2010 – May 15 – Not a Wise Move

Study from God’s Word… 1st Kings 7: 1 – 12; 1st Kings 9: 1-9 [2nd Chron. 7: 11-22]; 1st Kings 9: 10-14; 2nd Chron. 8: 1-3; 1st Kings 9: 17-19 [2nd Chron. 8: 4-6]; 1st Kings 9: 20-23, 15 [2nd Chron. 8: 7-10]; 1st Kings 9: 24 [2nd Chron. 8: 11]; 1st Kings 9: 26-28 and 10: 22 [2nd Chron. 8: 17, 18 and 9: 21]; 1st Kings 4: 29-34; 1st Kings 10: 14-21, 27, 23-25 [2nd Chron. 1: 15, 9: 13-20, 27, 22-24]; 1st Kings 4: 26, 10: 26, 28-29 [2nd Chron. 1: 14, 16-17; 9: 25, 28]; 1st Kings 4: 21, 24 [2nd Chron. 9: 26]; 1st Kings 4: 20, 25; 1st Kings 4: 1-19; 1st Kings 4: 22, 23-28; 1st Kings 10: 1-13 [2nd Chron. 9: 1-12]; Psalm 72: 1-19 … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Chronicles 8: 11 … NIV 11 Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, "My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the LORD has entered are holy."

My Journal for Today: As you can see above from the record of what I’ve read from the Old Testament today in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order, the record of Solomon’s accomplishments and his accumulation of wealth, worldly influence, and power were impressive, to say the least. And I’m so grateful for F. LaGard Smith’s editing of all of this from 1st Kings and 2nd Chronicles, where it is all written for us to study in parallel reference. I would have never been able to see all of this in such concise space and time to appreciate all that Solomon did in his 20 year reign while the Temple and his palace were being built.

But as I read all of this during my devotional time this morning, especially being alerted by Dr. Smith’s highlight passage and his devotional entry for this date, I was stricken by the strange point/counterpoint of Solomon’s God-given wisdom and his human foolishness. And we see that coming into focus as he makes a worldly and politically “wise” move in marrying an Egyptian princess to solidify his security position with Egypt in those days. However, then he must, against God’s commands, bring this pagan wife into his palace. So, he builds her a separate quarter in the palace so that she will not pollute the holiness of the Arc of the Covenant. Go figure! Such a wise man being so foolish to think that he could bypass God’s will and The Lord’s commands. And this goes on, as I read in 1st Kings 4 and 10 of Solomon’s accumulation of horses and wealth and women, I couldn’t help but reflect on this man’s almost pathological denial of what he must’ve known were God’s commands for any man who became King of Israel. Solomon was mega-wise; and if so, as he accumulated all those horses, women, and wealth, he had to have been convicted by God’s rules for His Kings laid out in Deuteronomy 17.

So, did Solomon, this super-wise man, think that he was pulling the wool over God’s eyes? But knowing how foolish and prideful I can be – and have been – in my life, I empathize with Solomon’s degree of arrogant stupidity, pridefully wrapped up in a package of worldly wisdom, which God had imparted to this man who inherited the kingship from his father, David. Certainly like father, like son; because David knew of God’s commands; but his kingly arrogance was a model of foolhardy judgment in his interaction with the woman who was Solomon’s mother. Wow, Solomon certainly didn’t get this mixture of wisdom and arrogance from anybody strange, did he? As they say, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

The whole thing is a clarion and glaring warning that NO ONE can bypass God’s commands. NO ONE is wise enough in our fallen humanity to think that he can get away with a departure from God’s way. And in this New Covenant dispensation, we Christians really have no excuse because we have God’s word – His absolute truth – to shine a light on our path. God, the Father, sent His Son to light that path; and all we have to do is be obedient to His word and follow His (the Son’s) way; and we will have all the wisdom we need to live in this life. That’s what Peter learned and espoused to believers in 2nd Peter 1: 3-4; and this being the truth, we need to realize that if we believe this and live by the truths of such passages as Psalm 119: 105, Prov. 3: 5-6, and Luke 9: 23, we’ll never let pride or denial or human foolishness bring us down as these sinful forces did for Solomon.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to believe in, follow, and live by these truths. For in doing so, we will glorify You. Amen

2010 – May 14 – The Best Laid Plans

Study from God’s Word… 1st Kings 8: 1-11 [2nd Chron. 5: 2-14]; 1st Kings 8: 12-21 [2nd Chron. 6: 1-11]; 1st Kings 8: 22-30 [2nd Chron. 6: 12-21]; 1st Kings 8: 31,-53 [2nd Chron. 6: 22-42]; 1st Kings 8: 54-61; 2nd Chronicles 7: 1-3; 1st Kings 8: 62-66 [2nd Chron. 7: 4-10] … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Chronicles 6: 8 – 9 … NIV [Solomon] 7 "My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 8 But the LORD said to my father David, … ‘Because it was in your heart to build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart. 9 Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, who is your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’ …”

My Journal for Today: As I read through the wondrous accomplishment of Solomon overseeing the completion and dedication of the Temple his father, David, had dreamed to dedicate for the Lord’s glory, one can’t help but think about God not allowing David to be the one to bring this temple to fruition. But that was not to be in God’s planning; and I expect you may have had some great dream or idea, one which may have been, upon completion, a great way of glorifying God; but thus far in your life, and for the foreseeable future, it just doesn’t look like it’s in God’s scheme for your dream to become reality.

Dr. Smith points to two of Solomon’s Proverbs which seem to point to the dreaming and fulfillment of projects which are dedicated to God and His glory. In Proverbs 16: 3 we read, Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. And then, there is Proverbs 19: 21, stating, Many are the plans in man’s heart; but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

As my devotional shepherd, F. LaGard Smith, points out, somehow when we dream up something which seems like a grand and Godly idea to bring glory to God, and then we put choices and actions into motion to make it happen, we must realize that God is still in control of all things; and it should be God Whom we allow to take charge of the timing and completion of HIS project. If we want to be in charge of the project, how much glory can God really get from its completion?

But Solomon repeatedly, in his dedication ceremony and prayers, gave his father both credit and affirmation for the project of which David conceived but was not given the opportunity to finish in his lifetime. Perhaps you still have some idea or dream which is yet to be completed; but it seems to be something that would glorify God big-time if your idea were to come to completion. I have always had dreams that BattlePlan Ministries, the ministry which God led me to found, would become so powerful that the XXX forces in the world would be defeated and eradicated; but for years my eyes have been way bigger than my stomach. But I refuse to stop dreaming that God can - AND WILL - bring down the strongholds and beachheads of sexual sin which we see proliferating in our culture. The fact that I haven’t been the leader force to bring that about does not diminish the dream; nor does it reduce God in any way. God can – AND WILL – bring about His victory … in HIS time and in HIS way; and HE will be glorified.

What I must do is continue to dream and pray for someone, like a Solomon, to take the dream and allow God to get the glory whenever God decides to bring about the dream … again, for His glory!

My Prayer for Today: Lord, it is the dream You planted in my soul; and I pray that one day, with the leader You have already designated, all the evil forces in this world which now have such a stronghold in our culture will be totally and glorious eradicated. Amen

2010 – May 13 – The Importance of Quiet Times

Study from God’s Word… 1st Kings 5: 1 – 9 [2nd Chron. 2: 1, 3-16]; 1st Kings 5: 10-12; 1st Kings 5: 13-18 [2nd Chron. 2: 2, 17, 18]; 1st Kings 6: 1 [2nd Chron. 3: 1,2]; 1st Kings 6: 11-13; 1st Kings 6: 2 [2nd Chron. 3: 3]; 1st Kings 6: 9b, 18 [2nd Chron. 3: 5-7; 1st Kings 6: 7, 1st Kings 6: 3 [2nd Chron. 3: 4]; 1st Kings 6: 4; 1st Kings 6: 5, 6, 8, 10 [2nd Chron. 3: 9]; 1st Kings 6: 16, 17, 18, 19-22 [2nd Chron. 2: 3: 8, 9a]; 1st Kings 6: 23-28 [2nd Chron. 3: 10-13]; 2nd Chron. 3: 14; 1st Kings 6: 15, 29, 30 [2nd Chron. 6: 37, 38]; 1st Kings 7: 13, 14; 1st Kings 7: 15-22 [2nd Chron. 3: 15-17]; 2nd Chron. 4: 1; 1st Kings 7: 23-26 [2nd Chron. 4: 2-5, 10, 6c]; 1st Kings 7: 27-37; 1st Kings 7: 38, 39 [2nd Chron. 4: 6]; 1st Kings 7: 4—47 [2nd Chron. 4: 11-18]; 1st Kings 7: 48-50 [2nd Chron. 4: 7,8, 19-22]; 1st Kings 7: 51 [2nd Chron. 5: 1]; 1st Kings 9: 25 [2nd Chron. 8: 12-16] … Passage for Reflection: 1st Kings 6: 7 … NIV 7 In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

My Journal for Today: After reading through, the selected readings in 1st Kings and 2nd Chronicles, prepared in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order, the elaborate description of Solomon’s supervision of the building of the magnificent temple designed by his father, David, Dr. Smith is right that the highlight passage does stand out with its curious message, which happens to resonate deeply today. Do you see the historical fact that much of the ancient Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem was built without noisy tools? And how eerie it must’ve been to see this magnificent structure rising in its elaborate glory … in silence? How they would’ve done that is beyond me; but let’s face it God is often way beyond us (see Isaiah 55: 8-9).

