2009 – Day 159.June 9 – Incredible Associations
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 8 – 16 … Passage linked for study …
My Journal for Today: So, our “man of God,” Elijah does what God commands and goes from Cherith to Zarapeth and seeks out the widow, whom God had available for him at the gate to the city. But when Elijah requested food and drink, the widow related what an impossible task this would be for her due to the paucity of food stuffs and water available for her own family, let alone for a guest.
BUT – Elijah’s faith had been made ready in Cherith; and he was able to focus with faith on the circumstances to show this widow what a great God they worshipped. And as we read in 1st Kings 17: 14, the Prophet does what a Prophet of God had been prepared by God to do, … prophesy. And he declares that the food will not run out for this widow and her family and she will also have water during the drought. And as long as Elijah was there with the widow serving his needs, that is exactly what happened.
And Swindoll asks the pointed question … if his readers have ever had a person in their life, one who simply would not look at the world though lenses of impossibility. And I ask, “Have you ever been around or influenced by someone like that?” I have; and shortly after I became a Christian, groping for strength and truth in my life, I was led to my home church and to a mentor, a retired physician and a Godly man who reveled in seemingly impossible tasks, seeing them as great opportunities to go to the Lord in faith. He was blessed with the gift of prophesy as a motivational gift; and he was so steeped in God’s word that he could bring up a truth from Scripture when things seemed bleak to show me what God would say to the challenges from my life that I laid before him. He was like the Apostle Paul when he declared to his followers in Corinth (see 1st Cor. 11: 1), “You can imitate me because I imitate Christ.”
I hope you know and have access to someone like that in your life. If not, I would charge you to pray for and seek out such a man of God [or a Godly woman for you Sisters in Christ]; and I would challenge you to seek council from such a Godly mentor. Because following someone like that can change the way you view the world, moving you from fear to faith, … from seeing impossible circumstances to possibility thinking.
I know it’s not easy to find such an “Elijah” in this world; but I’ve seen them in my church; and so I know they are out there. And when you find and follow a mentor like Elijah or an apostle Paul so that you can imitate their faith and obedience to God’s word. Find and follow such a mentor and you will begin to see God’s possibilities in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. So, I pray you find such a faith leader to walk you through the valley of the shadow of death into the pasture of promise (as I’m sure you know God says in Psalm 23 - linked for your study).
My Prayer for Today: Thank you, Lord, for leading me to this place of faith; now I pray for the same for anyone who reads what You’ve given me to share this day. Amen
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Monday, June 08, 2009
2009 – Day 158.June 8 – Crucible For Christ
2009 – Day 158.June 8 – Crucible For Christ
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 8-9 … 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
My Journal for Today: Okay, if you’ve been with me these first days of June, Elijah has been taken by God to this quiet place, Cherith, where he was safely away from the limelight of Ahab’s threatening court; and we saw, through Swindoll, that God was using solitude, silence, and obscurity at the brook in Cherith to retool the Prophet for what would lie ahead. Now, in today’s passage, we see God telling Elijah to move on. However, the testing and retooling of Elijah is not over.
I would not have seen it without Swindoll’s teaching help; but the place God leads Elijah next, Zarapeth, is apparently a Hebrew term with a root which means “crucible.” Maybe, as Swindoll points out, there may have been some metal-works plant there; but no matter why the town was named as it way, it’s interesting that this town where Elijah would go was a place where God could turn up the heat of reshaping Elijah’s life to make him even stronger for his work of witness for God which lies ahead.
I agree with Swindoll that God often takes us from crucible to crucible in the process of sanctification in our lives as Christians. And the word picture of a crucible is an apt one; isn’t it? When precious metals are being purified for reshaping into beautiful pieces of jewelry, they are put in a crucible, which is heated to the place where the raw metal is liquefied, causing the “dross” (i.e., impurities) to float to the top, where the master metal-worker can skim off the dross, leaving the purified metal, which is now ready for the reshaping process by a master jeweler.
That’s what God was doing with Elijah; and perhaps that’s what He’s doing in your life. Certainly when I look back over the process of discipleship in my life, I can see that God took me from one crucible and reshaping process to another, many of which were like the quiet brook at Cherith for Elijah, where God used solitude and discipline to reshape me. But other times were more like what Elijah would face in Zarapeth, where the heat was turned up; and in those “crucible” times I had to experience some very tough times so that God could make me more focused in my ability to serve Him. Often, in this process of sanctification, I, like Elijah, was led from crucible to crucible to crucible; and I would wonder when God was going to have me shaped into an image He could use for His glory.
And my friends, if I interpret Phil. 1: 6 [linked here] correctly, that reshaping process will never be over in this life; and I will be taken through the various crucibles of life so that God, the Master Jeweler, can keep remaking (i.e., “completing”) me into that final image when I’m in glory and made over into a more perfected reflection of the Perfect Servant of God, … my Lord Jesus.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, be merciful as You reshape me in the crucibles of life. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 8-9 … 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
My Journal for Today: Okay, if you’ve been with me these first days of June, Elijah has been taken by God to this quiet place, Cherith, where he was safely away from the limelight of Ahab’s threatening court; and we saw, through Swindoll, that God was using solitude, silence, and obscurity at the brook in Cherith to retool the Prophet for what would lie ahead. Now, in today’s passage, we see God telling Elijah to move on. However, the testing and retooling of Elijah is not over.
I would not have seen it without Swindoll’s teaching help; but the place God leads Elijah next, Zarapeth, is apparently a Hebrew term with a root which means “crucible.” Maybe, as Swindoll points out, there may have been some metal-works plant there; but no matter why the town was named as it way, it’s interesting that this town where Elijah would go was a place where God could turn up the heat of reshaping Elijah’s life to make him even stronger for his work of witness for God which lies ahead.
I agree with Swindoll that God often takes us from crucible to crucible in the process of sanctification in our lives as Christians. And the word picture of a crucible is an apt one; isn’t it? When precious metals are being purified for reshaping into beautiful pieces of jewelry, they are put in a crucible, which is heated to the place where the raw metal is liquefied, causing the “dross” (i.e., impurities) to float to the top, where the master metal-worker can skim off the dross, leaving the purified metal, which is now ready for the reshaping process by a master jeweler.
That’s what God was doing with Elijah; and perhaps that’s what He’s doing in your life. Certainly when I look back over the process of discipleship in my life, I can see that God took me from one crucible and reshaping process to another, many of which were like the quiet brook at Cherith for Elijah, where God used solitude and discipline to reshape me. But other times were more like what Elijah would face in Zarapeth, where the heat was turned up; and in those “crucible” times I had to experience some very tough times so that God could make me more focused in my ability to serve Him. Often, in this process of sanctification, I, like Elijah, was led from crucible to crucible to crucible; and I would wonder when God was going to have me shaped into an image He could use for His glory.
And my friends, if I interpret Phil. 1: 6 [linked here] correctly, that reshaping process will never be over in this life; and I will be taken through the various crucibles of life so that God, the Master Jeweler, can keep remaking (i.e., “completing”) me into that final image when I’m in glory and made over into a more perfected reflection of the Perfect Servant of God, … my Lord Jesus.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, be merciful as You reshape me in the crucibles of life. Amen
Sunday, June 07, 2009
2009 – Day 157.June 7 – Our Obstacle Course
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 5 – 7 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him [Elijah], saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Today I read Chuck Swindoll’s devotional for this day in his book, Great Days with the Great Lives; and normally, I just use this as a guide for what God, the Holy Spirit, gives me to share as my devotional journal entry. But today, I was touched to the core by what Pastor Swindoll had to share; and I would discredit this fine teaching effort to do anything other than just quote what this faithful shepherd has to share. So, I quote this dear servant exactly as he has written the following about Elijah’s bootcamp experience.
Chuck Swindoll: Part of every boot camp experience is the grueling, grinding, and sometimes daunting obstacle course. It is neither fun nor easy, but its demanding discipline prepares the recruit for whatever situations he or she may face in the future, particularly under enemy fire. In the spiritual life, before we can truly benefit from “the hidden life” that God uses to prepare us for whatever future He has planned for us, we must overcome at least four major obstacles. I think of them as four rough membranes of the flesh: pride, fear, resentment, and long-standing habits. Conquering these layers of resistance will prepare us for the future and harden us for combat with the adversary.
In a very real sense, God has designed a boot camp for His children; but it doesn’t last just eight or ten weeks. Nor is it a weekend seminar we can take or a day-long workshop we can attend. God’s training course takes place periodically throughout the Christian life. And there, in the very center of obstacles and pain and solitude, we come to realize how alive God is in our lives – how alive and in charge. He will invade us, reduce us, break us, and crush us, so that we will become the people He intends us to be.
No matter how many years we walk with the Lord, we must still, at times, pass through our own Gethsemane. It happens every time He sends us to the brook to live the hidden life. It happens every time He disorients us as He displaces us; every time He pulls out all the props; every time He takes away more of the comforts; every time He removes most of the “rights” we once enjoyed. And He does all this so that He can mold us in the person that we otherwise never would be. He knows what He’s about.
Elijah went to Cherith as an energetic spokesman for God – a Prophet. He emerged from Chrerith as a deeper man of God. All this happened because he was left beside a brook that dried up. Alone, but not forgotten. Tested, but not abandoned.
Wow! What could I add to that? Nothing, I assure you; but I pray that, like me, you are enlightened by Pastor Swindoll to realize that God is giving us all our boot camp obstacles, as He did with Elijah, to prepare us for what lies ahead and to prepare us to be his witness in this world, … a witness who can shine His light and glorify the Holy Father.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for the obstacles You put us through to shape our witness for You. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 5 – 7 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him [Elijah], saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Today I read Chuck Swindoll’s devotional for this day in his book, Great Days with the Great Lives; and normally, I just use this as a guide for what God, the Holy Spirit, gives me to share as my devotional journal entry. But today, I was touched to the core by what Pastor Swindoll had to share; and I would discredit this fine teaching effort to do anything other than just quote what this faithful shepherd has to share. So, I quote this dear servant exactly as he has written the following about Elijah’s bootcamp experience.
Chuck Swindoll: Part of every boot camp experience is the grueling, grinding, and sometimes daunting obstacle course. It is neither fun nor easy, but its demanding discipline prepares the recruit for whatever situations he or she may face in the future, particularly under enemy fire. In the spiritual life, before we can truly benefit from “the hidden life” that God uses to prepare us for whatever future He has planned for us, we must overcome at least four major obstacles. I think of them as four rough membranes of the flesh: pride, fear, resentment, and long-standing habits. Conquering these layers of resistance will prepare us for the future and harden us for combat with the adversary.
In a very real sense, God has designed a boot camp for His children; but it doesn’t last just eight or ten weeks. Nor is it a weekend seminar we can take or a day-long workshop we can attend. God’s training course takes place periodically throughout the Christian life. And there, in the very center of obstacles and pain and solitude, we come to realize how alive God is in our lives – how alive and in charge. He will invade us, reduce us, break us, and crush us, so that we will become the people He intends us to be.
No matter how many years we walk with the Lord, we must still, at times, pass through our own Gethsemane. It happens every time He sends us to the brook to live the hidden life. It happens every time He disorients us as He displaces us; every time He pulls out all the props; every time He takes away more of the comforts; every time He removes most of the “rights” we once enjoyed. And He does all this so that He can mold us in the person that we otherwise never would be. He knows what He’s about.
Elijah went to Cherith as an energetic spokesman for God – a Prophet. He emerged from Chrerith as a deeper man of God. All this happened because he was left beside a brook that dried up. Alone, but not forgotten. Tested, but not abandoned.
