Insomnia

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Proverbs 19-21; Psalm 4


TO CHEW ON: "I will both lie down in peace and sleep;
For You alone, O LORD, Make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

Are you ever troubled with insomnia? I certainly am. I think perhaps David was too. For in this psalm he reminds himself (and us, the readers/listeners) that he should be able to sleep:

"Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still ...
I will both lie down in peace and sleep ..."

The Bible speaks of peaceful sleep coming as a result of:

• Doing a hard day's physical work - Ecclesiastes 5:12.

• Entrusting the final outcome of our work to God - Psalm 127:2

• Trusting God for general well-being and protection - Psalm 3:5; Proverbs 3:24 and our focus verse,Psalm 4:8.

• Trusting God in even extreme circumstances, like Jesus did in the storm-tossed boat (Mark 4:38) and Peter did in prison (Acts 12:6).

I would submit that often 'trust' is the secret to our ability to sleep well:

"... put your trust in the Lord ... For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."


PRAYER: Dear God, it is so easy to take the responsibility for my life on my shoulders and with it a load of fear and anxiety that keep me awake. Help me to trust You to the extent that I can relax in sleep. Amen.


PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 4

MORE: Insomniac prayers

One thing many of us do at night when we can't sleep is pray. (David mentions communication with God four times in this short psalm.)

I love how Donna Farley writes of nighttime prayers in her poem "The Geography of Prayer." Here is a sampling:


THE GEOGRAPHY OF PRAYER

my midnight wakeful prayers
the gift of insomnia
I hold a globe cradled in my hands
and the wave of prayer begins:

a slingshot drawn back to the west coast
then as if the daylight terminator reversed itself
sweeping eastward with mercy, healing,
over the homes of people I know
and people I don't...

....

But I can't be the only one who lies
awake nights like this.
Like lines of magnetic force
caressing the world I imagine prayers
emanating from the faithful
wrapping the world up like string
wound around the core of a baseball....

© 1999 by Donna Farley (Used with permission)
Read the entire peom here.

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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.

Be blessed

Jacob blessing Joseph's sons
- Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 5-7; Psalm 41

TO CHEW ON: "The Lord bless you and keep you." Numbers 6:24

Doesn't your heart just take a deep breath and settle down as you read the verses of blessing in today's scripture? There is something in this Aaronic blessing that feels like a warm blanket when you're shivering, or a cool breeze on a hot day, or a table loaded with food when you're hungry.

This blessing of only three lines (actually one, partitioned by semicolons) contains six actions. Let's look closely at them in order to soak up every bit of this blessing's goodness.

"The Lord bless..."
To bless someone means to consecrate, make holy, honour, exalt, glorify, bestow happiness and prosperity on. It's a powerful enough interaction between people—how much more when the blessing bestowed is the blessing of the Lord. How rich we are!

"..and keep you"
Keep (shamar) means to guard, keep watch and ward, protect, save the life of. When we keep something we retain the possession of it; we don't give it away. God holds onto us in that way. How safe we are!

"The Lord make His face shine upon you..."
The word "shine" ('owr) alludes to the shine of the sun, to illumine, to become lighted up, to make shine as of the face. Watch a mother's face light up when she sees her child. That's how God's face lights up when He looks at you and me. How loved we are!

"...and be gracious to you"
Gracious (chanan[a]) means to show favour, be gracious toward, have mercy on. It is characterized by showing kindness, affability. To be gracious means to be full of compassion and mercy. God is disposed that way toward us. How favored we are!

"The Lord lift up His countenance upon you..."
The picture here is similar to God making His face shine on us. I see, in addition, a focused attention, like a parent looking straight into a child's eyes. God looks straight at and into us. How known we are!

"...and give you peace."
Give (suwm) means to extend, establish, bring to pass peace - a state of mental or physical quiet or tranquility, calm, repose, reconciliation, freedom from mental agitation or anxiety. When God pours His peace over  and into us, how settled we are!

May we realize every part of this blessing as we head into 2015.

PRAYER: Dear God, Your blessing is what we need and want more than anything else, as we enter the new year. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 41

The Bible Project VIDEO: Numbers (Torah Series)



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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 is "the voice of the LORD" to you?

 "The erection of the Tabernacle and the Sacred vessels"

as in Exodus 40:17-19; from the 1728 Figures de la Bible*

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 35-40; Psalm 29

TO CHEW ON: "The voice of the LORD is powerful;
The voice of the LORD is full of majesty." Psalm 29:4

The phrase "The voice of the LORD" repeats seven times in this psalm. In this way David draws our attention to God's (Yahweh's) presence, especially in nature where God's voice is over the waters (recalling the scene of creation), breaks and splinters cedars, divides the flames, shakes the wilderness, and causes the deer to give birth. It truly is a powerful, majestic voice.

The Bible speaks of God's voice in other settings as well. God's voice:

• Filled Adam and Eve with terror after they had sinned - Genesis 3:8.

• Gave Moses instructions for the building of the tabernacle, including who he was to enlist to make these things (Exodus 25-31). Though these Exodus passages don’t describe the sound of God’s voice, the content of His instructions is full of technical detail, precise measurement, the knowledge of how to make things, and how to make them beautiful. (with our reading today describing how all these instructions were carried out.) 

• Spoke "still" and "small" to weary Elijah - 1 Kings 19:12.

• Came to the aid of His people - Isaiah 66:6.