But that silence was undertaken to honor God and let the world see that we need to silently, but diligently, working in the world to honor God with what we build out of our lives. And how difficult is that in these noisy days where we’re bombarded by the world’s noisiness. Satan has invented many ploys to stand in the way of our abiding and deepening relationship with God; and one of his battle strategies is the noise of this world, both audible and informational. We’re so encumbered by the “noises” of the world that it is hard to strategically get alone and honor God with our silence. That is why the joint faith disciplines of solitude and silence become so important for the Christian today, trying to honor God by building the walls of his/her personal temple these days.

What about it, my friend? Do you have time and a place – EVERY DAY – where you go to be alone with God, … a place where the noises and interruptions of the world don’t get in the way of quietly praying and reading and meditating on God’s word? Do you have a place – preferably to start each day – where you can go to be with God, away from the world and other people, … away from any phones, TVs, Ipods, I-phones, or other devices which are the world’s tools to keep you from being alone with your God? Dr. Smith asks a telling question of me (and his readers) today, positing, Can I bear to have silence in my life, or am I afraid that God just might speak to me in the stillness?

You’re going to have to answer that one for yourself; but I covet the time – EACH DAY and EACH MORNING – which I have here in my personal “closet,” which is my place to be still and listen for God to “speak” to my mind/heart, … my place where I can quietly, without noisy interruption mediate on God’s truth from His word, … and my place where I can go to the high ground of prayer, preparing for what I know is going to be a battle with the world, in its noisiness, with Satan doing all he can to get in the way of my communion and relationship with my God.

I will pray for us …

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to maintain this time/place each morning, which I covet so personally to be with You; and help any dear ones who are reading here to develop such a place/time to be with You, as we honor You with our quietude. Amen

2010 – May 12 – Praying for Wisdom

Study from God’s Word… 1st Kings 2: 13 – 46; 1st Kings 3: 1; 1st Kings 9: 16; 1st Kings 3: 2 – 3, 4 [2nd Chron. 1: 2 – 6]; 1st Kings 3: 5 – 14 [2nd Chron. 1: 7 – 12]; 1st Kings 3: 15 [2nd Chron. 1: 13]; 1st Kings 3: 16 - 28 … Passage for Reflection: 1st Kings 3: 9 … NIV 7 "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart [i.e., wisdom] to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

My Journal for Today: The reading – or in this case today, my rereading – of these passages of Solomon’s decision-making when he came to sit on the throne of David, his father, reminds me of the importance of having and using WISDOM in the scheme of life.

Solomon did some pretty clever – but very HUMAN - things to insure the stability of his throne. Some of them were pretty cut-and-dried, like assassinating some of his potential rivals; but when he was confronted – by God Himself – to ask for anything the new young king might need or want to rule God’s chosen people, Solomon somehow knew to ask for discernment (i.e., wisdom); and God honored him for that by giving him not only all the human discernment possible for any man in those days but also the wealth and power which any king would covet to have as a ruler.

And God’s word even gives us – as He did for the people under Solomon’s rule – a shining example of Solomon’s wisdom when the story of Solomon deciding the fate of a little baby where two prostitutes had laid claim to this child. You know the story of how Solomon wisely ordered that the baby be cut in half by a sword; and the real mother showed herself by giving up the baby so that it would live; and Solomon, knowing he had determined forthrightly who was the child’s mother, was able to make the “wise” choice to give over the babe to his rightly determined mother.

Now that’s wisdom! And, as Dr. Smith points out in today’s devotional, that’s being able to make black-and-white out of a very grey scenario; and that’s the kind of human discernment one would need to be a good and effective leader of God’s people. And it’s always been interesting for me to see how much HUMAN wisdom God gave to Solomon; but the Lord never put a damper on the very HUMAN and fleshly impulses in Solomon which later led to him making some very ill-begotten decisions such as taking on hundreds of wives and concubines as well as doing things as a king which openly and defiantly went against what God had put in place as the rules for those who were under his anointing as king. Yes, Solomon was given a tremendous amount of HUMAN discernment and wisdom; but that doesn’t mean he was able to overcome his own, very HUMAN flesh as his kingship unfolded in time.

We, as very HUMAN creatures, need to recognize that God may bless us with the prophetic ability – maybe even the Spirit-given gift – to discern good and evil; but we still must seek after God’s Spirit and His empowering grace to overcome our own nature and make decisions which are unnatural, overcoming the flesh which is so powerful in our lives (see Jer. 17: 9). And that is why, even with the human wisdom of a Solomon, we need to seek after GODLY wisdom to overcome our HUMAN flesh.

That is why James – the man who became the very wise leader of the Church in Jerusalem after Jesus’ departure into heaven - gave us God’s exhortation (in James 1: 5-6 – linked here) to seek after God’s mind through His Spirit so that we could see God’s way more clearly, avoiding the double-mindedness which is so apparent when we try to make decisions in the flesh.

I challenge myself – and you - to remember that even a Solomon can fall and fail if he doesn’t seek after GOD’S way and GOD’S purpose and seeking after these, as James declared, with single-minded faith, knowing that God, primarily through His word (in our lives) will give us the right way as He had also promised through His word [see Psalm 119: 105] and from His love for His children (see Proverbs 3: 5 – 6).

As a reader here with me, I really hope you know – and potentially have internalized – the truths of James 1: 5 – 6, Psalm 119: 105, and Proverbs 3: 5 – 6; because if we Christians have those truths solidly in our minds and implanted – by faith – in our hearts, we will know to go to God’s word to find God’s way and to reveal His will for our future, allowing us to see His purposes for our lives, and avoiding the human pitfalls which eventually trip up even the wisest of humans (i.e., noting Solomon).

My Prayer for Today: Lord, shine the light of truth and give me discernment from Your word so that I can make decisions which follow You and avoid me. Amen

2010 – May 11 – The Mystery of Beauty

Study from God’s Word… 1st Kings 1: 1 – 4 (see below); 1st Kings 1: 5 – 53; 2nd Samuel 1 – 7; 1st Kings 2: 1 – 9; 1st Kings 2: 10 [1st Chron. 29: 28 - 30]; 1st Kings 2: 12 [1st Chron. 29: 23 – 25 … 2nd Chron. 1: 1]… Passage for Reflection: 1st Kings 1: 3 – 4 … NIV 1 When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 2 So his servants said to him, "Let us look for a young virgin to attend the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm." 3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no intimate relations with her.

My Journal for Today: This is a curious passage, is it not? And the lesson Dr. Smith teaches from it may seem a bit obscure, coming from the time when David, an old and infirmed King, was dying and in need of warmth and comfort on his death bed. So, what did the King’s attendants do? … They went out and found the most beautiful lady they could find to lay with David and give him warmth. And this curious practice raises questions, doesn’t it?

We might ask, “Doesn’t the Bible teach that outward beauty is not as important as inner beauty?” And, of course, it does? Well then, … why would King David’s court need to go out and find a beautiful, young, and nubile lass to lay with David – even though it was obviously not tempting to David sexually. And the answer lies in what these people considered “the best” for their King. Only the best and the most beautiful, even in outward beauty, was good enough for their God-anointed King David.

Yes, it may smack of lauding superficial beauty; but think about what we do when we get dressed for a funeral, or a wedding, or likely even to Church (though less so these days, I’m afraid). We get all gussied up in our finest adornments; and in the case of dressing in our most beautiful for a wedding, we do so to honor the new bride and groom. In the case of the funeral, we get all dressed up to honor the life of the one who has passed on. And finally, as many of us still do, we get dressed up in our “Sunday go to meeting” duds to honor our Lord with our finest and most beautiful adornments. Hopefully, we’re not dressing up to show off our finest clothes and strut pridefully in front of others. That would be beauty on display; and it would, in the case of Church time, dishonor the One Whom we have come to honor, wouldn’t it?

Yes, God would take us any way we’d come to Him for real, honest worship on His Sabbath; but I believe we do our God a disservice if we do not consider being in our most beautiful state – outwardly and inwardly - when we come into His house of worship on Sundays. And yes, that means preparing our inner beauty to match our outer beauty. If we have unresolved sin in our lives, we need to confess them to receive God’s cleansing; … if we have people who need to be forgiven in our lives, they need to be forgiven to honor God’s beautiful forgiveness of our sins; … and … if we have unpaid debts which we’ve pledged to repay, we need to get our inner house in order to be seen by our God as “beautiful” as we might be in our dressed-up state of beauty as we come to worship Him bother externally and internally.

