January 15, 2012 … “Fix Me, Jesus” …

Passage of the Day: Chapter/Verse Reference: Job, Chapters 40-42 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Job 40: … [Job Surrenders to Hear God]
1 The LORD said to Job: 2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” 3 Then Job answered the LORD: 4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer — twice, but I will say no more.”

Job 41: … [God Seals The Deal]
9 Any hope of subduing it [the crocodile] is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.

Job 42: … [Job Gets It! And God Gives His grace]
1 Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 "I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
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10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

My Journal for Today: If you’ve been reading through the Book of Job with me into this New Year, we now come to the climax, which is produced when a surrendered servant of God humbly repents and really trusts in his (or her) LORD for whatever God has for the future of the true believer.

And Job finally got it! He got it through and through; and after God took him behind the woodshed and allowed Satan to give him a “whoopin” (as I used to call it when I was a boy), Job could finally see that all that he went through, no matter how unfair it seemed, was for his good and God’s glory.

Job didn’t have the advantages we Christians have today with all of God’s word and His truth to rely on when we’re in doubt. And I hope you – like I do – lean heavily on God’s absolute and infinitely inspired word when you get into Jobian conditions in life which are so confusing and perplexing.

My friend I have several memorized and internalized passages which I cling to when I get to feeling down as Job must’ve felt; and PTL, they bubble up into my consciousness when I get into pity parties like some of the great men of faith experienced – as do we all. Men like Jonah and Elijah and Moses and John the Baptist and almost all of the Apostles got into periods of blue funk where many of them actually prayed for God to take them home to heaven; but they all finally came to the conclusion, as the Apostle Paul wrote, that … all things work together for the good of those who love the LORD and who are the called according to His purpose. [Romans 8: 28]

Job had to learn that lesson the hard way; but, as we read in Chapter 42 of his book, our hero learned this lesson; and he repented of his doubts and surrender to His LORD. And when he did, God did what God does, … He restored … He replaced … and He renewed Job so that God’s man of faith could live out his life under the blessings of God and then Job would find all those loved ones who had been taken from him again in glory.

Good ending for Job; and good ending for all who believe in and surrender to God’s purpose and design for our lives.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I am Your surrendered servant! Amen

Blogger’s PS: Last night on a “date night” my wife and I took in a delightful new release movie, Joyful Noise. And during the movie, which was loaded with a lot of great Christian music, Queen Latifah, playing one of the lead roles, sang a haunting refrain which really captures the attitude of Job; and so I’d like to link you here to that beautiful song, especially if you feel like you need your God to do some extreme making over in your life now. Here’s that link to this song, entitled Fix Me, Jesus … which is the title I chose for today’s devotional journal entry. wrb

April 15, 2011 … Reaching Out to Others

Passage of the Day: Luke 23: 43 … 43 And Jesus said to him [the repentant thief on the cross], “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

My Journal for Today: This incident, captured by Luke in today’s passage, is very personal for me, which I will explain below.

First, let me say that what happened as the life of Jesus, the Christ, moved inexorably toward His death on that cross, hanging between two thieves who were also convicted to die; and Christ’s word here to one of those convicted criminals is a remarkable example of God’s prevenient and saving grace. I know, in faith and from God’s word, Christ would have equally wanted both of these thieves to be in heaven with Him as they all would die mortally that day. Certainly, both of the convicted and crucified thieves saw the same pitiful, weakened figure hanging between them with a sign over His head that proclaimed, “King of the Jews!” However, only one of the two responded to God’s prevenient calling of grace, which was available to both of them that day. Only one of the men repented and acknowledged his sin and proclaimed the truth that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Only one of the thieves was converted by God’s saving grace that day; and only one of those men are with Jesus today, awaiting His second coming and their total glorification in the New Jerusalem.

However, in that remarkable, telling moment, Jesus told the repentant thief that he would be with Him in heaven THAT VERY DAY! This encounter, probably as much as any of God’s word from the New Testament, assures me that the spirits of both of my parents, who believed/received Christ very late in their lives, are now with Jesus in heaven. And it tells me that it’s never too late, no matter the past/personal circumstances of one’s life, to heed and respond to God’s calling for salvation. It was that calling to me when I was 39 years old that led me, most certainly “a repentant thief,” to receive God’s saving grace. And it was God’s prevenient grace, being received by my father at age 76 and then my Mom, just six hours before she died, that will allow me to see them in heaven in God’s timing.

What about you? Have you surrendered, as did the thief on the cross, to the calling on your heart by Christ? If you haven’t, NOW is the time to declare that you are a sinner … that you need a Savior … and that Christ is Your Savior and Lord. God’s word promises (see Rom. 10: 9 – 13 - linked) that if you – or ANYONE - declares this before God, as did the one thief, you will be saved for eternity to be with Christ. But if you don’t/can’t before you die, you will languish forever separated from God in hell. No more need be said.

My Prayer Today: Lord, may all who read this heed your call. Amen

April 13, 2011 … Peter’s Repentence

Passage of the Day: Matthew 26: 74 - 75 … [see underlined] 74 Then he [Peter] began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.

My Journal for Today: Wow! This is a passage with which I have deep personal empathy and identity.

Peter’s response to the recognition of His thrice denial of Christ, which is recounted in today’s passage, as well as in Luke 22: 61, … especially after a long series of self-driven behavior (see Matt. 26: 35, 40 – 41, 51 – 52, and 69 – 70), shows the long-suffering patience our Lord has for believers who fail Him, even repeatedly (and are you, like me, saying “Amen” right now?).

And I love the passage in John 21: 15 – 19 [please look that one up and meditate on its significance], which probably best illustrates Christ’s infinite patience, love, and grace as He helps Peter be restored into fellowship with his Lord, along with a charge to move forward in his (Peter’s) relationship with Christ. Jesus patiently and lovingly, in the John 21 passage, brings this fallen warrior into a healed and restored fellowship with his Lord with the charge from the Good Shepherd to go and feed His sheep [which is a charge to fulfill Peter’s calling in ministry]. Could there be a more poignant and powerful description of just how much the Good Shepherd loves His sheep and is willing to do all it takes to keep them close to Himself so that they (we) can grow and thrive?