• Gave Ezekiel glimmerings of His glory and majesty - Ezekiel 43:2.

• Vanquished a powerful king - Daniel 4:31.

• Witnessed that Jesus was God the Son - Matthew 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17.

The "voice of God," as David uses it here, is actually a literary device called synecdoche: "A figure of speech in which a part of something indicates the whole" - Poetry Dictionary p. 312. It is similar to metonymy which uses an object associated with something to indicate the whole (e.g. we talk of "crown" when we mean "royalty.").

And so, it is not really God's voice per se that we're talking about but God Himself as we envision and experience Him in various ways.

I ask myself, if I wrote a psalm or poem using synecdoche, what part of God would I choose? His voice, or maybe His hands, or heart, or thoughts, or feet?

If I used His voice, what kind of 'voice of the Lord' poem or paragraph would I write? What about you? In other words, how do we view and how have we experienced God?

Has our view of Him been affected by how our society sees and portrays Him--distant and disinterested? Limited by the evil around us? A prudish potentate who doesn't want us to have any fun? A soft grandfatherly figure who, in the end, will welcome us all into heaven because we've done the best we could?

Or does our view of Him reflect how the Bible portrays Him? Are we open to see and know Him in new biblically based ways?

PRAYER: Dear God, I think my concept of who You are has been affected by my culture and its portrayal of You.  Help me to experience You as the holy, righteous, powerful, majestic, creative, glorious etc. etc. deity of the Bible. Amen.  

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 29

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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.

* Photo attribution: By illustrators of the 1728 Figures de la Bible, Gerard Hoet (1648–1733) and others, published by P. de Hondt in The Hague in 1728 - http://www.wcg.org/images/b2/_0303160501_038.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9416912

Enduring legacy

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 90:1-17


TO CHEW ON: "And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,

And establish the work of our hands for us;

Yes, establish the work of our hands." Psalm 90:17

Does it seem to you that the seasons are changing faster than they ever did? That Christmas, another birthday, your  anniversary is always just around the corner and that they keep coming at you faster than they ever did when you were a child?I don't know what it is about getting older that makes time seem to fly. Perhaps it's the realization that it's running out. The top of the timer is only half full, one third full, one quarter full...

The theme of Psalm 90 is the brevity of life and the stewardship of time. What vivid pictures the writer, Moses, paints to show how short life is:

To God a thousand years are like yesterday (before you realize it, only a memory), and a watch in the night (a few hours on duty) - Psalm 90:4.

To us life is like a flash flood, a sleep when time passes without our awareness, grass that grows in the morning but by evening is cut down, as slight as a sigh - Psalm 90:5-6,9.

Other Bible passages add paintings to the "Life is Brief" gallery:

• "Our days on earth as as a shadow" - 1 Chronicles 29:15.
• "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle" - Job 7:6.
• "My life span is gone, taken from me like a shepherd's tent; I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom" - Isaiah 38:12.
• "You have made my days as handbreadths" - Psalm 39:5.
• "He comes forth like a flower and fades away" - Job 14:2.
• "For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" - James 4:14.

In the setting of such fragility and brevity, Moses' request seems almost brash: "...establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands."

[Establish = kun means to be firmly established, stable, secure, enduring, directed aright, fixed aright, steadfast.]

Isn't this what we all want—to do something significant, to leave something that endures past the span of our short lives?

Just over a month ago we celebrated the sixteenth anniversary of 9-11. I would suppose that the men who designed those twin towers thought they had left a multi-generational legacy in the massive structures. Yet they came down in mere hours. What everyone celebrated on the anniversary was not the memory of those buildings but the acts of heroism, self-sacrifice, and love performed by many who died that day and how they made a lasting difference to lives.

Our love for people, as it works itself out in a hundred different ways, is also the best legacy we can leave. It is an investment in never-dying souls. Let's concern ourselves with leaving such a legacy especially as it involves introducing those souls to Jesus, the giver of eternal life.


PRAYER: Dear God, Moses' prayer is my prayer today: 'Let the beauty of the Lord my God be upon me. And establish the work of my hands for me. Yes, establish the work of my hands. Amen.


MORE: a poem...

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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.

Baptism

"The Baptism of Christ"
By Carl Heinrich Bloch

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 3:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Matthew 3:11


Have you been baptized? If you have, you no doubt remember the day and its significance to you.

I was baptized in the South Saskatchewan River when I was 14. We got instruction on the meaning of baptism before the event, so that I understood how being thrust under the water was a symbol of death to sin, how coming up out of the water a symbol of resurrection or new life, how the white dress we girls customarily wore was a picture of my purity in Jesus, and how my baptism was a sign to anyone watching that I was a Jesus-follower.

Here John was baptizing people who were repentant. We don't know how John accomplished this physically. Perhaps he scooped water in his hands and poured it over the head of the person being baptized. Or maybe he tilted the person backward (or forward) immersing their entire body in water for a second or two (the way I was baptized). Whatever method he used, the water running over the person in the baptismal act no doubt signified cleansing then, as it still does now, and the publicity of the act was a sign then, as now, of spiritual allegiance and intention to everyone watching.

In the midst of his baptizing, John explained something to the crowd: that he was just a forerunner of the real Baptizer. He was referring, of course, to Jesus, of whom he said: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

A footnote in my Bible gives this explanation of verse 11:

"John's baptism is a type of the salvation experience of being baptized in the Spirit. As John's baptism placed the individual in the medium of water, so the baptism of Jesus places the Christian in the Spirit, identifying him as bound over totally to the Lord (Acts 2:4; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 5:18)" New Spirit Filled Life Bible p. 1294.

