Archive for Devotional

Stewardship

2014-09-30 Devotional No comments

A while back I came across this interesting observation: before the year 1800, no product, no message, no idea could travel faster than a horse. Think about that for a moment. Geographic separation was an impenetrable barrier to quick communication. For we who enjoy instant communication with nearly anyone in the world, such a severe limitation is almost unimaginable. Cell phones, email, internet, jet planes – geographic separation is no longer an insoluble problem. But this has been reality for only a few seconds of our race’s history.

Consider what it was like for business owners in biblical times. Unless the owner lived within daily travel distance of his business – a handful of miles either by foot or by animal — he had to have someone on site to run his business for him. Travel and communication were too slow to allow the owner to have any say in the daily decisions. Absentee owners were common. They had to rely on a manager, a steward, someone they trusted completely to run their business as they wanted it run. The steward made all daily decisions on behalf of the owner. He was to best use the owner’s resources for the owner’s good.

That is the biblical concept of stewardship. God, the source of all that is, has entrusted some small portion of His property to us, His stewards. We are to manage His property as He would manage it.

For that reason, we must know God personally, thoroughly, intimately. How can we manage His property as He would manage it unless we know what is important to Him?

No business owner wants his or her precious resources wasted, and God is no different. But if you think penny-pinching and financial profit are the ultimate in biblical stewardship, you don’t know your Boss. He created all the physical universe with a word, out of nothing. He simply expressed His will, and the universe appeared.

Such a Being never runs short of resources. He has no need for more money. He could create such things with a word. If He needed them, He wouldn’t have to tell us.

So what is important to God? As His stewards, managing His resources as He wants them managed, we need to know.

More next time.

Can We Reasonably Trust the Bible?

2014-09-18 Devotional, Reading & Study No comments

Can we trust everything the Bible says?
Does it contain any errors?
Can a book that is so thoroughly human in its origins reasonably claim to be completely and timelessly accurate?
We claim that it is inspired by God, but does that make it any more accurate than all the other writings that God has, in some sense, inspired?

Without pretending to give complete answers to these questions, let me share these thoughts.

First, I find it meaningful to look to Jesus Christ. John 1 refers to Him as the Word – that is, the Word of God. He also was fully human in every way, yet fully divine. His thoughts, His words, and His life were uniquely, beautifully, flawlessly true.

If we affirm that the Bible is the Word of God, we find confidence that it also can be uniquely, beautifully, flawlessly true. Just as He was one perfect, human-but-divine life among many righteous-but-flawed lives, so we can reasonably believe that the Bible is one perfectly inspired, human-but-divine book among many inspired-but-flawed books.

The perfection of the Bible is thus driven by the same energy that drove the life of Christ: God’s loving desire to be fully known by His people.

We also must take seriously what the Bible says repeatedly about itself, or at least portions of itself:

  • Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB). 
  • All Scripture is inspired [margin: God-breathed] (2 Timothy 3:16, NASB).
  • The law of the Lord is perfect…sure…right…pure…clean…true (Psalm 19:7-9, NASB).
  • The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times (Psalm 12:6, NASB).

I trust the Bible because:

  • Both history and experience have proven it to be completely reliable.
  • Its perfect truthfulness is in keeping with the perfect truthfulness of the life of Christ.
  • Both the written Word of God and the living Word of God flow from the God of perfect wisdom, power, and love who longs to be fully known and understood by His people.

I trust the written record God has given us because I trust Him.

I Am a Levite

2014-09-04 Devotional No comments

I have spent my life primarily ministering to the Church. In spite of some work in evangelism, I’ve mainly served in church music, Bible teaching, and devotional writing. Often I’ve suppressed a feeling that I’ve shamefully avoided God’s “real work” of reaching the world for Christ, and instead have contented myself with an easier, less-valuable ministry to those already believers.

But God recently brought a few scriptural truths across my path that helped me root out these misguided feelings of inferiority.

God is enabling me to fulfill a life-long goal of learning to read Biblical Hebrew. I recently finished reading the entire Pentateuch in Hebrew. I read Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, then came back to Leviticus and Numbers. What a joy! Difficult at times, but O so rewarding!