This is a living example of the truth of 1st John 1: 7, 9; and it should give hope to all of us who claim Christ as our Savior. When we’re willing to return to the Good Shepherd, with dirt on us from our encounters with sin in our nature, He is fully willing to cleanse us completely and to allow us to be restored of strength and direction. That was the lesson from the parable of the “prodigal,” wasn’t it? Well, somewhere along the path of our discipleship as Christians all of us have failed our Lord, by commission or omission. But we still, from that moment forward by confession/repentance, can be like Peter in the John 21 passage [have you taken it in – fully? … please do!]. We can receive God’s grace and walk in repentance with His Spirit giving us His direction and power. We can deny self, take up our cross daily, and follow Him (see my oft cited passage: Luke 9: 23).

But as with Peter, it takes our recognition of our sin or separation from the Shepherd … AND our willingness to return to Him in repentance so that Christ can (and will) be able to impart His blessing and fill us with His grace. Only with this enabling grace can we fulfill the admonition of Paul in Phil. 3: 13 – 14 … to move forward toward the prize which awaits us in glory, shining God’s light for others to see our Lord’s love from the darkness (see Matt. 5: 16).

Where are you, my friend? Have you been in the darkness? Do you need to come into the light, … to repent and be restored today? If so, go back, … run into the arms of your Abba Father and be restored by the Good Shepherd, who will say to you what he said to Peter, … “Go, and feed my sheep.” And with the cleansing of character that comes from repentance and renewal, you will be able to do just that, … shining Christ’s light though your gifts and good works for God’s glory.

My Prayer Today: I am restored in/through You, Lord! Amen

Special Blogger's Note: It’s a special day for yours truly – my “re-birthday.” It was 28 years ago TODAY that I was, like Peter, allowed to repent and be restored from an angry agnostic who had lived in habitual sexual sin for over two decades and was seeking spiritual strength and renewal into my now life, almost three decades later, as an ordained Minister of the Gospel. Perhaps you can see why I identify with Peter so much. And any of us, as lost souls or backslidden believers, in need of repentance and renewal can run to our Prodigal Father, and receive the restoring love He has waiting for us. If you need that love, I pray that you will come to the Good Shepherd, our Abba Father, running into the open arms of the loving and merciful Good Shepherd and hear Him say, "I love you; ... now go and feed my sheep."

2010 – November 7 – Money In An Hourglass

Study from God’s Word… Luke, Chapters 13 – 18 and Matthew 20: 1-16 … Passage for Reflection: Luke 16: 13 … NIV “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.”

My Journal for Today: If you take the time to read/study the chapters in Luke and from Matthew 20 from today’s study of the New Testament, you have to come to the inescapable conclusion that our time here on earth is limited; as well as the message that, during the time we have, we somehow must understand, receive, and apply the truths being taught by Jesus in these passages, which were directed primarily to the Pharisees, who where were lost in themselves. There is story after story in these passages, Jesus’ parables, which espoused God’s kingdom values; and the Pharisees just could not – or rather chose not to – humble themselves to the place of being able to believe what Jesus was telling them and warning them.

Jesus didn’t hate the Pharisees. He loved them … enough to give them the stark truth; but they simply could not – or would not – set their pride aside and receive God’s truth in humility. Jesus, and later His Disciples and Apostles, told the people, especially the religious leaders, to humble themselves; and His message was that the first will be last and the last will be first. And we heard the Lord espouse the truth that man can’t worship and serve God and money.

My friends, do we get it? Or are we, like the Pharisees, mired in pride and selfishness, … unwilling to hear or receive the repeated cries from Jesus in the New Testament for us to get our act together before it’s too late. There will be a day when it truly is too late. And those of us who know the truth and have received it in humility must be in prayer, doggedly and persistently, for those we know who have rejected God’s message of repentance and grace. We must do all we can to share the Gospel truth Jesus was communicating to the lost in His day so that the lost in our day can hear the truth of hope and salvation.

Oh, how I pray that all who read here have received this wonderful news with a humble and contrite heart; and I pray that all of us who have are sharing this news with all we can in our world and in our day.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to spread the truth of the Gospel in our time. Amen

2010 – September 3 – False Security in Righteousness

Study from God’s Word… Ezekiel, Chapters 32 – 33 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 33: 13 … NIV 13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done.

My Journal for Today: For a New Covenant (i.e., New Testament) oriented Christian this text (today’s highlight passage) may be troubling. It seems to be one of those passages which could be interpreted as support for the Armenian position of salvation: i.e., that one can lose his/her salvation because of their behavioral choices – even after believing in the God of salvation. But one has to take this passage in the context of the Old Covenant which God had made with Israel as well as God’s promise of a Messiah, One Who would come to God’s people and be their agent of salvation, … their Redeemer.

So, for you Calvinist types out there; don’t despair. Today’s passage is absolutely right on target, given the Covenant which God had with His people in the days of Ezekiel. And this is why we see that God’s people kept failing in that covenant, which was dependent upon the faith of those who looked forward to a Messiah and, in faith, put their trust in the God of the Old Covenant, recognizing that they could not live up to God’s Law – in and of themselves. It was the faith of the Old Testament believers, i.e., those who recognized their own unrighteousness and humbly pursued righteousness in the face of their individual and collective sinfulness, which produced salvation for these Old Testament Jews.

I know. It’s complicated, isn’t it? But when Jesus came on the scene, bringing forth the New Covenant, He simplified it for all mankind. But nothing has changed. We NT Christians find salvation – i.e., ever lasting salvation – the same way an OT Jew did. We cast our inability to be righteous on a God Who is the only One who can give us the power to be righteous. In our case, in this New Covenant dispensation, our faith casting is upon Jesus, The Christ, Who came to earth, lived, died, raised from the dead, and was returned to Heaven to be with His Father so that we, i.e., those who would repent of our sinfulness and receive God’s saving grace – in faith, … we would find that promise of the classic passage which you probably have memorized, … John 3: 16.

