Love and hate

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Kings 11-13; Psalm 97

TO CHEW ON:  "You who love the Lord, hate evil." Psalm 97:10

Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God course is  challenging and inspiring. While going through the study some years ago, I marked up my workbook by underlining statements like:

"Obedience is the outward expression of your love for God" p. 74.


"If you have an obedience problem, you have a love problem" p. 75.

Though our focus verse from Psalm 97  doesn't contain the word "obey" or "obedience" isn't that what hating evil is all about? It's obedience in reverse. It's our negative response to evil which helps bring about our positive obedient response to God. And it's the litmus test of our love for God. (A footnote in my Bible says about this verse: "This is an extremely simple but an extremely accurate means of evaluating our regard for God" - New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 761),

What, then, is this evil we are to hate?

The Hebrew word for evil is Ra and is loaded with badness. In English the word evil is defined: "morally bad, wicked deeds causing injury, damage or any other undesirable result, wrongdoing, wickedness."

It is interesting that sin in relation to evil is a cousin word, a once-removed synonym. One of the definitions of sin in Hebrew  is to "miss the mark." This implies there is a mark or an objective standard to miss. I'm sure the psalmist had that at the back of his mind as he spoke of evil. For him evil included the sin of worshiping idols instead of God, neglecting to keep the ten commandments, and ignoring the rules of feasts and sacrifices.

As we read today's 1 Kings chapters we see just such a falling away in Israel. It started with Solomon and his thousand wives and concubines who drew his heart away from worshiping Yahweh to the worship of Ashtoreth, Chemoch and Milcom (1 Kings 11:5,6). It continued with Jeroboam, who led ten tribes to split from Judah and Benjamin then set up worship centers in Bethel and Dan with golden calf images, new feast days, and a rogue priesthood (1 Kings 12:31-33).

The evil we are to hate isn't all that different. Our obedience in keeping the ten commencements is a good start. But when we truly love God, we will go deeper, following the example of Jesus as we examine even the motives from which our actions spring (Matthew 5:21-32). We will begin to recognize sin's subtlety as it tempts us to wrest controls of our lives from the Holy Spirit, back into our own hands.

Blackaby has an interesting definition of sin:

"The essence of sin is a shift from God-centredness to self-centredness. The essence of salvation is denying self instead of affirming self. We must deny ourselves and return to God-centredness in our lives" Experiencing God, p. 32.

I ask myself, do I love God to the extent that I see loving and serving myself — with my seemingly legitimate plans, ambitions and desires — above loving and obeying Christ, as sin. It's sobering to realize that not my words  but the quickness with which I obey when He interrupts my day with a phone call or an emergency is the real demonstration of my love for Him.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to recognize selfishness/self-centredness as evil, and to hate it. Help me to prove my love for You with quick and enthusiastic obedience. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 97

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What has God chosen you for?

Signet ring - with the image of Childeric

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Haggai 2:1-23

TO CHEW ON: "'In that day,' says the Lord of hosts, 'I will take you Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,' says the Lord, 'and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,' says the Lord of hosts." Haggai 2:23

Zerubbabel was a leader of the Hebrew exiles returning from Babylon in 537 B.C. He was a governor and is mentioned in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah. In the New Testament, he shows up in the lineage of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17 - Zerubbabel is mentioned in verse 12).

In our reading today we see one reason he was a significant Bible character. It is because God had a specific and special role for Zerubbabel in accomplishing His purposes. Here's what God wanted to do:

"I will shake heaven and earth. I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and those who ride in them... (Haggai 2:21-22).

Zerubbabel was the man God picked for that task:

"I will take you, Zerubbabel...and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you..." Haggai 2:23.

Throughout the Bible we can trace the pattern of God choosing an individual when He wants to accomplish some special purpose.

• When God wanted to do something about wicked humanity but still save some, He chose Noah (Genesis 6:5-14).

• When God planned to free the Israelites from the tyranny of Midian, He chose Gideon (Judges 6:11-16).