In Numbers 3 and 4, I was struck by how God set aside the entire tribe of Levi to help Aaron and his sons take care of the tabernacle. Israel was in a barren wilderness with so many needs and struggles, yet God devoted one full tribe out of twelve simply to service the tabernacle. What’s more, God arranged the Israelite encampment so that the Levites were right in the center, at the heart of His people and the best protected from any attack.

At the same time that my Old Testament reading was the above passage from Numbers, my New Testament reading was from Ephesians 4. There I was reminded that Christ distributed a diversity of spiritual gifts in order to strengthen the overall unity of the Church.

He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13, NASB)

Christ in His wisdom appointed some in the church to devote themselves primarily to ministering to believers. Their work would play just as vital a role as any other toward Christ’s timeless purpose of building His Body and beautifying His Bride.

Evangelism is critically important, but so is nurturing the minds and hearts of God’s people. Thank You, Lord, for honoring each of us with a unique place in Your service! Whatever our ministry might be, help us to do it joyfully, with our heart, soul, mind, and strength!

Good to All

2014-09-02 Devotional No comments

The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
(Psalm 145:9, NIV)

When someone else is “lucky,” I sometimes feel a little jealous.
It’s not a storm of jealousy…just a whisper.

But God has many children, and
He is lavish with them all.
They are my brothers and sisters,
dearly loved by the One I love.
Because they are dear to Him,
they are dear to me.

I see my Lord in them.
I love Him in them.
I serve Him in them.

There is no place for jealousy.

Lord, let praise always be my reaction to Your goodness.

Father,
I will rejoice in all our blessings,
even when they fall on the next person,
not on me.

God, My Brother

2014-08-26 Devotional No comments

Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers…He too shared in their humanity…He had to be made like his brothers in every way.
(Hebrews 2:11, 14, 17, NIV)

We tend to think of God as being radically different from us, living in another realm. And in a sense, that’s true.

But I’m startled to realize I can relate to God as a fellow human being. My emotions, my weaknesses, the drives I struggle to understand and control—he has lived through them all, day by day, just as I am doing. He doesn’t understand humans in a detached sense. He is one. He knows exactly how we feel.

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18, NIV)

Before I confide in someone, I want to be sure that person can understand what I’m experiencing. I need to know he or she will be sympathetic. Otherwise I won’t make myself vulnerable. When I’m hurting and ashamed, the last thing I want is a critical attitude staring back at me.

But I can be perfectly open with Jesus. He is my Brother, and I know He understands. I can be honest about all my personal problems, knowing that His only attitude toward me is love—always, only love.

More than that, He helps. Whenever I have looked to Him and trusted Him in times of temptation, He has always given me just the strength I need for that moment. And when I need guidance, He gladly gives it, Person to person.

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV)

We can always come to Him with confidence. Do you realize how wonderful that is? No matter how small the dilemma, if you care, He cares. If you face a temptation you’d be ashamed to share with anyone, you can be open with Him and know He will understand and guide you through it.

And if you’ve sinned and are struggling with the guilt, you can still come to Him with confidence. Hard to believe, but true. If you’ll trust Him, His forgiveness is immediate and completely free.

His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
(Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV)

He has broken down all the walls between Him and you—the walls of human weakness, of time and space, of all your sins and your guilt. You can look into His face, bringing your temptations and your failures, knowing He is mercy and strength and unbroken love.

Praise to You, Lord!

God Is Working

2014-08-19 Devotional No comments

Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:57-58, NIV)

I’ve done my share of public speaking, but it’s never gotten easy.

On one occasion, I was to speak during a seminary chapel. The service opened with scripture, then hymn singing: “O Worship the King,” “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”; more scripture, then “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” The hymns were strong, exploding with truth and praise. The people were singing from the very depths of their souls, as with one heart.

There I stood in the midst of such worship, worrying about my little part. But as the room was lifted in exaltation, the Lord whispered to me: “I did this, and I am doing this. Are you willing to be flexible in Me? Will you relax and trust Me right now?”

I felt rebuked, comforted, and challenged, all at the same time. It’s easy to get fearfully wrapped up in our own little worlds, blind to anything beyond our own abilities and immediate concerns. But every now and then God taps us on the shoulder and says, “Look up!” He is moving powerfully around us and above us, far beyond the level of our own effort or consciousness. He only asks us to relax in Him and move with His Spirit.

