Archive for Devotional

A Study in Failure, Part 2

2013-11-07 A Study in Failure, Devotional No comments

God had called me to start my own specialized publishing company, growing out of our involvement in evangelism at our local church. We were to focus on reaching people who wouldn’t walk into a Christian bookstore and buy and read a book. (See “A Study in Failure, Part 1”.)

How do you get Christian materials into the hands of people who aren’t looking for them? One way is to provide such materials to Christ’s followers and partner with them in reaching the people they know. That’s the approach I felt led to take.

I wanted to provide more than a tract. If I were a non-believer, I wouldn’t be interested in catchy come-ons or scare tactics. Tracts are doubtless very effective with some, but I felt they wouldn’t work with me. I wanted to provide something more thought-provoking, something interesting and reasonable that would engage the mind.

So after much thought and prayer, Gloria and I came up with an idea for pocket-size books. Their trim size would be 3” X 4.5”, small enough to fit in a man’s shirt-pocket or a lady’s purse. Each book would be 64 pages—long enough to provide information and reasoning, but short enough to be easily and quickly read. We worked with an artist friend of mine, Paul Franitza, who gave them very attractive, full-color covers.

We priced them for quantity sale. We offered them in lots of 12, 40, and 100, with the price dropping to $1.00 per book for the 100-packs. Our plan was to market them to pastors, chaplains, and missionaries, as well as to interested individuals.

As I explained earlier, I am not an entrepreneur by nature. So having firmed up our idea, I approached my employer, a Christian publisher. I thought perhaps they might be interested in working with me on these books. I got a meeting with the president of the company, explained what I had in mind, and gave him everything in writing. Weeks of waiting turned into six months, and still no response whatsoever, despite reminders. Finally, I saw the handwriting on the wall and wrote him again, this time pulling the proposal off the table. In the end, however, they did agree to handle order fulfillment for us, and at a reasonable cost. They proved to be a real God-send in that area.

We needed a company name, and I was extremely conscious about finding one that would speak to non-believers picking up the books. I was determined to avoid anything like “Bible Thumpers International”. So we decided to use the name of the second series of mailers we had written for our local church evangelism program. “Living the Natural Way” thus became the name of the company. In daily usage, it was often shorted to “LNW”, which is the reason the book line eventually took the name “LNWbooks” and later, our hymns were published under “LNWhymns.com”.

To clarify the overall intent of our materials, we started using this phrase beneath the company name: “Innovative Resources for Drawing People to Christ”.

God had faithfully led us through the planning stages—concept, product, incorporation, order fulfillment, phone lines, pricing, and more. But the battle was just beginning.

continued on Wednesday

A Study in Failure, Part 1

2013-11-05 A Study in Failure, Devotional No comments

A few months ago I told the story of how God called my wife and me to involvement in our local church evangelism program. (See What Could You Do If Nothing Else Mattered? [scroll down] and What Could You Do if Nothing Else Mattered? cont.) I wrote monthly mailers as part of Neighbor to Neighbor, an effort to draw our church’s neighborhood to Christ.

As that program wound down, the Lord began speaking to me about continuing to draw people to Him. My training, gifts, and God-given interests are in writing and publishing. Yes, I want to stay available to God in all areas, and He does sometimes lead me into unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory. I thank Him for that. Life in God is an adventure, and I don’t want to fearfully draw borders around where I’ll follow Him. But I do find that the bulk of the work He leads me to do is in areas where He has called and prepared me. For me, that means writing and publishing.

So at this point, He had me thinking about how I could write and publish materials to draw people to Him. I thank God for Christian publishers and all the suppliers, distributors, and stores who work with them. I’ve spent my life in this field. But I also know that Christian bookstores effectively reach only a tiny part of the population. Over time, it became clear that God was calling me to provide materials for people who wouldn’t walk into a Christian bookstore and buy and read a book. He was calling me to start my own specialized publishing venture.

I am not an entrepreneur by nature! Some people are energized by the process of starting and building their own companies. Not me! Give me a steady job and a predictable routine.

What’s more, I know that publishing is a hectic business. Wow, do I know that! I’ve spent my life in a publishing office. You’re constantly loaded with more work than you can possibly handle. And by the time you have one success, you’re already late for the next one. Publishing programs are voraciously hungry and must be fed more often than a newborn. The pressure is relentless.

Add to that the demands of starting a new business, and I just didn’t see how I could possibly do it. What’s more, I had gone through a serious burnout less than ten years before. If you’ve ever had that experience, you know that once is enough. I simply couldn’t make myself face all that stress and overload again. I couldn’t! It’s like lying down in a blazing fire. You just can’t force yourself to do it.