Examining the three references above shows us:

- Just as water covers us in the act of baptism, the Spirit fills us when we are Spirit-baptized.

• Acts 2:4: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit  or as the Amplified translates it: "And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit."
• Ephesians 5:18: "...ever be filled and stimulated with the Holy Spirit" - Amplified.

The Spirit's presence within us cements us together with other Christians in "one body" — the church. Our belonging is no longer dependent on or defined by race or culture but by the Spirit's presence in us.

• 1 Corinthians 12:13: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body..."

When John hesitated to baptize Jesus, insisting that it would be more fitting for Christ to baptize him, Jesus replied "'Permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness.'" In other words, Do this; it's the right and God-way of doing things.

If you are a follower of Jesus and have not been water baptized, perhaps you should consider it. Though it is a simple even foolish-looking act, your following of Christ's example in this will bind you in loyalty to Jesus and fellow Christians, and flesh out what happened when the Spirit came to fill the inside of you.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus thank You for the symbolic act of baptism that illustrates what happens when You saved me and filled me with Yourself. Help me to open myself fully to the life of the Holy Spirit in me. Amen.


MORE: Jesus' baptism from God's perspective (as per my 'sanctified' imagination):


Baptism


When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened. Luke 3:21

For thirty years and nine months
heaven’s Son-silent corridors,
its echoing rooms with their litter
of creation and Word-clutter
have been my constant reminder
of His absence.

Though always vigilant
I have restrained myself
from reaching down
to steady His first tottering steps,
held back from lavishing gifts
against hunger, sadness, cold
from interfering with Nazareth bullies
and the enticing eyes of Galilean girls
limited myself to an awakening touch
in the still-dark morning,
inaudible whisper in a garden.

Today – this coming-of-age
beginning, graduation, birthday
all rolled into one –
He has come to this river
with questioning prayers.
Does He really not know?
Today even the decorous angels
will not hold me back.

I release Spirit
not as wind, or flame or flattening bolt
but as Dove – He will understand
this message of foreshadowing –
then proclaim
in a deluge
that immerses time,
“You are my Son whom I love.
With you I am well pleased.”

Copyright © 2004 by Violet Nesdoly
First published at Utmost Christian Writers

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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.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible,
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

When God hurts us

"How deserted lies the city"

by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

from "Bibel in Bildern"1851-1860

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Lamentations1:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the Lord has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy." Lamentations 1:5


In the next several weeks we'll be reading through all of Lamentations. It is a sad book originally titled "Ekah," the first word of the book. Ekah means how or alas. Some also called it Qinot or "Lamentations" and that name has stayed with the book.

Many scholars attribute its authorship to Jeremiah. He wrote it against the backdrop of tragic events in Judah.

The kingdom was in moral decline. At a time when they were subjects to the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, King Zedekiah rebelled and Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:20).

Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and many people starved. When Nebuchadnezzar finally broke down the wall, Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers escaped. But the Babylonian army destroyed most of Jerusalem, burned the temple, and carried all but the poorest into exile (2 Kings 25:8-12).

As I read Jeremiah's poem of raw grief for his beloved land, I am touched by the images of Judah as a destitute woman. But I am also struck by the words "For the Lord has afflicted her."

Isn't life with God supposed to be good — better than life without Him? It seems that God has chosen to hurt His own people. Why?

A paragraph from the book's introduction in my Bible gives us something to think about in this regard:

"The Juhadites had been able to think of themselves only as God's chosen race. As such they felt that they would always experience good things. God had made covenants of blessing with them, but these were conditional. Blatant disobedience would mean that the pleasurable aspects of blessing would be replaced by punishment. The fulfillment of the promises of blessing could always skip a few generations of disobedient Israelites" - Paul B. Watney, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1036.

"Conditional (covenants of blessing), "blatant disobedience," "punishment." Could some of the troubles God allows us to experience be related to these things as well?

It is easy to promise would-be converts that life will be smooth sailing if they accept Jesus. But God, in His knowledge of everything about us, does allow trouble in our lives too. Could it be that sometimes God, in effect, hurts us because we have been disobedient and strayed from Him. We can be sure, though, that even such seemingly hurtful treatment is a sign of His love (Proverbs 3:11,12).


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to have a realistic knowledge and view of my relationship with You. Help me to learn the lessons I need to from the difficulties you allow into my life. Amen.

MORE: Lamentations as poetry

Lamentations is a collection of five poems The first four, including poem 1 (our reading today), are acrostics. These are poems in which each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet (see also Psalms 25, 34, 37, 119).

Why the form? Writing acrostics may have been seen as a literary challenge in Jeremiah's day. Poems with predictable starting letters would be easier to memorize. We may also see such poems, in their going from Aleph to Tau (A to Z),  that the poet is  "...working through every grief, hurt, and fear, and opening up completely to both man and God" (from the introduction to Lamentations by Paul B. Watney, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1037).

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

Jesus and family loyalty

The Finding of the Savior in the Temple by William Holman Hunt - 1860

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 2:41-52

TO CHEW ON: "And He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? Did you know know that I must be about My Father's business?'" - Luke 2:49

Joseph Seeks Jesus
The annoyance of calling and getting no answer
soon changes to anxiety,
panic to heated words
“I thought you said he was with us.”
“Why didn’t you make sure?”
“You’re positive he’s not with Elizabeth
Zachariah and John?”