Wow! What could I add to that? Nothing, I assure you; but I pray that, like me, you are enlightened by Pastor Swindoll to realize that God is giving us all our boot camp obstacles, as He did with Elijah, to prepare us for what lies ahead and to prepare us to be his witness in this world, … a witness who can shine His light and glorify the Holy Father.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for the obstacles You put us through to shape our witness for You. Amen
Saturday, June 06, 2009
2009 – Day 156.June 6 – Laying A Foundation of Courage
2009 – Day 156.June 6 – Laying A Foundation of Courage
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 1 – 7 … Linked for study …
James 5: 17 – 18 … 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
My Journal for Today: As I’ve been reading that passage in 1st Kings the last few days, I’m getting the idea that God has to put His army through spiritual bootcamp before they can become seasoned and disciplined and dedicated – TO GOD - and not to self.
Swindoll points out that Robert E. Lee’s biographer wrote, “Had [Lee’s] life been epitomized in one sentence from THE BOOK he read so often, it would have been in the words, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’ “ [I hope you recognize that immediately as Luke 9: 23, a verse I repeat often in my devotional entries.]
Robert E. Lee was a man who recognized that to be a follower after God, one must be disciplined in godliness. And that’s what makes praying and living toward Christlikeness so challenging. Elijah prayed a tough prayer … that God would stop the rains; and then he had to live through the outcome of God answering that prayer along with all those who denied God. Yes, when the drought came for three and one-half years, Elijah had to live trough the extended drought just like the rebellious Hebrews did.
Have you ever prayed a prayer, asking God to make you a more Godly man or woman? But in the back of your mind, you were praying silently, “But, Lord, please don’t take away my creature comforts.” Or maybe you were afraid to pray for humility or patience because you knew what God might have to do to develop those Christlike qualities in your life. In today’s MacDonald’s mentality, self denial is not a popular virtue. In fact we’re being given all kinds of tools to promote instant gratification. The I-Phone generation has an “APP” for everything. We simply don’t honor the truth that God must lead us though the valley of the shadow of death to do what He promises in Phil. 1: 6 [linked], … and that is, to complete us into the image of our Savior. [Notice - I just hyperlinked you to Phil. 1: 6 to save you the time and effort to go get your Bible, look up the passage, and study it. Shame on me! ;>) ]
Are you praying that God will turn around the evil in the world? That’s a good prayer; but do you realize what it’s going to take in terms of our own lives, as followers of God, to rid the world of the evil that is growing ever darker day-by-day? It’s going to take a major spiritual earthquake [what we pray for as “revival”] to get the attention of the unGodly in this world. And in case you haven’t noticed, when an earthquake hits, the believers as well as the non-believers suffer.
By nature I’m a “chicken.” I don’t like pain; and I don’t like to suffer. But I’ve come to realize that my only way to Christlikeness is to bring myself – INTENTIONALLY – to surrender to God’s Luke 9: 23 bootcamp. It means, like Elijah learned, I must deny myself and take up the disciplines of the faith, and follow my Lord – NO MATTER WHERE HE GOES. If that means, getting in to His word daily, then that’s what I must do. If it means developing a deeper prayer life, then that’s what I must do. If it means suffering in the heat and pressure of life, … well, you’re getting the picture.
I hope you’re praying for a better world; but I hope you don’t shy away from that prayer because you don’t want to experience what is going to be necessary for God to rain down His revival of His plan for mankind.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I’m a chicken; and I hate to see my loved ones suffer. Come quickly! Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 1 – 7 … Linked for study …
James 5: 17 – 18 … 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
My Journal for Today: As I’ve been reading that passage in 1st Kings the last few days, I’m getting the idea that God has to put His army through spiritual bootcamp before they can become seasoned and disciplined and dedicated – TO GOD - and not to self.
Swindoll points out that Robert E. Lee’s biographer wrote, “Had [Lee’s] life been epitomized in one sentence from THE BOOK he read so often, it would have been in the words, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’ “ [I hope you recognize that immediately as Luke 9: 23, a verse I repeat often in my devotional entries.]
Robert E. Lee was a man who recognized that to be a follower after God, one must be disciplined in godliness. And that’s what makes praying and living toward Christlikeness so challenging. Elijah prayed a tough prayer … that God would stop the rains; and then he had to live through the outcome of God answering that prayer along with all those who denied God. Yes, when the drought came for three and one-half years, Elijah had to live trough the extended drought just like the rebellious Hebrews did.
Have you ever prayed a prayer, asking God to make you a more Godly man or woman? But in the back of your mind, you were praying silently, “But, Lord, please don’t take away my creature comforts.” Or maybe you were afraid to pray for humility or patience because you knew what God might have to do to develop those Christlike qualities in your life. In today’s MacDonald’s mentality, self denial is not a popular virtue. In fact we’re being given all kinds of tools to promote instant gratification. The I-Phone generation has an “APP” for everything. We simply don’t honor the truth that God must lead us though the valley of the shadow of death to do what He promises in Phil. 1: 6 [linked], … and that is, to complete us into the image of our Savior. [Notice - I just hyperlinked you to Phil. 1: 6 to save you the time and effort to go get your Bible, look up the passage, and study it. Shame on me! ;>) ]
Are you praying that God will turn around the evil in the world? That’s a good prayer; but do you realize what it’s going to take in terms of our own lives, as followers of God, to rid the world of the evil that is growing ever darker day-by-day? It’s going to take a major spiritual earthquake [what we pray for as “revival”] to get the attention of the unGodly in this world. And in case you haven’t noticed, when an earthquake hits, the believers as well as the non-believers suffer.
By nature I’m a “chicken.” I don’t like pain; and I don’t like to suffer. But I’ve come to realize that my only way to Christlikeness is to bring myself – INTENTIONALLY – to surrender to God’s Luke 9: 23 bootcamp. It means, like Elijah learned, I must deny myself and take up the disciplines of the faith, and follow my Lord – NO MATTER WHERE HE GOES. If that means, getting in to His word daily, then that’s what I must do. If it means developing a deeper prayer life, then that’s what I must do. If it means suffering in the heat and pressure of life, … well, you’re getting the picture.
I hope you’re praying for a better world; but I hope you don’t shy away from that prayer because you don’t want to experience what is going to be necessary for God to rain down His revival of His plan for mankind.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I’m a chicken; and I hate to see my loved ones suffer. Come quickly! Amen
Friday, June 05, 2009
2009 – Day 155.June 5 – Tough Spots
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 5 – 7 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him [Elijah], saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Ever been in a tough spot? Of course we have; … and what is our first, and very natural feeling, when we encounter such tough circumstances? Well, it’s usually one of entitlement. We FEEL (and I emphasize that it’s a feeling) that we are entitled to be able to avoid the tough spot, whatever it is. Swindoll gives several good, and pertinent, examples.
And the first is Elijah’s dilemma. When we have ample water, we come to feel that we are entitled to water; and we FEEL that it would be unfair for the One who provided the water to take it away. Perhaps you’ve had other situations in life which challenged your sense of entitlement. Maybe God has given you a wonderful spouse; and you most certainly feel it wouldn’t be fair for God to take this life partner. Perhaps God has blessed you with children. Surely He would take your child before He takes you home? Maybe you’ve got a great job, which provides you with what you’re family needs in the way of finances. Would God do something, as He seems to be doing right now in our world, to cause the world to see that God owns it all and He’s in control of the world’s economy?
So, once we have something, we have a tendency to feel entitled to keep it. Isn’t that the natural FEELING? Of course it is; BUT (and this is one big “BUT”) God, the giver is fully entitled to be God, the taker. And we know that happens; and it may be happening in your life right now. And that’s why we need to have emblazoned on our hearts the truth of Deuteronomy 31: 6 or Joshua 1: 5, which also inspired Hebrews 13: 5. Do you know those parallel verses from God’s truth book? They are God speaking through three separate authors saying the same thing, that “God will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
And apparently before Elijah was to go back and confront King Ahab with God’s prophesies, Elijah needed to learn and internalize that truth. Hence, we see the brook drying up which had been Elijah’s source of refreshment. And now Elijah’s faith is tested, just like ours is tested when something in our life, to which we felt entitled, is taken? It’s the test of 1st Cor. 10: 13 [linked for you], where God states His faithfulness, that He will never allow His children to be placed in circumstances where, with Him, we can bear up under the pressure, whatever it is. BUT, do we believe it?
I hope you have learned that lesson, and you believe in its truth, BEFORE you are tested by having something dear you assume will be there tomorrow is taken from your life. Because when the stream is drying up, or maybe you realize that you’re losing your spouse to cancer, you’re going to need to realize that God is right there with you during the challenges of your loss.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to know and remember that You will always be with me. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 5 – 7 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him [Elijah], saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Ever been in a tough spot? Of course we have; … and what is our first, and very natural feeling, when we encounter such tough circumstances? Well, it’s usually one of entitlement. We FEEL (and I emphasize that it’s a feeling) that we are entitled to be able to avoid the tough spot, whatever it is. Swindoll gives several good, and pertinent, examples.
And the first is Elijah’s dilemma. When we have ample water, we come to feel that we are entitled to water; and we FEEL that it would be unfair for the One who provided the water to take it away. Perhaps you’ve had other situations in life which challenged your sense of entitlement. Maybe God has given you a wonderful spouse; and you most certainly feel it wouldn’t be fair for God to take this life partner. Perhaps God has blessed you with children. Surely He would take your child before He takes you home? Maybe you’ve got a great job, which provides you with what you’re family needs in the way of finances. Would God do something, as He seems to be doing right now in our world, to cause the world to see that God owns it all and He’s in control of the world’s economy?
So, once we have something, we have a tendency to feel entitled to keep it. Isn’t that the natural FEELING? Of course it is; BUT (and this is one big “BUT”) God, the giver is fully entitled to be God, the taker. And we know that happens; and it may be happening in your life right now. And that’s why we need to have emblazoned on our hearts the truth of Deuteronomy 31: 6 or Joshua 1: 5, which also inspired Hebrews 13: 5. Do you know those parallel verses from God’s truth book? They are God speaking through three separate authors saying the same thing, that “God will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
And apparently before Elijah was to go back and confront King Ahab with God’s prophesies, Elijah needed to learn and internalize that truth. Hence, we see the brook drying up which had been Elijah’s source of refreshment. And now Elijah’s faith is tested, just like ours is tested when something in our life, to which we felt entitled, is taken? It’s the test of 1st Cor. 10: 13 [linked for you], where God states His faithfulness, that He will never allow His children to be placed in circumstances where, with Him, we can bear up under the pressure, whatever it is. BUT, do we believe it?
I hope you have learned that lesson, and you believe in its truth, BEFORE you are tested by having something dear you assume will be there tomorrow is taken from your life. Because when the stream is drying up, or maybe you realize that you’re losing your spouse to cancer, you’re going to need to realize that God is right there with you during the challenges of your loss.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to know and remember that You will always be with me. Amen
Thursday, June 04, 2009
2009 – Day 154.June 4 – The Brook Has Dried Up
2009 – Day 154.June 4 – The Brook Has Dried Up
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 5 – 7 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him [Elijah], saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Has your brook dried up? It had for Elijah. Here God had led Elijah to this lush oasis in the wilderness where he was protected and provided for; but in time the spring providing him with water dried up. And so it is with some of us.
