An ancient complaint

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 4-6; Psalm 49

TO CHEW ON: "I also with my brethren and my servants am lending them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury!" Nehemiah 5:10

The complaints of the people to Nehemiah in today's reading remind me of the modern Occupy Movement of 2011. It was a protest against unfairness in society. Rooted in the financial collapse of 2008, people were protesting many things including the use of tax money to bail out big businesses and banks. While executives of the companies (who many perceived to be the cause of the problem) got huge bonuses and severance packages, the little guy lost his job and then his house because he could no longer pay his debts.

It appears that an economic crisis had also hit Jerusalem and its surroundings just prior to Nehemiah's arrival. A footnote in my Bible explains, "A famine along with the need to pay taxes had forced many families into insolvency. Nehemiah's presence emboldened the dispossessed to cry out for justice" - Study notes, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 618.

The confidence of the poor people in Nehemiah was well placed. Outraged by conditions, he took up their cause. He assembled the nobles and rulers and:

• Rebuked them (Nehemiah 5:7).
• Reasoned with them, showing how it didn't make sense that they had freed Jewish citizens held captives by other nations but were holding their own people to ransom with debt (Nehemiah 5:8).
• Told them to stop charging interest (Nehemiah 5:10). Actually what they were doing to their brothers was against Moses' law (Leviticus 25:35-38).
• Commanded them to restore absconded property along with some of the interest that had been paid to them (Nehemiah 5:11).

He himself was a good example, in that he lent the poor people money and grain (Nehemiah 5:10) and refused to live the customary high lifestyle of a governor himself (Nehemiah 5:15).

There is a place for us to be champions of justice in our society too. Though I don't suggest aligning oneself with any particular modern cause, there are things we can do. As a start, we can treat others fairly, lend or give money when we see a need, and live modestly and within our means, like Nehemiah did.

PRAYER: Dear God, please grow in me an attitude of justice for the poor and the generosity and willingness to help when I can with what I have. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 49

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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.

Food of obedience

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 13-14; Psalm 81

TO CHEW ON: "Oh that My people would listen to Me,

That Israel would walk in My ways!

He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;

And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you." Psalm 81:13,16

The promise is for quality food — the finest wheat for bread, the staff of life — and honey, for energy and pleasure. Inspired Bible writer Asaph promises these blessings on behalf of God. They come as the result of acknowledging God and obeying Him.

Obedience is linked with plenty in other scriptures.
- It triggers the right weather and growing conditions (Isaiah 30:23; Ezekiel 36:30).
- The plenty that follows obedience is so marked that the year becomes one big harvest (Leviticus 26:5; Amos 9:13).
- Obedience results in God's delight in us generally, which adds His blessing to all of life so that not only do we have enough to eat, but our family and work prosper too (Deuteronomy 30:9; Psalm 132:15).

What specifically brings these blessings into a life (or shuts them out)? In today's psalm they are dependent on the people acknowledging God:
- As the One to worship (Psalm 81:9)
- As the One to credit for past success (Psalm 81:10).
- As the One who holds the future (Psalm 81:10).
- As the One whose voice they will listen to and obey (Psalm 81:11).

I ask myself, am I allowing anything in my life to become an object of worship--an idol? Do I acknowledge God's help in the past and His sovereignty over the future?

In our culture of salaries and superstores, where our lives are mere steps or a short drive removed from our food supply, the connection between obedience and enough to eat is easy to miss. Then again, our persistent, consistent need for refueling illustrates, every four to six of our waking hours, how tangible this connection could become.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to have a faith simple enough to connect the way I live with Your supply of my basic needs. Help me to worship You and acknowledge You in all of life — past, present and future. 

 PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 81


MORE: "Do You Know Why You Need to Eat?"

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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.

Your Source hasn’t changed

"The Gathering of the Manna"

by James Tissot 1896-1900

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Joshua 5-8; Psalm 66

TO CHEW ON: “Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.” Joshua 5:12

Imagine that first morning of going out to collect manna as usual and finding – none! What God had provided every morning six days a week for forty years stopped as suddenly as it started. I can just see the people looking all around them puzzled, scanning the more distant terrain, and someone asking, “What day is today?” thinking perhaps it was Sabbath after all.

But no, their eyes weren’t playing tricks on them and it wasn’t Sabbath. The miraculous provision of their daily food was over. From now on they would have to work the land for their three squares.