Beauty is a mystery; and how we see “beauty” is certainly in the eyes of the beholder; but when we come to the KING of kings, especially honoring Him as our LORD, we need to be as beautiful as we can be, cleansing all of our spiritual insides and presenting our best externally for our King. Then, prayerfully we can worship our God openly and honestly, presenting our best and most beautiful for His consideration. And I pray now that we’d all be beautiful as our lives worship our God in Spirit, in physical presence, and in the depth of our emotions. May we live beautifully for our God; and may He be glorified with our “beauty.”

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that I am beautiful in Your eyes. Amen

2010 – May 10 – Finding Your Theme

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 45, 47, 87 and 110 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 45: 1 … NIV 1 My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

My Journal for Today: Today my devotional leader, Dr. F. LaGard Smith, asks some probing questions all of which I acutely challenge me. He asks, "By what noble theme are you stirred? In what grand story do you play a part? What transcendent dream keeps you alive? What unbridled passion drives you? What lofty ideal demands your utmost?"

My friends, those are questions which might challenge someone who considers himself or herself a writer; and they deal with the essence of why a writer writes and what that writes is driven to pen (or “keyboard” in these days). Every day I come to this quiet place; and I read the part of the Bible which Dr. Smith has selected for my daily study; and then I read his devotional message, which in these past days, has come from the Psalms. And each day, Dr. Smith has selected a “theme” for his devotional, some idea which he likely felt God gave him to share with others to move them (i.e., people like me) to draw closer to God by knowing our Lord more deeply and intimately.

And then each day, in the Spirit of God’s word from the truth of Prov. 19: 14 and James 1: 5 – 6, I seek after God’s wisdom to give me words or ideas or ideals which first move me and then move me to reflect on God’s truth so that others might – as I’m sure is Dr. Smith’s goal – get to know God in a more revealing and intimate way.

Some days it’s easier than others; but everyday, God gives me something from His word which I can shape into my words with a goal of helping any who read along with me to run down what I call the “chain of faith,” which simply stated is … knowing God more deeply will cause one to love God more deeply, which will bring one to obey God more readily, which will bring one to serve God more diligently, which will definitely glorify God more powerfully, which – in turn – will allow God to bless that believer more fully.

Oh, how I desire that each day, God is glorified by what I write so that others may know our God more deeply, love Him more intimately, obey Him more readily, and serve Him more effectively. In attempting that, I know that my God has given me something to say which is HIS theme and not my own. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t write what I write each day. So, if you are reading here with me, I pray that is what you glean from what God has given me to write here yesterday, today, and tomorrow … something which allows you to know our God more deeply. Because if that happens, the rest of the chain of faith will follow.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, again, I paraphrase the words of the Proverbs by writing … may the words of this keyboard, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight for You are the Lord of my mind and strength of my sharing. Amen

2010 – May 9 – Hope in the Midst of Despair

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 2, 22, and 27 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 22: 1 … NIV 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

My Journal for Today: Today F. LaGard Smith has me and his readers using his devotional book and reading the Messianic Psalms; and the most famous of these would likely be Psalm 22 and verse 1, the line which Jesus quoted from the cross as He was dying. “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” was his suffering cry; and we now know that our Lord hung on that tree to fulfill these words from David’s song, which allowed Jesus to become the lamb of God being sacrificed, as King David foretold, for the sins of mankind. Oh, it is not likely, when David wrote these words, that he fully appreciated the role that Messiah would play in the affairs of God’s people. He probably saw The Messiah as a Savior Who would conquer the oppressors of the Jewish people and become an anointed earthly king. However, David’s words are fully and completely prophetic about such details as Jesus’ death fulfilled, words like those found in verses 16 and 18 (read them again) – those very descriptive words which unfolded as David had written them centuries before Jesus, The Christ, died to save mankind.

David, though only partially insightful as to the coming Messiah, was worshipping his coming Lord and Savior in faith; and he obviously received great comfort and hope by singing these words, believing and being justified by his faith unto salvation. It is only hoped that we can read and meditate on these same words centuries later, having the advantage of our New Testament and historical revelations – in Christ – and reading David’s prophetic song, we can be lifted up with hope in the knowledge that Jesus completely fulfilled the prophesies of these ancient Messianic psalms, especially those word in Psalm 22.

Be comforted in your salvation all of you who have believed on the Name and life of Jesus, Who died on that cross, as prophesied by David, to have your sins forgiven and set aside by God, the Father, in Heaven. May God be glorified though David’s song and our faith in its fulfillment.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I believe that You are the One Whom David wrote about in this song of deliverance; and You came to die on that tree for me, and many who read here, to declare our belief in Your saving grace, giving us the justification we need and desire, found only in Your being the suffering servant and the Lamb of God. Our eternal hope is You … and only You!!! Hallelujah!!! Amen

2010 – May 8 – Knowing the Limits of Knowing

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 111, 130, 131, 141, and 146 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 131: 1 … NIV 1 My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

My Journal for Today: Dr. F. LaGard Smith has me reading more Psalms, extolling the virtue of faithfulness and the discipline of righteousness; and he has me reeling in the recognition of my own human weakness. And today’s highlight passage from Psalm 131: 1 declares the realization of our limits as well as the respect we should have for the God, Who has created the “…great matters or things too wonderful for me (to fully understand).”

It’s okay to seek after the understanding of God’s way and His will for our lives. He has given us that prerogative and even invited us to get to know Him and His ways deeply. However, we should never be so presumptuous and prideful to think that we’re ever going to be able to plumb the depths of His mind/heart. How often do I return to the humbling premise, ”God is God; and I am not!” And … right in this moment, having meditated on today’s passage, my memory of Scripture has bubbled up in my consciousness, allowing me to remember the words from God to God’s people through the Prophet in Isaiah 55: 8 – 9, which I charge you to go back and study [with the available link], if you don’t know it by heart.

As Smith states today, “… we are foolish to think that we humans could ever unravel the mystery of God Himself;” but even more foolish are those who think they can substitute their own theories or human understanding to posit answers for the unanswerable. And there are many atheists who dabble in such foolishness. At one time in my life I was one of those fools; and I now recognize that all I was doing by trying to substitute my interpretations of such phenomena as the origins of life was giving me an excuse to be my own “god,” not having to obey or live under the sovereignty of THE GOD. And that prideful foolishness got me nowhere in life, … only brokenness and pain.

But now I recognize that God has given me all I need to gain as much understanding about my God as I need to in this life; and that understanding, which is the fear of the Lord and the beginning of wisdom [see Psalm 111: 10], comes from – and ONLY comes from – His truth through His word. As Peter extolled believers in 2nd Peter 1: 3-4, I have enough from God’s truth and seeking His ways to live in this life; and all I have to do is trust my Lord; and he will lead me into and through the minefields of my life (see Prov. 3: 5-6). And that’s enough for me; as it should be enough for you as well.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You and Your word are enough knowledge for me. Amen

2010 – May 7 – Longing for God

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 42, 53, 58, 81, and 101 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 42: 1 – 2 … NIV As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

My Journal for Today: I’m afraid that F. LaGard Smith has nailed me in his devotional this morning as he asks, ”Am I content to merely sing about panting and thirsting when God calls me to pant for Him on a more desperate level?” Smith recognizes how often churches or Christians sing the words of today’s Psalmist from Psalm 42; but he wonders if there are any Christians who, possibly like the persecuted Christians in China or the Middle East, who desperately seek after a God Who must seem distant from them. But nonetheless they “pant after God,” having a faith which is hard for me to fathom, even seeking after my God as I sit here morning after morning, trying my best to know my God and seek His purposes for my life.

Yes, I do long for my God; but do I “pant after Him” as one might who is about to die from lack of water or someone who is gasping for air to live, not being able to get enough oxygen to support life? I’m afraid Dr. Smith’s intent with his devotional question has convicted this Christian to the core. I just don’t “pant” enough for my God.

My desire to know God, … to seek after His character, … or to pursue His purposes is more a head-level pursuit than a heart-level desire. But right now it’s all I can muster; and in this I once again recall the interaction between Jesus and Peter, documented in John 21: 15 – 20 where our Lord restored Peter who was totally despondent after having failed Christ so miserably.

And when we read Peter’s letter in 2nd Peter, we see how much this Apostle had been restored and renewed in his faith, to the point in 2nd Peter 1: 1 – 11 we read of a regenerated disciple exhorting other disciples – like me – to move forward and choose to follow Christ the way Peter had learned, after being restored by Christ, to witness for the Lord right up to the end of his life.