• When God wanted the Gospel spread to Gentiles, kings, and Jews, He chose Saul/Paul (Acts 9:1-16).

In his book Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says:

God never asks people to dream up something to do for Him. We do not sit down and dream what we want to do for God and then call God in to help us accomplish it. The pattern in Scripture is that we submit ourselves to God. Then we wait until God shows us what He is about to do, or we watch what God is already doing around us and join Him"  - Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God, Workbook, p. 34.

The challenge for us, then, is to resist going down a self-determined path. It means placing our confidence in God, not ourselves. We seek God's kingdom instead of what the world approves of and admires. We look for God's perspective in every circumstance instead of looking at how circumstances can serve us. Applying this viewpoint to life and work, we wait until we perceive God's activity before we decide what projects we should work on, instead of starting something on our own initiative and then asking God to bless it.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to put this into practice in my life. I need the spiritual perception to see where You are at work. I need wisdom to understand what this means for me. I need courage to cast aside self-generated projects in favour of assignments that come from You. Amen.

MORE: Signet rings

In ancient times, official documents contained a seal.  This was an impression or imprint on the document often made in a blob of wax. It told the recipient that the document was authentic.

Such seals were sometimes imprinted by pressing the ring the ruler wore (a signet ring) into the soft wax.

Wikipedia says of signet rings:

The wearing of signet rings (from Latin "signum" meaning sign) goes back to ancient Egypt; the distinctive personal signature was not developed in antiquity and most documents needed a seal. The tradition continues, especially among the armigerous, in European and some other cultures.  

Because it is used to attest the authority of its bearer, the ring has also been seen as a symbol of his power, which is one explanation for its inclusion in the regalia of certain monarchies. 

From "Seal (emblem)"

 So we see, when God calls Zerubbabel a signet ring, He is referring to the power and authority He has given this man He has chosen for this job.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cooperating with God

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Matthew 15:21-39

TO CHEW ON: “And He took the seven loaves and fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled…” Matthew 15:36,37

Where did this multiplication of bread and fish take place? In Jesus’ hands or in the baskets and trays of the disciples?

The Bible doesn’t say. But I imagine Jesus giving each disciple a similar small amount of fish and bread. It may have looked puny, inadequate to feed a dozen let alone hundreds. Then they started passing it out and they passed it out and passed it out … and it never ran out! I imagine that multiplication occurring when the bread and fish were in the disciples’ hands (for they wouldn’t have been able to carry a receptacle loaded with food enough for hundreds!)

I can imagine my reaction if I had been one of those disciples, getting my portion to hand out: “But this small amount is ridiculous. How many will this feed? These hungry people will beat me up when some get fed and others don't …”

Of course the disciples didn’t say anything like that. They had been with Jesus through enough emergencies to realize He was dependable to come through. And His work through them kept happening:

“And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through accompanying signs and wonders” - Mark 16:20.

God in His wisdom continues to use people to accomplish His work with Him:"

"For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building” - 1 Corinthians 3:9.

“We then as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” 2 Corinthians 6:1.

I love how the Blackabys, in the book Experiencing God, challenge us to put this principle into practice:

“God never asks people to dream up something to do for Him. We do not sit down and dream what we want to do for God and then call God in to help us accomplish it. The pattern in Scripture is that we submit ourselves to God. Then we wait until God shows us what He is about to do, or we watch to see what God is already doing around us and join Him” Henry & Richard Blackaby, Claude King, Experiencing God p. 34.

“Every conversation with God has limitless possibilities attached to it, because He is ‘able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.’ - Ephesians 3:20” - Ibid, p. 89 (emphases added).

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to work with You. Help me distribute what is in my hands and trust You to use it in the needed way. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Do you know His voice?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 10:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." John 10:4

"If Christians do not know when God is speaking they are in trouble at the heart of their Christian lives," says Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God (Workbook p. 90).

In our passage today Jesus compares Himself to a shepherd leading a flock. The members of His flock, He assures the disciples, know His voice.