I told the Lord that He had the wrong person. I told Him that I wanted to obey Him, but I just didn’t see how I could possibly start my own publishing company.

Then came one of those times of communication from the Lord that were crystal clear. Usually He guides me by strong impressions on my heart and mind. I’ve never heard His voice audibly, but on a few occasions He’s clearly spoken specific words in my heart.

This is what He said: “Do what I tell you to do one day at a time, and leave everything else to Me.” I’ve tried to live by that wisdom ever since.

 continued on Friday

Christ Draws Us

2013-10-31 Devotional No comments

“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.” (Revelation 21:6-7, NRSV) 

We pursue so many desires in our lives,
but Jesus Christ is
the beginning and the end,
the first and the last,
the source and the goal of all life.
Our entire selves are
from Him,
through Him, and
to Him.

This is the direction all of life, all history, all creation is moving—
to Him.

One day the reality of all Jesus is and all He has done
will sweep all creation up into
one mighty response of praise,
full heart and full voice,
forever and ever!
Even then, His greatness will far overshadow our small response.
For eternity His overwhelming magnificence will draw us into
lives of ever increasing worship and love.

Interruptions

2013-10-29 Creative Process, Devotional No comments

As I read the gospels, it seems that most of Jesus’ miracles, most of His teaching opportunities, most of His chances to display His Father’s words and works, arrived as interruptions. As He went about His day, He encountered people–all kinds of people: hungry people, sick people, seeking people, devious people, desperate people. People were His priority. And let’s face it: people are the main source of interruptions. Deal with people, dare to respond to people, and you’ll have interruptions.

We resent interruptions because they intrude on our agenda. Jesus had no agenda but the Father’s. Thus He didn’t resent interruptions because He received them as from His Father. He welcomed them as opportunities to express God’s grace and truth in the lives of needy people. He dove into such opportunities with all His heart and soul.

We flinch at interruptions because they are unexpected and unsought. They blind-side us and drag us where we’re not prepared to go. Jesus was completely and comfortably dependent on His Father, so He was never threatened by the unexpected.

I deeply desire God’s moment-by-moment leading. He is teaching me that such leading inevitably involves what I have called “interruptions”. His wisdom, His leadership, His opportunities for service are often unexpected and unsought. They are intrusions on my well-planned agenda. Of course, there are times when the agenda is from Him and the interruption is not. I can’t and shouldn’t chase every rabbit, and I’ll need His discernment to tell them apart. But very often, interruptions only threaten my agenda, not His.

Over my years of serving the Lord, I’ve noticed two things about interruptions:

1. As a writer, many of my most meaningful pieces arrived as interruptions. While I was intently working on something else, He gifted me with something better.

2. When He interrupts my carefully-planned schedule, nothing is ever lost. Nothing. God never fights against His own work. I have no reason to be afraid and protective. He often surprises me with increased productivity, and all His work gets done in a natural, unhurried, creatively-satisfying way.

Join with me in learning to be more flexible, more trusting, more responsive to God’s leading. As older writers put it, be as responsive to the Spirit as a feather on a breeze. No matter what type of work we do, as Christians, people are our priority, and people bring interruptions. But God’s interruptions are always opportunities. Welcome them! After all, for blind and ignorant creatures like us, such interruptions are inherent in the privilege of serving the transcendent God. His thoughts and ways are far above are own.

He wants to make your life more fruitful in unexpected ways. Are you willing to let Him?

A Living, Present Being

2013-10-24 Devotional, Prayer 2 comments

One of the first things we’re taught as children in Sunday School is that God is everywhere, He is always with us. I remember that thought being impressed on me by the song, “O be careful, little eyes, what you see…” But the feeling I got was, “Big Brother is watching you!” It made me afraid of God and uneasy, even when I wasn’t doing something sneaky.

Then as we get a little older, we’re hit with the unwieldy term omnipresent. But that’s what my son would call a “back-of-the-dictionary word.” I don’t remember it ever making God seem near or dear.

And as adults, most of us profess that God is everywhere, but we generally think and live as if He is not. Our attitudes clearly state what our mouths will not admit—that God is either not really here, or if He is, it is in some vague, impersonal sense. Rarely do our hearts perceive Him, and just as rarely do we personally interact with Him, or react to Him. When we react, it is usually to “the rules” rather than to Him.

Sometimes we try to recreate His image in our minds, piecing together memorized words and vague memories. But the result is unreal and fades quickly.

But over the years, God has begun to patiently impress on me that He is a real being, who is immediately and personally and constantly with me. The very breath I breathe is His life-force. His Spirit lives and speaks and works within me. Incredibly, I spend every moment of my existence enfolded in His presence and His care.