Perhaps you’re a new mom and the joy of a new child has dried up and is covered with poopy diapers, baby feedings, and a perpetually crying babe. Maybe you’re a family leader whose bank account is drying up. Swindoll relates the great story of John Bunyan, the famous Christian author, who was jailed for preaching against the godlessness of the establishment in his day; and while in prison where his brook had dried up, he was inspired to write Pilgrim’s Progress, the timeless allegory which has touched the life of generations of Christian readers.
And right now – at this very moment in my quiet time with God this morning – my Ipod has given me the song I’m listening to right now and one which I hear almost daily in my morning, sitting by a brook of life which seems to be drying up all around me. The song is sung by the beautiful voice of Alisha Dishong, … the old hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. She sings to me …
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.
Yes, the brook of our culture seems to dwindling; and more and more we cannot draw water from this world. So, what do we Christians do in this world which dwindles of Christian sustenance? Well the reality of that old Christian hymn rings true. What we do is turn – and keep – our eyes on Jesus, because as Swindoll points out, our dwindling brook of Christian values in this world “does not cancel out God’s providential plan.” And Swindoll is right, as evidenced by what happened to John Bunyan or to Elijah.
When the waters that we thirst for are drying up, we need to get ready for God to provide exactly what we need in and through His truth – i.e., His word – and through life as well. John Bunyan was inspired by prison to write his famous Christian allegory. Elijah, by the brook drying up, was being prepared to prophesy to God’s people. And we’ll be reading in subsequent devotionals about the power that came from Elijah holding on to faith in the midst of the brook drying up.
When things get really dry and we turn our eyes on Jesus, rather than our circumstances, God is likely trying to show us that the things of this earth " … will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” So, take heart, my fellow Christian. The brook may be drying up; but God will provide.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, take me from the dwindling brook of this life; and show me the sustaining grace of your living waters. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 5 – 7 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him [Elijah], saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Has your brook dried up? It had for Elijah. Here God had led Elijah to this lush oasis in the wilderness where he was protected and provided for; but in time the spring providing him with water dried up. And so it is with some of us.
Perhaps you’re a new mom and the joy of a new child has dried up and is covered with poopy diapers, baby feedings, and a perpetually crying babe. Maybe you’re a family leader whose bank account is drying up. Swindoll relates the great story of John Bunyan, the famous Christian author, who was jailed for preaching against the godlessness of the establishment in his day; and while in prison where his brook had dried up, he was inspired to write Pilgrim’s Progress, the timeless allegory which has touched the life of generations of Christian readers.
And right now – at this very moment in my quiet time with God this morning – my Ipod has given me the song I’m listening to right now and one which I hear almost daily in my morning, sitting by a brook of life which seems to be drying up all around me. The song is sung by the beautiful voice of Alisha Dishong, … the old hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. She sings to me …
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.
Yes, the brook of our culture seems to dwindling; and more and more we cannot draw water from this world. So, what do we Christians do in this world which dwindles of Christian sustenance? Well the reality of that old Christian hymn rings true. What we do is turn – and keep – our eyes on Jesus, because as Swindoll points out, our dwindling brook of Christian values in this world “does not cancel out God’s providential plan.” And Swindoll is right, as evidenced by what happened to John Bunyan or to Elijah.
When the waters that we thirst for are drying up, we need to get ready for God to provide exactly what we need in and through His truth – i.e., His word – and through life as well. John Bunyan was inspired by prison to write his famous Christian allegory. Elijah, by the brook drying up, was being prepared to prophesy to God’s people. And we’ll be reading in subsequent devotionals about the power that came from Elijah holding on to faith in the midst of the brook drying up.
When things get really dry and we turn our eyes on Jesus, rather than our circumstances, God is likely trying to show us that the things of this earth " … will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” So, take heart, my fellow Christian. The brook may be drying up; but God will provide.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, take me from the dwindling brook of this life; and show me the sustaining grace of your living waters. Amen
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
2009 – Day 153.June 3 – God’s Protection and Provision
2009 – Day 153.June 3 – God’s Protection and Provision
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 4 - 6 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” … 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Chuck Swindoll really likes to get all God has for him (and us) out of a passage; and so, here we are again in these first few verses of 1st Kings 17, dwelling on this boot camp experience God had arranged for Elijah where the Lord had the Prophet to a quiet place in the wilderness where he’d be secure, secluded, and surrendered to God’s will.
And the first thing we note is Elijah’s response to God’s leading, reading in verse 5 that upon being called to do so, Elijah went to the Brook Cherith without question. There was no, “What’s this all about, Lord?” God said, “Go,” and Elijah went where God said to go. And I love the way Swindoll speculates about what Elijah may have perceived God saying. He writes that it would be as if God said, “[Elijah] You need to get out of the spotlight. You need to come up in the mountains, alone with Me, where you can hear My voice clearly. We need more time together, Elijah, and you need more training.”
How about you? Do you feel God saying to you, “[Insert your name here], I need more time with you. You need to carve out more quiet time with Me. We need to be alone together so that I can get closer to you, and so that I can lead you more clearly through my Word.” So many men which I’ve been blessed to lead in ministry over the years have said to me, “Bill, I know that I need more quiet time with God in His word; BUT I … [and I’ll bet you can fill in the blank here with reasons (really EXCUSES) why you don’t have enough time with God or why your time with Him is not deep enough].”
God wanted Elijah to be protected and prepared by the solitude and provision He laid out for His Prophet. God knew that Elijah was going to face some really tough times ahead; and so God made a way for a bootcamp of solitude and character building for Elijah. But Elijah had to CHOOSE to respond. God didn’t force the Prophet to follow Him. No, Elijah simply responded obediently and immediately to God’s lead and followed His Lord; and God came through with the provisions and the promises which Elijah was going to need in Spiritual warfare for the near and more distant future.
My dear one, as you read this, I hope you get it that God is saying to all of us that we need to get away from the tyranny of the urgent, from the hubbub of worldly information, and from the deceitfulness of our own hearts so that we can be refreshed by the living waters which come only from God’s Word.
Are you getting alone with God in a quiet place EVERY DAY and letting God feed you and give you drink from His word? Blessed one, EVERY DAY we face the wiles of the devil, the terror of the world, and the call of our own flesh to do things Satan’s way rather than God’s way. And EVERY DAY we need to have a brief “boot camp” in solitude where we are refreshed by God’s living truth and rearmed for battle for the day ahead. That is what Elijah learned by the Brook of Cherith; and it is the lesson we must learn and activate in our battle plan living for each day of our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, as I type this, You are filling me with Your living waters and giving me the armor I need for the day of battle ahead. I praise You for this quiet place of protection and for Your provision for my day. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 4 - 6 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” … 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Chuck Swindoll really likes to get all God has for him (and us) out of a passage; and so, here we are again in these first few verses of 1st Kings 17, dwelling on this boot camp experience God had arranged for Elijah where the Lord had the Prophet to a quiet place in the wilderness where he’d be secure, secluded, and surrendered to God’s will.
And the first thing we note is Elijah’s response to God’s leading, reading in verse 5 that upon being called to do so, Elijah went to the Brook Cherith without question. There was no, “What’s this all about, Lord?” God said, “Go,” and Elijah went where God said to go. And I love the way Swindoll speculates about what Elijah may have perceived God saying. He writes that it would be as if God said, “[Elijah] You need to get out of the spotlight. You need to come up in the mountains, alone with Me, where you can hear My voice clearly. We need more time together, Elijah, and you need more training.”
How about you? Do you feel God saying to you, “[Insert your name here], I need more time with you. You need to carve out more quiet time with Me. We need to be alone together so that I can get closer to you, and so that I can lead you more clearly through my Word.” So many men which I’ve been blessed to lead in ministry over the years have said to me, “Bill, I know that I need more quiet time with God in His word; BUT I … [and I’ll bet you can fill in the blank here with reasons (really EXCUSES) why you don’t have enough time with God or why your time with Him is not deep enough].”
God wanted Elijah to be protected and prepared by the solitude and provision He laid out for His Prophet. God knew that Elijah was going to face some really tough times ahead; and so God made a way for a bootcamp of solitude and character building for Elijah. But Elijah had to CHOOSE to respond. God didn’t force the Prophet to follow Him. No, Elijah simply responded obediently and immediately to God’s lead and followed His Lord; and God came through with the provisions and the promises which Elijah was going to need in Spiritual warfare for the near and more distant future.
My dear one, as you read this, I hope you get it that God is saying to all of us that we need to get away from the tyranny of the urgent, from the hubbub of worldly information, and from the deceitfulness of our own hearts so that we can be refreshed by the living waters which come only from God’s Word.
Are you getting alone with God in a quiet place EVERY DAY and letting God feed you and give you drink from His word? Blessed one, EVERY DAY we face the wiles of the devil, the terror of the world, and the call of our own flesh to do things Satan’s way rather than God’s way. And EVERY DAY we need to have a brief “boot camp” in solitude where we are refreshed by God’s living truth and rearmed for battle for the day ahead. That is what Elijah learned by the Brook of Cherith; and it is the lesson we must learn and activate in our battle plan living for each day of our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, as I type this, You are filling me with Your living waters and giving me the armor I need for the day of battle ahead. I praise You for this quiet place of protection and for Your provision for my day. Amen
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
2009 – Day 152.June 2 – One Step At A Time
2009 – Day 152.June 2 – One Step At A Time
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 4 … 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
My Journal for Today: God needed to teach Elijah a lesson which would one day prove essential for what God had in mind for Elijah; and, as Swindoll points out, Elijah needed to experience and internalize the truth that (Swindoll) “God’s direction includes God’s provision.”
To illustrate this Swindoll tells a word picture story related by Vance Havner about a bunch of cotton farmers in the Deep South years ago who were almost wiped out by an infestation of boll weevils. But being inventive, they began to plant and harvest peanuts, which yielded much more income that had the cotton. If it had not been for the plague of weevils, they would haven not discovered the providence of raising a new crop; so the farmers commissioned a statue to be built with the figure of a boll weevil to remind them how God had taught them a lesson by bringing the weevil to redirect their lives.
And that’s the way our lives can go. It’s easy for us to get in a rut in life; but along comes some disastrous set of circumstances and God gets our attention to the truth that He’s there to project and provide in our lives. Right now we’re going through some of the toughest financial times that most of us have ever experienced; and I don’t know about you; but I’ve certainly learned that I need to remember that our financial well being is in God’s hands. He is the provider; and we can’t rely on the government to bail us out of these times. We must look to God; and that was the lesson which God was teaching Elijah by having him hide where God led him and to wait on God alone for his provision.
What is the boll weevil in your life? Are you finances being challenged in these recent times? Maybe you’ve lost your job. Have you had a critical death in your family, perhaps a spouse? Are YOUR plans not panning out the way YOU had intended? Well, as Swindoll points out today, “When God directs, God provides?” So, if you follow God the way Elijah learned to, you will see that God will show you the way; and He will provide what you need.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, God, You are my Jehovah Jireh. You, and You alone are my provider. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 4 … 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
My Journal for Today: God needed to teach Elijah a lesson which would one day prove essential for what God had in mind for Elijah; and, as Swindoll points out, Elijah needed to experience and internalize the truth that (Swindoll) “God’s direction includes God’s provision.”
To illustrate this Swindoll tells a word picture story related by Vance Havner about a bunch of cotton farmers in the Deep South years ago who were almost wiped out by an infestation of boll weevils. But being inventive, they began to plant and harvest peanuts, which yielded much more income that had the cotton. If it had not been for the plague of weevils, they would haven not discovered the providence of raising a new crop; so the farmers commissioned a statue to be built with the figure of a boll weevil to remind them how God had taught them a lesson by bringing the weevil to redirect their lives.