Mary and I leave the caravan din
of flickering fires and comforting supper smells
head back to Jerusalem with heavy, urgent steps
eyes sweeping hillsides and ditches.
At dark we stop in a wayside inn
where the night is a toss
of anxiety and self-recrimination:
After seeing him through everything
how could I lose him now?

Next morning in the city
we comb the markets, revisit inns
head back to relatives
asking everyone
“Have you seen our son
twelve, about so tall,
named Jesus?”

Two days like this and well into the third
exhausted Mary stumbles on the stones
I hold her sobbing, trembling form
and know we must go to pray.
The temple courtyard at dusk is deserted
but for a knot of rulers in deep discussion
Mary stops. “It’s his voice!”
Goes running over – “Jesus!
Why have you done this to us?”

He stands, steps away from them...
I, weak with relief am thinking
how can I put three days of anxiety
into words that won’t hurt,
when he says
so innocent and surprised:
“Why did you seek me? Did you not know
that I must be about my Father’s business?”

Now it is I who am lost.

© November 18, 2010 by Violet Nesdoly

This poem meditation expresses what strikes me most about this story—how Jesus and His mission affected His parents. I imagine Joseph felt a stab when Jesus said, in effect, You're not my real father. Just as Mary must have felt one earlier at hearing the prophetic words of Simeon about Jesus' future (Luke 2:34,35).

After this temple incident the 12-year-old Jesus bent to His earthly parents' wishes and it sounds like from this day on was a model child. But again in adulthood, He repudiated family ties for kingdom loyalties. He shrugged off His family's rights to Him when His mother and brothers tried to take Him home when His ministry had stirred up controversy (Mark 3:31-35). And He taught that discipleship loyalty superseded family claims (Luke 14:26).

What does this mean for us, now?

If we're young and have our lives before us, this may be our permission to follow the voice of Jesus first in making life's choices, even over parents, counselors etc.

For us who are parents, I see the words RELINQUISH, of children, grandchildren all over these passages.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to be loyal to You first, above any person, and then to allow those in my life that same freedom. Amen.
MORE:

"We put sensitive loyalty to relatives in the place of loyalty to Jesus Christ and Jesus has to take the last place. In a conflict of loyalty, obey Jesus Christ at all costs." ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, September 27 reading.

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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.

Responding to Jesus

 Jesus Teaching in the Synagogue 

in Nazareth - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 4:14-30

TO CHEW ON: "So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. … So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath." Luke 4:22,28

Today's story is a study in synagogue crowd behavior.

* The service described in our reading starts with the leader(s) welcoming Jesus with respect, if not warmth. Someone even hands Him the scroll to do one of the readings.

(A commentary explains the order of a synagogue service. It required at least ten males be present and began with someone reading the Shema [Deuteronomy 6:4-9]. That was followed by prayers, followed by more Scripture—a portion from the Torah [Genesis to Deuteronomy] and then the prophets. In the teaching that followed, the reader explained the passages read and sometimes linked them with other Scriptures. The meeting ended with a benediction. [Information from the IVP New Testament Commentary accessed through Biblegateway.com.])

Jesus chooses Isaiah 61:1,2, reads it, and says, "'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing' " Luke 4:21.

* Here we see his hearers' next response; they "marvel" at these words (Luke 4:22). The Greek word for marvel is thaumazo which is rendered by forms of the words amaze, astonish, marvel, surprise, and wonder.

* By the end of Jesus' speech though, the crowd's mood has darkened from He's-one-of-us, to amazement, to murderous rage (Luke 4:28-29).

Why the change? What does He say (and they hear) that so infuriates them?

He says, in effect (by claiming to be the fulfillment of Isaiah 61):
1. He is anointed by the Spirit.
2. He is the prophet of the fulfillment of good news.
3. He is the one who brings relief as well as proclaims it; He is Messiah.

In His talk, Jesus further rubs them the wrong way when He exposes their doubts in Him as a person who they knew from youth. Then He equates Himself with a prophet who gets no respect in his hometown and recalls the rejected OT prophets Elijah and Elisha and their miracles, benefiting not Israelites, but Gentiles.

The IVP commentary explains the choice He lays out for them, and us:
"The price of rejecting God's message is serious: mercy moves on to other locales. It is quite risky to walk away from God's offer of deliverance. … The crowd does not seize the opportunity. Rather, Jesus' warning angers them.  … Many respond similarly today when they realize that the gospel is a matter of 'take it or you will be responsible to God for the consequences' " - Ibid (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to open my heart and life to You and Your works every day. Amen.

MORE: Procrastination

This tendency of ours to put off making a decision about Jesus reminds me of a poem I read a while ago.

Manana (Tomorrow)

Lord, what am I, that, with unceasing care,
Thou didst seek after me, that thou didst wait,
Wet with unhealthy dews, before my gate,
And pass the gloomy nights of winter there?
Oh, strange delusion, that I did not greet
Thy blest approach! and oh, to Heaven how lost,
If my ingratitude’s unkindly frost
Has chilled the bleeding wounds upon thy feet!