Change. It comes to us all. I wonder if the Israelites welcomed this one. No doubt some of them did, for they had had their moments of complaining about their one-item menu in the past. I’m sure, though, that others looked back on the manna years as the good old days, spoke fondly of their mother’s ingenuity in preparing it and sometimes hankered after just one more taste.

There was one constant in this, though. The One behind the provision was still God. Before He withheld the manna, He made sure there was something to take its place.

Has your current supply of manna stopped? Perhaps you’ve lost your job, or a big client hasn’t renewed a contract. You’re wondering, how will my needs be met?

This is a good time to remember your source. It’s not your boss, or your client, or the company, but God. The God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills - who has promised to supply all your need according to His riches . Of course life after your current ‘manna’ may not be quite the same. Your new provision may demand a different kind of effort or a new level of responsibility. Still, God promises to supply what you need.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your presence in my life and for Your provision for me in many ways. Help me to have the flexibility to change when that is required.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 66

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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.

Prayer practices from the Psalms

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 8-10; Psalm 42

TO CHEW ON: "Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance - Psalm 42:5

In these two Psalms (42 & 43) we see a person who is praying from a place of deep distress. I love it that Bible writings like this show us that people who lived back in Bible times were a lot like us. They felt discouraged, intimidated, depressed, overwhelmed, and very needy. But this Son of Korah wasn't content to stay in that dark place. These psalms are his prayers and they illustrate some excellent prayer practices.

• He tells God how much he needs Him and why - Psalm 42:1,2. His need seems to be based in part on the scorn of people around him. Those mockers point out that God hasn't come to his rescue so maybe He doesn't even exist. Our Son of Korah tells God about this - Psalm 42:3,10.

• He remembers the good times of going to 'church' with the multitudes (Psalm 42:4) and the nation's history with God (Psalm 42:6) and in this way bolsters his faith.

• He talks to his discouraged self. Three times he repeats self-talk that begins with "Why are you cast down, O my soul…(Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5). A sidebar article about these verses says:

"…he refocuses himself on the promises of God, confronts the fears and contradictions deep in his soul, and challenges himself about every semblance of unbelief in his heart …. Faith comes alive by hearing the truth so the psalmist seems to be preaching to himself being renewed in hope as he reviews who God really is" - David Bryant, "Preparing Yourself to Pray," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 720.

• He puts into words what he wants—exactly what he envisions God will do for him:

- Show him lovingkindness - Psalm 42:8.
- Replace his anxious nighttime thoughts with songs and prayers - Psalm 42:8.
- Set him free from the schemes of deceitful, unjust men - Psalm 43:1.
- Send His truth and light as direction for living - Psalm 43:3.
- Bring him back to church with songs of praise - Psalm 43:4,5.

Maybe we should embrace some of these practices in our own lives. We could:

- Talk to God with brutal honesty—telling Him about our troubles and how much we need him.
- Talk to ourselves, repudiating our feelings with the truth of who God is and His promises to us.
- Recall how God has helped us in the past.
- Express in detail what we'd like God to do for us.

PRAYER: Dear God, sometimes I feel a lot like the Sons of Korah. Please help me to remember these prayer practices and use them. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 42

MORE: Who is God? What are His promises?

"…Faith comes alive by hearing the truth so the psalmist seems to be preaching to himself being renewed in hope as he reviews who God really is," says our Bible commenter. What is the truth about God? What are His promises?

One of the best ways I've found to remind myself of who God is and what His promises are is to recall / recite Bible verses I have memorized. Verses like:

Exodus 14:14
Isaiah 54:10
Hosea 6:3
Matthew 7:7,8
Philippians 4:5,7

What verses would you suggest?

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Ancient food bank

"Gleaning" by Arthur Hughes

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Leviticus 21-23; Psalm 37

TO CHEW ON: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor: I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 23:22


God makes no secret of the fact He is for the poor, pities the poor, and wants those that identify with Him to defend and help the poor. In today's reading we have one way people could do that: by harvesting carelessly, making sure there was something left for gleaners. Then, one year in every seven, they were to let fields lie fallow, leaving the entire volunteer crop for the poor (Exodus 23:11).

Here are a few other pro-poor policies and attitudes found in the Bible:

• A relative should be allowed to redeem a poor person's possession (Leviticus 25:25).

• The rich were not to turn away as in ignore or grow calloused toward the poor person's plight (Deuteronomy 15:7).