And that’s the way our lives can go. It’s easy for us to get in a rut in life; but along comes some disastrous set of circumstances and God gets our attention to the truth that He’s there to project and provide in our lives. Right now we’re going through some of the toughest financial times that most of us have ever experienced; and I don’t know about you; but I’ve certainly learned that I need to remember that our financial well being is in God’s hands. He is the provider; and we can’t rely on the government to bail us out of these times. We must look to God; and that was the lesson which God was teaching Elijah by having him hide where God led him and to wait on God alone for his provision.
What is the boll weevil in your life? Are you finances being challenged in these recent times? Maybe you’ve lost your job. Have you had a critical death in your family, perhaps a spouse? Are YOUR plans not panning out the way YOU had intended? Well, as Swindoll points out today, “When God directs, God provides?” So, if you follow God the way Elijah learned to, you will see that God will show you the way; and He will provide what you need.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, God, You are my Jehovah Jireh. You, and You alone are my provider. Amen
Monday, June 01, 2009
2009 – Day 151.June 1 – Into the Shadows
June, 2009 Topic: Elijah … Continued from May 31, 2009
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2009 – Day 151.June 1 – Into the Shadows
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 2 - 6 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” … 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Moving from May into June, we are not only sticking with the life of Elijah; and, once again, Swindoll is still focusing on the same passage in 1st Kings 17. And as a teacher I love it when another gifted teacher, in this case Chuck Swindoll, shows me (us) how we can (and really should) drain a passage for all it has to tell us so that we grow from the study of God’s word.
Today Swindoll focuses on one small phrase in verse 3, … God’s command for Elijah to “get away” and “hide” himself. God’s command “to hide” in this passage is the Hebrew word “cathar” (pronounced suh-thar’). If you do a word study on this Hebrew concept, it usually carries the connotation of getting completely out of the scope of others, i.e., to voluntarily conceal oneself where others cannot find you. And that’s exactly what God wanted for Elijah?
But we might naturally ask why would God want a gifted Prophet, a spokesman for God’s truth, to get away from the limelight where Elijah could be trumpeting God’s word to the people and especially to the wicked king, Ahab. But therein lies the first reason why God commanded that Elijah “hide” himself. He wanted to protect Elijah from Ahab; and then, secondly, God knew that Elijah needed to be fully prepared, by God, for the confrontations and kingdom work ahead.
Immediately as I read Swindoll’s continued exposition of this passage, I thought about how Saul of Tarsus, who had just become the Apostle Paul, was sent away by God into Asia Minor for three years to get away and prepare himself for the hard ministry which lay ahead. I thought of how Jesus had to get away and hide for 40 days and 40 nights, fasting and praying, in preparation for His encounter with the Devil in the wilderness (read about it in Matt. 4 or Luke 4). And more personally, I think about the process of discipleship God took me through with a mentor for a number of years, leading me into and through the memorization of His word from the Navigator’s Topical Memory Series [linked for your procurement].
In all of these instances, God had to lead the proponents and chosen people through a series of “boot camp” exercises or disciplines to prepare that person for what would lie ahead and what was needed for God’s man to be enabled for action. I remember what my mentor taught me years ago, … that ”God’s calling is His enablement!” And in Elijah’s case, God called His man to hide and get ready for what lay ahead in the working out of God’s will and His plan.
And if God is calling you to get away and take the time to learn humility and the rigor of Godly discipline, I exhort you to take whatever time necessary out of the limelight of the world to discipline yourself and get ready to do God’s work. Maybe God is calling you to take the time to pour His word deeply into your heart so that you can avoid sin patterns (see this linked passage in Ps. 119: 9-11). Or maybe God needs to prepare you to carry out a major task as the Lord was doing when He called out Joshua (see Joshua 1: 8) to lead His people.
But if God says to us, “go hide” and “get ready,” I think we all know what we must do.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I thank You for those years of preparation and solitude, where I learned the disciplines You needed to teach me to lead in Your spiritual warfare. Amen
====================
2009 – Day 151.June 1 – Into the Shadows
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 2 - 6 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” … 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Moving from May into June, we are not only sticking with the life of Elijah; and, once again, Swindoll is still focusing on the same passage in 1st Kings 17. And as a teacher I love it when another gifted teacher, in this case Chuck Swindoll, shows me (us) how we can (and really should) drain a passage for all it has to tell us so that we grow from the study of God’s word.
Today Swindoll focuses on one small phrase in verse 3, … God’s command for Elijah to “get away” and “hide” himself. God’s command “to hide” in this passage is the Hebrew word “cathar” (pronounced suh-thar’). If you do a word study on this Hebrew concept, it usually carries the connotation of getting completely out of the scope of others, i.e., to voluntarily conceal oneself where others cannot find you. And that’s exactly what God wanted for Elijah?
But we might naturally ask why would God want a gifted Prophet, a spokesman for God’s truth, to get away from the limelight where Elijah could be trumpeting God’s word to the people and especially to the wicked king, Ahab. But therein lies the first reason why God commanded that Elijah “hide” himself. He wanted to protect Elijah from Ahab; and then, secondly, God knew that Elijah needed to be fully prepared, by God, for the confrontations and kingdom work ahead.
Immediately as I read Swindoll’s continued exposition of this passage, I thought about how Saul of Tarsus, who had just become the Apostle Paul, was sent away by God into Asia Minor for three years to get away and prepare himself for the hard ministry which lay ahead. I thought of how Jesus had to get away and hide for 40 days and 40 nights, fasting and praying, in preparation for His encounter with the Devil in the wilderness (read about it in Matt. 4 or Luke 4). And more personally, I think about the process of discipleship God took me through with a mentor for a number of years, leading me into and through the memorization of His word from the Navigator’s Topical Memory Series [linked for your procurement].
In all of these instances, God had to lead the proponents and chosen people through a series of “boot camp” exercises or disciplines to prepare that person for what would lie ahead and what was needed for God’s man to be enabled for action. I remember what my mentor taught me years ago, … that ”God’s calling is His enablement!” And in Elijah’s case, God called His man to hide and get ready for what lay ahead in the working out of God’s will and His plan.
And if God is calling you to get away and take the time to learn humility and the rigor of Godly discipline, I exhort you to take whatever time necessary out of the limelight of the world to discipline yourself and get ready to do God’s work. Maybe God is calling you to take the time to pour His word deeply into your heart so that you can avoid sin patterns (see this linked passage in Ps. 119: 9-11). Or maybe God needs to prepare you to carry out a major task as the Lord was doing when He called out Joshua (see Joshua 1: 8) to lead His people.
But if God says to us, “go hide” and “get ready,” I think we all know what we must do.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I thank You for those years of preparation and solitude, where I learned the disciplines You needed to teach me to lead in Your spiritual warfare. Amen
Sunday, May 31, 2009
2009 – Day 150.May 31 – From Hurting To Usefulness
2009 – Day 150.May 31 – From Hurting To Usefulness
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 2 - 6 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” … 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Sometimes we see what is happening in our lives – our circumstances – and the old “WHY” question bubbles up. However, if we truly believe the truth of Romans 8: 28 [and I really hope you have that one memorized], we may often have to be overcoming the urge to ask, “What’s with this deal, Lord?” God’s ways are just baffling at times; but they are HIS ways, and we need to be ready to accept them and grow in the circumstances, rather than dive into a hole of self-pity. Rather than asking “Why?” in the midst of our pain, we need to be asking “WHAT, Lord, do You want me to learn from this so that I can serve You more effectively?”
As Swindoll points out in his devotional entry for today, it might have been logical, by human ways of doing things, to leave Elijah there in Ahab’s court, confronting and making life miserable for the ungodly king. But no, God sends Elijah off into some cloistered setting to be tested and prepared by God for some unknown future duties for God’s glory. Apparently Elijah needed some in-service training in humility and patience. And oh do I identify with that! It’s so easy to fall into the trap and ask God, “Lord, why do I need to hurt the way I am; … can’t we just get to what You need for me to do without the pain?”
And Swindoll quotes the famous Christian writer, A.W. Tozer, who once said, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” And to this Swindoll adds his own words of wisdom, writing, “… the deeper the hurt, the greater the usefulness.” And I certainly agree with these wise thinkers … though I guess I’d still rather be the exception to that rule. … ;>)
However, earlier in the year, we examined the lives of Moses and King David; and both of them had to go through a season of pain and suffering to learn that sin has great and deeply painful consequences in life; and due to this humility training, as well as God’s training in patience, these men were used mightily by God and most certainly for God’s glory.
So, my dear friend, if you are going through or have gone through some painful circumstances, which may have been illogical in your eyes, be lifted up by the lives of these hall-of-famers of the faith (see Hebrews 11 - linked for your study), all of whom had to be hurt to become useful to God.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I understand it; … I hate it, but I understand it! And even though it may be painful, do what You must so that I can be used for Your glory. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 2 - 6 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” … 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Sometimes we see what is happening in our lives – our circumstances – and the old “WHY” question bubbles up. However, if we truly believe the truth of Romans 8: 28 [and I really hope you have that one memorized], we may often have to be overcoming the urge to ask, “What’s with this deal, Lord?” God’s ways are just baffling at times; but they are HIS ways, and we need to be ready to accept them and grow in the circumstances, rather than dive into a hole of self-pity. Rather than asking “Why?” in the midst of our pain, we need to be asking “WHAT, Lord, do You want me to learn from this so that I can serve You more effectively?”
As Swindoll points out in his devotional entry for today, it might have been logical, by human ways of doing things, to leave Elijah there in Ahab’s court, confronting and making life miserable for the ungodly king. But no, God sends Elijah off into some cloistered setting to be tested and prepared by God for some unknown future duties for God’s glory. Apparently Elijah needed some in-service training in humility and patience. And oh do I identify with that! It’s so easy to fall into the trap and ask God, “Lord, why do I need to hurt the way I am; … can’t we just get to what You need for me to do without the pain?”
And Swindoll quotes the famous Christian writer, A.W. Tozer, who once said, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” And to this Swindoll adds his own words of wisdom, writing, “… the deeper the hurt, the greater the usefulness.” And I certainly agree with these wise thinkers … though I guess I’d still rather be the exception to that rule. … ;>)
However, earlier in the year, we examined the lives of Moses and King David; and both of them had to go through a season of pain and suffering to learn that sin has great and deeply painful consequences in life; and due to this humility training, as well as God’s training in patience, these men were used mightily by God and most certainly for God’s glory.
So, my dear friend, if you are going through or have gone through some painful circumstances, which may have been illogical in your eyes, be lifted up by the lives of these hall-of-famers of the faith (see Hebrews 11 - linked for your study), all of whom had to be hurt to become useful to God.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I understand it; … I hate it, but I understand it! And even though it may be painful, do what You must so that I can be used for Your glory. Amen
Saturday, May 30, 2009
2009 – Day 149.May 30 – Cut Down To Size
2009 – Day 149.May 30 – Cut Down To Size
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 2 - 6 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Chuck Swindoll, from his experience in Marine boot camp in his years past, has an interesting take on this short passage in 1st Kings about Elijah after his confrontation with Ahab. Elijah is taken away into the wilderness; and his willingness to surrender to His Lord is tested. Swindoll likens this to his own former time in boot camp where the Marines did exactly what was needed to insure that the younger Swindoll would be cut down to size and reshaped into the soldier he needed to be to face his future in military service.