How oft my guardian angel gently cried,
“Soul, from thy casement look, and thou shalt see
How he persists to knock and wait for thee!”
And, oh! how often to that voice of sorrow,
“To-morrow we will open,” I replied,
And when the morrow came I answered still, “Tomorrow.”

by  Lope De Vega (Spanish, 1562–1635 - translated by William Wordsworth or H. W. Longfellow)

 - Read in Light Upon Light: A Literary Guide to Prayer for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany compiled by Sarah Arthur.


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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.

The Bible - amazing book

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 19:1-14

TO CHEW ON: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7

Product recall! The thought makes us cringe even as we perk up our ears to hear what is being recalled this time. Sometimes it's food that's been tainted with bacteria. Lately many cars have been recalled for faulty parts that make them dangerous to drive. Baby products are especially vulnerable to recall as we attempt to shield our most vulnerable and helpless from danger and risk.

 Probably nothing is as damaging to a company’s reputation as having to send out a warning about the safety of its products – though denying there is a problem and continuing to circulate dangerous goods is, in the end, even worse.

Our reading today talks about something that will never need to be recalled. God’s word – the Bible – has been around for centuries and it will continue to remain perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, righteous, desirable, sweet, effective to warn us and, if we follow its advice, to deliver us to God as acceptable.

How can I say such a thing with such certainty? Well okay, I’ll admit there is an element of faith here. But my faith is based on more than just the Bible’s claims for itself. My trust in the Bible is also based on these things:

- It’s indestructibility. How long do most books last? Not long! But the Bible, despite the passage of time and numerous efforts to exterminate it, is going stronger than ever.

- Its character in both message and unity. Where else will you find a collection of 66 books from 50 different authors written over about 1600 years that contains “One doctrinal system, one moral standard, one plan of salvation, one program of the ages”? (Lectures in Systematic Theology – Thiessen, p. 85)

- Its influence. It has and continues to cross cultural and language barriers around the world.

- Its fulfilled prophecies. “Only God can reveal the future and we have many proofs in the Scriptures that He did reveal it to His servants” (Thiessen, p. 88).

For these reasons I have anchored my life to the bedrock of the Bible – and don’t expect to ever find out it is broken, faulty, mistaken or polluted. What about you? On what have you built the house of your life?

PRAYER: Dear God, I thank You for the Bible, which is rich beyond words. Help me to understand it and live by its principles today. 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.

God's pruning shears

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 5:1-7

TO CHEW ON: "What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes did it bring forth wild grapes?" Isaiah 5:4


The vines were loaded with tomatoes. It looked like a bumper crop. Then one day I noticed a subtle blush of brown on one of the green tomatoes. It started where the fruit joined the stem.

I watched in dismay as day by day, it expanded. Soon I noticed similar spots on more tomatoes. They were rotting before my very eyes! Even picking the green unblemished ones in hopes they would ripen without first turning brown didn't help. I never grew tomatoes in that blight-infested spot of the garden again.

If you've done any gardening, you may well have experienced something similar. And you will understand the disappointment in the voice of the gardener, singing the Vineyard Song of Isaiah 5.

In it, Isaiah describes how the farmer has lovingly tended his vineyard. But instead of the harvest he expects, the pampered plot yields only small bitter wild grapes. He is so exasperated, he has decided to take away its protection, stop weeding and cultivating it, and send no more rain. In other words, he will abandon it.

The vineyard is, of course, a picture or metaphor for Israel and Judah. God, fed up with their bad fruit, has decided to leave them to their own devices.

We can apply the message of this poignant poem to our lives too. We also are God's plants, which He needs to do stuff to to make fruitful.

I am fine with Him putting His hedge of protection around me— I like it that nothing can touch me without His permission. Similarly I like the rain He sends, and the weeds He pulls out. But the pruning...

Pruning hurts. In horticulture it involves cutting off extra stems so that more energy can go into the fruit-producing branches. In the spiritual realm, pruning may involve having a person in my life who brings out the worst in me so I see the carnal nature within myself that I need to deal with. It may mean a source of income dries up so I'm forced to expend my energies elsewhere. It may mean delaying the pursuit of dreams while I do my duty.

Pruning often seems harsh and random. But Isaiah 5 reminds us how intentional and purposeful is God's tending of us. His goal is never to hurt us in a sadistic way, but to hurt us so we will be successful and fruitful in His kingdom.

PRAYER: Dear God, how dreadful is the thought that I could resist Your pruning to the point that You would abandon me to my own ways. Help me to cooperate with Your pruning in my life. Amen

MORE: Curious about how to prune?

- Here's an article on how to prune a grape vine.

- an article on how to prune tomatoes.

- an article on how to prune roses.

Can you find more lessons about spiritual pruning from these examples of plant pruning?

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

Feed trough birth

"Joseph Seeks Lodging" by James Tissot (1886-94)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 2:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloth, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7

As I reread this familiar story today, I am struck by the lowliness of the characters and their situations.

Joseph and Mary were the most ordinary citizens, at the beck and call of Caesar Augustus. They had no choice but to obey the census summons and travel at this most inconvenient time.

The place of Jesus' birth—a feed trough—has been the basis of many a Christmas play. Though the Bible description is beautifully understated, we can't help but imagine the crowded Bethlehem streets, see Joseph and Mary trekking from one inn to another, hear the desperation in Joseph's voice as Mary's labor pains accelerate: "Please. We'll take anything."

The angels announce Jesus' birth to shepherds, a rough lot and scorned by the who's-who in Jewish society.

God in His wisdom arrived in such a way that the humblest, poorest, and most despised found themselves in His spotlight. It reminds me of a poem by my friend Charlie. Let's ponder this as we celebrate Jesus' birth today. 