The Bible says a lot about God's voice — hearing it, recognizing it, responding to it. If we count ourselves members of His flock, we do well to study what the Bible says about these things, to make sure we do recognize that it's His voice we're hearing. From a brief (and incomplete) study, here are some distinguishing things about God's voice:

1. He first comes to you and me as a guest. Jesus asks ("if anyone hears My voice") to be given admittance to our lives (Revelation 3:20).

2. His voice is personal

• He knows your name and my name, and what drives us (Acts 9:3-5).

• His call is our opportunity to acknowledge Him and what He is to us (John 20:16).

• Listening to His voice becomes the key to our destiny, as Saul/Paul discovered - Acts 22:14.

3. His voice speaks words of life to our death (Luke 8:52-54; John 5:25).

4. His voice speaks truth (John 18:37).

5. His voice comes with probing questions - "What do you want me to do for you?" He asked the blind men (Matthew 20:32).

6. His voice may come to us in new tones. John heard it as a trumpet and as the sound of many waters (Revelation 1:10,15).

7. It is, above all, a loved, welcome, joy-inspiring voice (Song of Songs 2:8; John 3:29). We respond to it any time we hear it, even letting it awake us from sleep (Song of Songs 5:2).

8. It is a voice that we come to recognize as reliable, trustworthy, and safe to follow (John 10:4,16,27).

I ask myself, do I know God's voice in these ways? When He speaks, do I respond with quick obedience?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to always recognize Your voice and to be a fruitful hearer (Luke 8:15). Amen.

MORE: Respond Immediately

"When God spoke to Moses, what Moses did next was crucial. After Jesus spoke to the disciples, what they did next was paramount. What you do immediately after the Spirit of God speaks to you through His Word is critical. Our problem is that when the Spirit of God speaks to us, we want to debate. Moses engaged in a long discussion with God (see Exodus 3:11-4:13), and it limited him for the rest of his life. After that discussion Moses had to speak to the people through His brother Aaron (see Exodus 4:14-16).

Regularly review what you sense God has been saying to you. If God speaks and you hear but do not respond, a time could come when you do not hear His voice. Disobedience can lead to a "famine of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11-12). - Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God Workbook, p. 96.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Bitter weeping

"Slaughter of the Innocents"
by Carl Heinrich Bloch

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 31:15-34


TO CHEW ON: "A voice was heard in Ramah,

Lamentation and bitter weeping

Rachel weeping for her children,

Refusing to be comforted for her children

Because they are no more." Jeremiah 31:15

The incarnation story has its dark chapters. One of them is the account of King Herod and his actions after the wise men gave him the slip and "departed for their own country another way."

He was as sneaky as the Herod of Jesus' adult years (who Jesus  called a fox). For on his first encounter with the Magi, after hearing from the chief priests and scribes about the part Bethlehem was to play in the prediction of a king, he had met the Magi secretly to determine when that star had first appeared.

When he realized that the wise men weren't coming back, he put all his information together and sent out his soldiers on a mission that makes our blood run cold: "He sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men" - Matthew 2:16.

At this point in his telling, Matthew inserts a little author comment: "Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying..." and he quotes word for word today's focus verse from Jeremiah.

As a parent reading the account of Herod's murderous initiative (Matthew 2:1-12), I am filled with empathy for those mothers. Imagine the disbelief, the apprehension, the confusion, and finally the heart-pounding terror as you face a heartless, sword-wielding soldier with your baby in your arms.

It's natural to ask, where was God in all this? How could He allow something so awful, something He obviously knew would happen because His Spirit had breathed these words into Jeremiah's ears centuries earlier.

Though we have probably never had our baby yanked from our arms by a soldier intent on obeying the order of a jealous king, having a child snatched from our arms by illness or accident is not so different. Which brings us face to face with the old dilemma: How can God, who is supposedly all-powerful and all-loving, allow bad things to happen to us?