As Swindoll relates, the Marines used “… the isolation of the location, the absence of all creature comforts, the relentless, monotonous drills and demanding repetition of inspections, [and] … the constant harassment of the drill instructor;“ … all designed to reshape the naïve and untrained recruits into soldiers who could meet any type of warfare, knowing that they could follow their commanders into battle. And according to Swindoll, that’s essentially what we’re reading in today’s passage where God used solitude and surrender to focus His man, Elijah, and to prepare him for the battles he would face ahead.
What has God put you through in life to prepare you for the battles we must face in spiritual warfare? Do you have a “battle plan” which has been forged out of the boot camp of life? Are you focused in faith and ready to follow your Commander in Chief, the Lord Jesus, just as He has commanded of His disciples (see Luke 9: 23 - a verse you should have burned into your life from the boot camp of scripture memorization). You know, that verse says we, as Christ’s soldiers, must deny ourselves, take up the crosses of life daily, and follow our Lord anywhere He leads. Have you been reshaped into the surrendered soldier in God’s army who is willing – AND ABLE – to do just that?
If not, my friend, you need a drill instructor (i.e., a mentor) who can take you through a boot camp of Spirit-led preparation, reshaping you into a hardened and ready warrior. I lead a ministry called BattlePlan Ministries [link provided to website]; and that’s part of the training we try to impart to men who have been in bondage to habitual and selfish sinful living. We try to get them to become self-disciplined warriors who are surrendered to God and willing to follow the lead of their Commander, Christ, anywhere He would lead them.
And when the bootcamp of life has reshaped them, they are self-surrendered soldiers who have been armed for battle with God’s full armor (see Eph. 6: 13-18 - linked). They know how to carry a well sharpened and practiced Sword of the Spirit; and they know how to take the high ground of prayer in the daily battles they will face.
Are you ready for battle today? Do you have a well formulated and written battle plan? Are you wearing God’s full armor? Do you carry a sharpened and practiced Sword of the Spirit? And are you disciplined to go to the high ground of prayer every day, preparing for the battle’s you will face TODAY?
If you are not, you are naked and vulnerable to your spiritual enemies. I pray that God is preparing you and reshaping you, as He did Elijah, for the battles you are going to face.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You have prepared me for battle; and I choose to follow only You. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 2 - 6 … 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
My Journal for Today: Chuck Swindoll, from his experience in Marine boot camp in his years past, has an interesting take on this short passage in 1st Kings about Elijah after his confrontation with Ahab. Elijah is taken away into the wilderness; and his willingness to surrender to His Lord is tested. Swindoll likens this to his own former time in boot camp where the Marines did exactly what was needed to insure that the younger Swindoll would be cut down to size and reshaped into the soldier he needed to be to face his future in military service.
As Swindoll relates, the Marines used “… the isolation of the location, the absence of all creature comforts, the relentless, monotonous drills and demanding repetition of inspections, [and] … the constant harassment of the drill instructor;“ … all designed to reshape the naïve and untrained recruits into soldiers who could meet any type of warfare, knowing that they could follow their commanders into battle. And according to Swindoll, that’s essentially what we’re reading in today’s passage where God used solitude and surrender to focus His man, Elijah, and to prepare him for the battles he would face ahead.
What has God put you through in life to prepare you for the battles we must face in spiritual warfare? Do you have a “battle plan” which has been forged out of the boot camp of life? Are you focused in faith and ready to follow your Commander in Chief, the Lord Jesus, just as He has commanded of His disciples (see Luke 9: 23 - a verse you should have burned into your life from the boot camp of scripture memorization). You know, that verse says we, as Christ’s soldiers, must deny ourselves, take up the crosses of life daily, and follow our Lord anywhere He leads. Have you been reshaped into the surrendered soldier in God’s army who is willing – AND ABLE – to do just that?
If not, my friend, you need a drill instructor (i.e., a mentor) who can take you through a boot camp of Spirit-led preparation, reshaping you into a hardened and ready warrior. I lead a ministry called BattlePlan Ministries [link provided to website]; and that’s part of the training we try to impart to men who have been in bondage to habitual and selfish sinful living. We try to get them to become self-disciplined warriors who are surrendered to God and willing to follow the lead of their Commander, Christ, anywhere He would lead them.
And when the bootcamp of life has reshaped them, they are self-surrendered soldiers who have been armed for battle with God’s full armor (see Eph. 6: 13-18 - linked). They know how to carry a well sharpened and practiced Sword of the Spirit; and they know how to take the high ground of prayer in the daily battles they will face.
Are you ready for battle today? Do you have a well formulated and written battle plan? Are you wearing God’s full armor? Do you carry a sharpened and practiced Sword of the Spirit? And are you disciplined to go to the high ground of prayer every day, preparing for the battle’s you will face TODAY?
If you are not, you are naked and vulnerable to your spiritual enemies. I pray that God is preparing you and reshaping you, as He did Elijah, for the battles you are going to face.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You have prepared me for battle; and I choose to follow only You. Amen
Friday, May 29, 2009
2009 – Day 148.May 29 – God’s Word Is Final
2009 – Day 148.May 29 – God’s Word Is Final
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 1 … 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Once again we’re back to the introduction of this man, … this Prophet, … Elijah; and in the focus verse for today, we read a very important phrase. It is found at the end of 1st Kings 17: 1; and it concerns God’s word, from Elijah to Ahab and God’s chosen people, that there was to be a drought which would last a number of years; and as Gods’ decree was spoken, God promised that the drought would not end until the end was decreed by God, “… except at my word.”
This is God speaking through Elijah; but though Swindoll doesn’t mention it, the decree of the drought’s end would not only come from the word of God but it would also not end until it came from the mouth of Elijah. Verse 17: 1 ends with this phrase “… except at my word;” and you’ll note that the pronoun “my” is not capitalized. It’s interesting to me; and I believe, that God was giving Elijah the leverage that God’s promise on the end of the drought would come - from God – though the mouth and prophesy of Elijah. So, if Ahab were to kill Elijah, I believe the drought would likely never have ended.
And that’s just how exacting and directing God’s will can be at times. God certainly provides His word and His promises from His word, … the Bible. But there are times when He will give His direction through gifted prophets, leaders, teachers, preachers and/or anointed messengers. This can make it a bit challenging at times to discern God’s will or His promise; because it takes Spirit-led listening to decipher God’s will when it comes from sources other than the Bible. But be assured, when God speaks on a given topic or directive, His word and/or His promises will come to pass. God doesn’t lie, which is also a clear promise of God in Numbers 23: 19, which states … God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? So, when Elijah spoke on behalf of God about the drought, you could bank on the results. There was going to be a drought!
As, Swindoll puts it, ”God keeps His promises. Agree with it or not, His word is final. He never forgets anything He promises. That’s right, … never!” And what that should do for us is the same that it was for Elijah. We should seek out and then be willing to declare, God’s promises.
Now, I know that His promises or His will for the lives of Christians or His Church can be obscure at times; but most certainly we should know and believe and declare that any promise which comes from His written word, the Bible, is a “done deal.” So, my fellow seeker, again, we need to be Elijahs for this world. When we know the truth, we need to be willing to declare it to the world … boldly and even loudly if necessary.
Do you have any doubts about God’s #1 promise is found in the Gospel … that Christ died for our sins and that He is the ONLY way, the truth, and the life. So, if we know that is God’s promise, what are we going to do today to be Elijah, declaring that promise to a dark and perverse world? If you stand convicted, as do I, by that prospect, let me pray for us both.
My Prayer for Today: Help me, and all my Christian brothers and sisters, to boldly declare the promise of Your salvation in and through YOU, dear Lord. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 1 … 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Once again we’re back to the introduction of this man, … this Prophet, … Elijah; and in the focus verse for today, we read a very important phrase. It is found at the end of 1st Kings 17: 1; and it concerns God’s word, from Elijah to Ahab and God’s chosen people, that there was to be a drought which would last a number of years; and as Gods’ decree was spoken, God promised that the drought would not end until the end was decreed by God, “… except at my word.”
This is God speaking through Elijah; but though Swindoll doesn’t mention it, the decree of the drought’s end would not only come from the word of God but it would also not end until it came from the mouth of Elijah. Verse 17: 1 ends with this phrase “… except at my word;” and you’ll note that the pronoun “my” is not capitalized. It’s interesting to me; and I believe, that God was giving Elijah the leverage that God’s promise on the end of the drought would come - from God – though the mouth and prophesy of Elijah. So, if Ahab were to kill Elijah, I believe the drought would likely never have ended.
And that’s just how exacting and directing God’s will can be at times. God certainly provides His word and His promises from His word, … the Bible. But there are times when He will give His direction through gifted prophets, leaders, teachers, preachers and/or anointed messengers. This can make it a bit challenging at times to discern God’s will or His promise; because it takes Spirit-led listening to decipher God’s will when it comes from sources other than the Bible. But be assured, when God speaks on a given topic or directive, His word and/or His promises will come to pass. God doesn’t lie, which is also a clear promise of God in Numbers 23: 19, which states … God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? So, when Elijah spoke on behalf of God about the drought, you could bank on the results. There was going to be a drought!
As, Swindoll puts it, ”God keeps His promises. Agree with it or not, His word is final. He never forgets anything He promises. That’s right, … never!” And what that should do for us is the same that it was for Elijah. We should seek out and then be willing to declare, God’s promises.
Now, I know that His promises or His will for the lives of Christians or His Church can be obscure at times; but most certainly we should know and believe and declare that any promise which comes from His written word, the Bible, is a “done deal.” So, my fellow seeker, again, we need to be Elijahs for this world. When we know the truth, we need to be willing to declare it to the world … boldly and even loudly if necessary.
Do you have any doubts about God’s #1 promise is found in the Gospel … that Christ died for our sins and that He is the ONLY way, the truth, and the life. So, if we know that is God’s promise, what are we going to do today to be Elijah, declaring that promise to a dark and perverse world? If you stand convicted, as do I, by that prospect, let me pray for us both.
My Prayer for Today: Help me, and all my Christian brothers and sisters, to boldly declare the promise of Your salvation in and through YOU, dear Lord. Amen
Thursday, May 28, 2009
2009 – Day 147.May 28 – A Unique Spokesperson
2009 – Day 147.May 28 – A Unique Spokesperson
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Yes, same passage again; and today Chuck Swindoll drills home a very important point with this same scenario. His point … no one is insignificant when he (or she) is standing or working for God’s glory. And it is often the case that God’s chosen servants are not what the world would recognize as “THE” right man or woman for the job. The Apostle Paul even made the same point in 1st Cor. 1: 26 – 29 [linked here for your reference ] .
And you may be God’s chosen one for a very important ministry which honors God; and you may not even recognize your importance or even what you do as being God’s chosen one for ministry. For example, many wives and mothers or dads and husbands are devalued by the world; but your ministry as a spouse to one and as a parent to your kids could well change the world. It’s not too difficult to find great men or women of history who attribute who they’ve become to the loving and faithful “ministry” of parents who stood in the gap to model Godly living in their family. And the opposite is true as well. Many of the monsters of this world came from broken homes where the parenting was either unGodly or non-existent. So, the point, … if you’re a spouse or a parent, see it as a chosen ministry which glorifies God by your standing in the gap for everything God represents.
God could have chosen a mighty army to destroy the wickedness in the world perpetrated by Ahab and Jezebel. He did just that when you read the book of Habakkuk. But in this instance, God called only one man, and Elijah was not exactly the picture of charisma or strength. He was an older man from a nowhere town, and he was the one who was going to change the course of history by simply being God’s messenger to an evil world.
