
• Nor his cooperation. It ”tarries not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men” (Mic. 5:7).
• Nor his prayers. Grass calls not for rain, yet it comes. ”I am found of them that sought me not” (Isa. 65:1).
• Nor his merits. Rain falls on the waste ground.
• “Ah, grace, into unlikeliest hearts, It is thy wont to come; The glory of thy light to find; In darkest spots a home.”

III. RAIN FALLS WHERE WE MIGHT LEAST HAVE EXPECTED IT.

• It falls where there is no trace of former showers, even upon the desolate wilderness: so does grace enter hearts which had hitherto been unblessed, where great need was the only plea which rose to heaven (Isa. 35:7).
• It falls where there seems nothing to repay the boon. Many hearts are naturally as barren as the desert (Isa. 35:6).
• It falls where the need seems insatiable, “to satisfy the desolate.” Some cases seem to demand an ocean of grace, but the Lord meets the need; and his grace falls where the joy and glory are all directed to God by grateful hearts. Twice we are told that the rain falls “where no man is.” When conversion is wrought of the Lord, no man is seen. The Lord alone is exalted.

IV. THIS RAIN IS MOST VALUED BY LIFE.

• The rain gives joy to seeds and plants in which there is life. Budding life knows of it; the tenderest herb rejoices in it. So is it with those who begin to repent, who feebly believe, and thus are just alive.
• The rain causes development. Grace also perfects grace. Buds of hope grow into strong faith. Buds of feeling expand into love. Buds of desire rise to resolve. Buds of confession come to open avowal. Buds of usefulness swell into fruit.
• The rain causes health and vigour of life. Is it not so with grace?
• The rain creates the flower with its colour and perfume, and God is pleased. The full outgrowth of renewed nature comes of grace, and the Lord is well pleased therewith.
• Let us acknowledge the sovereignty of God as to grace.
• Let us cry to him for grace.
• Let us expect him to send it, though we may feel sadly barren, and quite out of the way of the usual means of grace.

~ Charles Spurgeon

It’s All In Your Perspective

Last week Pete Wilson reported on an insight he had while up in my part of the world, so even though this is shorter, I kinda had to include it here!! Click here to read at Pete’s blog where this was titled, A Breath of Fresh Air.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

A couple months ago I was in Toronto, Canada to speak at a conference. The driver who picked me up from the airport was a middle aged man named Lucas. He was from the Philippines. It’s funny how you can learn so much about a guy by just spending a few minutes in a car with him.

In route to the arena we began talking about life and family. He had four children, but was the youngest of 11 brothers and sisters himself. He spoke a little bit about how he made it to Toronto and how much he loved living in Canada.

During the commute we hit a stretch of road where traffic almost came to a complete stop. As we got closer to the bottleneck I realized it was a construction project. While in the middle of small talk with Lucas I couldn’t help but think…. “Stupid traffic. Stupid construction. Will they ever finish all these projects.” However, as we drove through the construction Lucas chimed in with…“Sure is wonderful that the government here has the resources to fix up the roads like this. In the Philippines we didn’t have these kind of resources and the roads are virtually impassable throughout most of the country.”

This is just one of the many scenarios God has used in my life recently to remind me that gratitude really is a choice.

Gratitude is not based on how good your situation is but on how good you see your situation to be.

That’s why someone with half of what you have can be so much more thankful than you.

It is simply true that the person who has chosen to make gratitude his or her mind-set and lifestyle can view anything–anything–anything through the eyes of thankfulness. The whole world looks different when we do. And a grateful man or woman will be a breath of fresh air in a world contaminated by bitterness, cynicism, and discontentment.

~Pete Wilson

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And now here’s an exclusive bonus item that appeared exactly a year ago at Thinking Out Loud. You may have noticed that the link to Pete Wilson’s article today begins with “Without Wax.” Here’s the 411 on the blog’s original name which doesn’t appear there anymore:

The word sincere comes from the Latin phrase sine cera,which means without wax. The phrase comes from a practice where people would hide the cracks in cheap pottery with wax in order to pass the pottery off as being worth more than it actually was. Quality products were often stamped with the words sine cera to show that it had not been doctored, that it was in fact authentic.