Well, maybe I don’t have a heart at this point which “pants” after my Lord. But I do have a love for Him [“phileo,” if not “agape”] which voluntarily seeks to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him to the utmost of my heart/mind. And like Jesus charged Peter on that shore in Capernaum centuries ago [again see John 21: 15 – 20 - linked], I will go forth, following my Lord, to the extent of my ability to do so. And like Peter did, I will do so, desiring – if not panting – to be Christ’s disciple by following Him.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I follow You; I seek after You. If you create the need, I will “pant” after You. But now, know that I am Your disciple. Amen

2010 – May 6 – Confession – Good for the Soul

Study from God’s Word… Psalms reflecting many emotions and the complexity of human emotions – Today Psalms 4, 12, 20, 25, 32, and 38 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 32: 5 … NIV 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You [my Lord] and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD " — and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

My Journal for Today: Today, Dr. Smith, my devotional “shepherd” launches into a study of 16 Psalms in the next few days which express a variety of human emotions; and today the highlight verse is from Psalm 32 where David is reflecting on what it was like ridding himself from the guilt of his confession after the cover up of his sins involving Bathsheba and his involvement in the death of her husband, Uriah. And yes, this song was actually written after Psalm 51 which, of course, is the song of confession where David unburdened himself of those sins before God and all of God’s people with that great Psalm of confession.

Dr. Smith is right on target again today as he discusses how the U.S. criminal justice system actually works to impede individuals from unloading their sinfulness and confessing their wrongdoings. And Dr. Smith is most certainly right that we humans have a deep-seeded need, a hole in our souls, to confess when we know, from the prevenient grace of God, that we have sinned against Him and done anything which breeches His Law. Our criminal lawyers often will do all they can to keep us from confessing until they can ploy their craft and try to get their clients off – no matter how guilty they are.

The truth is that unless we, as guilty sinners, can confess our sinfulness before God (see 1st John 1: 9 - linked) and before man (see James 5: 16 - also linked), we will never be able to express the emotions David is expressing in Psalm 32, … the joy of God’s cleansing grace and the remission of sin from the Blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Dr. Smith, at the end of his devotional for today, asks a heavy question for any of his readers. He asks, ”What debilitating guilt is silently eating away at me because I have yet to TRULY confess my sin?” You have to answer that one for yourself; but I can recall, as David is recalling in Psalm 32, a time when, after 22 years of living a double life of hidden sexual sin, I confessed all to my wife, from whom I had hidden my sinfulness. Oh, it took a lot of time – actually years – before we got to the place of healing expressed by David in Psalm 32; but that healing did take place; and now I know – and practice – the truth of 1st John 1: 9, confessing my sin – as much as my consciousness allows – and keeping short accounts before God for my sinfulness.

One can only live an emotionally unburdened life to the extent that God, the Grace-Giver, can pour out His healing and cleansing love. And that cannot happen when pride keeps one from confessing sin to God. Go back and meditate on Psalm 51, first, and then on Psalm 32. Then take some time to ruminate upon the truths expressed in 1st John 1: 9 and James 5: 16; and when you do that, I’m convinced you’ll see the need, drawn by God’s grace, to free yourself from the burdens of guilt, confessing any sin you have to God first and then to at least one brother/sister in Christ. If and when you do that, led by God, you’ll feel – deeply feel – the cleansing power of God’s forgiveness to separate your sin as far as the east if from the west. And if you’re feeling any guilt now from covering up your sin, you know you need to do that.

My Prayer for Today: Oh, my Lord, God, how often have You cleansed me from my sin nature over the years; and for that truth I walk with You in the light of Your forgiveness rather than in the darkness of my sin. Amen

2010 – May 5 – Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 139, 145, 148, and 150 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 139: 13 – 16 … NIV 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

My Journal for Today: David’s exposition and expression of God’s truth about who we are as humans was truly amazing. Writing the words we focus on today in my devotional journal, David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reveals truths that went way beyond man’s ability to see the reality of our existence in this world – and even more so with our immortal souls living onward into eternity.

I have stood by as an autopsy was performed as Dr. Smith reflects in his devotional today; and I have marveled at what I was viewing. The human body truly was/is ”fearfully and wonderfully made;” and it is an insult to human intelligence for any atheist to declare that all of what we know of as our physical bodies was knit in the womb of a woman by some accident of evolution. In fact, in my days 30+ years ago, when I tried to hold on to my open antagonism for Christians and Christianity, I could not hold to the ridiculous premise that evolution could be posited as truth. It took far more in blind faith to try to believe and support evolution than it did to hear the arguments from the Bible from Christians for God’s wondrous and purposeful creation.

But as “fearfully and wonderfully” made is our body, which is finite in death, what about the even more wondrous nature of our soul, which is infinite? And in the pre-scientific world and times in which David wrote Psalm 139, isn’t it wonderful how God led this very human and fallible man to reflect upon the human spirit, which is even more “fearfully and wonderfully made” than is the body. The latter is mortal; and the former is immortal; and taken together – our body and soul – they are truly, fearfully, and wonderful made!

And as I’ve said before, “awesome” is a word we have denigrated in our times by its casual and prolific use; but truly AWESOME is who we are as we were created by the mind of God, as Psalm 139 reflects, before all recorded time was measured out. Yes, WE ARE FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE!”

My Prayer for Today: Lord, here is another one of those moments, as I choose to come to You, when all I can muster in prayer is to PRAISE Your Name and to say, “HALLELUJAH” for the creation of my body and soul. May they become a reflection of Your handiwork as I choose to be a witness in this world to/for Your glory. Amen

2010 – May 4 – In Praise of “Night Workers”

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 122, 124, 133, 134, 135, 136, and 138 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 134: 1 – 2 … NIV 1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. 2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.

My Journal for Today: Who are the “Night Workers” mentioned by F. LaGard Smith in his devotional for today, taken from Psalm 134: 1 – 2? And I agree with Dr. Smith that the first picture of those who come to mind are the people who work the “night shifts” in various businesses, cities, hospitals, etc. And these are the ones, who, while most of us sleep, care for us, clean up after us, maintain our cities, provide for us, bringing food to the markets and transporting our goods, as well as healing us when emergencies occur. In a sense they work quietly, and so often effectively, behind the scenes and below the surface of life so that those of us who work when the sun rises can have what we need and experience a better life because of the “night workers.” Praise the Lord for the “night workers” of life.

And that is exactly what the Psalmist of the 134th Psalm was doing, praising God for the night workers of David’s Day, who would’ve likely been the Priests, the Levites, who were charged with maintaining God’s Temple and carrying out the duties that the rest of the Tribes of Israel relied upon, those night duties having been given to the Levites by God’s designation.

There are many things which are carried on in our churches behind the scenes, … maybe not at night; but they are duties and disciplines which are seldom noticed; and, unfortunately they are actions for which few are credited by the limelight. The Pastor preaches on Sunday; but those people working back there in the sound booth allow God’s word to be heard by the masses. People file into a neat and clean sanctuary each Sunday, cleaned the night before by night workers preparing the scene for a spotless place of worship for the rest of us. When I go into my designated room to teach Sunday School on each Sabbath, someone has set up the chairs the night before in just the right configuration for the class which I teach; and I probably don’t even notice that they’ve gotten it just right for me and the class. All of these things, and many more, are duties and activities which are carried out “in the night of life” so that we, in the day, can live life protected, prepared, provided for, maintained, and yes, even healed, if necessary.

Today, join me in praising God for the “night workers,” whom God has provided so that those of us “day workers” can do what we do with more effectiveness and power; … and so that all of us can do these things for God’s glory. And the next time you (or I) see one of those night shifters, give them a hug … or at least some thanks – thanks which they so richly deserve for being one of God’s “night workers,” serving our Lord in the night time of life.

My Prayer for Today: Oh, my Lord, I thank you for those who come behind me or with me in the night time of life, serving You quietly and powerfully; … so that You will get all the glory. Amen

2010 – May 3 – Having the Inside Track

Study from God’s Word… Psalm 119 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 119: 97 – 100 … NIV 97 Oh, how I love Your Law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. 100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.

My Journal for Today: Dr. Smith is right; and it’s not an exaggeration that “… everyone wants to be ‘in the know.’ “ Who doesn’t want to have the inside track on life supposedly offered by more education? That’s why parents push their kids to learn and to go to schools which will give them the opportunity to learn what it takes to be productive, and – hopefully – fulfilled, in this life. And the knowledge – well, at least the facts and practical information – which one can accumulate these days is proliferating at such a pace that there appears no way we can get all of what we need to be productive citizens of the world.

BUT (and there’s another one of those big “BUTs”), … that’s not the goal of the Christian, is it? We’re not into the education game of life just to get more information, are we? No, as the author of the longest psalm in the Bible understood and the truth we Christians need to grasp is that there is only one source of information which gives us the “inside track” in life; and that is what we know of as the “Book of the Law,” which is what the author of Psalm 119 called what we know of as “The Bible.”

Some like the songwriter of Psalm 119 was David; but this long acrostic poetry was not really his style of songwriting. Nobody really knows the actual author of this great song of faith. But whoever it was, the dude really had an absolute love affair going on with God’s word (as he knew it); and he had somehow gleaned the insight that mining in God’s word would give him the power and wisdom he needed to live out life and have the kind of knowledge which would bring him a joy-filled, fruitful, and productive life.