This growing awareness has brought with it some intriguing and exciting questions:

How would my thoughts, feelings, and actions change if my heart were always fully aware of His presence?

How would that affect my attitude toward sin? How would I react to Him when I do sin if I realized He is present, still loving me, longing to immediately restore our relationship?

How would I be affected in times of trouble, fatigue, or confusion if I realized I don’t have to find God or even reach out to Him—that He is already with me, and I only have to look to Him?

As a matter of fact, how would it affect my prayer life? Can I imagine the simplicity of opening my heart to One who is as close as my breath, who takes pleasure in hearing from me?

How much more flavor and spice would it add to this life, and how much would it sharpen my anticipation of the next life?

You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11, NIV)

How would our hearts and our lives change if we simply realized what is already true—that our loving God is personally, presently, unfailingly with us?

God Himself Is Our Inheritance

2013-10-22 Devotional No comments

I’ve been reading recently in Deuteronomy. What a wonderful book! Israel had been in the wilderness for 40 years. About to enter the promised land, Moses was reminding them of what God had done for them and what He expected of them.

One of the recurring themes I noticed was God’s treatment of the Levites. As one of the twelve tribes of Israel, God set them aside to serve Him in a particular way. As one called to full-time service, I couldn’t help but identify with them.

God gave them specific duties. They were to take charge of the tabernacle and its furnishings, caring for it, setting it up, and tearing it down. No small task! They were also given other responsibilities, such as assisting the priests, teaching God’s law to the people, and acting as local judges.

I was particularly struck by several aspects of God’s relationship with the Levites. As a servant of God, do you identify with any of these points?

1. The other eleven tribes each received an area of land within Canaan to call their own—land that was to remain theirs forever. The Levites were given no land. The Lord repeatedly told them that He Himself was their inheritance (Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:8-9; 18:1-2; Joshua 13:33).

2. God brought the Levites near to Himself. That nearness, which was inherent in their work, was part of their privilege and reward (Numbers 16:9-10).

3. One of the duties of the Levites was to bless God’s people in His name. What a wonderful privilege! (Deuteronomy 10:8-9; 21:5)

4. God placed His servants, the Levites, at the very heart of His people. When they camped in the wilderness, the Levites were right in the middle of the camp, with the other tribes distributed around them (Numbers 1:47-54; 2:17). When they settled in the promised land, each of the other eleven tribes allocated certain cities for the Levites, so that the Levites were intentionally scattered among God’s people (Numbers 35:1-9).

5. Levites were also scattered among the various towns throughout the country, and the local people were to make charitable provision for them, just as they did for the widows, orphans, and aliens among them. Because the Levites had no land inheritance of their own, they were dependent on the charity of God’s people (Deuteronomy 12:12, 18-19; 14:27-29; 16:11, 14; 26:11-12).

God’s servants, the Levites, were privileged to bring God to the people and the people to God. They spoke God’s blessing on the people and taught the people about God and His ways. But as part of their calling, they were dependent on God more constantly and completely than His other people, and God made them dependent on the piety and generosity of His people.

Their inheritance was not houses or land or riches, but a special relationship with God Himself. God considered their service to Him, their close relationship with Him, and even their dependence on Him to be a profound privilege.

Reflect on all this. Does it help you understand how God treats you as His servant?

Called Aside

2013-10-17 Devotional, Prayer No comments

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters.
(Psalm 23:2, NIV)

Jesus, I feel You calling me aside this morning.

Sometimes I sense You calling me in stressful times,
inviting me to seek and find rest in Your presence.

But sometimes, like this morning,
when I have done my normal devotional practice,
I feel You calling me aside further.
You prompt me to put away other good things and
spend more time with You.
You invite me to experience closer fellowship with You.

Jesus, I come to You now with joy.
Thank You for wanting me,
for enjoying me,
for desiring to bless me and be close to me, and
for wanting me to be close to You.
I come, Lord.

Broaden Your Appreciation

2013-10-10 Devotional No comments

I had been in church music publishing for years and had learned to appreciate a wide variety of styles and songs. But there were some songs I just didn’t respect, to the point that I hesitated to include them in publications. For example, I read the words to Mosie Lister’s “Where No One Stands Alone” and the Gaithers’ “There’s Something About That Name” and found nothing substantial. Yes, there was emotion, but what were the songs saying? All I saw was sentimental drivel.

Then one day I realized that when I examined a song in that way, I was only experiencing half of it.  I wasn’t hearing the praise that arises from the hearts of believers for whom these songs are poignant expressions of faith. I wasn’t hearing the genuine worship these songs release when sung from a heart of worship. In the mouths of many God-fearing, Bible-believing brothers and sisters in Christ, these simple, sentimental words become powerful expressions of faith and praise to the Living God.