I can’t think of a better name for a blog that is, above all, authentic and transparent. If Pete Wilson is not in your blog reading routine, check out the pastor of Nashville’s Cross Point Church’s blog.

Unworthy, But Chosen

Today’s item here at C201 is part testimony, part inspiration and part Bible study. I hope you’ll enjoy this piece from the blog Saint in Training. Click through to read at source and discover more from this blog’s two authors.

I am a living witness that God can and will save the worst of sinners.

I once saw myself as being beyond redemption, having no understanding that our Heavenly Father sees us all the same and that through His son Jesus Christ, he made a way of escape for us. Although our sins may differ we stand in danger of facing the same penalty for unrepentant sin: eternal damnation. Thank God for Jesus! It’s because of Him that every sinner is promised a future and thus once we become Christians it behooves us to remember that every saint has a past.

Dear hearts let us not forget that it was the mercies of God that brought us out of sin. We should be careful not to become self-righteous, thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to in Christ. Our awesome God, blessed be His name, is the only one worthy of praise.

The saying, “I don’t look like what I’ve been through,” is true. If I were to write a book, it couldn’t express the immensity of the love, grace and mercy God has showered upon me! Growing up in the streets of New York City shaped my thoughts and molded my life into a vehicle for sin. Loneliness was my best friend, distrust taught me to fear the night while hunger gave me the strength to beg and the will to live. I learned how to survive that kind of life. God wasn’t in my thoughts; he wasn’t a part of my life at all – or so I thought. I didn’t realize that it was he who was keeping me alive! His ever watchful eyes saw every step I took and protected my every move. He didn’t allow the devil to fulfill his desire to have my soul, nor did he let the demons of hell drive me to a point of no return. God kept my mind!

Oh! The unexplainable love of God. His love can’t be measured. It is deeper than the sea and as solid as a rock! We are so unworthy of his love, of his grace and of his mercy – yet, God still chose us to be his sons and daughters in Christ! He chose us to spend eternity with him in his heavenly kingdom. So those of you who have a feeling of unworthiness that overshadows you, I encourage you today to lift up your hands unto the Lord and bless his holy name – you are blessed. Yes, you are blessed! Why? Because he chose you to love and favored you by calling you to be his son, his daughter!

I’ll never find myself worthy of God’s love but I am grateful. I praise him for seeing me as being worth loving – that’s more than enough for me.

I am like that publican who prayed the prayer that touched God’s heart:

Luke 18:13-14 KJV

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Dear hearts, it was for the unworthy that Jesus died!

Mark 2:17 KJV

When Jesus heard it, he said to them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

It’s the unworthy that Jesus loves! It is the unworthy he embraces! Why? Because it is they who love him the most. They know that they are just that, unworthy. They are grateful and humble before him. God can use them to give hope to the hopeless. He shows his love toward them who desperately need the one and only true living God in their lives!

What does God see in us?

You know yourself as a drug dealer – God sees you as a preacher.
You know yourself as a prostitute – God sees you as a missionary.
You know yourself as an alcoholic – God sees you as an evangelist.
You know yourself as a liar and a thief – God sees you as a prayer warrior.
You see yourself as a nobody – God sees you as the apple of his eye.
You know yourself as a sinner – God sees you as a saint!

Where man has counted you out, God has already counted you as a winner! Where some may see us as being worthless, God sees us as being worth it! Man and Satan took us to the courtroom at Calvary dear hearts; they charged us and found us to be guilty. Oh! But God dropped the charges and He found us guiltless through the death of his son Jesus Christ!

He did this for me! He did this for you!

Forget what Satan says about you precious one, he’s a liar. Forget what you say about you, you’re only flesh. Look to God and receive what he said:

Isaiah 55:7-8 NIV

Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

Isaiah 1:18-20 NIV

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

God has called you by name, he has chosen you for his own – receive his word, believe and watch your life change!