Jerry Bridges addresses this question in his book Trusting God: Even when Life Hurts. He says:

"God's plan and His ways of working out His plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand. We must learn to trust where we don't understand.


[...] In order to trust God we must know Him in an intimate and personal way" Kindle locations 137 & 142.

How do we do that? In the same way we get to know people in an intimate and personal way. We spend time with them, listening to them — we listen to God when we read the Bible — and talking with them — we talk to God when we pray.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to know You so well that I trust You even when bad things happen to me. Amen.

MORE: Against the backdrop of the cross

Henry Blackaby tells this story in his book Experiencing God.

"When our only daughter, Carrie, was 16, the doctors told us she had an advanced case of cancer. We had to take her through chemotherapy and radiation. We suffered along with Carrie as we watched her experience the severe sickness that accompanies the treatments. Some people face such an experience by blaming God and questioning why He doesn't love them any more. Carrie's cancer treatments could have been a devastating experience for us. Did God still love us? Yes. Had His love changed? No. He still cared for us with an infinite love.


When you face circumstances like this, you can ask God to explain what is happening. We did that. We asked Him what we should do. I raised all those questions, but I never said, 'Lord, I guess You don't love me.'


Long before this experience with Carrie, I had made a determination: no matter what my circumstances, I would never look at my situation except against the backdrop of the cross. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God forever convinced me that He loved me. For this reason during Carrie's illness I could go before the Heavenly Father and see behind my daughter the cross of Jesus Christ. I said, 'Father, don't ever let me look at my life and question Your love for me. Your love for me was settled on the cross. That has never changed and will never change.' Our love relationship with the Heavenly Father sustained us through an extremely difficult time." Experiencing God Workbook, p. 51.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

How to get on the right path

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Proverbs 3:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Most of us have probably memorized this reassuring passage. These verses tell us how to find the right way, path, or road in life. They imply that there may be several to choose from and we're not sure which one to take. The instructions consist of two things to do, one not to do, and a promise.

Two things to do:

1. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart."
Trust (batach - #982) means to have confidence in, be bold, secure, feel safe in, be free of care (careless) in.

• Psalm 37:3-5 enlarges on this trust, describing it as: "Trust...dwell...feed on His faithfulness...delight yourself in the Lord...commit your way to Him."

• Proverbs 22:17-19 speaks of how the "words of the wise"—for us Bible words—grow our trust in God. We are to listen to them, keep them within us (memorize them), and fix them on our lips (recite them) so our trust will be in the Lord—nothing else.

2. "In all your ways acknowledge Him."
Acknowledge (yada #3045) means to know by observation, investigation and firsthand experience. A sidebar article in my Bible explains: "But the highest level of yada is in 'direct, intimate contact.' This refers to life-giving intimacy as in marriage. Applied to a spiritual context, it suggests an intimacy with God in prayer that conceives and births blessings and victories" - Dick Eastman, "Intimacy and Spiritual Breakthrough," New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 807. It is bringing God into every detail of life.

• 1 Chronicles 28:9 gives David's instructions to Solomon in this regard. He tells his son how to acknowledge of God in his life: "know the God of your father...serve Him with a loyal heart and willing mind." God, David promises, will then reveal Himself to Solomon.

• Proverbs 16:3 tells us: "Commit your works to the Lord ("roll your works upon the Lord" - Amp; "put God in charge of your work" - Message) and your thoughts will be established."

• Philippians 4:6 says to replace anxiety with constant communication with God in prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, as you present our every request to Him.

One thing not to do:

"And lean not on your own understanding"
Lean (sha 'an #8172) means to trust in, support oneself on, lean upon.
Understanding (biynah #998) means discernment.

We're not to put our confidence in our own human-centered discernment, insights, wits, common sense, or evaluation of the situation. Why? Because they don't factor God, with His overarching plans and often supernatural ways, into the equation.

• Jeremiah 9:23-24: God's message to the Israelites through Jeremiah in this regard was don't boast, praise, or put your glory in your own wisdom, might or wealth. Rather, boast that you know God.