• The person holding the poor person's pledge (or down-payment) was not to keep it overnight (Deuteronomy 24:12). (Perhaps because the pledge would be something the person needed for their very health or well-being, like their cloak for warmth).

The results and rewards of helping the poor also show God's sympathetic heart. toward them. The person helping the poor:

1. is called "blessed" (Psalm 41:1) and "happy" (Proverbs 14:21).
2. is loaning to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17).
3. will get the wealth of those who take advantage of the poor (Proverbs 28:7).
4. won't lack (Proverbs 28:27).
5. will find their generosity helps them to follow Jesus in discipleship that readily abandons all to Him (Matthew 19:21).

God's attitude toward the poor prompts us to take a long hard look at our own attitudes. Do we avoid going to places where the poor will approach us? Do we "hide our eyes" from the panhandler, the raggy man seated outside Safeway beside his coin pot, the dusty woman pushing her grocery cart of blankets and bottles (Proverbs 28:27)?

It might be a good idea to settle on a strategy of sharing with the poor. Some ways that come to mind:

• Give regularly to organizations that help the poor and homeless.

• I read of someone who, when approached by a beggar, empties his pockets, giving him/her all the cash he is carrying at the time.

• I heard of someone else who designates a monthly sum of money to give away to the poor. He gives it as the needs/requests come.

How do you help the poor?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your tender heart toward the poor. Help me to have Your attitude. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 37


MORE: The flip side.

The flip side of being a helper of the poor is being a helpee, that is, the poor person needing help. Most of the poor are not lazy deadbeats at all, but people who for one reason or another are needy.

Todd Burpo, author of Heaven is for Real found himself in that position when his four-year-old son became deathly ill. Here are his words describing what it felt like to need help:

"... pastors and their families are usually most comfortable in the role of 'helper,' not 'helpee.' Sonja and I had always been the ones who visited the sick, brought the meals, cared for others' kids in times of need. We were adamantly self-reliant—maybe in retrospect, to the point of being prideful. But that gruelling stint in the hospital snapped our pride like a dry twig and taught us how to be humble enough to accept help from other people, physically, emotionally, and financially" - Todd Burpo, Heaven is for Real, p. 153.

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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.

Must-haves

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Timothy 4:9-18

TO CHEW ON: “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments.” 2 Timothy 4:13

As I prepared for a recent flight, I packed with the carry-on luggage restrictions always in mind. What should I take? What could I leave? What would I absolutely miss if I didn’t have?

Three things I definitely left room for were my journal, a Bible study workbook I’m currently working through, and my iPad (which has e-versions of the Bible). But they were a very small percentage of my entire pack.

Here we see Paul (in a time when travel was slow, requests took a long time to be fulfilled and everything was transported by foot or beast) sending a list of stuff he felt he desperately needed to Timothy. Only one thing on the list was for his physical well-being (that cloak - 2 Timothy 4:13). The rest was all stuff to feed his spirit and use in ministry—the books, parchments, and, of course, the human company and help of Timothy and Mark (2 Timothy 4:11).

My Bible’s notes elaborate on what those books and parchments might have been:

“The books or papyrus rolls, may have been portions of the OT. The leather parchments could have been unused material, which Paul wanted for planned writing endeavors, more probably, however, they were sections of the OT, prized highly by Paul, or perhaps even copies of the Lord’s words and early narratives of His life” - James Lea Beall, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1715.

This passage gives me cause to pause and consider—what is really essential for my life? For my five days away, I packed way more stuff for my physical self than my spirit. Does that say something about my priorities?

What would be on your list for must-have items?

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for the plenty I have to sustain my life physically. Help me to value and prioritize the resources for spiritual life that I also have in abundance, and to use them well and often. 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.

Our real home and native land

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Philippians 3:12-4:1


TO CHEW ON: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be transformed to His glorious body according to the working by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself.” Philippians 3:20,21


The older I get the more I long for the day my “lowly body” will be “transformed” and “conformed” to Jesus’ “glorious body.” That longing is multiplied many times over when I see bodies of family members and friends ravished by disease and crippled by failing parts. We are so fragile. A few moments of insufficient oxygen at birth can determine the course of a life. A trip or fall or crash can maim us permanently. And then there are all those hidden processes of our inner organs that open the door to heart attacks, strokes, dementia, and the growth of malignant cells.