Worship Moment: To Be Like You

^{Amplified – Phil 3:10} [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

Getting this 1984 worship song added to our YouTube channel has been an obsession. (There’s everything there from metal to worship, but all the songs have personal significance.)  The song has an infectious introduction with keyboards by John Andrew Schreiner which draws you into some beautiful worship lyrics sung by Pam Fadness. The song was written by Dan Marks.  Allow it to help you focus on the goal of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

Jesus, I want to be just like You
I want to do the things You do
And Jesus, I’m sorry that I’ve fallen short
But I won’t give up on the dream I hold

To be like You, that’s my only prayer
To be like You, Jesus won’t you help me
To be like You, I’m down on my knees
‘Cause I want you to know that I’m longing
to be just like you.

There is another version of this song available online for listening or download which credits the song to Pam Fadness and Calvary Chapel Downey at this address: http://worshipsong.com/songs/songdetails/to-be-like-you1/listen

Don’t Judge

 

Luke 6:37 (CEB)
“Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

The following poem is not part of the body of religious literature, but falls into the category of  “inspirational” writing.  The version that I have the text of was donated to a museum with a collection of early settlers’ tools and furniture and was believed to have been brought to North America by a Pioneer. There was not title on that manuscript.

Pray don’t find fault with the man who limps
or stumbles along the road,
unless you have worn the shoes he wears
or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,
though hidden away from view,
or the burden he bears, placed on your back
might cause you to stumble too.

Don’t sneer at the man who’s down today
unless you have felt the blow
that caused his fall or felt the shame
that only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but still the blows
that were his if dealt to you,
in the selfsame way, at the selfsame time,
might cause you to stagger too.

Don’t be too harsh with the man who sins
or pelt him with word or stone,
unless you are sure, yea, doubly sure,
that you have no sins of your own
for you know perhaps if the tempter’s voice
should whisper as softly to you
as it did to him when he went astray,
it might cause you to stumble too.

This poem teaches us that we simply do not know the whole of what may have caused someone to end up where they are, or who they are today. Most times in the body of Christ, our greatest challenge is that we really don’t know each other. The poem may be considered to be of secular origin — though the Pioneers were often very devout — but the principle is rooted in scripture.

Elsewhere in the gospels we read:

John 7:24  (NASB)

²⁴ Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Probably one of the best verses which challenges us to consider how we might respond to overwhelming circumstances is this one:

Jeremiah 12:5 (KJV link; text below is GNT)
⁵ The Lord said,
           Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people,
      how can you race against horses?
   If you can’t even stand up in open country,
      how will you manage in the jungle by the Jordan?

Waiting on God

Andrew Murray (1828-1917), was born in Cape Town, South Africa and became a revered missionary leader in the late 1800s and early 1900s, promoting and establishing missions in South Africa. His devotional writings are considered classics of the Christian faith. This devotional is taken from Murray’s series of writings titled, Waiting on God.

“Wait on the Lord, and keep His ways, And He shalt exalt thee to inherit the land.” Psalms 37:34.

If we desire to find a man whom we long to meet, we inquire where the places and the ways are where he is to be found. When waiting on God, we need to be very careful that we keep His ways; out of these we never can expect to find Him.

“Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness; those that remember Thee in Thy ways.” Isa 64:5.

We may be sure that God is never and nowhere to be found but in His ways. And that there, by the soul who seeks and patiently waits, He is always most surely to be found. “Wait on the Lord, and keep His ways, and He shall exalt thee.”

How close the connection between the two parts of the injunction, “Wait on the Lord”, – that has to do with worship and disposition; “and keep His ways”, – that deals with walk and work. The outer life must be in harmony with the inner; the inner must be the inspiration and the strength for the outer. It is our God who has made known His ways in His Word for our conduct, and invites our confidence for His grace and help in our heart. If we do not keep His ways, our waiting on Him can bring no blessing.