So, though I’m not righteous, when God sees me, He sees me as righteous, because I know I’m unrighteous and believe in the only One Who can save me from my unrighteousness; and He’s the only one Who can – and will – make me righteous … because of my faith. So, I can have confidence in my eternal security, … not because of me; but because of The Christ. I pray that you have that confidence too; and if you don’t, you need to do what is simply spelled out in Romans 10: 9 – 13, acknowledging to God and someone else that you’re a sinner, … declaring in faith that you repent of your sinfulness, … thanking Christ for dying for your sins, and finally asking Him to become the Lord of your life. If you’ve done that, and meant it in your heart, declaring it openly to someone, you are declared righteous by God – FOREVER!

My Prayer for Today: Again, HALLELUJAH, Lord for what You’ve done to give me, a sinner, Your righteousness. Amen

2010 – August 20 – Longing for the Bad Old Days

Study from God’s Word… Chapter 23 of Ezekiel … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 23: 27 … NIV So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.

My Journal for Today: I’m sure that those of you who follow my journal entries here don’t often read through the entire passages which Dr. LaGard Smith has me read in my quest, with his guidance, to read through The Daily Bible in Chronological Order. You probably just read my devotional entry and let it be your way of vicariously letting me do your reading for you. I understand that; but today I’m asking more of you.

Today, I implore you to read what I’ve just read, … the entire 23rd Chapter of the book of Ezekiel; because it is one of the most troubling chapters – at least to me – in its word pictures and analogy of two sister prostitutes representing Israel, whom God named “Oholah,” the older sister, and Judah, the younger, whom God called “Oholibah.” Oh, I’ve read Ezekiel before, but not until now did I read this chapter with such personal intent and careful meditation, being led by Dr. Smith’s devotional; and I must say that I’m now reeling with self disgust and even a raging fear for two other prostituted sisters. One is an older sister who has slowly given herself as prostitute. We know here as “Europe.” And we, “America” are the younger sister who is now following in our older sister’s pattern of shame.

As I read Ezekiel, Chapter 23, the graphic sexual references first took me back to the many years I, personally, prostituted my Judeo-Christian values to live a hidden double-life into many forms of sexual sin. But now I see that what God led me out of, in repentance, has now become a cultural pattern, where our nation has fallen prey and moved far away from being the identified as the “Christian Nation” she once was, a nation which was founded by staunch believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and the nation who followed their seed, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Now, I’m afraid I see our fate as a nation becoming much the same as the two prostituted sisters, Israel and Judah. What form of wrath will be visited upon us as a seriously prostituted nation? I don’t know; but I just don’t see how we can avoid it. Perhaps it will be falling prey to the clutches of Islam, which is slowly, but doggedly taking over our older, but prostituted sister, Europe, who has made herself a bed for her Muslim pursuers.

I’m not a prophet with enough vision to see where God is going to lead America, who is more resistant than Europe. Hopefully there is a Christian remnant who is holding on by our knuckles; but assuredly, if America, cannot refrain from lifting its skirts to allow Islamic radicalization into our loins, she will fall to them as our sister Europe, which is crumbling in shame to Islam as I write this. Go read Ezekiel 23 and see if you can’t see this as well.

And if you agree with me, one must ask, “What can I do to see the younger sister, America, be saved from the fate we have seen for a century in our older sister nation, Europe?” And the answer is found in that very pregnant charge of 2nd Chron. 7: 14 [linked], which I would hope you know by heart. And I also hope that you join me in this refrain of confession and commitment as the people of God’s Name, who are mentioned in this charge, become a unified force, pleading for repentance, restoration, and renewal as a nation.

My Prayer for Today: O, dear Lord, we are nation who has prostituted ourselves to grieve You and shame Your Holy Name. Have mercy on us, dear God; and whatever You do, we know you’ll do it because You love Your children who cry out for Your mercy. Amen

2010 – August 14 – Halfhearted Repentance

Study from God’s Word… Jeremiah, Chapters 51 and then Jer. 49: 34-39, followed by Jer. 34: 8-22 … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 34: 15 – 16 … NIV [God, through Jeremiah, to King, Zedekiah, and the people of Judah] 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in My sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen. You even made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name. 16 But now you have turned around and profaned My Name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.

My Journal for Today: How many times do we read in the Old Testament how God’s people, His Hebrew children, rebel against their Covenant relationship with their Father, God. In today’s highlight passage we have another of these stories, where Judah was reminded that they, under Mosaic Law, must set their slaves free in the seventh year of their captivity; and as we read, they did repent and do that; but then they went back on their promise, once again disobeying God by taking their slaves back.

Now, before we get all haughty, thinking, “What wimps these Jews were as faithless followers of the one, true God!” And yes, certainly they were; but as I read this story in my devotional by LaGard Smith this morning, I was reminded of a repentant New Testament warrior who had trouble living up to his New Covenant faith. And that, of course, was the Apostle Paul. Let me link you here to a passage of Romans 7: 14-24 - linked, where our converted Christian warrior, Paul, is lamenting his inability to do what he knows is right according to his relationship with his Lord and Savior, Jesus.

How often do we, called to holiness and to be a living sacrifice to righteousness (see Rom. 12: 1-2), and called to separate ourselves from the world and our fleshly weaknesses, find ourselves falling short and failing to glorify God with some isolated sin or pattern of repeated weakness [see Rom. 3: 23]? It’s amazing to me how much God puts up with, as He did with Paul in Romans 7, then reminding His children, as He did with that same Paul, inspiring this broken warrior to write all of Romans 8. Or when the beloved Apostle John was inspired to write 1st John 1: 9, which I hope you can quote right here, as I refer to the truth that we can be cleansed of any or all sin by confessing that sin to our loving God. What a God we serve!!!