The promise:

"He shall direct your paths."
Direct (yashar #3474) means to make straight, right, level, smooth, straightforward. That's what God will do with our path -- make it straight, right, level, smooth, obvious...

Need more reassurance? Psalm 32:8; Psalm 139:9-10; Isaiah 30:21; Isaiah 42:16 are four of a multitude of verses that reiterate God's promise to put us on, direct, straighten, clarify and smooth the road in front of us.

What a wonderful reminder of how to live this Monday in the middle of one of the busiest seasons of the year. Let's put these verses into action this week. Let's really trust and acknowledge God for, and in, the big and little issues of life, and watch Him simplify and clarify the path.


PRAYER: Dear God, these instructions are so straightforward. They sound so easy. Please remind me of them this week when I will, I'm sure, be tempted to lean on my own understanding. Amen.

MORE: When your guide is your Lord

In the book Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says this about confusing circumstances:

"When you face confusing circumstances, don't blame God. Don't give up following Him. Go to God. Ask Him to reveal the truth of your circumstances. Ask Him to show you His perspective. Then wait on the Lord.


Radically reorient your life to God. The most difficult thing you will ever have to do is deny self, take up God's will, and follow Him. The most challenging part of your relationship with God is being God-centered. If you recorded a day in your life, you might find that your prayers, your attitudes, your thoughts, and your actions are intensely self-centered. You may not see things from God's perspective; rather you may try to explain to God what your perspective is.


When He becomes the Lord of your life, He alone has the right to be: the Focus of your life, the Initiator in your life, the Director of your life. That is what it means for him to be Lord." - Experiencing God Workbook page 121 (emphases mine).

My projects or His purposes?

"St. John the Baptist Sees Jesus From Afar" 
- by James Tissot

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 1:29-42

TO CHEW ON: "'I did not know Him but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.'" John the Baptist in John 1:31

John's career choice as a baptizer was not some random job that came out of a brainstorming session with his high school counselor. It was a God-inspired career the main purpose of which was to introduce Messiah. It was the curtain rising, the drum roll on Jesus, the Lamb of God.

John tells us plainly how it worked:

"I did not know Him but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water....I did not know Him but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit' and I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God!" John 1:31, 33-34.

John, the writer of this gospel, doesn't describe that baptism but Matthew does. In fact, it seems John the Baptist had no clue who the person would be. For when Jesus asked John to baptize Him John "...tried to prevent Him saying, 'I need to be baptized by You and are You coming to me?'"

However, Jesus insisted and immediately after, "... the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him" Matthew 3:14-17

How exciting it must have been for John to see what God had told him secretly happening before his eyes and everyone watching. How fulfilling to know that he was God's instrument and his life was furthering God's eternal purposes.

Isn't that what we as Christians all want — to know that our actions, words, and lives have accomplished something significant and lasting because they were God-centered and aligned with what God was doing?

In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says:

"To live a God-centered life you must focus your life on God's purposes, not your own plans. You must seek to view situations from God's perspective rather than your own distorted human outlook.

[...] God never asks people to dream up something to do for Him. We do not sit down and dream what we want to do for God and then call God in to help us accomplish it. The pattern in Scripture is that we submit ourselves to God. Then we wait until God shows us what He is about to do, or we watch to see what God is already doing around us and join Him" - Experiencing God Workbook, p. 33-34)

How do I rate here? How do you? Are we dreaming up projects and asking God to bless them? Or are we waiting for God's explicit instructions or joining Him in His work already in progress?

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to be God-centered with my life focused on fitting in with Your purposes and exalting Jesus.

MORE: The Feast of St. Andrew

In today's reading we read that a man named Andrew was in the crowd. He was so impressed with what he saw, and with Jesus, that he ran to find his brother Peter, greeting him with the words: "We have found the Messiah." Then he brought Peter to Jesus and so began some eternal relationships.