The surrender to full obedience to all His will is the secret of full access to all the blessings of His fellowship.

Notice how strongly this comes out in the psalm. It speaks of the evildoer who prospereth in his way, and calls on the believer not to fret himself. When we see men around us prosperous and happy while they forsake God’s ways, and ourselves left in difficulty or suffering, we are in danger of first fretting at what appears so strange, and then gradually yielding to seek our prosperity in their path.

The psalm says, “Fret not thyself; trust in the Lord, and do good. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Depart from evil, and do good; the Lord forsaketh not His saints. The righteous shall inherit the land. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” And then follows – the word occurs for the third time in the psalm – “Wait on the Lord, and keep His ways.”

Do what God asks you to do; God will do more than you can ask Him to do.

And let no one give way to the fear: I cannot keep His ways; it is this that robs one of every confidence. It is true you have not the strength yet to keep all His ways. But keep carefully those for which you have received strength already. Surrender yourself willingly and trustingly to keep all God’s ways, in the strength which will come in waiting on Him. Give up your whole being to God without reserve and without doubt; He will prove Himself God to you, and work in you that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ.

Keep His ways, as you know them in the Word. Keep His ways, as nature teaches them, in always doing what appears right. Keep His ways, as Providence points them out. Keep His ways, as the Holy Spirit suggests. Do not think of waiting on God while you say you are not willing to work in His path. However weak you feel, only be willing, and He who has worked to will, will work to do by His power.

“Wait on the Lord, and keep His ways.” It may be that the consciousness of shortcoming and sin makes our text look more like a hindrance than a help in waiting on God. Let it not be so.

Have we not said more than once, the very starting-point and ground-work of this waiting is utter and absolute impotence?

Why then not come with everything evil you feel in yourself, every memory of unwillingness, unwatchfulness, unfaithfulness, and all that causes such unceasing self-condemnation? Put your power in God’s omnipotence, and find in waiting on God your deliverance. Your failure has been owing to only one thing: you sought to conquer and obey in your own strength.

Come and bow before God until you learn that He is the God who alone is good, and alone can work any good thing. Believe that in you, and all that nature can do, there is no true power. Be content to receive from God each moment the inworking of His mighty grace and life, and waiting on God will become the renewal of your strength to run in His ways and not be weary, to walk in His paths and never faint.

“Wait on the Lord, and keep His ways” will be command and promise in one.

“My soul, wait thou only upon God!”

sourced at CBN.com devotional page

Frances J. Roberts Quotations

Frances J. Roberts (1918-2009) was a songwriter, poet, and the author of nine books. After graduating from Moody Bible Institute, Frances served as a state director for Child Evangelism Fellowship, taught at a Spanish mission school, and worked as a professional accompanist. Eighty-eight of her hymns have been published. In 1964, she founded The King’s Press and began releasing books. Over the last 30 years, she has sold over 1.5 million books. Frances has four grown children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She lived in Southern California and died June 23, 2009 in Ojai, Calif.

While with CEF she wrote the popular “Wordless Book Song” during her tenure. Of her other works, only Come Away My Beloved is still in print in the original, but you can also get updated editions of Make Haste My Beloved and Progress Of Another Pilgrim. She also wrote, On the Highroad of Surrender, Dialogs with God , Total Love, When the Latch is Lifted, Listen to the Silence, Learn to Reign; all of which are out of print.

Note: In a style similar to the currently popular Jesus Calling, Frances J. Roberts sometimes writes as God speaking directly. Also the style is very King-James-English, but I do not for a minute believe the intention here is to supplant scripture in any way. All of the following are from Frances J. Roberts Inspirations.

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Do not walk in the path of human reason, and resist the pressures that would project you into conjectures about the future. Live one day at a time! Simply striving to bring joy to your Father’s heart is enough to keep you occupied. For you know that He loves you, and you will find your peace as you rest in Him.