Yes, we’re no different than these weak-kneed Hebrews, who rode the repentance roller-coaster, being convicted and repenting of their sinfulness and then allowing themselves to be sucked back into their own fleshly weakness or lured into selfish sin by the world or Satan. Aren’t you just glad that there’s a Romans 8, into which we can choose to live instead of being mired in Romans 7 living? Aren’t you just glad that God provided a way for us to be free of our own deceitful hearts? Aren’t you just glad that you’ve repented – at least once – sincerely and have received God’s eternal gift of eternal life [all it takes is found in Romans 10: 9-13 linked]? And wouldn’t it be great if we, who have been saved by God’s grace, would live up to our part of that New Covenant, repenting of our sin and choosing to walk in righteousness, allowing God’s empowering/enabling grace to let us live in His Romans 8 promises?

Those are the questions God has led me to deal with this morning. What about you?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, lead me away from my own Romans 7 weaknesses to live in Your Romans 8 power. Amen

2010 – July 27 – Losing a Sense of the Serious

Study from God’s Word… Jeremiah 5: 14 – 6: 30 … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 6: 13 – 14 … NIV 13 "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. 14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.

Second Passage for Review: Jeremiah 8: 10 - 11 … NIV 10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. 11 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace.

My Journal for Today: How many times do we need to hear it? Today’s passage was repeated almost word for word to God’s people from God through Jeremiah in two separate chapters of the book by Jeremiah’s name; but the people weren’t hearing, especially the leaders. They just wouldn’t take God seriously. >>> Advance the times forward to now! Sound familiar?

Dr. Smith closes his devotional with the pointed and pertinent self evaluation question: ”Just how seriously do I address my own scandal and vice?” In other words, “Am I taking my sinfulness seriously?” Do I keep short accounts on my sin? Am I vigilant, day by day by day, to have a plan to avoid my own flesh and deceitful heart (we call it a “Battle Plan” in the ministry I lead); and this is something against which we’re going to read Jeremiah also railing later in his prophesies, in Jer. 17: 9, that we have a deceit-ridden and desperately wicked heart against which we must attend continuously.

Why is it that we have to be reminded of our lack of vigilance by “911” type disasters? And God, in Jeremiah’s time, was having to use a sweeping captivity by Babylon to wake His people up to their lack of seriousness to sin and their unwillingness to hear their God through Jeremiah (and other Prophets).

Have you heard (or read of) anyone today clamoring, “Wake up, America!!” Of course, you have; and some of you take it seriously; but when I read passages like the one today, I see America being a modern-day version of what was going on in Israel and Judah in Jeremiah’s day; and when I read what the Apostle Paul wrote about in a later time (see Romans 1: 18 – 32 - linked), it’s like I’m reading of our own culture; and God simply cannot – and will not – stand by and let this blasé attitude about sin in our culture transpire without the Lord’s ire being raise to a point where His wrath must be expressed. And all one can say to this would be my prayer today.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, have mercy on us! Amen

2010 – July 21 – A Snapshot of Repentance

Study from God’s Word… Isaiah, Chapters 65 – 66; 2nd Chron. 19: 37 [Is. 37:38]; 2Chron 33: 10 - 17 … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Chronicles 33: 12 - 13… NIV 12 In his distress he [the evil king of Judah, Manasseh] sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

My Journal for Today: We’ve been focusing on the prophesies and ministry of Isaiah during my devotional reading in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order and in the companion book, The Daily Bible Devotional by F. LaGard Smith, during these last weeks; and it has been a great restudy for me, … reminding me just how patient God was with his recalcitrant children in Israel and Judah; and how he sent Prophets, like Isaiah, to give His word to the people. Some listened and became part of the remnant of people led, along with the misfits, into captivity; and then ultimately redeemed and delivered by the One prophesied, … The Messiah.

And one such biblical snapshot of disobedience, God’s patience, and one man’s repentance was the story of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, who became King of Judah after the obedient reign of Hezekiah. And as God’s word says [in 2nd Chron. 33: 2], “He (Manasseh) did evil in the sight of the Lord;” and for many years, early in his kingship, the young king undid almost all that his daddy had accomplished. And for his disobedience and unGodly leadership, God allowed Manasseh to be broken by captivity to the Babylonians to the point where Manasseh confessed and repented and turned, in prayer, to God. And God in His infinite mercy restored Manasseh to his kingship; and led him back to Jerusalem where he did all he could, in repentance, during his remaining years to rebuild what he had undone as king.

I don’t know about you; but I really identify with Manasseh. For over 20 years of my life, after I had gone off to college, I turned away from my upbringing in Christian roots. And God still loved and pursued me in spite of my disobedience, sinful living, and veritable mockery of my God. And God even led me into my own “Babylon,” so-to-speak, where I was taken captive by my flesh, the world, and Satan. But after all those years of abject rejection of God, the “Hound of Heaven” came after me and showed me that I could not hack my out a way in this life without Him. So, I confessed, repented, and sought the saving grace of God, just as did Manasseh. And just as The Lord, God, Yahweh, did with Manasseh, He brought me into a deep and abiding relationship with Himself; and because of that I fully expect one day to see, identify, and even befriend my Brother in Christ, Manasseh, in heaven. And that, I anticipate, being a really cool meeting.

Hey, if you’re reading along with me, let’s make a date to meet up with Manasseh in heaven and share stories of God’s redeeming grace through The Messiah. It will be a cool meeting for coffee one day in Glory, for sure!

My Prayer for Today: Lord, … thank you for reminding me and my friends of Your infinite mercy and patience in pursuing Your lost children. Amen

2010 – April 27 – When Sin Comes Home to Roost

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 40, 49, 50, and 73 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 40: 12… NIV 12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.

My Journal for Today: Have you ever felt guilty, maybe even to the point of emotional paralysis, over some sin – or recurring sins – in your life? We know that David, who penned Psalm 40, as he also did Psalms 51 and 32, dealt seriously with his remorse and repentance from his sins with Bathsheba. Wow; King David had some doozies (i.e., really bad sins) to deal with in his life; and in today’s highlight passage he expresses that his “… sins [whatever they may be, had] overtaken [him]” to the point he felt emotionally blind to life.