The liturgy for the Feast of St. Andrew begins with this collect:

"Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give us, who are called by your Holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

Wait for God to promote you

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Samuel 5:1-25

TO CHEW ON: "So David went on and became great, and the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him." 2 Samuel 5:10

David was 30 years old when he finally became king. We don't know how old he was when Samuel first anointed him (1 Samuel 16:1-13)—10, maybe 15 ? So it took 15-20 years for something that began when he was just a kid to finally became reality in his life.

Those years were no stroll in the park. During that whole time he was in training.

• He learned to lead.

That was what he'd need to be good at as a king and his apprenticeship was a long one. It began on the Judean hills as he led a flock of sheep. His unusual bravery in the Goliath incident led to a celebration chant (among the women no less) that sparked jealousy in Saul and began years of exile for David (1 Samuel 18:7-9). But even when he was on-the-run and living in caves and the desert, he never lacked a following. The fact that his followers were losers and malcontents meant his leadership training was rigorous and challenging to say the least (1 Samuel 22:2).

• He learned to trust God.

"The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
         And delivers them out of all their troubles." (Psalm 34:17)

"But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever." (Psalm 52:8)

"Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who uphold my life." (Psalm 54:4)

 were all written during his years of exile.

• He learned to live by principle and not self-interest.

Very early in his life it seems he had made at least one firm determination: to respect God's revealed will and order. He knew that God had chosen Saul as king over Israel. Thus he refused to take advantage of Saul's vulnerability on at least two occasions when he could have killed Saul and snatched the kingdom for himself (1 Samuel 24:4-7 and 1 Samuel 26:9-12): "The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed."

In today's reading we have the story, finally, of the end of David's training. It culminated in his coronation, a kingship recognized not only by his fellow citizens, but internationally (2 Samuel 5:11-12).

Do you have a similar sense of God's call on your life? Perhaps you have known for years that you have a role to play in God's kingdom that hasn't yet been realized. Let David be your role model as you:

1. Get trained in the area you need training. David needed to know how to be a leader. Maybe you'll need to know how to teach, or extend mercy, or give generously. Whatever it is, be faithful in small things, and God will entrust you with bigger ones.

2. Build up your faith muscles. Learn to trust God in the everyday challenges that come your way. Because it's a sure thing that when you are elevated to a position of more responsibility, you will need all the faith and trust you have developed.

3. Wait for God promote you.  Resist the temptation to take matters into your own hands. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up" ["... and make your lives significant" - Amplified] James 4:10.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank you for David who modeled patience and waiting for Your time to realize the fulfillment of his destiny. Help me to follow his example of faithfulness and patience. Amen.

MORE: More wisdom about God's ways (from Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the will of God - Workbook)"

"If God has a great task for you, He will expand your character to match that assignment." p. 47.

"God will accomplish more in six months through a people yielded to Him than we could in 60 years without Him." p. 37

"Don't just do something. Stand there!" p. 19

(From the archives.)

Plot points in God's story

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Genesis 17:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you." Genesis 17:11

You probably own a few things that signify watershed moments in your life — the Bible you were given at your baptism perhaps, a wedding ring, maybe the clothes your daughter wore when she was dedicated. As people we benefit from such tangible reminders of our history, the things we've experienced, and the promises we've made.

God has sealed His dealings with humanity with signs and markers too. We have the record of them in the Bible:

1. Rainbow — a sign marking God's promise to never again destroy all humanity by flood (Genesis 9:12-15).

2. Circumcision — "...an external sign which showed that Abraham and his descendants were God's covenant people" New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p.27.

3. Blood, painted on the lintel and door frames of the house — a sign that the death angel should pass over that house (Exodus 12:13).

4. Unleavened bread — to remind the Israelites that God had brought them out of Egypt (Exodus 13:6-10).

5. Sacrifice of firstborn animals —  a reminder of God sparing Israel's firstborn sons the night the death angel visited (Exodus 13:16).

6. Scarlet cord draped from the window of a house —  a sign that marked Rahab and her family for rescue from Jericho (Joshua 2:12, 17-18).