Do you see evil around you? Yeah, I know … “DUH!” Well, my friend, you are an Elijah; and you are called to stand in the gap for truth and for God’s way of living. If you’re a parent, everything you can do to raise your kids to resist drugs or pornography is being an Elijah standing for God. When you write a letter or call your governmental representatives to vote in a Godly way, you are an Elijah standing for God. When you serve your spouse in a way that mirrors how Christ served His Bride, you are an Elijah.
So, never see yourself as “a nobody,” who has no purpose. You are an “Elijah,” and when you stand for God in any way in this world or culture, you are God’s messenger for these times just as the Prophet was for his. Today … let’s go be Elijah. Let’s go change the world!
My Prayer for Today: Today, Lord, I will stand for You. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Yes, same passage again; and today Chuck Swindoll drills home a very important point with this same scenario. His point … no one is insignificant when he (or she) is standing or working for God’s glory. And it is often the case that God’s chosen servants are not what the world would recognize as “THE” right man or woman for the job. The Apostle Paul even made the same point in 1st Cor. 1: 26 – 29 [linked here for your reference ] .
And you may be God’s chosen one for a very important ministry which honors God; and you may not even recognize your importance or even what you do as being God’s chosen one for ministry. For example, many wives and mothers or dads and husbands are devalued by the world; but your ministry as a spouse to one and as a parent to your kids could well change the world. It’s not too difficult to find great men or women of history who attribute who they’ve become to the loving and faithful “ministry” of parents who stood in the gap to model Godly living in their family. And the opposite is true as well. Many of the monsters of this world came from broken homes where the parenting was either unGodly or non-existent. So, the point, … if you’re a spouse or a parent, see it as a chosen ministry which glorifies God by your standing in the gap for everything God represents.
God could have chosen a mighty army to destroy the wickedness in the world perpetrated by Ahab and Jezebel. He did just that when you read the book of Habakkuk. But in this instance, God called only one man, and Elijah was not exactly the picture of charisma or strength. He was an older man from a nowhere town, and he was the one who was going to change the course of history by simply being God’s messenger to an evil world.
Do you see evil around you? Yeah, I know … “DUH!” Well, my friend, you are an Elijah; and you are called to stand in the gap for truth and for God’s way of living. If you’re a parent, everything you can do to raise your kids to resist drugs or pornography is being an Elijah standing for God. When you write a letter or call your governmental representatives to vote in a Godly way, you are an Elijah standing for God. When you serve your spouse in a way that mirrors how Christ served His Bride, you are an Elijah.
So, never see yourself as “a nobody,” who has no purpose. You are an “Elijah,” and when you stand for God in any way in this world or culture, you are God’s messenger for these times just as the Prophet was for his. Today … let’s go be Elijah. Let’s go change the world!
My Prayer for Today: Today, Lord, I will stand for You. Amen
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
2009 – Day 146.May 27 – Special People For Special Times
2009 – Day 146.May 27 – Special People For Special Times
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Yes, if you were with me yesterday, you’re probably saying, “That’s the same Bible passage.” And it is; … because Swindoll is trying to drive home the point that our culture needs many Elijahs; and Pastor Chuck asks some pretty tough questions in his devotional message for today, … not the least of which is whether we would feel comfortable being in the court of Ahab.
In other words, if you were living in the times of Ahab and Jezebel, would you merge right into the anti-Godly culture where you worshipped idols and followed Ahab; or would you be willing to come behind or stand along side a man whose name and words declared openly, “The Lord is my God!”
Swindoll says it in truth; and I’ll just quote him to make the point that … "In our culture – our schools, our offices and factories, our lunchrooms and boardrooms, our ivy halls and our halls of justice – we need men and women of God, including young people of God. We need respected professionals, athletes, homemakers, teachers, public figures, and private citizens who will promote the things of God, who will stand alone, stand tall, stand firm, and stand strong!”
That’s why it’s so refreshing when you see entertainment or athletic winners, like Hollywood stars or professional athletes, who will take the opportunity when a commentator puts a microphone in their face to openly witness their faith or praise God so that all can hear them standing in the gap for their faith. These stand up Christians are, unfortunately, not as numerous in the public eye as those who support idolatrous causes like abortion or same-sex marriage. However, now and again you might hear an “Elijah” in our culture who will stand up and give testimony to their stand for God.
As I read Swindoll’s devotional today, I know where I stand; and I know that God does raise up special people for special times; and my friends, THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES! These are the times of Ahab revisited. The question becomes are we God’s special people to stand in the gap for God’s truth and grace. And if you are saying, “I don’t think I’m one of those people,” you can take heart from many in the Bible who didn’t think they were the special ones God could choose for His special tasks.
Think about the reluctance of a Moses, who balked when God even showed him a burning bush. Think of a young Gideon, who was hiding in fear in a wine barrel when God came to him and called him a “man of valor.” And yes, even Elijah, at one time later in his life doubted God’s choosing him when he sat beneath a broom tree and prayed to have God take his life. We’ll likely be looking at that episode later in our study of Elijah; but if you feel God calling you to stand up in the culture and take a stand for God’s truth, remember this truth - GOD’S CALLING IS HIS ENABLEMENT! God will never call you to take a stand unless He gives you the enabling grace to carry out that task. That is the lesson Joshua had to learn in Joshua 1: 1 – 9 [linked]; and he was willing to move forward toward God’s promised land even when it was scary to do so. We can too; but we’ve got to be willing to take up God’s banner and carry it for Christ in our culture.
And so, when we have any opportunity to stand for truth over injustice, … for Godliness in the face of sinfulness, … or for forgiveness in the face of anger and hatred, let’s be an Elijah and let’s lend our voices to stand against the Ahabs of this world.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I repeat my prayer from yesterday … “raise up the Elijah in me … that I may be willing and able to stand for You, … no matter what! “ Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Yes, if you were with me yesterday, you’re probably saying, “That’s the same Bible passage.” And it is; … because Swindoll is trying to drive home the point that our culture needs many Elijahs; and Pastor Chuck asks some pretty tough questions in his devotional message for today, … not the least of which is whether we would feel comfortable being in the court of Ahab.
In other words, if you were living in the times of Ahab and Jezebel, would you merge right into the anti-Godly culture where you worshipped idols and followed Ahab; or would you be willing to come behind or stand along side a man whose name and words declared openly, “The Lord is my God!”
Swindoll says it in truth; and I’ll just quote him to make the point that … "In our culture – our schools, our offices and factories, our lunchrooms and boardrooms, our ivy halls and our halls of justice – we need men and women of God, including young people of God. We need respected professionals, athletes, homemakers, teachers, public figures, and private citizens who will promote the things of God, who will stand alone, stand tall, stand firm, and stand strong!”
That’s why it’s so refreshing when you see entertainment or athletic winners, like Hollywood stars or professional athletes, who will take the opportunity when a commentator puts a microphone in their face to openly witness their faith or praise God so that all can hear them standing in the gap for their faith. These stand up Christians are, unfortunately, not as numerous in the public eye as those who support idolatrous causes like abortion or same-sex marriage. However, now and again you might hear an “Elijah” in our culture who will stand up and give testimony to their stand for God.
As I read Swindoll’s devotional today, I know where I stand; and I know that God does raise up special people for special times; and my friends, THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES! These are the times of Ahab revisited. The question becomes are we God’s special people to stand in the gap for God’s truth and grace. And if you are saying, “I don’t think I’m one of those people,” you can take heart from many in the Bible who didn’t think they were the special ones God could choose for His special tasks.
Think about the reluctance of a Moses, who balked when God even showed him a burning bush. Think of a young Gideon, who was hiding in fear in a wine barrel when God came to him and called him a “man of valor.” And yes, even Elijah, at one time later in his life doubted God’s choosing him when he sat beneath a broom tree and prayed to have God take his life. We’ll likely be looking at that episode later in our study of Elijah; but if you feel God calling you to stand up in the culture and take a stand for God’s truth, remember this truth - GOD’S CALLING IS HIS ENABLEMENT! God will never call you to take a stand unless He gives you the enabling grace to carry out that task. That is the lesson Joshua had to learn in Joshua 1: 1 – 9 [linked]; and he was willing to move forward toward God’s promised land even when it was scary to do so. We can too; but we’ve got to be willing to take up God’s banner and carry it for Christ in our culture.
And so, when we have any opportunity to stand for truth over injustice, … for Godliness in the face of sinfulness, … or for forgiveness in the face of anger and hatred, let’s be an Elijah and let’s lend our voices to stand against the Ahabs of this world.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I repeat my prayer from yesterday … “raise up the Elijah in me … that I may be willing and able to stand for You, … no matter what! “ Amen
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
2009 – Day 145.May 26 – Elijah - Alone in the Gap
Transition Note: Elijah: A Man of Heroism and Humility is our new study, again using Chuck Swindoll's devotional book, Great Days with the Great Lives as my devotional guide. I pray we all can grow closer to God and become more like our Lord in this study.
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2009 – Day 145.May 26 – Alone in the Gap
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Here was the scene. It was a day when the gap between God being Lord of all in Israel had widened to its greatest extent. Ahab and Jezebel ruled the Northern tribes of Israel; and Baal was their little-g “god.” The one true God, Jehovah, had faded in the minds and hearts of God’s “chosen” people, and somewhat quietly, but significantly, we are introduced, in Verse 17: 1 of our study passage today, to “Elijah,” who came from a small town, called Tishbe, likely located about 20 miles south of the Sea of Galilee, which was in the area controlled by Ahab.
Then Chuck Swindoll introduces his devotional readers and yours truly to the significance of Elijah’s name, which, in Hebrew, is a composite of the word “El,” which is a short of “Elohim” or the Hebrew word for “God” and “jah,” which is a short for “Jehovah,” or “The Lord” in Hebrew. These two words are separated by the Hebrew letter “I,” which refers to “my” or “mine.” So, when we put this all together we see that Elijah’s name declares, “my God is Jehovah,” or “The Lord is my God,” which would have been a very brash declaration in a country where worship of the god Baal was required.
It’s not difficult to see some parallels between the times in which Elijah stepped on the scene in Israel and today’s world. Today we live in a world permeated by false “gods;” and the concepts of “God” or “Christ” are becoming more and more hostile to the culture as time goes by. And so, anyone who stands in the gap declaring that “The Lord is my God” stands out as being in opposition to the running tide of our world. Elijah was just such a man in his day.
Swindoll points out that it doesn’t take too much interpretation to see that our Lord, God, … the same God as the one, true God who had chosen those people in Israel in Elijah’s day, desires to have men and women of God who’re willing to stand alone – if need be – to declare “The Lord and Savior, Jesus, is my God!” Elijah, just by his very name, was just such a man in his day, and Swindoll goes immediately to illustrate this by a few modern day “Elijahs,” who stood in the gap for God at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, a few years ago. Here were a few students who, where challenged as to their faith, were gunned down because they were willing to say, “Yes, I’m a Christian.” And their courage became loud witnesses in our times for someone who was willing to stand in the gap for God.
Elijah was such a man; and so I look forward to a concentrated study into the life of one who would stand up for God in a world which was hostile to our Lord.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, raise up the Elijah in me … that I may be willing and able to stand for You, … no matter what! Amen
===================
2009 – Day 145.May 26 – Alone in the Gap
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 16: 29 – 17: 1 … 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. … 34 In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
1 Kings 17 : 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
My Journal for Today: Here was the scene. It was a day when the gap between God being Lord of all in Israel had widened to its greatest extent. Ahab and Jezebel ruled the Northern tribes of Israel; and Baal was their little-g “god.” The one true God, Jehovah, had faded in the minds and hearts of God’s “chosen” people, and somewhat quietly, but significantly, we are introduced, in Verse 17: 1 of our study passage today, to “Elijah,” who came from a small town, called Tishbe, likely located about 20 miles south of the Sea of Galilee, which was in the area controlled by Ahab.