That’s what sin can do to our lives. It can render us narrow sighted (at best) and even blinded to reality at times. Our flesh can render our judgment poor; and we become the victims of our own desires or past sin habits; and we make choices which dishonor God and are a witness to our own inability to fight the flesh by thinking that we can overcome its influences with our own fleshly strength.

How many times, after I’ve sinned and see its outcomes, do I have to say to myself, “Bill, you know that you can’t fight the flesh with the flesh?” And as you read this, I don’t know if you’re dealing with some sins from your past that have you feeling down and out. The Apostle Paul was certainly feeling the ramifications of some sin weakness in his life when he penned Romans 7: 14 – 24. But he wanted his readers (the Roman Christians and then you and me) to identify with the reality that all sinners, including himself, must deal with life when sin comes home to roost; and we see our sinfulness, selfishness, and weakness for what it is.

But then, it was also the Apostle Paul, who, in his realization of what Christ had/has done for our sins, penned probably the greatest victory chapter in all of Scripture in Romans 8, which begins in verse 1, by declaring, There is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ, Jesus! And remembering whatever your sin has been – or maybe is right now – I charge you to recite that verse at least three times and go back and meditate on the entire truth of Chapter 8 of Romans; and then you pray to God a prayer of thanksgiving – that is, if you know Christ as your Lord and Savior – declaring strongly to God the praise that is due Him for dying on that cross and paying the penalty for our sins.

And then, as I am doing as I write this, my friend, you also declare how you are going to honor God by living your life in the truth of Romans 8 rather than the lies Paul felt and spoke of in Romans 7. And when we do that, dear one, we’ll be walking in true repentance and finding the freedom to walk with Christ on His road of righteousness, … walking away from Satan and dealing with our own flesh by surrendering to God’s Spirit within us.

My Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, I know You desire for me to follow You on Your road of righteousness, walking away from my flesh and looking only forward to follow You into Your victory over sin. Amen

2010 Day 31. Jan. 31 – A God Who Relents

From Exodus 32-34 ... Specifically from Exod. 32:14 – Then the Lord relented and did not bring on His people the disaster He had promised.

My Devotional for Today: Go figure. God is a God who never lies [we can read and believe that from the passage in Numbers 23: 19, which states, God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

Okay, God doesn’t lie; but as we read today through Exodus 32 – 34, our God is influenced by the lives we live as His chosen people; and He is touched by the pleas of His anointed ones, like Moses, who came to Him as advocates for the people of God. And so we read today that God reminded Moses (and God’s people) of His covenant; but he spared those same people because of Moses’ plea; and because of the advocacy of this transformed man, Moses, God was willing to recast His Law a second time in stone and bring that word to His people once again.

And Dr. Smith today asks the crux of a question from this study. He writes, ”Have I (you as well) learned anything from a merciful God about when to keep my promises and when to change my mind?” And yes, I have answered that question in my own mind; but you, my friend, must answer it for yourself in God’s presence here today.

How often can God see inequity and blatant sinful living being perpetrated in His presence and for all the world to see; and then how many times will our Lord be merciful to allow mankind the latitude to repent in remorse for our sins? How many times?

I cannot answer that for you; and I certainly cannot answer that for God.

My Prayer for Today : Lord, my God, have mercy on us, Your sinful children. Amen

2010 – Day 12. Jan. 12 – Enslaved by Family Grudges

Study from Genesis 27- 28; Passage for Reflection: Genesis 27: 41 … NIV Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him.

My Journal for Today: Oh, how the parental wounds of injustice, insensitivity, or perceived inequity haunt our lives. Rereading the story of Jacob’s deception and the plotting of his mother to gain Isaac’s blessing for Jacob, and then the resultant grudge which Esau held for his brother, is a story which may be playing itself out in your family or families you know or maybe, even more personally, in your own life.

It is so easy to let wounds from our family past dictate our feelings for our parents or siblings; and they can become motivations for anger and bitterness, infecting our feelings, behaviors, and choices for many years after the incidents which may have caused the original anger or misgivings. Perhaps you have a sibling which you felt was more loved by your parents than you felt you were loved. Maybe you’re a parent who held feelings for one child more than another. Unfortunately these types of family scenarios can play themselves out in decisions or acting out much later in life, causing those who perceived ill treatment to reject family members or to plot actions which have vengeance as their motivation.

Today, in a very personal way, I’m thinking about how I let a misperception of my mother’s withholding of physical love drive me to do things in my later life trying to “make up” for what I felt were lost hugs and affection. I now recognize that many ill begotten and immoral sexual choices in my life were driven by my desire to find the physical affection I perceived I did not get in my youth. And it was a type of “grudge” against my parents which drove me to many actions later in life I now regret. Perhaps you, who read this, may have wounds from the past, maybe from your family, which have driven feelings of bitterness or behavioral choices which you now regret.

But the time is now, as a Christian, to take those burdens, … those feelings from the past and those desires for making things right, and lay them at the foot of the Cross, repenting of past sins and moving forward to love the God Who shows no favoritism and THE Heavenly Parent Who will never leave you nor forsake you. Holding on to past grudges or feelings of inequity of blessing will never drive us to expressing the love God had for us when He died on the cross for our sins. And the only way to reciprocate this love from God is to express God’s love into the lives of those who may have driven us from the past. We need to repent of hatred and haunting grudges; and then we must forgive those in our past who have “wronged” us. We must lay the burdens from these past feelings before God’s throne of grace, confessing them, and asking for the cleansing promised in 1st John 1: 9. And then we need to move on, letting go of any bitterness and finding the love God has waiting for us to fill the holes of lost love from our past.