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Only relinquish all things into My hands: for I can work freely only as ye release Me by complete committal both of thyself and others. Even as was written of old: “Commit thy way unto the Lord: trust also in Him: and He shall bring it to pass”. (Psalms 37:5) I will be thy sustaining strength; and My peace shall garrison thy mind. Only TRUST ME that all I do is done in love.

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Seek Me early; seek Me late; Seek Me in the midst of the day. Ye need Me in the early hours for direction and guidance and for My blessing upon thy heart. Ye need Me at the end of the day to commit into My hands the day’s happenings both to free thyself of the burdens and to give them over into My hands that I may continue to work things out. And ye need Me more than ever in the busy hours, in the activities and responsibilities, that I may give thee My grace and My tranquility and My wisdom.

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In the biblical account (2 Kings 6:17) Gehazi owed his own safety to Elisha, for God was with Elisha, the man of God, in the form of an angelic host that filled the mountains, and Gehazi, the servant, benefited by going in his company. So shall it be for those who journey with you, as God, seeing your confidence in Him and desire to please Him and do His will, moves in your behalf.

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Seek guidance for outer action, but be even more concerned with the desires of the heart, that they be consistent with the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never did He call upon men for protection, nor even upon angels, although they were sent to minister to Him. It was His own inner unification with the Father’s heart that effected His preservation against all evil that was directed against Him. Even so, your own heart purity determines the extent of your personal preservation.

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Cast fear forever from your heart. God’s love protects the sparrow: surely He is near His children who rely on His faithfulness!

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Under every burden,
…..God will slip His hand.
Every gulf of sorrow,
…..His great love has spanned,
Into every heart-ache,
…..God will our His balm:
Ease the pain and anguish,
…..bring a blessed calm.

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There is a way of the Spirit unknown to the natural mind. No barrier can keep you from finding His best except an unyielded will. As long as it is your inmost desire to know the will of God and do it, He Himself will guide and direct in all sorts of surprising ways.

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ONLY in the release of the seen do you lay hold on the unseen, My little one. Heaven waits for those who are no longer bound to earth. The degree to which bondages are exchanged for liberties while still in the flesh is in proportion to the extent to which eternal values are held in higher esteem that worldly success and possessions. If a man loves Me, he will hold his soul more precious than his body and will pursue holiness at the expense of wealth; for to follow after that which perishes is to forfeit the prize of the high calling in Christ.

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There is no place in the kingdom of heaven for a divided heart. It is in the division that love is lost; and to lose My love, My child, is to lose what cannot be regained. For a loving heart is a vessel of light and mercy. It is a receptacle into which I pour My grace. It is untarnished by avarice and indifferent to the call of worldly ambition.

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To be united with Me in total dedication to My highest will protects the soul from forces of destruction. There is no safety in external circumstances. The only shield for the spirit of man is My presence. It is written, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” (Psalm 34:7) This is your safe-keeping, My child, and My love is your reward.

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Keep your eye on the end of the course. Victory is secured already. Do not let the hurdles cause thee consternation. Stay in the running. Verily, I am at thy side. According to each day shall thy strength be; and the race is not to the swift, but the obedient shall receive the prize.

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For adversities must of necessity come. They are part of the pattern of life’s pilgrimage for every individual; and who can escape them? But I say unto thee, that for those who walk in Me, and for those who are encircled by the intercessory prayers of My children, I shall make of the suffering, yea, shall make of the trials a stepping stone to future blessing. (2 Corinthians 4:17,18)

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My will shall be done regardless of the flaws in thy life, if ye count upon the power of My righteousness. I do not work only in cases where there are no obstacles; but I glory in over-ruling the prevailing circumstances, and I take pleasure in bringing victories in those places where no victory is anywhere in sight.

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His desire to bless you goes infinitely beyond your own personal desire to secure His blessing. There is always peace in His presence. Do not disturb this by anxiety to know what is in store for tomorrow. Out of the very tranquility of worship will be born the guidance you need.