Then Chuck Swindoll introduces his devotional readers and yours truly to the significance of Elijah’s name, which, in Hebrew, is a composite of the word “El,” which is a short of “Elohim” or the Hebrew word for “God” and “jah,” which is a short for “Jehovah,” or “The Lord” in Hebrew. These two words are separated by the Hebrew letter “I,” which refers to “my” or “mine.” So, when we put this all together we see that Elijah’s name declares, “my God is Jehovah,” or “The Lord is my God,” which would have been a very brash declaration in a country where worship of the god Baal was required.
It’s not difficult to see some parallels between the times in which Elijah stepped on the scene in Israel and today’s world. Today we live in a world permeated by false “gods;” and the concepts of “God” or “Christ” are becoming more and more hostile to the culture as time goes by. And so, anyone who stands in the gap declaring that “The Lord is my God” stands out as being in opposition to the running tide of our world. Elijah was just such a man in his day.
Swindoll points out that it doesn’t take too much interpretation to see that our Lord, God, … the same God as the one, true God who had chosen those people in Israel in Elijah’s day, desires to have men and women of God who’re willing to stand alone – if need be – to declare “The Lord and Savior, Jesus, is my God!” Elijah, just by his very name, was just such a man in his day, and Swindoll goes immediately to illustrate this by a few modern day “Elijahs,” who stood in the gap for God at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, a few years ago. Here were a few students who, where challenged as to their faith, were gunned down because they were willing to say, “Yes, I’m a Christian.” And their courage became loud witnesses in our times for someone who was willing to stand in the gap for God.
Elijah was such a man; and so I look forward to a concentrated study into the life of one who would stand up for God in a world which was hostile to our Lord.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, raise up the Elijah in me … that I may be willing and able to stand for You, … no matter what! Amen
Monday, May 25, 2009
2009 – Day 144.May 25 – A Legacy
2009 – Day 144.May 25 – A Legacy
Passage of the Day: 1st Chronicles 29: 10 – 13 … Link for entire Chapter 29 for passage study in context ...
My Journal for Today: Well, today we close out our study in the life of David; and we read of the close of his life and the legacy he passed on to his people, … God’s chosen ones. And to punctuate his life, our focus passage today is a prayer, which emphasizes praise, which was probably David’s greatest legacy, … that he would humbly and openly praise His God and the people’s Lord in spite of all the foibles and failures in his life; and we have definitely written about those in these past few weeks.
David’s life has taught all believers a number of lessons about life, those lessons becoming our legacy by letting God’s word, which has chronicled David’s life, teach us how we should or should not live. As Chuck Swindoll puts it in his devotional for today:
”What lessons can we learn from such a man? We learn hope, in spite of his humanity. We learn courage, even in the midst of his own fear. We learn encouragement and praise in the songs that grew out of his hours of despair. We learn forgiveness in his dark moments of sin. And we learn the value of serving the purpose of God in our own generation, even though all our dreams may not be fulfilled.”
And I join Swindoll to thank God for inspiring and teaching us from the life of this shepherd boy warrior turned failing king, who ultimately showed the world the power and value which comes from humility and surrender to God. From David’s life, as Swindoll also writes, we can declare, ”… thank You, Father, for using us though we are weak, forgiving us when we fail, and loving us through all the Sauls and Goliaths and Jonathans and Abigails and Bathshebas and Absaloms and Joabs and Solomons of our lives. Thank you for showing us that we can be people like David … people of passion and destiny.”
And to that I would humbly add that I thank God for sharing David’s life with us so that we can realize that we, in spite of all of our foibles, faults, and failures, can become PEOPLE AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART!
My Prayer for Today: Thank You, Lord, for the life lessons You have imparted into the life of any believer who might see them from David’s pursuit of Your heart. Amen
And a Post Script of devotion: Tomorrow we move on to another life study into the a man Swindoll refers to as … Elijah, A Man of Heroism and Humility
Passage of the Day: 1st Chronicles 29: 10 – 13 … Link for entire Chapter 29 for passage study in context ...
My Journal for Today: Well, today we close out our study in the life of David; and we read of the close of his life and the legacy he passed on to his people, … God’s chosen ones. And to punctuate his life, our focus passage today is a prayer, which emphasizes praise, which was probably David’s greatest legacy, … that he would humbly and openly praise His God and the people’s Lord in spite of all the foibles and failures in his life; and we have definitely written about those in these past few weeks.
David’s life has taught all believers a number of lessons about life, those lessons becoming our legacy by letting God’s word, which has chronicled David’s life, teach us how we should or should not live. As Chuck Swindoll puts it in his devotional for today:
”What lessons can we learn from such a man? We learn hope, in spite of his humanity. We learn courage, even in the midst of his own fear. We learn encouragement and praise in the songs that grew out of his hours of despair. We learn forgiveness in his dark moments of sin. And we learn the value of serving the purpose of God in our own generation, even though all our dreams may not be fulfilled.”
And I join Swindoll to thank God for inspiring and teaching us from the life of this shepherd boy warrior turned failing king, who ultimately showed the world the power and value which comes from humility and surrender to God. From David’s life, as Swindoll also writes, we can declare, ”… thank You, Father, for using us though we are weak, forgiving us when we fail, and loving us through all the Sauls and Goliaths and Jonathans and Abigails and Bathshebas and Absaloms and Joabs and Solomons of our lives. Thank you for showing us that we can be people like David … people of passion and destiny.”
And to that I would humbly add that I thank God for sharing David’s life with us so that we can realize that we, in spite of all of our foibles, faults, and failures, can become PEOPLE AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART!
My Prayer for Today: Thank You, Lord, for the life lessons You have imparted into the life of any believer who might see them from David’s pursuit of Your heart. Amen
And a Post Script of devotion: Tomorrow we move on to another life study into the a man Swindoll refers to as … Elijah, A Man of Heroism and Humility
Sunday, May 24, 2009
2009 – Day 143.May 24 – The Best I Can
2009 – Day 143.May 24 – The Best I Can
Passage of the Day: 1St Chronicles 28: 1 – 11 … Passage linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Today’s passage is a great illustration of a dedicated servant of the Lord who could have expressed regrets and wallowed in self pity, but rather chose to acknowledge God for what he was allowed to do in his life and praise His Lord for what God will do through others to see His kingdom glorified. And I totally identify with David in this scenario as he passes the mantle of God’s will on to his son Solomon.
Perhaps you’ve lived with a big dream which, at this stage in your life, you realize God has put on hold for someone else to accomplish. Perhaps you’ve had to endure some personal challenge in life; and you realize that only in heaven will you be free of some thorn or handicap. Perhaps God had said “No” to your dream of romance or marriage; and you will only find fulfillment in your eternal relationship with our Savior now or in Glory. And you must, as did David in today’s passage, move onward without realizing the fulfillment of your dream.
I’m there, my dear one. For years I’ve dreamed of seeing big numbers of Christians walk out of the self-induced prisons of habitual sexual sin and into the freedom they can find by surrendering to follow Christ. And in my later days, I’ve come to recognize that God has entrusted me with a much smaller effort in this regard than I would have liked to see for His glory so that someone else, one day, can be blessed to see great numbers walk free in Christ. Battle Plan Ministries [website link provided], the calling which God has ordained me to lead, has been blessed to lead many, mostly men of God, to become more Godly Christians and to find the freedom path which can only come by following Christ (see Luke 9: 23, which, by now, I hope you have memorized). And I have yet to identify, as David did, a successor who could lead big numbers of Christians to freedom and to move away from self imposed prisons of sin.
But I praise God that He has allowed me, as He did David, to acknowledge and confess my own sin; and to sing praise to my God in my lifetime for finding and taking the path of honesty and vulnerability so that I might show others that God way is the only way to follow in this life and on into the next. And I praise God that He has allowed me to build the plans for God’s dream, as did David, where others can see what lies ahead for God’s glory. And I praise God that, as David did, I’ve been given the charge to pass this dream on to someone else, one who can move God’s kingdom plan and will to another level.
And if such a place is where you are in life, I pray that you can praise God and revel in what you’ve been allowed to do and what lies ahead for the glory of God. … David did; and so can we.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank you for allowing me to see Your dream and to get it started. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1St Chronicles 28: 1 – 11 … Passage linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Today’s passage is a great illustration of a dedicated servant of the Lord who could have expressed regrets and wallowed in self pity, but rather chose to acknowledge God for what he was allowed to do in his life and praise His Lord for what God will do through others to see His kingdom glorified. And I totally identify with David in this scenario as he passes the mantle of God’s will on to his son Solomon.
Perhaps you’ve lived with a big dream which, at this stage in your life, you realize God has put on hold for someone else to accomplish. Perhaps you’ve had to endure some personal challenge in life; and you realize that only in heaven will you be free of some thorn or handicap. Perhaps God had said “No” to your dream of romance or marriage; and you will only find fulfillment in your eternal relationship with our Savior now or in Glory. And you must, as did David in today’s passage, move onward without realizing the fulfillment of your dream.
I’m there, my dear one. For years I’ve dreamed of seeing big numbers of Christians walk out of the self-induced prisons of habitual sexual sin and into the freedom they can find by surrendering to follow Christ. And in my later days, I’ve come to recognize that God has entrusted me with a much smaller effort in this regard than I would have liked to see for His glory so that someone else, one day, can be blessed to see great numbers walk free in Christ. Battle Plan Ministries [website link provided], the calling which God has ordained me to lead, has been blessed to lead many, mostly men of God, to become more Godly Christians and to find the freedom path which can only come by following Christ (see Luke 9: 23, which, by now, I hope you have memorized). And I have yet to identify, as David did, a successor who could lead big numbers of Christians to freedom and to move away from self imposed prisons of sin.
But I praise God that He has allowed me, as He did David, to acknowledge and confess my own sin; and to sing praise to my God in my lifetime for finding and taking the path of honesty and vulnerability so that I might show others that God way is the only way to follow in this life and on into the next. And I praise God that He has allowed me to build the plans for God’s dream, as did David, where others can see what lies ahead for God’s glory. And I praise God that, as David did, I’ve been given the charge to pass this dream on to someone else, one who can move God’s kingdom plan and will to another level.
And if such a place is where you are in life, I pray that you can praise God and revel in what you’ve been allowed to do and what lies ahead for the glory of God. … David did; and so can we.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank you for allowing me to see Your dream and to get it started. Amen
Saturday, May 23, 2009
2009 – Day 142.May 23 – Penetrating the Darkness
2009 – Day 142.May 23 – Penetrating the Darkness
Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 22: 1 – 31 or Psalm 18: 1 – 30 …
Link to 2nd Sam. 22 for study …
Also link to parallel version in Psalm 18 …
My Journal for Today: After reading these parallel versions of the same song from David, focus on Verse 29 of 2nd Sam. 22 or Verse 28 or Psalm 18, which truthfully sings …
28 For You will light my lamp;
The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Now, Swindoll asks some pertinent questions, which I condense into one: “Ever been into some tough times when things seemed very dark?” Of course, you have; … we all have! Well, the bottom line becomes, “Is God your light in the dark times?” He obviously was for David; and the King of Israel captured his feelings about this in the poignant Psalm we read from two versions today, a song which we should remember to give us insight and encouragement when things seem so very dark.