Job learned that lesson too; and you can read about God teaching him this truth lesson in Chapter 28 of the Book of Job. And by doing both of these studies, you can’t miss – unless you deny it – that God’s word (all of it – see 2nd Tim. 3: 16 – 17) is the repository of all the knowledge and understanding which will give us what we need to live out what the Old Testament says in Prov. 3: 5 - 6 and in the New Testament in what Paul taught about God’s word in that verse I just cited above (again 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17).

Well, if this is true; and devouring God’s word gives Christians the inside track on living out our lives, why is the level of biblical illiteracy growing in epidemic proportions? Well, the answer to that lies in the nature of our spiritual enemies. And one of those, Satan, will do all he can to con us into thinking that the wisdom of the world (our second enemy) is superior and more appealing than the essence of truth in the Bible. And Satan and the world have devised a way of producing very seductive mechanisms for gleaning information in great volumes, most of which will only lead us away from THE TRUTH we really need in life – which, again, is found in the Bible. Think of all the devices these days which are out there in the world drawing our attention away from God’s truth … TV, the Internet, I-phones, I-pads, I-whatevers. And isn’t interesting that all of the latter ones begin with the letter “I,” showing us where the focus of all these mind altering devices really is – on self, which is really our worst spiritual enemy.

If we don’t make a decision to discipline ourselves to consume God’s word, taking it in with such motivation to let God transform us and move us away from Satan, the world, and our own flesh, we will become “I” junkies; and we will miss out on the one source of truth which can allow us to become productive and fruitful Christians. I know it’s not alluring to use a computer to dig into the mine of God’s mind; but it will be far more productive that using that same device to glean knowledge from the ploys of Satan in such mind altering ventures as gaming, pornography, or even worldly education.

Yes, a computer and the internet can actually become mining tools into God’s word; but the belief just has to be there to understand that the mine we need to be digging into is God’s word … not some mind-numbing place like pornography or in the news of the day from the world. I had a friend that believed that the key to his mental, emotional, and spiritual future could be found in the out-working of what Paul taught, from God’s inspiration, in Romans 12: 1 – 2; and to that I would add God’s lesson to Joshua [and all of us] in Joshua 1: 8. Hopefully you know these truths by heart; but if not go back and mediate on the direction to which they are leading; and you will learn of God leading us to use His word, … consuming it as the lover of Psalm 119 taught … so as to let God’s Spirit conform us into the image of our Lord and Savior, … Jesus, the Christ.

But each of us has to decide to pursue God’s truth through His word for His purposes; and that takes time and mind-altering discipline. Are you one who will follow me – as I’m attempting to learn/teach here – in doing this? If you do, you’re going to find what I have found; and you’ll become addicted to the pursuit of the true riches found in God’s word.

My Prayer for Today: Take me deep, Lord, into Your mind as I mine for the wisdom You have there for all willing to dig after it. Amen

2010 – May 2 – The Compassion of Human Frailty

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 103, 104, 113, 114, and 117 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 103: 13 – 14 … NIV 8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; 10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; 14 for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.

My Journal for Today: As God’s timing would have it this morning, here on the Little Red River in Arkansas where our men’s group has come for a weekend fellowship retreat, my Sunday morning quiet time with God has me, as often is the case, listening to Christian music on my Ipod; and the song which just came through my headphones to hear is a wonderful song by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, I Want to Be Just Like You, which depicts a father standing over his little boy in bed at night and praying to God that he (the earthly father) can be like his Heavenly Father because his little son wants to be just like his earthly father. And then I realized how closely that song fits in with the Psalm King David wrote and sung so many centuries before and the Scripture I was asked on to focus on this morning [Psalm 103].

And now the next song I listen to by these three contemporary Christian singers is He’ll Do Whatever It Takes, which is about the patient love of God and how the Lord will follow us through life with His compassion and caring until He (God) completes in us what He desires for me to become as His son. I hope I never lose the awe of God’s timing in these moments I invest with Him each day as He matches so perfectly, “by coincidence,” what my mind/heart have been given from His Holy Word with what I’ve chosen to listen to that morning (like this morning) on my Ipod, trying to go deep with my time with my Lord in God’s word as well as with praise music which worships Him.

And now back to the words from God through David in Psalm 103: 8 – 14 is such a simple song but so deep that I can’t really comprehend its depth. And that is the way, as Dr. Smith points out in his devotional book this morning, many of the paradoxes of the Bible present. How can the human mind fully grasp the compassion of God being as far as the east is from the west? I grab onto it; and I cling to its truth; but I don’t think, this side of glory, I’ll ever be able to completely receive this truth in its height, depth, and extension. But I accept the truth of it; and I trust in its implication for my soul. As base as I have been and how sinful I remain, God forgives me and His compassion continues to shape me into the image of God, The Son.

And this morning David’s song and those from Phillips, Craig, and Dean are telling me that I can receive God’s compassion and the extent of His forgiveness unto salvation; and then I can go forth and choose to forgive others and extend my human compassion, as far as I’m able, so that the love of God moves out from my heart, from God, the Father, and is offered – and prayerfully received – by others.

May it be so?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, may it be so … that I can be a reflection of Your compassion and love in my walk through this life? Amen

2010 – May 1 – Faithfulness in the Face of Unfaithfulness

Blogger's Note:Well, here I am beginning month five of 2010, still reading through the Bible in a year as I had set out to do on New Year's Day. Thus far it has been a very revealing and productive growth experience; and I intend to finish out my commitment to read/blog through the entire Bible this year ... <'BB><

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 75, 93, 94, 97, 98, 99, and 100 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 100: 5 … NIV 5 For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

My Journal for Today: I co-teach what you’d likely call an adult “Sunday School” class at my church along with another brother in Christ, who comes from an African-American tradition of church; and often he begins our class with a ditty he was taught as a young boy, and one which our class also knows well. Many of you reading along with me here may have heard it. KC, my co-teacher buddy cries out, “God is good!” And the class retorts, “All the time!” Then KC responds, “All the time;” and the class comes back, in unison, “God is good!” And you’re probably ahead of me that this little interactive ditty is another expression of one of the shortest Psalms in the Bible, Psalm 100, from which we read today’s highlight passage, in verse 5, For the LORD is good and His love endures forever.”

And that’s another of those God honoring truths from Scripture that can roll off our tongues as Christian believers with almost a knee-jerk and responsive-reading type of reaction, like the little ditty used by my co-teacher friend to begin our class. Somehow, we know, in our heads that God is good, and He’s good forever; but when the issues of life and the pressures of the world bear down, do we really believe – in our hearts - that biblical song to be the truth?

This morning, along with about 25 other men/boys from our church, we’re out on a fishing trip into the lovely hills of the Ozark mountains; and out here, quietly fishing on the Little Red River in Arkansas, it’s pretty easy for me, surrounded by God’s creation and the peace and quiet on the river, to believe that “God is good;” … BUT … (another one of those big “BUTS”) when the tyranny of the worldly urgent is bearing down on me, the very human side of me sometimes wanders in my belief that God is ALWAYS good and that His love surrounds me … yes, even when I see man – and that includes me! - being so cruel and greedy and dishonest in the world.

That’s why it’s very good for me to join in with my fellow brothers in Christ, as we did last night in our cabin; and worship our God together. And last night about 15 of my fellow fisher’s of men, joined me in a short devotional in our cabin after a fun day of fishing for fish. We were brothers in Christ, a few of them with their young sons; and we worshipped God by singing a few praise choruses; and then I brought a brief message which God had lain on my heart about Christian “vulnerability.” And here in this place, along with my fellow Christians, it was wonderful raise up our voices together and worship the God Who, as Psalm 100 declares is truly good and Who is the same LORD, Whose love, in truth, does endure forever.

I pray this morning that you can join me in that same declaration of worship for our God.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that I join with anyone who reads this to shout to the heavens that You are a good God, Who loves us all forever and Whose faithfulness endures through all the generations. Amen

2010 – April 30 – The Ultimate in Giving and Receiving

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 29, 33, 65, 66, 67, and 68 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 68: 18… NIV 18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you RECEIVED gifts from men, even from the rebellious — that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.
Ephesians 4: 8 …4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and GAVE gifts to men."[Psalm 68:18]

My Journal for Today: In today’s study we get a marvelous picture as to how New Testament writers used Old Testament Scripture, taking in the context of the New Covenant purpose and life of Jesus to explain the truth of Who He was and is to mankind. It was not uncommon for the NT authors and persons in the time of Christ, even Christ Himself, to quote from the OT. But occasionally, and today’s study is one of those, there would be a twist on what was being quoted which depended on the person and position of Jesus, The Christ, as the fulfillment of Old Covenant Scripture.