In every ministry, in every life, there are ups and downs, long waits and long-awaited victories, times of rest and times of incredible pressure. But never be distracted from simply trusting Him. If you’re following the Lord, He wants you to know that everything is just fine with you. You are in His hands, and He does all things well.

In fact, right now you are caught up in the working of His Spirit, though you probably don’t realize it.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV)

God Answers Prayer

2014-07-29 Devotional 2 comments

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:5-7, NIV).

Many years ago I started writing out my prayers. After I read the Bible, I write a prayer in response to what I’ve read. It’s a practice I highly recommend!

One day I read back through some of those prayers. To my amazement, I saw a recurring pattern: I would pray about a need, often in desperation, and a short time later, that need was provided. I prayed; God answered. But by the time the answer came, I was already concentrating on another concern. Thus I sometimes didn’t recognize the answer when it came. And I completely missed the pattern until I looked back.

I rediscovered what I was taught as a tiny child in Sunday School: God answers prayer. When I trust Him enough to bring Him my concerns, He responds. But as James says,

You do not have, because you do not ask God (James 4:2, NIV).

Read once again Philippians 4:5-7 above. I’ve found that these straightforward verses are beautifully true and abound with practical teaching about prayer.

The Lord is near (Philippians 4:5, NIV).

Remember, we are never out of God’s presence. Thus we can pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), turning to Him anytime, anywhere, as to a Friend right next to us. Prayer can be our constant and natural response to need, or to blessing, or to just realizing that God is with us.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6, NIV).

I’m weary of the “worry cycle” in my life: small problems arise (often the same ones over and over); they start to gnaw at me; then, little by little, they consume my thoughts, chewing up my energy, my joy, and my peace. To fight this cycle, the Lord has led me to vow:

1.       I will present my concerns and needs to Him immediately before they start eating at me. I will bring them to Him every time they come to mind.

2.       Right then I will thank and praise God for the answer He will bring in His own wisdom and time, even though I cannot yet perceive it.

Note that this matches the Scripture’s teaching. Try it. You’ll be surprised how comforting it is to face God person-to-person and trust Him with each concern.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7, NIV).

The result is one of the warmest and most practical gifts possible: God’s peace. This peace is so deep, so all-encompassing that we cannot even imagine it enough to ask for it. And this peace will guard our hearts and minds, keeping them in Christ Jesus.

This is a wonderful way to live. But it only happens as we simply and consistently bring our concerns to our Father, the One who is always with us, waiting to help us.

Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you
(Psalm 55:22, NIV).

Fruits of Repentance

2014-07-15 Devotional No comments

Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2, NIV)

Throughout our Christian walk, Christ calls us out of destructive life-styles and toward Himself. For many of us, responding to His call involves throwing off hurtful habits that have entangled us. While some seem instantaneously delivered from these habits, others must follow a process that can be frustrating and discouraging.

If you struggle with such a habit or with some recurring sin, this passage may prove helpful:

When the crowds came to John to be baptized, he demanded that they “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8, NIV). Seekers from a variety of backgrounds wanted to know what this repentance demanded of them. They asked, “What should we do then?” (Luke 3:10, NIV).

John answered by spelling out specific life changes that each group needed to make. Those with plenty were to share with the needy. Tax collectors were to collect only the taxes the law required. Soldiers were told not to extort money, not to make false accusations, and to be content with their pay.

For all of us, repentance is more than words, no matter how sincerely spoken. It is more than good intentions, no matter how pure and noble. If repentance is real, it will be accompanied by changes in the way we live, changes that act out our desire to turn away from sin forever. When our prayer is “lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13, NIV), we will do all we can to avoid that temptation.

If sin is a problem in your life, and if you deeply long to break your cycle of failure, why not get in line with the sinners, soldiers, and tax collectors? Ask God with a sincere and open heart, “What fruits of repentance would You have me produce, Lord? What changes would You have me make to break my sinful patterns?”

Listen, and I believe you’ll get an answer tailored to your need. The Savior will not ignore a seeking heart, and His wisdom is extremely practical. He may ask you to consciously avoid certain situations or to establish more positive habits. He may want you to make yourself accountable to a trusted Christian friend.

Whatever His response to you, write it down and begin obeying Him. Remember, you live in His presence every moment. Trust Him one step at a time, and He Himself will lead and enable and bless you.