I can tell anyone, from first-hand experience, that letting God deal with past hurts brings far more joy and healing than holding on to grudges or seeking vengeance can bring. God’s love is the healing balm; and our hope in Christ is the only way to drive us forward, letting that healing be expressed in how we worship our God and show love to others.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I thank You for giving me all the love I found wanting from my past; and I praise Your Name for giving me Your love to share with others, releasing me of any past wounds which had driven me to sinful living. My rebirth in You has given me healing and hope forever. Amen

2009 – Day 266.Sept 24 – Turn Around

Passage of the Day: Job 42: 1 - 6 … 1 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
2 “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

My Journal for Today: Okay, my friends who follow me here, we’re going to be in the climax chapter of Job for the remainder of our days with this hero of the faith. And what a chapter it is.

In it we begin by seeing this man, with whom we all should identify, finally get it; and by that I mean that all haughtiness is replace by humility; and our confused hero becomes our contrite hero.

You know, it has been said that if a Christian, after coming in faith to a saving knowledge of Christ, cannot choose to humble himself before God’s throne of sanctifying grace, God will “help” him do it; and that is the lesson we see Job finally learning in Chapter 42; and he flat-out says it in verses 1-6.

And I just can imagine a wry smile on God’s face as He hears His man, Job, candidly repenting in these words, spoken with conviction and understanding to the Living God. As Swindoll puts it, “Job [finally] got it!” And Pastor Chuck goes on to say what Job finally realized. And he writes about what Job came to acknowledge, which we should as well …

God’s purpose is unfolding; and I [we] cannot hinder it.
God’s plan is incredible; and I [we] will not comprehend it.
God’s reproof is reliable; and I [we] dare not ignore it.
God’s way is best; and I [we] must not resist it.

So, my dear one, I ask, “Have we gotten the message yet?” And I could go on to ask if we, who use the Name “Christian,” have learned that humility is a much more powerful choice than pride. Have we come to the realization that all I feel I own is from God? It’s not mine! Do I get it that none of what I enjoy in life is deserved?! It’s all from God … and for God!

Well, as Swindoll posits, it is tragic that many who have received the fire insurance of salvation have not come to the realization Job did in these first six verses of Job 42. Many of us walk around with the mistaken feeling that we deserve what we have and that we’re in control of our lives. In fact we actually seek to be in control of our lives. And my friend, that’s a lie; and we need to see it and acknowledge it before God.

Job is about to realize just how satisfying an attitude of humility and a choice of surrender can be. He’s about to find out how God rewards someone who lives a truly submissive life … a life dedicated to outright obedience. And Swindoll says that the blend of a strong-hearted, assertive Christian being in surrender mode to God can be a powerful force in the world. And when it happens, I strongly feel that a dimmed Christian lamp can become a bright light shining the world to fulfill Christ’s command in Matthew 5: 16 [link provided] were we, who carry the label “Christian,” can shine a light of good works for all in the darkness of this world to see Christ to the glory of our Father in heaven.

Job sees this; and he repents, … turning 180 degrees and walking in God’s direction, … away from self, away from the world, and most certainly away from Satan. The question becomes … “Have we really repented of our pride, our control, and our self-directed walk in this world?” Oh, how I pray that we get it as did Job!

My Prayer for Today: Lord, … if I have not seen what true repentance is like; … show me! Amen

2009 – Day 141.May 22 – Downward Steps of Sin

2009 – Day 141.May 22 – Downward Steps of Sin

Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 13: 1 – 30 and 2nd Samuel 18: 24 – 33 … 2nd Samuel 13 and 18 linked for your study …
2nd Samuel 13 –
2nd Samuel 18 -

My Journal for Today: I hope you’ve digested the scriptures passages from today’s lesson, because the truth contained in this biblical scenario holds a somber reality for followers of God. And if I may summarize the bottom line with an exhortation, these passages teach us that we cannot compromise God’s precepts and principles with selfish desires. As Swindoll points out at the end of his entry for today, “God is not mocked;” and our author/teacher points out that we cannot go through life picking and choosing righteousness or sin. To compromise and choose sin will always lead to a downward spiral of circumstances, which may become overwhelming in our lives. As we read today, that was David’s plight; and prayerfully we’re learning proactive lessons from David’s life.

As David languished in the death of his sons, one at the hand of the other and the other at the hands of David’s own soldiers, it’s not difficult to imagine how David would have liked to rewind the tape of his life, desiring that he should have been off doing battle with his mighty men the night he decided to stay home and to walk over and take a peek at Bathsheba over that balcony. Or having taken the peek, we can imagine that David would have wished he had confessed his lust before God right there on the spot, repented, and left his home to go back to the battle fields.

BUT, … neither righteous course was his choice. No, David chose to act on selfish lust and then to cover his sin and then to take the life of a comrade and then to deny his own sinfulness by trying to forget it all. But God was not mocked; and David, even after confessing and repenting of his sin, paid the price for his past laziness, his pride, and his arrogance before God. And now we read where it got him.

Oh, I’ve been there and done that in my life; and it is true that we have a loving and merciful God Who can choose to forgive when we humbly repent of our sin; but do not expect that our sin will be free of any consequences. God truly will not be mocked; and THERE WILL BE consequences for sin. Therefore, I quote Swindoll’s recommendations for any who might be convicted of their sinfulness in reading this devotional entry. Swindoll writes …

>>> “Turn your life over to Him [i.e., God]. Broken and bruised, twisted and confused, just lay it out before Him. Ask Him to give you the grace and strength to face the consequences realistically and straight on.”

And then I would add, … we must honestly and forthrightly confess everything to God; and pray for His mercy from the truth of 1st John 1: 9 [linked], so that, even though there will be consequences for our sin, we can at least face them, knowing that we are cleaned and covered by the blood of The Lamb of God.

My Prayer for Today: Oh, my Lord, You have covered me, forgiven me, and cleansed me by Your blood. Oh, praise Your Holy Name !! Amen

2009 – Day 139.May 20 – Riding Out The Storm

2009 – Day 139.May 20 – Riding Out The Storm

Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 12: 13 – 25 … Link to 2nd Samuel 12 for study …

My Journal for Today: In today’s passage we read of one of the worst storms in David’s life. Yes, he shared it with Bathsheba; but like most storms in the life of believers, we have to ride out the storms of life essentially alone. Others may be there, as they were for David; and others may be affected. But they have to ride out the storm for themselves as well.