In the word picture created by King David in Psalm 68, he was reflecting on the tradition, in his day, of a king returning home from battle with a train of the conquered warriors following behind him, … with the conquered peoples giving gifts, as they did in those days, to the conquering king. Now, the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 4, quotes from that same Psalm, but note the critical one word change [highlighted in bold/underline above] which describes the King of kings and how, in heaven, He will not expect gifts from those who’ve surrendered to Him. No, rather, our LORD of lords will GIVE gifts to those who come to Heaven with Him.

Now, how great is that, for those of us who’ve surrendered our lives to the King of kings, Who has conquered all on the cross; and the King Whom now is in heaven interceding for Christians; and the King Who will receive me, and prayerfully you, to be with Him on His throne? And the Apostle Paul was right to change that one word when he used Psalm 68 to relate the picture of the conquering King receiving the train of the conquered into heaven.

And once again in my studies here of God’s word, daily in my quiet place, all I can muster is a humble, but definite … HALLELUJAH !!!

My Prayer for Today: Yes, LORD, I sit here in awe of how Your word fits together and speaks of You as the conquering King Who has received me unto Your throne and will give me all You have in glory. HALLELUJAH !!! Amen

2010 – April 29 – A Blurred Cosmology

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 8, 9, 19, 21, and 24 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 8: 3 – 5 … NIV 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

My Journal for Today: F. LaGard Smith, my devotional “shepherd” in the book he has authored, which I’m using for my morning times with God, asks a very pertinent question to today’s world. He asks, ”When was the last time [you] looked with wonder into the night sky and knew that [your] significance was in God alone?”

If you’re reading with me here today, you’ll have to answer that one for yourself; but each year for the past 15 years or so, my wife and I have been going with a group of adults from our church who attend what you’d likely call “Sunday School,” to a retreat on Kentucky lake, which is a lake which was created in 1811 when the New Madrid earthquake split the earth so wide that the Mississippi river ran backwards and backfilled an immense crater, creating beautiful connected lakes in southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee.

And there is a place, a point near the resort where we gather for our church retreat; and on that point there is a sitting bench; and each year I go out to that point and watch the sunrise in that place while I’m doing my morning devotionals. And when I get there, often the air is crystal clear, I can see the stars twinkling down from the heavens; and then on many of those mornings in that place I’ve been treated to wondrous and awesome displays of God’s beauty. [See Ken-Lake Photo above] And in those moments, enveloped by the AWESOME majesty and beauty of God’s creation, I feel so insignificant … but so, so loved.

You know, I agree with Dr. Smith that the word “AWESOME,” which I just used above, has been devalued in our current day. It’s used far too often as a “catch-all word to express giddy and youthful excitement,” and so, when you see something truly “awesome,” … something really “awesome,” fashioned by the hands of God – as this scene I’m sharing here – the word, which is right to describe God’s awe-inspiring handiwork, has lost its edge for us when used to describe God’s creation in His display of His glory.

But, when I’ve seen those scenes, up there at Ken-Lake, I know of God’s “awesome” nature; and I realize that only a loving and caring God could paint such a picture for my sight to behold. And it’s like He’s telling me, “Bill, if you think this is my beauty, you haven’t seen anything to what I’m going to show you in glory;” … and I come away with such great hope and feeling so love by my Creator God. I hope you have seen such “awesome” displays from God through His nature, … like the displays out there in the deserts which I’m sure inspired King David to write words like those which God shared with all of us through David and His word, … the words in Songs like this one highlighted today.

My Prayer for Today: LORD, You crown me – yes, me! – with Your glory and honor; and occasionally You show Yourself in Your creation. Thank you, Lord, for these brief, but beautiful, reminders of Your glory. Amen

2010 – April 28 – Contentment in God’s Hands

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 76, 84, 90, 92, 112, and 115 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 84: 10 … NIV 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

My Journal for Today: Dr. Smith, in my devotional book, The Daily Bible Devotional, opens today with a question from an old adage we’ve all heard at some time in our lives, ”Why does the grass so often seem greener on the other side of the fence? Sure, rags to riches stories make for interesting reading; and having goals to better one’s self is not a bad thing, in and of itself. But when it is the world’s values which drives us upward to a different place in life, today’s highlight passage from God’s truth is most pertinent to bring us back into Godly focus.

But how many people, when they have an opportunity to grab hold of more power or prestige, or they are offered a whopping raise, will say, as the Psalmist might paraphrase from Psalm 84: 10, “I’ll just stay here, minding God’s door, rather than buy into the more, better, or faster life offered by the world.” When we look over the fence and know we can get over there to consume those ever greener grasses, which so often seem so luscious and appealing, are we willing to be content with where God has us right now even if it’s a career or position in life devalued by the world?

Where should our aspirations lie as Christians? And how much does an attitude of gratitude shape our choices, especially when we know we’re able to serve God mightily where He has led un in our life? If lured to bigger and better worldly things or positions of more earthly power, can we be like the Apostle Paul, whom I remember expressing his values – which are Godly values – in Phil. 4: 12 – 13. ... And now, click on the link I’m providing here to read and meditate on that passage; and then ask yourself, ”Am I really content with where God has led me; and if not, why not?” And in the same vain, we need to analyze what values are driving us forward. Are they the values of the world; or are they values which emanate from God’s word or from His Spirit?

And when we answer those questions honestly, we’ll have a focus on whether we can be content with God’s providence and His leading in our lives. I pray contentment for all who seek and follow God’s will, especially when we find it and know it.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be content with what You give me and where You lead me. 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 – April 26 – Getting a Perspective on Evil

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 1, 14, 15, 36, 37, and 39 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 37: 1 – 2 … NIV Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.

My Journal for Today: All the Psalms of David which I was led to read this day in my devotionals are songs expressing the theme of righteousness versus evil and all the feelings and ramifications dealt with by mankind in this ever present spiritual battle which works its way out in our lives. And I know that we’re all no different than King David expressed in his songs of lament and frustration where evil sometimes seems to prevail over righteousness; and the good seem to be the handmaidens of evildoers who perpetuate their wrongdoings, seemingly mocking God in their schemes and actions.

We’ve all been there, crying out, like David, “WHY, LORD!!!” Haven’t you felt, as have I, how long God could allow evildoers to perpetuate their ploys, which, at times, seem to be on the winning side? But in the midst of such injustice and when the scales seem to be weighted in favor of evil, long ago I learned to go back to some of these Psalms shared by Dr. Smith today, especially PSALM 37; and I learned to meditate on what I know – at least in my mind if not my heart – on the truth God expresses in His word. And today, I implore and exhort you to go back and read at least Psalm 37, meditating on the power of God’s truth in this matter. Let the power of God’s Spirit, through His written word, penned by David so many years ago, lift you today or whenever you feel oppressed by our spiritual enemies.

My friend, we have Jesus, Who is the fulfillment of everything God promised to David when the King of Israel was feeling and writing Psalm 37; and God strongly tells us that HE, not our evil enemies, will prevail and protect His children in the face of evildoers. Everyday in the news – and maybe in your life struggles – we see evil being perpetuated and sometimes it appears to be on the winning side. But then in Psalm 37 (from today’s verses) and verses 3-4 and 7, we read …

3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and He will give you the desires of your heart. ...
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Dear one, that is truth … GOD’S TRUTH!! The question now becomes, … do we believe, trust, and cling to this truth? Do we make choices based upon this truth? Do we let our faith in these truths guide our steps; and do we walk with our God in obedience; or do we fall prey to the evildoers who want us to worship Satan, the world, and to bring our flesh into their evil schemes?

I pray for us all today.

My Prayer for Today: Oh, my dear LORD, give this weakened soul, and all who might read this, Your strength to cover our weakness. Pour the empowerment of Your grace into us so as to overwhelm our enemies who seek to mock You. You are the LORD; … You are our victory! Amen

2010 – April 25 – What God Lets Slip

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 120, 121, 140, 143, and 144 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 121: 7-8… NIV 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm — He will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

My Journal for Today: According to my devotional shepherd, Dr. Smith, Psalm 121 is what Jewish tradition calls “a song of ascents,” which the Jewish pilgrims, after David’s time, sang when they were ascending from the low lands, through the hills of the Negev, up to Jerusalem. Certainly when David wrote this song, he was trying to escape enemies by traversing the mountains in the deserts of the Negev hills. He was escaping his enemies, like Saul, in caves. But the later Jews sang these songs to remind the people to keep their eyes on the trails, and to keep their footsteps safe, as they traversed through the mountainous passes where the walking was precarious.

And this is a good word picture of our life. We often walk along dangerous paths, even through minefields, in this life, where there is temptation and danger ahead, to the right, and to the left along the trail of living. However, when we do, we need to be reminded, as does this Pslam, that we can depend on our God, who will watch over us and lead us on the right path – IF – we but follow Him as instructed by our Lord in such passages as Psalm 119: 105, Prov. 3: 5-6, and Luke 9: 23, ,,, and so many other of the Psalms David wrote as “songs of ascent,” which I was reading this morning – written for the Jews and for us as well.