“Where No One Stands Alone” becomes a profound and moving statement of our loneliness without God and our deep, inexpressible hunger for Him. (It also helps to know that the song was inspired by Psalm 51.)

“There’s Something About That Name” verbalizes that indefinable attraction we feel for the man Jesus Christ.

A song is just marks on a paper or a sequence of sounds until some believer brings it to life and lifts it as an offering to God. Then it becomes a prayer or praise. Only part of it can be read on paper or heard on a recording. God often uses very humble means to speak to people and do His work. He often chooses lowly expressions of childlike faith to glorify Himself. Almighty God continues to confound the wise and to break out of whatever boxes we put Him in.

As a young person starting in music publishing, I was very negative about southern gospel music. I watched its performers. I was annoyed that so many of its songs harped on a very few emotional themes, like heaven. They made the whole style seem shallow and artificial. But working with gospel songwriter Mosie Lister, I began to appreciate southern gospel as true folk music. Its strength was its simplicity and natural exuberance. I learned to look beyond the seeming shallowness of some of its practitioners and see its tremendous potential for ministry.

On the other hand, some evangelicals hear more liturgical styles and write them off as cold, boring, and emotionless. What they don’t realize is that these believers want to hear God and exalt Him just as much as evangelicals. But they seek truth that is deeper than emotion. They long for thoughtfulness in worship. They want to taste the mystery of God. For many, quietness brings God nearer than does wild emotion.

As a hymn-lover and hymn-leader, beware of pride and narrow-mindedness, no matter what your educational level or musical style. Remember, God calls all His servants to minister with humility and compassion, to be people-centered and people-sensitive in all they do. Like Paul, we must be willing to be all things to all people so that we might reach as many as possible with the love of Jesus Christ, which crosses every boundary.

Bound over to Mercy

2013-10-03 Devotional, Prayer No comments

God has bound all men to disobedience
so that he may have mercy on them all.
(Romans 11:32, NIV)

How painful to have loved ones lost in spiritual darkness. It’s frustrating to watch them pursue misdirected desires that will only disappoint and destroy them.

But reflect back on your own spiritual journey. You can likely sum it up as your floundering and God’s faithfulness. God planted a tiny seed of faith in you, then tenderly nurtured it. What amazing fruit is growing from that little seed!

God is so very patient. The growth process takes years, but He never seems frustrated or in a rush. Since this is the kind of God we have, continue to lift your loved ones to Him. Hold on to that bright hope. He is faithful, patient, and rich in mercy from generation to generation.

Ask Anything in My Name

2013-09-26 Devotional, Prayer No comments

“I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:23-24, NIV)

During Jesus’ final time with His disciples before His crucifixion, He talked to them about their ministry after His departure (John 13 – 17). Four different times (John 14:13-14; 15:7; 15:16; 16:23-24) He said,

Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
(John 15:16, NIV)

These verses are intriguing because they sound like a blank check. Rub the lamp and make three wishes. But we seem to assume that either our faith isn’t strong enough, or that the “fine print” makes these verses of little practical significance to us. In any case, we don’t take Jesus’ offer seriously.

Recently, however, I looked into the context here to understand what He was so anxious to tell us.

1. He emphasized that we were to ask in His name; that is, within His will, and only for His purposes (14:13; 15:16; 16:23-24).

2. He repeatedly said that the reason our prayers would be answered is that the Father might be glorified (14:13; 15:8) and that we might bear fruit to Him (15:16).

3. Jesus makes it clear that we will share His own direct relationship with the Father (16:23-24, 26-27). As we live in His Spirit, depending on the Father, willing only what He wills, we can ask boldly and largely on behalf of His work.

In this light, these “ask anything” verses are not an option or an invitation to self-indulgence. They are a challenge to ministry.

Think of the ministry God has given you. Are your desires focused enough on Him that You truly want only what He wants, and only for His glory?

If so, is your faith aggressive enough to believe He can do more than you can do on your own? Do you limit your service to levels in which you can operate comfortably in your own strength? Or do you let Him lead you into tasks where you have to depend on Him?

As you follow Christ and serve Him, you’ll come up against needs that are bigger than you. At that point, you’ll either take His words on prayer seriously, or the job won’t get done. “Ask anything in my name” is His call to meet each of those challenges with simple, assured prayer.

Does Jesus repeatedly point you to an area of service or obedience? Perhaps you’ve tried to avoid it as being unrealistic or beyond you. But He gently, persistently brings it back to your mind. Face it with Him, step by step, prayer by prayer. You’ll be surprised at how He can work through you.

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