David, in this scenario is a pretty good model of riding out the storm. He did the right things. He fasted and prayed. He relied on God and His truth (i.e., God’s word); and He turned his life and circumstances over to God, not giving in to his own feelings of remorse and grief. And then, when the circumstances took the life which he and Bathsheba had born, David moved on, not wallowing in self pity as is the case for many, if not most, of us. Oh, how our enemy, Satan, loves to see us paralyzed in self pity.

When we are faced with the consequences and the whirlwind which comes after we have sinned, I’m one who has a tendency to beat myself up and to wallow in self pity. And it does no good … for me, for those around me, and most certainly, for God. And though it’s taken years, I’m learning to follow the model of David in this storm of life which is recorded in God’s word for us in 2nd Samuel.

I pray that you don’t have to face the storms which will arise in the aftermath of sin, especially habitual, long-lasting sin. Obviously the best way to avoid such storms is to avoid sin in the first place. But should the storm come as a result of your sin, ride out the storm you must. And if you can confess and repent and move on, as David did, the storm will pass. And if you have done what David did in this scenario, you can go to Psalms 51 [linked for you] and then to Psalm 32 [also linked here]; and you will read how God can take a sinner and bring about restoration so that he offender can move on and still live for the glory of God.

Today’s devotional entry has been a good study for me. I hope it has for you. We all need to remember that God will never abandon His children (see Hebrews 13: 5); and He will be there on the other side of the storm with His grace to give us strength and to move on (see 1st Cor. 10: 13 and 2nd Cor. 12: 9 and Phil 4: 13). And after the storm passes, we can move on and still be used by God for His glory. David did; and so can we.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for the reminder of who I am in Christ; and how You will stay with me even in storms which I have created. Amen

2009 – Day 121.May 02 – A Clear Conscience

2009 – Day 121.May 02 – A Clear Conscience

Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 24: 8 - 21 … Linked to 1st Samuel 24 for your study …

My Journal for Today: Yesterday, in exposing the first eight verses of 1st Samuel 24, Chuck Swindoll indicated that David’s attitude and actions in this passage are illustrative of the words David’s son, Solomon, who would write years later in Proverbs 16: 7, “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” And this was certainly the case when we see the turnabout in attitude involving Saul after he heard David’s lament and declaration of a clear conscience in today’s text.

However, Swindoll also points out a more logical truth. You may have a Saul in your life, one who’s out to get you. Maybe he’s one who would do anything he could to make life miserable for you. However, if you turned it over to God, telling him much the same thing David did to Saul, that you’ll just let God be the judge, … that person may just go on making life hell for you.

In today’s life picture, David’s righteousness turned Saul’s heart from pursuer to confessor. And David becomes a model of how we should turn our human heart into a witness for God’s righteousness. However, even if Saul had some back and declared that he would still pledge to take David’s life, at least David’s conscience was clear; and David’s witness to God’s way would be a strong one. And that’s the point of this lesson from God’s word.

Do I (or you) harbor ill feelings, grudges, or anger against anyone? Has my (our) anger turned into a root of bitterness, against which the Bible (in Hebrews 12: 14-15 – linked for study) clearly warns can damage our witness as Christians. David’s conscience was clear; and he had the piece of cloth from Saul’s robe to give witness to his honoring God by not taking the life of God’s anointed king and to leave vengeance to God.

I hope we all can pass this little test of our conscience. Personally, at this moment in my life, I know of no one with whom I hold any grudge or ill will; and I pray that attitude remains. I also pray that given a scenario like the one we have studied in the life of David, we would pass God’s test and have a clear conscience.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, if there ever be one tendency to judge the heart of another, may I defer that judgment to you and claim Your peace from a clear conscience. Amen

2009 - Day 29 - Final Exam, Part One

January 29, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: Final Exam, Part One

Passage of the Day: Genesis 44: 1 – 16 … Utilize this link to read, study, and mediate on this passage.

My Journal for Today: This is interesting stuff for any believer. It sure is for me. Here we have Joseph setting up a test, a trial for his brothers, to see if they had Godly values in their heart. And as the trial unfolds, we see Joseph planting a silver chalice in the bag of young Benjamin, which was discovered by the Prime Minister’s steward when he came to do a check of their belongings as they were traveling back to Canaan once again with grain.

And upon the return to the household of the Master (i.e., Joseph), Judah steps forward to take the lead for the brothers, … Judah, who’s hatred had almost caused Joseph’s life when the brothers finally decided to sell him into Egypt rather than kill Joseph. And we read Judah’s remarkable confession, which was exactly what Joseph wanted to hear. I’m sure Judah’s words had to have been an answer to Joseph’s unvoiced prayers, … that the hearts of these men who had hated him over 20 years earlier would be softened, … that they would come to repent of their evil deeds, … and that they would see God at work in all of where the Lord had taken them, including this, most recent, episode.

And really, as Swindoll points out in his devotional entry, when you consider all the water under the bridge in the lives of the brothers, especially Judah, what took place in today’s passage is really God’s answers to Joseph’s prayers. Joseph didn’t want to reveal himself until he could see that the brothers had remorse, not only for the incident with the cup, but also for their past rejection of Joseph.

And in verse 16 of today’s passage, Joseph hears what he wanted to hear, … that Judah recognized that God had not let their past sins go unchallenged, … that Judah’s remorse had transformed him enough to take responsibility for the cup which implicated Benjamin, … and that here were his brothers standing before him, ready to be his brothers again.

Somehow, I know that others who read this, like myself, have unresolved anguish or hurts from the past to which we have taken to God but yet remain unresolved. I still pray for a sister who is lost, one who totally rejects God in her life; but like Joseph, I have seen God intervene in the lives of family to bring them to Himself. My mother, whom I feared was lost, came to confess Christ as her Savior just hours before she passed away, literally on her death-bed. My wife’s mother, who was deeply into dementia in her last years, we’re convinced, had a Spirit-led epiphany, discovering God just about a year before she died. So, meditating on this scenario unfolding in the life of Joseph and knowing and believing God’s word in 2nd Peter 3: 9 [linked for you here] , that He desires that my sister come to Him just as Elly patiently waited and saw our mothers saved by God’s grace, I am lifted up with hope.