(Used with permission.)

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for revealing Yourself first to the poorest. None of us is too low or insignificant for You to notice and love. Amen.

***********
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.

Treating the Martha Syndrome

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 10:38-42

TO CHEW ON: "But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached Him and said, 'Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.'" Luke 10:40

I have on my bookshelf a thoughtful book that makes me want to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen. Embracing Your Second Calling by Dale Hanson Bourke helps women, specifically women in the second half of life, find direction and purpose for the rest of the journey. She makes a statement in a chapter on idols that I think is relevant to this little Mary-Martha vignette:

"I have come to believe that leaving false idols is at the heart of our ability to hear and obey our second callings" (p. 85).

Luke describes Martha as "distracted with much serving." But that is merely the outer symptom of obedience to a dictator in her heart which, I think, we could call an idol. Because there is nothing wrong with serving. But Martha's petulance at being left to do it alone shows that something besides serving is at stake here. There's an agenda (idol) that she's finding hard to satisfy.

Perhaps the motive for her dedicated service is to maintain her reputation as a good hostess and cook. On this of all days, she can't risk a shoddy or late meal. Or maybe she's fussing because this just isn't how you entertain guests—sit around listening to them while neglecting to do the usual. Tradition isn't being served. Or perhaps this is the Mary she's lived with all her life—the one who always slipped away from chores to do the interesting stuff. Today she's had enough. She is simply wanting Jesus, who would know what's fair if anyone would, to recognize and uphold her right to have help.

I've been all three of these Marthas. My sympathy is with her all the way. Mostly, I'd like to help her / myself get to the bottom of this and any dis-ease in my spirit that shows me some little demigod isn't happy. Sniffing out those idols is, I think, the key.

PRAYER: Dear God, You can have the full run of my heart today. Please help me identify and root out idols that keep me from hearing and following You. Amen.

MORE: Other thoughts on this passage

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World is a twelve week devotional by Joanna Weaver that delves into this little story in depth. Here is a reader's guide to the book (which gives a taste of what it's about).

Weaver has since come out with another book exploring the topic in even more depth. Janet Sketchley reviews Having a Mary Spirit (2006) on her blog here.

I've written about this Martha/Mary story previously before in a poem, which begins:

The Martha In Me

Too often Martha takes charge–
I schedule service with conditions,
workboots clomp on everything
threatening my control –
I curse the one who’s late,
ignore the longing in my daughter’s eyes to chat,
dismiss women with Watchtower at my door –
not aware I’ve stamped out
embers of His presence.

Read entire
 

O Canada, we live on guard for thee

Canada's flag on Seahorse Tugboat - Ganges Harbor, Salt Spring Island, BC

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 32:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
The work of righteousness will be peace
and the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever." - Isaiah 32:16,17

Today is Canada Day—a day we Canadians focus on our country. We celebrate with parades, picnics and face painting, citizenship ceremonies and fireworks. Though our celebrations may seem superficial, they are an expression of a deep thankfulness for so many things:
- democracy.
- a country where, to a great extent, color, race, and religion don't matter.
- clean air and water and, in most places, lots of room to live, explore, hike.
- unity in diversity, of provinces, races, culture, natural resources.

My friend Satwant is an immigrant to this country. In a poem titled "Let's Celebrate Canada Day" she expresses what many of us feel. Here is the last stanza:

"Let's dream together, work together,
and keep this country safe and whole
Because this is the best country in the world
Because this is 'HOME.'"
- Satwant Kaur Pandher, from The Healing Power of Nature, p. 101.

That picture of peace and plenty is what our focus verse paints. However, it begins with the word "Then…" signifying this condition hinges on something. The verse just above it tells us what: "Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high…"

My Bible's notes explain:

"He (Isaiah) pictures the Holy Spirit as the source of all end times blessings. Here is the first time there is a connection between the ministry of the Spirit and the moral and ethical results of salvation such as justice and righteousness. The Spirit is not only involved in the ministry of judgment (Isaiah 28:6) but He is also the source of a peaceful, ethical existence" - Nathaniel Van Cleave, notes on Isaiah, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 910.

This is where I see an application for myself and for all of us who claim to know and be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We can be an asset to the peace, well-being, and fruitfulness of our country as we allow the Spirit to move us in channels of peace, righteousness, justice, honesty, and integrity. He can help us live on guard for our country!


PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, may Your control in my life impact how I live my life in my home, city and nation. I pray for Canada today, that we will have the justice, righteousness, peace, quietness, and fruitfulness these verses speak of. Amen.

MORE: O Canada

Our national anthem, O Canada, has four stanzas. The last one is a prayer:

Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our Dominion, in thy loving care.
Help us to find, O God, in thee,
A lasting rich reward.
As waiting for the better day,
We ever stand on guard.
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

***********

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

Kingdom children

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 9:43b-62

TO CHEW ON: "And Jesus...said to them, 'Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you'll be great.'" Luke 9:48

In our passage today Jesus again confronts His disciples (and us) with the upside-downness of the kingdom of heaven. The disciples are arguing about who will be the greatest. Jesus answers by putting a child before them and making the startling statement, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me."

In a passage that speaks of the same event, Matthew reports Jesus saying, "Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" Matthew 18:3.

What qualities of children make them good kingdom citizens? I can think of at least five (and [Ha!] they all start with 't' just like a sermon).