Another reason I long for heaven is because more and more I feel like a social and cultural misfit here on earth. It's just as Paul described it in Philippians 3: 18,19. I have the sense of being an alien in a place populated by enemies of the cross. It’s a place where I am bombarded by advice on how to placate the god of my belly and where much that the Bible teaches me is wrong is my society’s pride.

Anticipating heaven reminds me of planning a trip to the tropics during Canada's harsh winter. When we do that, we feed our anticipation for our trip by reading the travel agent's brochures about our destination.Today, let's anticipate our heavenly destination by reading some of the Bible's brochures about it. 

• It’s where our Father lives and prepares the reward for all the secret “charitable deeds” we’ve performed while on earth - Matthew 6:4.

• It’s a place we’re known. Our names are written in its roster - Luke 10:20.

• It’s a place of honour and work—a banquet and an assignment - Luke 22:30.

• It’s a place of residence, of “many mansions” prepared for us by Jesus - John 14:2.

• It’s a perfect place (of “incorruptible and undefiled inheritance”). Only people whose names are in God’s book are allowed to live there - 1 Peter 1:4.

• It’s a place of purity, reserved (again) for those named in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

• It’s the place of our real citizenship, with our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ - Philippians 3:20 (our focus verse).

What a destination to look forward to!

PRAYER: Dear Father, I’m excited for heaven. While I’m still firmly on planted on earth, help me to envision this final destination to keep me hopeful, focused on what’s real, and unswayed by the tempting voices around me. Amen.


MORE: "Sometimes I Wonder"

Heaven is a very popular subject for gospel music writers. Here's a relatively recent song about heaven, "Sometimes I Wonder" sung by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound.



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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.

Enter through gates of praise

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 118:15-29

TO CHEW ON: “Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD
Through which the righteous shall enter.” Psalm 118:19,20

Do these verses (from Psalm 118) have a familiar ring?

“Save now, I pray, O Lord…
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”- Psalm 118:25,26.

You may have identified them as the words of the crowd that met Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday:

“‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” - Mark 11:9.

(The word “Hosanna” in the New Testament, was transliterated from the Hebrew hoshiya na which was originally the cry for help “Save now.” Over the centuries between the writing of Psalm 118 and Jesus’ time on earth hoshiya na [Greek: Hosanna]  shifted in meaning to become  “Hooray for salvation! It’s coming! It’s here! Salvation! Salvation”” - from “Hosanna” by John Piper.)

My Bible’s notes name Psalm 118:19,20, that refer to entering the gates, as what “...set the mood for the crowd’s use of Psalm 118:25,26 as praise when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem” - Dick Iverson, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 728.

I see in these verses a “gate of the Lord” for us too. It’s praise:

“And I will praise the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD” (emphasis added).

This psalm is full of implied suggestions about when we can praise God:

• When we’ve had a near-death experience and our life has been preserved - Psalm 118:17,18.

• When we recall how God has been with us throughout our history - Psalm 118:17.

• When God has answered prayer - Psalm 118:21.

• When we contemplate God’s plan of salvation - Psalm 118:22,23.

• As we begin a new day - Psalm 118:24.

• When we’re pushed to trust God for our daily needs - Psalm 118:25.

• When we meet with people of like faith in church or our home group or wherever we gather - Psalm 118:26.

In a few days we will celebrate Palm Sunday. Let’s get our hearts tuned up with praise to join that welcoming crowd!

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, how my attitude changes and I enter Your gates when I open my spiritual eyes to recognize Your excellence, and open my mouth with praise. 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.

Persistent, overbold, shameless asking

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 11:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "'So I say to you, ask, and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.'" Luke 11:9-10


If you saw my monthly prayer list, you would know that I take these words of Jesus seriously. Many of the items keep reappearing month after month, even year after year. In some ways, the fact that they are still there is a "yes" answer. In the case of ill family members and friends, that they're still on my list means they're still alive to be prayed for.

It's good to know that instead of resenting our persistence (which can also be translated importunity, overboldness, and shamelessness) God encourages it.

A little footnote in my Bible explains it this way:

"Jesus teaches persistence in prayer along with a sense of urgency and boldness. He does not suggest that we must overcome God's reluctance to respond to our requests but that we must be earnest and wholehearted in prayer. The persistence is necessary for our benefit, not God's." New Spirit Filled Life Bible p. 1409.