So, if you’re like Joseph, doing all you can, but leaving unresolved family issues on God’s throne of grace, hopefully you can find a refuge of hope in today’s passage and my words of testimony and witness. God desires that any/all come to Him; but it still must be those who can repent and receive His saving grace. And we read that truth in Judah’s answer to Joseph’s trial.

Keep praying for lost or wayward family; God not only relishes in your trust and patience. He also patiently waits for His chosen family, like Judah, to seek His mercy.

My Prayer Today: Like Joseph, Lord, I wait on You to intervene in the life of my family to bring them to repentance and salvation. Amen

2009 - Day 24 - A Vertical Focus

January 24, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: A Vertical Focus

Passage of the Day: Genesis 43: 13 – 15 … [see focus passage in bold] ... 11 And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. 14 And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!” … 15 So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went down to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph.

My Journal for Today: When I read this passage and meditated on it a bit before reading Swindoll’s devotional, I actually was struck by the same thing which Swindoll used as a teaching vehicle in his book today. We both apparently wondered what happened on that long trip back to Pharaoh which the 10 brothers had to take. In the passage, we are brought, through the author’s writing, directly from Jacob’s charge to Pharaoh’s court; but there was that long caravan back; and the men had a lot of time to contemplate, to commiserate, and to discuss what was going to transpire.

Yes, Jacob (“Israel”) had expressed the hope that “El Shaddai,” (Hebrew for “God Almighty”) would give his boys mercy; but did the 10 sons really contemplate that; or did they do what is the most likely human reaction as they traveled to Egypt … to contemplate, in fear, the worst which could happen? Certainly most of us, when we’re presented with the choice to think negatively or positively, will gravitate toward the negative. And in doing this we gravitate into horizontal thinking. At least for a moment, when his boys departed for Egypt, Jacob forced out a vertical perspective, hoping that God Almighty would intervene and give his boys mercy. But it is likely, as his boys traveled to Egypt, that there was a lot of horizontal thinking going on.

Today, Swindoll uses this scenario to teach the reality that it’s not easy to move from horizontal thinking to a vertical perspective on life. It’s like trying to get rid of a deeply embedded bad habit; and we know that habits don’t just change automatically. It takes intentionality and discipline. It takes at least a moment of reflection; … then it takes acknowledgment of the need for change; … and then there is a commitment to move from one pattern of life to another … followed by proactive planning; … and finally, there is the rigorous discipline to think or do something for long enough to replace one habit with another. This is not a finger-snap moment in life. It takes time.

In this case, it would have been NATURAL for Joseph’s brother to dwell in the negative – or horizontal thinking – all the way back from Canaan to Egypt. But Swindoll speculates and teaches what it would have taken for the brothers to change on the way back. Chuck speculates that it would take a three step process, if these brothers were to move from negative to positive on their journey. And the first of these steps is to "recognize and admit [the] negative mentality.”

As Swindoll points out, much of the cure and change of a course-correction in life comes in recognition, ownership, and confession … as well as an honest admission of the need to change. I don’t know about Joseph’s brothers, but unless they were able to reflect on their past mistakes and admit their sins, these dudes were not going to come before the Prime Minister of Egypt with the right, vertical perspective on life. It takes a commitment to change … to change. And that begins with the reality and vulnerability to admit failing and to seek a surrendered will, allowing God (our vertical thoughts) to do business with our heart and to transform our lives. And that is the tough process of decision which must lead to discipline.

Swindoll’s second point in this process is that we must … “force a vertical focus until it begins to flow freely.” I once had a friend, a leader in business, who often used to say, “Fake it until you make it.” When we recognize and acknowledge that our past patterns need to change, we’re insane if we expect a change to occur by doing the same things we have done in the past. It takes change to change. We have to intentionally do something different and keep doing it long enough for a new pattern, hopefully a successful one, to become a part of our choices and actions. And beginning that process takes repentance – i.e, the willingness to turn from one direction to another. And that’s not an easy thing to do. I’ve heard it said that it takes 80% of a rocket’s fuel to get that rocket just a few feet off of the launching pad. And for Joseph’s brothers to change from horizontally directed fear to vertically directed faith would take a decision on their part … a decision which would not be easy given their horizontal and very human past.

Finally, Swindoll posits that the process of habit change will more likely happen if we don’t demand too much of ourselves at the outset. He says, “Stay open to a new idea (or behavior) for at least five minutes.” What he means is that choosing a new direction (i.e., true repentance) may be too much to ask of our will power for even a full day in the beginning; but it’s not too much to ask for our minds to handle five minutes at a time.

Years ago, when my mentor realized that I did not have a disciplined, daily devotional life, he asked me if I might be willing to commit to ten minutes a day for a morning quiet time with God. When he asked me that, I was almost shamed into realizing that 10 minutes per day was not much time to intentionally schedule to begin building a more abiding relationship with my Lord. So, I did. I began with 10 minutes, which quickly became 20 and then 30 minutes over time, … which ultimately became an hour a day. And I had to decide and discipline myself to get up earlier to devote such time to God; but the more I did it, the more God poured His enabling grace into this time … and the more, I realized, I was getting from the time commitment. The whole process moved from horizontal decision to vertical discipline; and I changed.

From this meditation, I hope any reader can evaluate what might be needed to go from horizontal, and a very human, direction to vertical, and decidedly Godly, direction in life. Can we afford five minutes of vertical thinking in small spurts of decision daily to recognize, repent, and reorganize our thinking to head in new, vertical, direction in life? Jesus said that this was the process of discipleship, when, in Luke 9: 23 (hope you know that one by heart), “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” That is moving from horizontal to vertical; and I pray that is the direction of change in my life.

How about you?

My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to be a vertical thinking and doer in life. Amen