Guardians of Truth

The last twenty-four hours have been rather stressful here, so today I clicked over to Daily Encouragement because I knew that their devotional ministry is reliable.  I think it’s important that certain kinds of blogs, and all churches and small group meetings be consistent.  People need to know they can depend on you to be there.  And Stephen and Brooksyne embody all that: Dependability, reliability and consistency.

Their message on Tuesday was titled “To avoid being pulled into error, keep a firm grip on the truth!” That is certainly needed these days. Because we operate the only Christian bookstore in our county, one local pastor referred to us “gatekeepers.” I hadn’t thought about that aspect of our role until he said that, but I now see what he meant. Certainly every book or CD or DVD had to pass through our filter in order to get stocked in the store. (And a few times that judgment got criticized by people who wanted to nitpick over the inclusion of a title they personally disagreed with!)

Anyway, I encourage you to read what follows, or better yet, click here to read today’s thoughts.

“Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings” (Hebrews 13:9). “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:14,15).

The daily texts describe the volatility of those who fail to grow and mature in Christ and become properly grounded. They become unstable like “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” The writer of Hebrews warned, “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines”.

Today we see a departure from the course of Biblical faith and standards that our forefathers could hardly have imagined. Even in my own lifetime who would have predicted just thirty years ago that something as foundational as the basic constitution of holy marriage between a man and a woman would be a serious issue of departure?

Some of our readers have been forced by biblical conviction to leave their church due to leadership that has deviated from God’s Holy Word. Tragically, some pastors are basing their teaching more on the popularity of opinion polls than the unwavering truths presented by our Creator. I am very wary of “evolving views” based on current opinion polls and the views of popular entertainers and supposedly elite academics.

False teaching is a perpetual danger for God’s people. It was a concern in the New Testament age, all through church history and certainly abounds in our own day

1) I call on my pastor peers to “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2) and “Teach what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). Resist the temptation to preach so you will be loved by the world or following after the fads that flood the church.

2) I call on dedicated followers of Christ to implement the God-ordained means to stability and health in your spiritual lives. Through our unwavering commitment to read God’s Word and through the practice of other spiritual disciplines the character of Christ is developed in us as we are rooted and grounded in Him who is the Head, which results in long-term spiritual stability.

Be encouraged today,

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
(click this link for the main site and bookmark it in your computer)

Daily prayer:  Father, Your warnings regarding the deluge of deceitful tactics from the enemy is evidenced all around us – through the media, books, false prophets and even well-meaning but confused individuals. Your Word is the stabilizing and authoritative doctrinal manual for all that we need for life and godliness. Help us to be wise, studied, and vigilant so that we correctly discern good from bad, truth from error.

In Your holy name we pray, Amen

Filled With The Spirit

Christ was not deserted in death and his body was never destroyed. ‘Christ is the man Jesus, whom God raised up—a fact of which all of us are eye-witnesses!’ He has been raised to the right hand of God; he has received from the Father and poured out upon us the promised Holy Spirit—that is what you now see and hear!

~Acts. 2:31-33, J. B. Phillips translation

This verse was one that I learned in a slightly different form from The Living Bible, in fact, it hung as part of poster on the walls of my bedroom:

The Father gave the authority to the Son to send the Holy Spirit, with the results you are seeing and hearing today.

I believe that’s more or less verbatim, as I don’t think anyone has The Living Bible text online.

Christ’s death and resurrection brought about a change in the relationship between The Holy Spirit and man.

• In the first covenant, God’s Spirit occasionally rested on certain individuals, such as the prophets
• In the time of Christ, the disciples experienced Emmanuel, God with us. The Spirit indwelt Jesus who in turn was physically present among mankind in ways unknown since the Garden of Eden, but limited by whatever physical location Jesus was present at any single time.
• After the resurrection, God’s Spirit lived inside those who granted Him full authority, or Lordship over their lives.

Christ came to fulfill a sacrificial mandate, but also to usher us into a time when His Spirit would live through us; where instead of being centered on a single person (and therefore a single place) the Spirit of God would be present in people throughout the entire earth. Though omnipresent in both old covenant and new covenant times, the embodiment of His presence after Acts 2 was much more widespread.