I can’t tell you how many times, in my devotional life, I’m brought back to the words of that old, famous, and pertinent hymn of the faith by Helen Lemmel, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, which I guess is my “song of ascent,” often reminding me [I’m listening to it right now in my Itunes library] that when I keep my eyes upon my Lord as I traverse the dangerous trails of life, He will lead me safely along the path of life. I’m going to put the lyrics of this song – yes, again – for you to read and remember that Jesus wants to lead us along the precarious paths of life.

Meditate on these words, my friend, as with the old Hebrew “Selah,” to be uplifted by our God …

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word will not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

PS: If you’re at your computer, maybe doing your devotional; and you’d like to hear Michael W. Smith sing the refrain to that old hymn, click on this link -

My Prayer for Today: Oh, my LORD, You walk ahead of me; and I follow You. Amen

2010 – April 24 – Questions at Death’s Door

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 88, 91, 95, 108, and 109 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 88: 3, 10-12 … NIV 3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave [Sheol] … 10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah 11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? 12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

My Journal for Today: Today’s lesson from Dr. Smith, in his devotional book, is an interesting one to ponder. In a nutshell, his question could be summarized thusly: "Have I considered the afterlife and trust God to the point that the details concerning heaven or hell don’t matter?"

Smith reminds his readers that even the most adamant of atheists very likely ponder, at some point in their life, if their gamble in rejecting God and Christ is right. Blaise Pascal, the 17th Century French mathematician and philosopher, posited his “wager,” which had the atheist placing his wager on the side of the fool because it’s so much better to pin your eternal future on God than on nothing. What, Pascal wagered, does one lose to believe, hold, and declare that all Christ did on that cross was real and had eternal implications, rather than to believe and declare that Christianity holds no meaning for mankind? It made no sense for Pascal to hold a faith wager as did the atheist; and so he decided it best to place all his faith in Christ.

Yes, we all need to ponder the implications of betting our eternal life on Christ or on nothingness. Where have you, my dear reader, placed your bet? Are you, as I once was in my life, putting all your chips in the box of the atheist, betting that there is nothing beyond the grave, as the roulette wheel of life spins it’s way down to a stop? Or are you, as I did in 1983, deciding to believe that Christ had to have been the real deal; and the only way to go is to choose to place all your chips on the resurrection of Christ and let that roulette wheel, we call life, run out, believing and living as if Christ died for our sins and He awaits us in Heaven to spend our eternity with Him?

Where are you laying your bet, my friend? Mine is on Christ!!!

My Prayer for Today: LORD, my eternal wager is all with You; and I will live my life out knowing that in the next life I will be with You for all eternity. Amen

2010 – April 23 – A Lifetime of Learning

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 70, 71, 77, 83, and 86 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 71: 17 – 18 … NIV 17 Since my youth, O God, You have taught me, and to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds. 18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

My Journal for Today: What is the “story of a lifetime?” F. LaGard Smith, today in his devotional, reminds his readers (i.e., that’s me) of the story of an old, dying man who was asked to share the greatest truth he knew from his life as a Christian. He responded, “Jesus loves me; this I know, … for the Bible tells me so.” And this is the message David was trying to share in today’s highlight passage, wasn’t it?

We live our entire lives; and you may be one day realize, especially if you’re up there in years, as am I, that, as Dr. Smith wrote today, ”… the more we learn, the more we realize how little we know. And the more we know, the more we find ourselves getting back to the basics of what we first learned as a child.” And that is the case before our lives became choked out with the worldly information that tends to take away the essence of the childlike faith Jesus declares is necessary to come into His kingdom as a little child.

Are we missing the simple truth, my friends, as this information age pours life-choking facts into our brains? Do we have a constipation of the heart which is caused by our trying, in our later years, to be sophisticated and to appear as intellectually together? Do we need to just stop and sing the old song, “Jesus loves me, … this I know, … for the Bible tells me so;” … ???

I’m going to stop there, as one of David’s Psalms might declare, “Selah,” which asks the listener to the song to pause and reflect on the truth of the lyrics to the song thus far. So, my friends, “Selah,” reflecting on the truth of …

Jesus loves me, …
This I know;
For the Bible tells me so …

My Prayer for Today: LORD, may I live by always remembering … and living … the truth of that song I learned in my youth, but came to forget for so long in my life. Amen

2010 – April 22 – Shame By Association

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 61, 62, 64, and 69 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 69: 5 – 6 … NIV 5 You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you. 6 May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the LORD Almighty; may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel.

My Journal for Today: Arguably, reading today’s highlight passage, we may be seeing one of the character examples of why God saw David as “… a man after God’s own heart.” In this passage, though I could not uncover exactly the time it was written, David clearly acknowledges that he has weaknesses and can be a man of “folly” or “foolishness,” which was certainly later born out in his life by the encounter with Bathsheba. But here, he recognizes the truth that no sin or foolish decision or action is hidden from God; and also, that our sinful choices can – an often do – affect others.

Here David is praying ardently that whatever his sins are, … whatever his bad decisions might be, that those sin choices or poor decisions will not bring shame on others. On a number of occasions in the past decade, we’ve seen very prominent Christian figures being uncovered in patterns of deviant sexual sin, which has brought public “shame” upon the name of Christ in the public arena. It’s what Dr. Smith describes today as the “domino theory,” which is often applied in science, business, or politics; and we can easily imagine a serpentine row of dominos falling because one is dislodged to topple the next one beside it. And that happens in life, and in Christendom, when even one public Christian leader is uncovered doing something foolish or sinful in the public eyes. As the dominos fall, it is thought by non-Christians, “Well, they all must be like that if their leaders are like that.”

We have to ask ourselves what Dr. Smith hits at with his devotional today; and the question is What choice or public decision I make would bring shame or disgrace to my family or allow others, especially those who don’t know Christ at all, to see my Lord in a darkened way?

Most certainly Christ undertook the shame of all mankind when He was publicly and unjustly mocked, ridiculed, and hung on that tree on Calvary. But He did that so that I could have the saving and enabling grace (i.e., power) to resist sinful, even foolish, choices and to avoid bringing shame on His name or others who love me or look up to me.

Oh, how I pray that God’s mercy and grace will allow me to avoid having shame brought upon any who look to me as husband, parent, or “Christian” leader. I certainly recognize, as did David, that I’m one choice away from doing great harm or shame upon the Name of Christ or upon my family. So, I must be ever vigilant, recognizing my folly is before me; and I MUST draw upon the power of Christ Himself to help me to discern evil and to make Godly choices which reflect glory upon His Name.

My Prayer for Today: LORD, help me to be Your light and to avoid darkness in my life. Amen

2010 – April 21 – When Betrayal Hurts Most

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 35, 41, 43, 46, and 55 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 55: 12 – 14 … NIV 12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

My Journal for Today: Reading the grieving words of David in today’s highlight passage from Psalm 55, this one cannot help but reflect on how much, as a sinner in my past, I betrayed my Savior. When I stood on the very rocks last year in Jerusalem where archeologists have documented the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, I wept; because in that moment, I realized that it was my sins of betrayal which nailed my LORD to that tree. And when my Lord looked into the eyes of those Roman Soldiers, it would be easier for Him to accept His degradation and death from Romans who hated the Jews. But it’s not difficult for me to speculate about how Jesus’ mind, as He was being nailed to the cross, might have wandered to the fateful kiss of Judas, who had betrayed Him for 30 measly pieces of silver? Or what about Christ’s anguish over Peter, who had denied Him thrice; or about His knowing that the other Apostles, whom He had been discipling for three years, had cut and ran when Jesus was captured for the crucifixion?

Have you ever been betrayed by someone whom you loved and trusted? Perhaps you were the betrayer. Smith reminded his readers, like me today, about Julius Caesar being blinded-sided by one whom he loved and had trusted, his famous companion, Brutus. And as he was being stabbed to death by the conspirators, looking into the eyes of Brutus, we have the famous line from the play, “Et tu, Brute!” And these were the words of someone who had been betrayed by a beloved one whom Caesar had trusted implicitly.

So many times in the ministry God has called me to lead, I hear the story from men who’ve chosen to get into the pits of habitual or recurring sexual sin; and how they’ve come to hate and repent of what they did to betray their wives by stealing off and viewing porn or by having an affair or by going off and being with prostitutes. And my wife, in her ministry to the wives of these very same men, hears these women tell their stories of broken trust and shattered marital dreams when they learn of their husband’s betrayal.

But I’m here to give witness and testimony to the truth that, even in these latter, very dire, scenarios where the closest of relationships are shattered to pieces by mistrust and betrayal, God can heal, restore, and renew. And it’s all because Jesus died on that cross so that sinners, who betrayed Him, like me, can be forgiven. It’s so wondrous that I can become a repentant sinner, … one who can be transformed by the same Spirit power which raised our Lord from His grave to be restored to His throne of grace. My wife and I have experienced the renewing and empowering grace which allowed her to forgive me and enabled me to be transformed to the promise-keeping husband she desired when we were married, … a husband she now has and can trust. Yes, it was excruciating for her and difficult for me; but we’ve seen it happened time after time in the lives of others who have surrendered their wills to a Lord, Who loves them and will give them the power to walk into the future in spite of the worst of betrayals in the past.