7. Altar of 12 stones — a sign to remind the Israelites of how God helped them cross the Jordan River to Canaan (Joshua 4:1-7).

8. Dove as the Holy Spirit, ascending and alighting on Jesus at His baptism — a sign of God's favour on Him (Matthew 3:16).

Henry Blackaby, in his book Experiencing God, says this about the way God works — the actions behind the list of signs, above:

"God works in sequence to accomplish His divine purpose. What He did in the past was accomplished with a kingdom purpose in mind. What He is doing in the present is in sequence with the past and with the same kingdom purpose. Every act of God builds on the past, with a view toward the future" Experiencing God Workbook, p. 124.

If you look back over the signs I've listed (and there are many more), can you see a thread? Are they not all part of God's history of salvation—from God's promise to never again destroy all humanity by flood, to His establishing His covenant of nationhood with Abraham, to His keeping of that nation through Egypt's slavery and their wilderness wanderings to, finally, the coming of Jesus, the lamb that would save us all?

God's message of love to us through these markers and signs is just another reason for awe and worship.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your plan of salvation and how you have threaded signs of it through the Bible story. Help me to be alert to the signs of Your working in my life. I pray, with David, "Show me a sign for good...." Amen.

MORE: Personal markers

It is good to reflect on the signs, objects or markers that tell the story of God at work in our lives. For me those include significant Bible verses, certain books, a special song...

If we read the accounts of God giving His people signs, one of the reasons He gave the sign, in almost every case, was to help parents explain God's ways their children and grandchildren.

Could you use the signs, objects or markers you recalled to tell to your children and grandchildren the story of how God has worked in your life?

(From the archives)

My will or His?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 40:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "I delight to do Your will, O my God,

And Your law is within my heart." Psalm 40:8

"I delight to do Your will, O my God" — can I honestly say that? Can you?

In the book Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby describes doing God's will as giving God the right to help Himself to my life. I imagine God doing that — possibly interrupting my well-planned day with a phone call (not from Him, but from some person who needs to talk, or needs a babysitter), an unforeseen emergency, or more serious stuff like illness — my own or someone else's (not that God sends illnesses, but He allows them). How I handle these things helps me see how much delight I actually take in one aspect of God's will — what He brings my way.

Then there's the whole area of choice, of discerning and doing God's will in things as big as what career I choose to as small as what plans I make for the next hour.

Here are some things the Bible teaches about conforming our will to God's will.

1. We gain an inner GPS: Our focus verse today connects a delight to do God's will with inner guidance: "And Your law is within my heart."

2. Prayer is one way we bring it about. Jesus prayed: "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

3. It proves we are part of God's family: Jesus said, "Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50).

4. Jesus is our example.
- He said, "I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me" (John 5:30).
- The writer of Hebrews actually quotes part of Psalm 40 as fulfilled in Christ : "Then I said, 'Behold I have come — In the volume of the book it is written of Me — to do Your will O God" (Hebrews 10:7 compare to Psalm 40:7-8).

5. It is the way to become spiritually discerning and wise.
- It gives us discernment about theology and doctrine: "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority" (John 7:17).
- It also gives us wisdom for daily living: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God"(Romans 12:2).

6. It is best done whole-heartedly. Ephesians 6:6 talks about "doing the will of of God from the heart."

7. It is practical, impinging on and shaping everyday life. James reminds us that God has the right and sometimes does trump our daily plans: "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.... Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that" (James 4:13-15).

8. Our compliance with it confirms our reservation in heaven. The Apostle John writes: "And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:17).

Henry Blackaby suggests a will-surrendering prayer to pray when we are faced with confusing choices. I think that it's a prayer we do well to pray every day:

PRAYER: "Lord, whatever I know to be Your will, I will do it. Regardless of the cost and regardless of the adjustment, I commit myself ahead of time to follow Your will. Lord, no matter what that will looks like, I will do it." Experiencing God Workbook, p. 123.

MORE: "I Surrender All" sung by Robin Mark