Children are trusting. Look at how a child lays its head on the shoulder of a parent and falls asleep. That's how we are to trust God .

Children are transparent. They easily show their feelings and live without trying to be someone they are not. Jesus told His disciples to live with such lack of guile: "Let your yes be yes, your no, no."

Children are teachable. Think of the ways a child develops physical skills, picks up language and attitudes. Such a teachableness is the key to entering the kingdom  and continuing in it.

Children are tolerant. They don't discriminate against people because of shabby clothes or poor social standing. We should be just as accepting.

Children are telling. A little child full of good news finds it impossible to keep that news inside. We are to be just as overflowing with the good news that our sins are forgiven, our friendship with God is restored and that we have eternal life.

I ask myself, am I nurturing within me these childlike qualities? Are you?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me relate to You as a child to a trusting parent. Help me to live these qualities in my relationship with others too. Amen.

MORE: Converting To Childhood

Jesus: “... unless you are converted and become as little children
you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18:3

You lose sophistication and veneer
and become clear
sing, skip and play
easily laugh and cry
then fall asleep without a care
for Daddy is nearby.

No longer do you worry
about whether there will be
food to eat, clothes to wear
how to get from here to there.

You’re malleable clay again
learning your family’s ways and graces.
And once again you fit
into small places.

© 2007 by Violet Nesdoly — all rights reserved.

***********

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

Angels—seen and unseen

"The Temptation" by Alexandre Bida
depicting Satan, the prince of fallen angels,
tempting Jesus. 

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 5:17-42

TO CHEW ON: "But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, 'Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.'" Acts 5:19,20

I've told the story here before of how my husband and his parents, on a late night drive through a snowstorm in northern Ontario, followed tire tracks through the snow. Though these were fresh tracks—had to be because the wind and snow would have obliterated them in minutes—they never saw the back lights or any other sign of the vehicle leaving them. Once out of the storm the tracks disappeared. Was an angel guiding them?

The apostles never had to ask such a question. The angel that came to them not only opened the prison doors and led them to freedom but talked to them, telling them what to do next.

There are more references to angels in the New Testament than the Old, states a sidebar article in my Bible. Perhaps their ramped-up activity had to do with who they announced. Jesus' arrival buzzed with angel activity:

• An angel told Zacharias he would have a son who would be God's forerunner (Luke 1:11-17).

• An angel told Mary she would be Jesus' mother (Luke 1:26,27).

• An angel reassured Joseph about Mary and told him not to divorce her but to take her as his wife (Matthew 1:20).

• A single angel, accompanied later by a host announced Jesus' birth to the shepherds (Luke 2:9,13).

• An angel warned Joseph to flee Bethlehem so Jesus' life would be spared from jealous Herod (Matthew 2:13).

• Angels ministered to Jesus after His temptation (Matthew 4:110.

Here are some Bible details about the origin, nature, presence and function of good and bad (fallen) angels:

1. Angels are beings created by and for God - Colossians 1:16. 
2. Jesus has authority over angels in heaven - 1 Peter 3:22. 
3. Angels spend much time there praising and worshiping God and Jesus - Revelation 5:11,12.
4. Angels desire to "look into" prophecy about Jesus and its fulfillment - 1 Peter 1:12. This tells us that they don't have full knowledge of these things.  
5. Good angels are called "ministering spirits." At least one of their jobs is to minister to (help, serve) those who will "inherit salvation" - Hebrews 16:14. 
6. Some angels sinned and will be judged - 2 Peter 2:4. 
7. Fallen angels are a believer's enemies. We need to resist them—something we can only do with the proper spiritual armor - Ephesians 6:12,13.

I love it that God's plan and design includes these mysterious beings, and look forward to the time in eternity when their presence will be visible and understood.


PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to be as obedient, adoring, and worshipful as angels. Amen.

MORE: I'd love to see an angel.

This piece I wrote a few years ago expresses how I feel about angels. (It includes some details I gathered from the Bible about their appearance and what they did.)

And suddenly an angel host …
(Luke 2:13)

I’d be content with one
wings and eyes
swords and shining
clothed in linen
belted with gold
body like beryl
face like lightning
eyes like torches
feet of brass
voice like a multitude
calling from heaven
“Arise and eat”
opening prison doors
touching me
taking charge of me
taking my hand
to drag me to safety
bringing me out
keeping me in the way
moving ahead, behind
a fire, a cloud
shutting the mouths of lions
bringing me to the place
carrying me to Abraham’s bosom
surrounded by heaven’s host
where angels will no longer
be a big deal.

© 2013 - Violet Nesdoly

***********

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

The low road, the small place

Our grandson in a favorite small place

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Philippians 2:1-18

TO CHEW ON: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7

Jesus’ humility didn’t come the way ours often does, through being humiliated - though the religious leaders tried often enough to humiliate Him. Rather, it was demonstrated as He freely chose to make Himself low.

We can’t imagine the extent of His plunge. The prophet Daniel’s description of His place of origin gives us a vocabulary-limited idea. The scene is indescribably grand. He has unlimited power (Daniel 7:9-14).

He chose to leave all that and join us, small-minded, self-centered creatures on this sin-pocked planet. It’s mind-boggling really.

That’s why Jesus’ example of humility is so instructive to us. For none of us will ever have the reasons to be proud and uppity that He had. I love how a sidebar article in my bible describes it:

“Christ-like humility is manifested in the freedom of God’s Son to affirm the fullness of all God has placed in Him, without needing to flaunt or prove or push it through self-advancement. Jesus’ complete absence of any need to “clutch” for power or attention is manifest humility” - Fuchsia Pickett in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1662.