I really love the story Swindoll tells in today’s devotional to illustrate the truth of verse 29 from 2nd Sam. 22. He relates his boyhood days, when his dad showed him how to gig flounder at night in shallow waters, by using a small lamp to light the way. He relates that the flounder would come into the shallows to feed on shrimp; and using the small lamp his dad used just gave enough light to see about one step forward and to reveal the flounder.
This story is doubly telling as a word picture; because there are times when we “flounder” in the darkness; and we need a light to move forward. And the light of God is very often just revealing enough to see one step at a time; but when we seek it, God’s light of truth is there to light the way. I think about this truth also with regard to following God’s word, which we know from Psalm 119: 105 is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
We need to always remember the truth from these songs when things seem threatening and dark. If we’re willing to humble ourselves to seek God’s light, He will provide it, usually through His word, allowing us to see ahead just far enough to take the next step. Below I pray a prayer that I pray almost every day and very often when things are dark in my life.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, shine Your light brightly on my path so I can’t help but see it to follow You. Amen
Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 22: 1 – 31 or Psalm 18: 1 – 30 …
Link to 2nd Sam. 22 for study …
Also link to parallel version in Psalm 18 …
My Journal for Today: After reading these parallel versions of the same song from David, focus on Verse 29 of 2nd Sam. 22 or Verse 28 or Psalm 18, which truthfully sings …
28 For You will light my lamp;
The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Now, Swindoll asks some pertinent questions, which I condense into one: “Ever been into some tough times when things seemed very dark?” Of course, you have; … we all have! Well, the bottom line becomes, “Is God your light in the dark times?” He obviously was for David; and the King of Israel captured his feelings about this in the poignant Psalm we read from two versions today, a song which we should remember to give us insight and encouragement when things seem so very dark.
I really love the story Swindoll tells in today’s devotional to illustrate the truth of verse 29 from 2nd Sam. 22. He relates his boyhood days, when his dad showed him how to gig flounder at night in shallow waters, by using a small lamp to light the way. He relates that the flounder would come into the shallows to feed on shrimp; and using the small lamp his dad used just gave enough light to see about one step forward and to reveal the flounder.
This story is doubly telling as a word picture; because there are times when we “flounder” in the darkness; and we need a light to move forward. And the light of God is very often just revealing enough to see one step at a time; but when we seek it, God’s light of truth is there to light the way. I think about this truth also with regard to following God’s word, which we know from Psalm 119: 105 is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
We need to always remember the truth from these songs when things seem threatening and dark. If we’re willing to humble ourselves to seek God’s light, He will provide it, usually through His word, allowing us to see ahead just far enough to take the next step. Below I pray a prayer that I pray almost every day and very often when things are dark in my life.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, shine Your light brightly on my path so I can’t help but see it to follow You. Amen
Friday, May 22, 2009
2009 – Day 141.May 22 – Downward Steps of Sin
2009 – Day 141.May 22 – Downward Steps of Sin
Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 13: 1 – 30 and 2nd Samuel 18: 24 – 33 … 2nd Samuel 13 and 18 linked for your study …
2nd Samuel 13 –
2nd Samuel 18 -
My Journal for Today: I hope you’ve digested the scriptures passages from today’s lesson, because the truth contained in this biblical scenario holds a somber reality for followers of God. And if I may summarize the bottom line with an exhortation, these passages teach us that we cannot compromise God’s precepts and principles with selfish desires. As Swindoll points out at the end of his entry for today, “God is not mocked;” and our author/teacher points out that we cannot go through life picking and choosing righteousness or sin. To compromise and choose sin will always lead to a downward spiral of circumstances, which may become overwhelming in our lives. As we read today, that was David’s plight; and prayerfully we’re learning proactive lessons from David’s life.
As David languished in the death of his sons, one at the hand of the other and the other at the hands of David’s own soldiers, it’s not difficult to imagine how David would have liked to rewind the tape of his life, desiring that he should have been off doing battle with his mighty men the night he decided to stay home and to walk over and take a peek at Bathsheba over that balcony. Or having taken the peek, we can imagine that David would have wished he had confessed his lust before God right there on the spot, repented, and left his home to go back to the battle fields.
BUT, … neither righteous course was his choice. No, David chose to act on selfish lust and then to cover his sin and then to take the life of a comrade and then to deny his own sinfulness by trying to forget it all. But God was not mocked; and David, even after confessing and repenting of his sin, paid the price for his past laziness, his pride, and his arrogance before God. And now we read where it got him.
Oh, I’ve been there and done that in my life; and it is true that we have a loving and merciful God Who can choose to forgive when we humbly repent of our sin; but do not expect that our sin will be free of any consequences. God truly will not be mocked; and THERE WILL BE consequences for sin. Therefore, I quote Swindoll’s recommendations for any who might be convicted of their sinfulness in reading this devotional entry. Swindoll writes …
>>> “Turn your life over to Him [i.e., God]. Broken and bruised, twisted and confused, just lay it out before Him. Ask Him to give you the grace and strength to face the consequences realistically and straight on.”
And then I would add, … we must honestly and forthrightly confess everything to God; and pray for His mercy from the truth of 1st John 1: 9 [linked], so that, even though there will be consequences for our sin, we can at least face them, knowing that we are cleaned and covered by the blood of The Lamb of God.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, my Lord, You have covered me, forgiven me, and cleansed me by Your blood. Oh, praise Your Holy Name !! Amen
Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 13: 1 – 30 and 2nd Samuel 18: 24 – 33 … 2nd Samuel 13 and 18 linked for your study …
2nd Samuel 13 –
2nd Samuel 18 -
My Journal for Today: I hope you’ve digested the scriptures passages from today’s lesson, because the truth contained in this biblical scenario holds a somber reality for followers of God. And if I may summarize the bottom line with an exhortation, these passages teach us that we cannot compromise God’s precepts and principles with selfish desires. As Swindoll points out at the end of his entry for today, “God is not mocked;” and our author/teacher points out that we cannot go through life picking and choosing righteousness or sin. To compromise and choose sin will always lead to a downward spiral of circumstances, which may become overwhelming in our lives. As we read today, that was David’s plight; and prayerfully we’re learning proactive lessons from David’s life.
As David languished in the death of his sons, one at the hand of the other and the other at the hands of David’s own soldiers, it’s not difficult to imagine how David would have liked to rewind the tape of his life, desiring that he should have been off doing battle with his mighty men the night he decided to stay home and to walk over and take a peek at Bathsheba over that balcony. Or having taken the peek, we can imagine that David would have wished he had confessed his lust before God right there on the spot, repented, and left his home to go back to the battle fields.
BUT, … neither righteous course was his choice. No, David chose to act on selfish lust and then to cover his sin and then to take the life of a comrade and then to deny his own sinfulness by trying to forget it all. But God was not mocked; and David, even after confessing and repenting of his sin, paid the price for his past laziness, his pride, and his arrogance before God. And now we read where it got him.
Oh, I’ve been there and done that in my life; and it is true that we have a loving and merciful God Who can choose to forgive when we humbly repent of our sin; but do not expect that our sin will be free of any consequences. God truly will not be mocked; and THERE WILL BE consequences for sin. Therefore, I quote Swindoll’s recommendations for any who might be convicted of their sinfulness in reading this devotional entry. Swindoll writes …
>>> “Turn your life over to Him [i.e., God]. Broken and bruised, twisted and confused, just lay it out before Him. Ask Him to give you the grace and strength to face the consequences realistically and straight on.”
And then I would add, … we must honestly and forthrightly confess everything to God; and pray for His mercy from the truth of 1st John 1: 9 [linked], so that, even though there will be consequences for our sin, we can at least face them, knowing that we are cleaned and covered by the blood of The Lamb of God.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, my Lord, You have covered me, forgiven me, and cleansed me by Your blood. Oh, praise Your Holy Name !! Amen
Thursday, May 21, 2009
2009 – Day 140.May 21 – A Sheltering Tree
2009 – Day 140.May 21 – A Sheltering Tree
Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 15: 1 - 18 … Link to passage for study …
My Journal for Today: Once again in David’s life in today’s passage, we read that he has to flee from those who had expressed love to him. In the past it had been Saul before David became king. Now, in our passage today, David is King of Israel; and he must flee his own son, Absalom, who had grown strong and was plotting to take over the kingdom. Strategically, David had to retreat from the “city of David,” Jerusalem.
And, as Swindoll points out, it had to be uplifting that a number of David’s men stood with him, providing the cover of their loyalty and standing with their King. Swindoll points to the poet Samuel Coleridge who likened friendship to a “sheltering tree.” And the point of this study is that we all need strong trees to cover us when the heat goes up or a tree to lean on when the wind blows.
And our devotional author, Chuck Swindoll, asks if his readers have at least one strong tree to provide shelter and support when the sun bears down or the storms of life come our way. David had his brothers in arms, … friends who would die for him and stand with him – no matter what. Do you have such friends? I know that I am blessed to have more than one band of brothers, as David did, whom I believe would stand over me, with me, and around me – no matter what! And as David felt, I’m sure, having friends like this is often the strength which will carry one through when things get hot or when the winds of the times blow hard.
I hope that any who read here have a grove of trees, or at least one such strong tree, which [or “who”] will be there to cover you when the heat of life beats down or to provide support when the storms of life blow. As I’ve said so often over the years, “Lone Ranger” Christianity just doesn’t cut it in this life. Christians need to stand together, needing and providing mutual support when things get hot or stormy. Swindoll encourages his readers from the devotional for this day to have or find a tree, or preferably more than one, which will be there in the tough times of life to supply shelter and support. With such “trees” in life, the heat is bearable and the support is so welcome. But without such shelter/support, life is going to be very difficult to bear.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for the support I have in life. Amen
Passage of the Day: 2nd Samuel 15: 1 - 18 … Link to passage for study …
My Journal for Today: Once again in David’s life in today’s passage, we read that he has to flee from those who had expressed love to him. In the past it had been Saul before David became king. Now, in our passage today, David is King of Israel; and he must flee his own son, Absalom, who had grown strong and was plotting to take over the kingdom. Strategically, David had to retreat from the “city of David,” Jerusalem.
And, as Swindoll points out, it had to be uplifting that a number of David’s men stood with him, providing the cover of their loyalty and standing with their King. Swindoll points to the poet Samuel Coleridge who likened friendship to a “sheltering tree.” And the point of this study is that we all need strong trees to cover us when the heat goes up or a tree to lean on when the wind blows.
And our devotional author, Chuck Swindoll, asks if his readers have at least one strong tree to provide shelter and support when the sun bears down or the storms of life come our way. David had his brothers in arms, … friends who would die for him and stand with him – no matter what. Do you have such friends? I know that I am blessed to have more than one band of brothers, as David did, whom I believe would stand over me, with me, and around me – no matter what! And as David felt, I’m sure, having friends like this is often the strength which will carry one through when things get hot or when the winds of the times blow hard.
I hope that any who read here have a grove of trees, or at least one such strong tree, which [or “who”] will be there to cover you when the heat of life beats down or to provide support when the storms of life blow. As I’ve said so often over the years, “Lone Ranger” Christianity just doesn’t cut it in this life. Christians need to stand together, needing and providing mutual support when things get hot or stormy. Swindoll encourages his readers from the devotional for this day to have or find a tree, or preferably more than one, which will be there in the tough times of life to supply shelter and support. With such “trees” in life, the heat is bearable and the support is so welcome. But without such shelter/support, life is going to be very difficult to bear.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for the support I have in life. Amen
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