Raised to new life, God pours out His Spirit on all those who believe and follow. 

That’s the progression…

…But we’re not there yet.

This is still Good Friday.  In between incarnation and ascension, we have the suffering and death of Jesus, we hear him cry out, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken me?” 

But even in that anguish, is there hope?  Is there a hint of what is to come?  Just as Christ, in his life, foreshadows his death, does he in his death foreshadow his resurrection?

Today, I want to refer you to a somewhat longer  piece by Al Hsu from InterVaristy Press, posted at Christianity Today.  It’s one of the best I’ve read in a long time, in fact I read it out loud to my family.  It takes about 20 minutes to do it that way, so your reading time should be shorter.

But I promise you will never look at one particular cry from the cross the same way. I strongly encourage you to invest the time this reading takes.

Read all six screens of He’s Calling for Elijah: Why We Still Mishear Jesus (click here).

Wesley Duewel Quotations

Don’t usually do back-to-back quotation posts, but after reading the Mark Wilson book I quoted here on Sunday and reviewed at Thinking out Loud on Monday, I was reminded of author Wesley Duewel;  a former president of OMS International and missionary to India for 25 years, Dr. Duewel is also the author of Ablaze for God, Mighty Prevailing Prayer, More God, More Power, Revival Fire. and Touch the World Through Prayer. The first four quotes here are all from his biography, as cited at Daily Christian Quote.

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Prayer has mighty power to move mountains because the Holy Spirit is ready both to encourage our praying and to remove the mountains hindering us. Prayer has the power to change mountains into highways.

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The greatest privilege God gives to you is the freedom to approach Him at any time. You are not only authorized to speak to Him; you are invited. You are not only permitted; you are expected. God waits for you to communicate with Him. You have instant, direct access to God. God loves mankind so much, and in a very special sense His children, that He has made Himself available to you at all times.

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All other passions build upon or flow from your passion for Jesus. A passion for souls grows out of a passion for Christ. A passion for missions builds upon a passion for Christ. When Hudson Taylor was once asked what was the greatest incentive to missionary work, he instantly replied, “Love of Christ.” William Booth’s passion for helping the underprivileged, the derelicts of society, and for world evangelization was built upon his passion for Christ. The most crucial danger to a Christian, whatever his role, is to lack a passion of Christ. The most direct route to personal renewal and new effectiveness is a new all-consuming passion for Jesus. Lord, give us this passion, whatever the cost!

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God delights to plan for His children. No human father ever experienced such joy in planning for his child as God experiences as He plans for you. He does not want you to miss any part of His beautiful purpose for you. His plans are filled with details of blessing, joy, and wonderful surprises. David said, “The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare”

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Prayers prayed in the Spirit never die until they accomplish God’s intended purpose. His answer may not be what we expected, or when we expected it, but God often provides much more abundantly than we could think or ask. He interprets our intent and either answers or stores up our prayers. Sincere prayers are never lost. Energy, time, love, and longing can be endowments that will never be wasted or go unrewarded. (from Touch the World Through Prayer)

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God cannot tolerate lukewarmness. Prayer feeds on flame. It is the fiery intercessors who conquer. Such burning desire makes intercession invincible. Desire is the flame within; intercession is the flame leaping out to God.

White-hot prayer burns its way through obstacles to the throne of God. A burning heart is your best preparation for prayer. Fiery prayer is the intensity born of the Holy Spirit. The fire of the Spirit baptizes your heart as a prayer warrior and empowers your praying. If your prayers are not touched with holy fire, you have not yet felt the heartbeat of God. To be absorbed in God’s will, God’s purpose, God’s zeal, and God’s glory will set your heart and prayer aflame.

Heaven pays little attention to casual requests. God is not moved by feeble desires, listless prayers, and spiritual laziness. God rejoices to see a soul on fire with holy passion as the heart reaches out to Him. (from Touch the World Through Prayer)

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