Don’t you just love that kind of humility – and want it in your life?

Here are some other facets of humility gleaned from the Bible:

1. It is one of three things God requires of us (Micah 6:8).
2. Humility on our part shows we are in touch with reality (Luke 14:10;  also Romans 12:3).
3. It makes us teachable (1 Peter 5:5).
4. It is demonstrated through service (Luke 22:26).
5. Humility is the foundation of a gracious, others-centered life (Romans 12:10).
6. It is through humility that Jesus attained His ultimate destiny (Philippians 2:5-11).
7. Humility will also lead us to attain the highest purpose for our lives (James 4:10).
8. Childlike humility is the route to true greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:4).


PRAYER: Dear God, please forgive me my proud, overweening spirit that longs for attention, glory and praise. Give me the desire to be humble and the will to choose the low road, the humble way, the small place. Amen.


MORE: Childlike

Converting To Childhood
Jesus: “... unless you are converted and become as little children
you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18:3

You lose sophistication and veneer
and become clear
sing, skip and play
easily laugh and cry
then fall asleep without a care
for Daddy is nearby.

No longer do you worry
about whether there will be
food to eat, clothes to wear
how to get from here to there.

.
You’re malleable clay again
learning your family’s ways and graces.
And once again you fit
into small places.

© 2007 by V. Nesdoly

(First published in 2007 at Utmost Christian Writers)

***********

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

Unstoppable Gospel

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 24:1-28

TO CHEW ON: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14

Jesus' teaching in this chapter touches on three topics: 1] the destruction of the temple, 2] His second coming, and 3] the END.

As is typical with prophecy, His predictions are capable of having both a near and remote fulfillment. My Bible footnotes explain about the near fulfillment:

"Jesus uses the tragic events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as a picture of conditions preceding HIs own return..." And about the reference to Daniel's mysterious "abomination of desolation": "...Jesus views the prophecy as referring ... to the arrival of the Roman army which besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in A.D. 70. That event foreshadows the conditions connected with Christ's return" New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, pp. 1334-5.

However, the END has not happened yet—though we would be blind not to recognize many of Jesus' predictions playing out in living colour around us right now:
- false Christs, false prophets, and deception.
- wars and rumours of wars.
- famine, pestilence, and earthquakes.
- persecution of believers in Jesus.
- lawlessness.
- people taking offense at the gospel.
- the gospel continuing to spread.

Let's pause for a minute on this last point and consider this one positive sign of the END.

• New developments in computer software technology have cut the time  and effort it takes to translate the Bible to a fraction of what they used to be.

• The internet and smart phone technologies have made the spread of the gospel almost impossible to detect and to stop. (For example, readers of this little blog come from all over the world: Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Malaysia, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Viet Nam, France, India, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Germany... How cool is that!)
•  

We are living in exciting, near-the-end times. Let's be busy doing our part to spread "this gospel of the kingdom" as we keep one eye on the sky (Matthew 24:27).

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to live with the expectation of Your near return. Amen.

Revive me

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 119:145-160

TO CHEW ON: "Revive me..." Psalm 119:149, 154, 156, 159

The writer of today's reading writes from a place of despair, even desperation. He cries. He can't sleep. He feels persecuted. He is revolted by the godlessness around him. And he senses a need for revival. That's what jumped out at me as I read this passage. Four times within these 15 verses he prays, "Revive me..."

Revive [chayah] in English means to bring back to life or restore to consciousness; to give new vigour, health; to make effective or operative again; to renew in the mind or memory; to refresh, reawaken. Let's look closely at the psalmist's request for revival to see what we can glean for times we sense a similar need.

It's interesting that each request is phrased slightly differently (at least in the NKJV).

• "O Lord, revive me according to Your justice [mishpat ]" - Psalm 119:149.

The NLT expresses this "...let me be revived by following your regulations," implying that an aspect of renewal could be up to us as a rousing of ourselves to again pay attention to what God wants. (The other translations I checked: NKJV, AMP, NIV & ESV didn't communicate that kind of action on our part, however.)

• "Revive me according to Your word [imrah]" - Psalm 119:154.

What the psalmist seems to be doing here is reminding God of the promises in the written word (Torah). "Preserve my life according to your promise," is how the NIV renders this (also similar in NLT and ESV).

• "Revive me according to Your judgments [mishpat ] - Psalm 119:156.

The NLT translates this similarly to vs. 149: "let me be revived by following your regulations." "Give me life according to your rules," says the ESV.

• "Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness [checed ] - Psalm 119:159.

Here the psalmist appeals to God's love in his request for revival. "Give back my life because of your unfailing love," says the NLT.

Judging from how the psalmist phrased his requests here, I think we could say that he saw revival as predominantly initiated by God. Though we may help it along by again turning our will to live in ways that please Him, we depend on Him to be true to His attributes — faithfulness, love, mercy — to keep the promises in His word and to extend His lovingkindness to us. One thing I believe we can do, however. Like the psalmist we can realize our need and pray for the breath of His life to again fill us.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I am reminded of Your words to Nicodemus, embodying the mystery of spiritual life: "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Please blow the wind of Your life over me. Revive me. Amen.

MORE: "My Eyes are Dry" - by Keith Green