God is able and He will provide healing; but only if and when one, like His betrayer friend, Peter, is willing to receive Christ’s wondrous healing and enabling grace and be changed forever by Christ, as LORD. Dr. Smith asks the provocative question today, ”I I constantly betray God in little ways, might a day come when I inflict the unkindest cut of all?” … >>> You’re going to have to answer that one for yourself, my beloved! I have; and I can only pray that my surrender and walk with Christ will deepen my commitment to Him to the point I will not be one who will betray Him again the way I did in my past.

My Prayer for Today: LORD, help me to stay the course as Your trusted servant and friend. Oh how I see to hear You say in glory, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” Amen

2010 – April 20 – Confidence in the Lord

Study from God’s Word… Psalms 13, 17, 23, 26, 28, and 31 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 26: 1 … NIV Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have a blameless life; … I have trusted in the Lord, without wavering.

My Journal for Today: In studying the Psalms, especially those of David, God’s ancient song-writer, we can run into some puzzling points of seeming confusion; and one of them is in the raw comparison of Psalms like Psalm 26 and 51.

On many of the Psalms of David, we don’t have time markers in our Bible . Some give us historical time stamps by what is said in the song. For example, when we know what David got into later in his life … all that business with Bathsheba, his putting out a hit on Uriah, and his cover-up of his sin for more than a years, it seems obvious to me that David penned Psalm 26 some time before Psalm 51 (or an even a later one in Psalm 32). Otherwise, how could David claim, in today’s highlight passage, that he “led a blameless life” or that he “trusted in the Lord without wavering?”

To me studying in the Psalms and historical Scriptures, like those found in 1st and 2nd Kings or 1st and 2nd Chronicles, we see the human complexity of a man, like David, who was labeled by God as a “man after God’s own heart.” And I can identify with David, in Psalm 26, being in a place in his life where he feels, deeply and internally, a strength of faith and confidence in His God. Then later, in Psalm 51, after he has failed deeply and is in the process of honest repentance, we read of how he owns up to his weakness and pleads for forgiveness and strength from God. Then, in Psalm 32 (not in my readings for today), we read of God lifting David back up again and restoring his confidence, … not only in God, but in himself as well.

Psalm 26 is a red flag of warning for me. It tells me that I mustn’t get overconfident of my own faith or personal strength. Peter, in the NT, was also a good example of one who felt confident in God and himself, … too confident to recognize his own potential to fall. And with David, when we read/study Psalm 51, we see he came to recognize just how he could let his guard down and how one unGodly choice could bring disaster into his life. But then, going to Psalm 32, we read how a loving, caring, and capable God can (and did) restore the weakened warrior to shine God’s light of strength in the midst of his own (and our own) human foibles. That’s what Paul discovered as well, when we read 2nd Cor. 12: 7-11, … that great passage of God providing His enabling grace in the face of mankind’s recognized and acknowledged weakness.

My friend, … It’s great to have confidence and be on a roll of spiritual victory with faith and confidence in our unseen, but ever present, God. But, dear one, be aware that we have an enemy who stalks those who get overconfident and lack vigilance (see Psalm 10: 9-10 or 1st Peter 5: 8). Almost everyday I recognize and pray against my own personal weaknesses, doing all I can to dress myself in God’s cloak of righteousness and His full armor, carrying his Spirit-sword, and going to the high ground of prayer for the battles I face everyday. I know that, even though I have great head-confidence in my God, I can be – and often am – blinded by my own selfishness or my fleshly desires. So, I need to be, like David, a man after God’s own heart; but at the same time, I need to be, like Paul, a man who recognizes that I am only strong when I allow God’s strength to cover my weaknesses.

My Prayer for Today: LORD, I have ultimate confidence in You; but little in me. Help me to walk, in Your steps, Lord, having confidence that Your path is my path. Amen

2010 – April 19 – A God Who Seems Distant

Study from God’s Word… Psalm 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 10: 1… NIV 1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? … Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

My Journal for Today: We’ve all been there, in the place of David, as he wrote the songs which Dr. Smith had me read and meditate upon today. If you’re a believer, like yours truly and even King David, there are going to be days when God just SEEMS (and note my emphasis) absent. And most certainly, we know the human/worldly effects when leadership is perceived to be absent.

What happens, Dr. Smith asks, when parents are absent to lead their children? What happens when a boss is never around at work or a coach never calls a practice? And these human analogies call attention to one of the most difficult things about our relationship with God. How do we have faith in a God, Who is a Spirit, and Who doesn’t speak audibly to us, … especially now in these New Covenant times? I’m sure you’ve had times, as I have had and these Psalms document David had, when God just didn’t seem to be there as He has promised He would ALWAYS be. Many of you know what it says in both the OT and NT (see Deut. 31: 6 or Heb. 13: 5), … that our God will never leave us, not forsake us.

Well, then, why are there times when we desperately seem to need Him and he’s not there to swoop into our lives with a red cape and supernaturally heal our ills or solve our human dilemmas? And the answer to this one has everything to do with – and you know what I’m about to write - … FAITH! God’s SEEMING absence, … if we truly have faith, is ALWAYS a matter of our perception and never a matter of God’s reality. And we could speculate all we want; but there are going to be times when the truth of the passages I cited above as well as Isaiah 55: 8-9 from the OT and Paul’s exhortation in the NT in Romans 8: 28 are going to be called into personal reflection and question. (I hope you know what all these passages say about our inability to explain many things in our life as well as our faith in a God Who might seem to be absent. If you don’t know these Scriptures by heart, it would be good to find these passages, meditate on their truth, and then, do a check on your belief in their veracity.)

As evidenced by the Psalms I read today for my devotional time, it’s not wrong to feel the questions about God’s absence at certain times in our lives; and it’s not wrong to even raise the questions to God. David certainly did; and we know that many other giants of the faith in our Bible studies raised “WHY” questions to our God. But the thing we must guard against is letting our human feelings get in the way of surrendered faith; because it is only the latter – many times – which can give us faith’s victory to believe God being there when He seems to be absent. And knowing and clinging to His promises and His truth – from His word – as I’m convinced did David, we will be able to wait on the Lord for His presence to be felt and realized.

Dear one, when you FEEL that God is far away – or even absent – know His truth from His word to give you hope. When you feel your prayers bouncing off the ceiling, seemingly unheard, know, at least in your mind, if not in your heart, the reality that God will always hear you. So, like David, cry out to our God, and, though He already knows your feelings, let Him hear of your concerns; and keep praying for His power to be invoked and to cover your weakness.

My friend, God is there – ALWAYS THERE!! He hears – ALWAYS HEARS!! And He loves us – ALWAYS!!!

My Prayer for Today: LORD, when I’ve needed you – even when You seem far away – You were always there, bending down to hear me; and covering me with Your wings of protection. Help me to believe in my heart as much as I do know Your promises in my head. Amen

2010 – April 18 – Invasion of Privacy

Study from God’s Word… 1st Chronicles 26: 12 – 32; 1st Chron. 27: 1 – 34; 1st Chron. 28: 1 – 21; 1st Chron. 29: 1 – 22 … Passage for Reflection: 1st Chronicles 28: 9… NIV 9 "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

My Journal for Today: The age of “Big Brother” is upon us; and we feel like we need to fight for our rights to privacy; don’t we? But in reality, as believers in the One and only omniscient God, our privacy in the world – or lack thereof – is the least of our mental worries. As F. LaGard Smith, in my devotional book for today, quotes: ”If I am too embarrassed to tell even my closest family and friends what I’m thinking about, dare I allow [those thoughts] to enter my mind for an observing God to see?”

OUCH!!! That personal assertion really gets to the heart of our faith and understanding of the God we know, love, obey, serve, and glorify, doesn’t it? If we believe in the same God King David came to know and love (and, of course, we do!), we’ve got to do all we can to live by the truth that our God knows EVERYTHING we’re thinking – and why we’re thinking it – before we even think it. My friend, we have no private thoughts as Christians; and we have no right to privacy in God’s world as well.

And with this in mind, what I am thinking right now, if it does not glorify God is a breech in the relationship I have with my LORD; and that, I expect, is why the Apostle Paul wrote what he did, inspired by God’s Spirit, in Philippians 4: 8, where we, as believers in Christ, are charged to – and given God’s enabling grace to – think on only things which honor our LORD. So, as a Christian, who also knows the truth of God’s word, through Solomon, in Prov. 23: 7, which states [in the NKJV], As a man thinks in his heart, so is he …, I must realize that I will never have any real privacy in my life. And so, I need to live as an open book, realizing that all I think, say, and do is out there for God to know even before I think it, say it, or do it. And when I live like that and live for my LORD in what I think and become, I will live to honor Him in this life and into the next.

My Prayer for Today: LORD, my thoughts are always known to You. I pray they will become Yours. Amen