For what do you continue to ask? What do you keep seeking? What doors remain closed? Whether your requests are for yourself or others, pester God about them. He doesn't mind. Instead, He invites bulldog prayer habits.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this invitation to persist in prayer. Today it encourages me to pray with new energy for the things that have been on my prayer list a long time. Amen.

MORE:Prayer Lists
Do you use a prayer list? For years I have gone back and forth between using one and not. In 2008 I invented a form that I can fill in weekly (though I have been doing it monthly). It has a space for answered prayers. I describe it here.


How do you keep track of things to pray for?

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

The unhealthiness of sin

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 2:1-17


TO CHEW ON: "'Which is easier to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say "Arise, take up your bed and walk?"

'But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins'—He said to the paralytic, 'I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house.'" Mark 2:9-11

Was Jesus, in this healing, dealing with two separate issues: 1) the man's guilt and sinfulness, and 2) his physical paralysis? Or were they linked? In other words, is personal sin implicated in our physical illnesses?

A brief study of some Bible passages shows us that the two are mentioned together more than just this once.

• Ananias and Sapphira experienced the ultimate end of sin's physical effects (death) when they lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-10).

• Paul pronounced blindness on the sorcerer Bar Jesus (Elymas) when he tried to dissuade the proconsul Sergius Paulus from putting his faith in Christ (Acts 13:11-12).

• Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, links physical sickness and death within the church to taking the Lord's Supper flippantly (1 Corinthians 11:29,30).

• James reassures those who are sick that the "prayer of faith" prayed over them by church elders will not only bring physical healing but forgiveness of sins too (James 5:14-16).

Though I would never say that all our sicknesses are a direct result of personal sin, neither can we ignore the connection. Matthew Henry says of the two in his comment on our passage:

"Sin is the cause of all our pains and sicknesses. The way to remove the effect, is to take away the cause. Pardon of sin strikes at the root of all diseases. Christ proved his power to forgive sin, by showing his power to cure the man sick of the palsy. And his curing diseases was a figure of his pardoning sin, for sin is the disease of the soul; when it is pardoned, it is healed" Matthew Henry's Commentary.

As we pray for healing for ourselves and others, let's not forget to examine our lives for causative sin in the light of God's word and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to live transparently before You. Please convict me of sin which always has the potential to lead to physical repercussions. Amen.

MORE: Breaking it down

The temptation is to stay in the realm of theory when connecting sin and sickness. But a little brainstorming leads to a list of sins and their physical effects that we may find ourselves guilty of. I'm sure you can think of more.

• Sins of unbelief, unforgiveness, pride etc. can lead to emotional and mental dis-ease.

• Sins of sensuousness and indulgence can lead to obesity, drunkenness, addictions, and their complications.

• The sin of sexual looseness can lead to STDs.

• The sin of anger can lead to impaired judgment resulting in fights and accidents.

Send them away?

Canaanite woman and Jesus - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 15:21-39

TO CHEW ON: "And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, 'Send her away, for she cries out after us.'" Matthew 15:23


How awkward, to be traveling around in a foreign country and have someone—a woman no less—begin following you around, shouting stuff. The disciples can only take so much of "'Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! …'" until they urge Jesus to send this Canaanite woman away.

This isn't the only time we find the disciples suggesting Jesus dismiss someone. We've just encountered something similar when, after a long  day of preaching, the disciples tell Jesus to " 'Send the multitudes away…' " to get food (Matthew 14:15).

And a few chapters further on, the disciples rebuke parents who are bringing their children to Jesus for a blessing (Matthew 19:13).

But how does Jesus react to these potential irritants and interruptions?

He doesn't let the Canaanite woman's irritating cry get to Him. Instead, He starts up a conversation, probes her faith and then sends her home to a miracle (Matthew 15:24-28).

He doesn't ignore the need of the hungry crowd, but feeds them.

He doesn't send away those parents and their children, but blesses them and rebukes the disciples.

We too may be tempted to "send her away," "send the multitudes away" when people:

• embarrass us—the awkward, unusual, mentally challenged, people who dress differently, act inappropriately, those looked down on by society.

• have big needs we can't possibly meet.

• threaten to mess with our tidy plans and agendas—children, high-maintenance, woman-at-the-well types.

Let's be alert to times when our first impulse would be to "send them away." At such times, let's pause, send up a silent "What do you want me to do in this situation, Jesus?" listen for His answer, and then do it.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, on my own I'm smart to send needy, hurting people away because I can't do anything for them. But I have You and You can. Help me to bring such people and situations to You. 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.

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