Frontiers of Prayer

2014-07-08 Devotional No comments

For years I held a “this is all there is” view of Christian living. I assumed, though not consciously, that the spiritual blessings I enjoyed were more-or-less all that existed. I was saved enough to get to heaven. What else was available? What else was necessary? The horizons of my Christian life were near and narrow. Its frontiers were rather tame, and all the best blessings were someday and far away.

I had accepted complacency for peace, indifference for true satisfaction.

But some years ago God began to show me again the man Jesus, teaching me that Jesus was all that He was because He simply, completely trusted His Father. Realizing this, I began to see in Him the possibilities of abundant life here and now. The new creation I had experienced in Christ at salvation was only the dawn, only the first glow of an eternal lifetime of wonders.

My soul began to respond to the Creator’s breath like a tiny seed wakens to soil and sun. As I peeked through the surface, I saw the garden, the blossoms, the graceful trees. I caught a glimpse of how great the miracle of redemption was, and could be, and would be in me.

Though still a small seedling, I realized the limitations of my spiritual life were self-imposed. His love, His patience, His light, and the tiniest response of faith on my part (the size of a mustard seed) had started a cycle of growth. Gradually, the horizons of life became broad and beautiful, lit by the magnificent glory of the living Christ. He was alive within me, offering me His peace, His joy, His love, His oneness with the Father.

But as I look forward with fascination toward those promised horizons, His Spirit gently reminds me that spiritual frontiers are only reached by prayer. I must have the mind of Christ for my own thoughts, His presence shaping my perspective, His Spirit continually breathing His life within. I need a closer and more constant communion with Him. I need to depend more heavily on the Father, as Jesus depended on Him.

I need to live a life of prayer.

What will this require? I don’t know, but with His help, I have resolved not to shrink from the unknown. I will look to Him whose love and strength have always been sufficient, always greater than I could have imagined. I will not fear the silence of standing before God. With His help, I will fill it with simple faith and with a song of His goodness.

I do not want comfort to form the boundaries of my life or to be a barrier that limits His love from working in me. I will trust my needs to my Creator.

The Evil One paints spiritual possibilities as frightening, too radical, beyond us, only for the elite. But the Father’s love doesn’t work that way. His Spirit cultivates the simplest response of faith, then patiently reforms the fibers of our innermost beings, creating His will within us.

In the face of such unfailing love, He simply asks us to turn to Him, to talk to Him, to keep trusting Him moment by moment.

Our Father, we look to You now. Teach us to pray.

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3, NIV)

Praying for Fellow Workers

2014-06-26 Congregational Song, Devotional, Hymns No comments

This is the 22nd in a series of Friday posts on congregational song.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21, NIV)

I urge… that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone–for … all those in authority. (1 Timothy 2:1-2, NIV)

We all have to work with other people, whether on our jobs, at home, or in the church. Some are our co-workers. Some are our supervisors. In both cases, our work is interconnected with theirs. If the other person doesn’t do a good job, our work is damaged.

This is particularly true in music. Singers, instrumentalists, writers, directors–none of us is an island. The quality and effectiveness of our work is dependent on other people. That can be very stressful!

In dealing with such situations in my own life, the Lord has brought me back to what the Bible says about submitting to one another and praying for one another. I’m discovering that is great, practical advice.

Instead of fretting about whether another person will do a good job or whether a supervisor will make the right decision, I’m learning to pray for them. I pray that God will guide them and work through them to accomplish His will.

Then, having prayed for them and trusted the Lord to work through them, I can more easily rely on them and be submissive to them. And when I still feel I must disagree, I can do so in a non-defensive, non-territorial manner, remembering it is God’s work, not mine, and He will accomplish it.

Sometimes we feel that if everyone would just leave us alone, if we weren’t so dependent on others, everything would be terrific. The Bible declares that that simply isn’t so. Each of us has a particular role to play. By ourselves, we are so limited. We were designed to work most efficiently and productively in relationship to others. We are each like one part of the body that must work with other parts if the whole body is to function successfully. God created us to be dependent not only on himself but on each other.

Prayer is the best way to make such relationships work. Through prayer, we lift up those on whom we are dependent. Through prayer, we maintain the right attitude toward them. Prayer for fellow workers fosters the unity and interdependence essential for all of us to be and do our best together.

And through prayer, we keep our faith focused on God’s will and on His ability to accomplish that will through us, not just through me.

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