A life to aspire to

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Thessalonians 3:6-4:12

TO CHEW ON: “… aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands…” 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Who, these days, does that—“aspire(s) to lead a quiet life” or, as the Amplified puts it: “Make it your ambition … to live quietly…”? It’s far more common to want to be noticed, to get attention with lots of “LIKES” on social media, for example, or to achieve the goal of all goals and go viral.

Yet to me, perhaps to you too, there is something attractive and alluring about these instructions on how to live:

• “lead a quiet life”

- “Lead a quiet life” brings to mind verses like “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” - Isaiah 30:15.

- Peter’s instructions on how to be a beautiful-from-the-inside woman include: “… a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” - 1 Peter 3:4.

- However, many Bible references to quietness also harbor within them an aspect of tension—the tension of waiting for something to happen: “It is good that one should hope and wait quietly / For the salvation of the LORD” - Lamentations 3:26.
“Truly my soul silently waits for God; / From Him comes my salvation” Psalm 62:1.

• “mind your own business”

This advice is, at some level telling the people not to gossip and be busybodies. This must have been a problem in Thessalonica because Paul addressed it in 2 Thessalonians 3:11,12. I wonder how Paul would have viewed Facebook!

• “work with your own hands”

From crocheting a shawl to building a house I’m sure most of us have experienced the satisfaction of a project we’ve completed with our own hands. Physical work is something the Bible endorses from cover to cover (Genesis 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:8).

These three bits of good-life advice are not only to make the readers’ lives better, but to serve as an example of a good and godly life to pre-believers - 1 Thessalonians 4:12.

In this time when we can be barraged with communication, information and noise from morning to night, doesn’t this lifestyle sound like a refreshing option?


PRAYER: Dear Father, at the root of this lifestyle of quietness, self-control, and work is confidence in You and Your ability to work things out in my life without my interference. Please help me to trust you so implicitly that quietness becomes my default setting. 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.

Maintaining the highways to Zion

Illustration from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 84:1-12

TO CHEW ON: "Blessed—happy, fortunate, to be envied—is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion." Psalm 84:5 AMP

The writer of this psalm draws our attention to the delights of the House of God. For him it's a literal place, a building, the temple in Jerusalem.

He speaks in picturesque language of his envy of the sparrows that nest near the altar. He glosses over the difficulties of the journey to Jerusalem, telling how even the Valley of Baca* becomes a place of springs because of anticipation. He would be willing, he says, to do the lowliest job at the temple—be a mere doorkeeper—rather than live separated from God in the "tents of wickedness."

I doubt that these days we feel the attachment he felt to a church building or the place we meet for worship. In many cases the venue in which we gather isn't even used solely for church but might, for the rest of the week, serve as a home, classroom, theatre, hotel meeting room etc.

Which is why I love how the Amplified translation shifts our attention from the place we're going to how we set out to get there: "Blessed—happy, fortunate, to be envied is the man … in whose heart are the highways to Zion." For no matter where we worship, our meeting with God begins with an attitude and journey of the heart.

How can we make our hearts  "highways to Zion," not only as we prepare to meet together on Sunday, but every day? Embedded in this psalm are some of the practices of these pilgrims that we could perhaps adopt ourselves.

1. We can remember former meetings with God and dwell on their delights. The psalmist says, "My soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for the courts of the Lord" − Psalm 84:1 AMP.

2. Singing is mentioned several times (Psalm 84:2,4): "Blessed … are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all day long" - Psalm 84:4 AMP.

3. We can focus on our blessings, even in the midst of difficulties - Psalm 84:6.

4. We can trust. The Amplified Bible expands: "... blessed ... is the man who trusts in You, leaning on and believing in You, committing all and confidently looking to You and that without fear or misgiving" - Psalm 84:12 AMP.

We don't have to wait for a special day to go to a special place and experience the joy of God's presence. We can keep our heart highways to Zion maintained every day of the week!


PRAYER: Dear God, the psalmist's delight in experiencing Your presence here is contagious. Help me to feel the same pull to spend time with You. Amen.

*Baca is a type of balsam plant that can survive in dry conditions. So perhaps this valley is known as a particularly desolate, dry spot. The Amplified translates it: "Passing through the valley of weeping…"

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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)

Prayer—it could change your whole day

"Jesus in prayer" by Alexandre Bida

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 1:29-45

TO CHEW ON: "Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed." Mark 1:35

We can learn so much about prayer from what we see Jesus do in this one verse.

• "Now in the morning..."

Jesus started the day with prayer. Whether one is a lark or an owl, we all start our day after a time of sleep. For most people this is the morning. Prayer was Jesus' first activity on getting out of bed.

• "... having risen a long while before daylight ..."

He got up extra early to pray. Was something troubling Him that He couldn't sleep? Whether that was the cause for His early waking or He knew that that would be the only time He would be free to pray, on this particular day (and others) prayer was more important to Jesus than sleep (see Luke 6:12).

• "... He went out and departed to a solitary place;"

For Jesus that meant physically removing Himself from the presence of others to a place that was deserted, remote, and where He was alone with God. We can't all do that literally. And so we must be creative in finding our solitary place. Jesus talked about praying behind a shut door to "Your Father who is in the secret place" - Matthew 6:6. For young moms with little ones, for example, the shut door might be a few moments spent alone in the bathroom or, as it was for Susanna Wesley, behind an apron.

• "....and there He prayed."

[Pray: To address prayers to a deity; To make earnest request or entreaty; to address by means of prayers; to ask, earnestly entreat.]

• His prayers made a difference to the day's activity - Mark 1:36-38.

We don't know exactly what Jesus prayed. But His decisiveness later when He insisted they go to the next towns instead of returning to Capernaum may have been a result of His time in prayer. When Simon found Him and told Him, "Everyone is looking for You," Jesus knew  what was to be next, and it wasn't going to be dictated by what the crowds wanted. His agenda had, no doubt, been influenced by the time He had spent with God in prayer.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to realize the importance of prayer to each day's activities. Help me to view prayer not only as asking, but as a time of needed togetherness with You, when I can receive Your perspective on the day ahead. Amen.

MORE: "Christ be in My Waking" - Stuart Townend



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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.

Jesus' wisdom

"Consolator" - Carl Heinrich Bloch

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 50:4-11

TO CHEW ON: "The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens me morning by morning
He awakens My ear
to hear as the learned." Isaiah 50:6

It's easy to identify the Servant in Isaiah 50 as Jesus. Compare today's focus verse with this bit from yesterday's reading about the 12-year-old Jesus: "And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers" - Luke 2:47. He  already had 'the tongue of the learned' at 12.  His wisdom  was above and beyond what someone His age would usually have. It was God's wisdom.

Isaiah 50:6 contains at least four aspects of God's wisdom evident in Jesus:

1. His wisdom was from God, a manifestation of deity come in flesh: "The Lord God has given Me / The tongue of the learned…"

2. Jesus' wisdom showed itself in what He communicated - "…That I should know how to speak…"

3. Wise words are words of comfort and encouragement - "… A word in season to him who is weary…"  We can't help but think of Jesus' words: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest… etc." -  Matthew 11:28-30.

4. Jesus got His wisdom by spending time with His Father - "…He awakens me morning by morning / He awakens My ear / To hear as the learned." The gospels are full of examples. He met with God early in the morning (Mark 1:35), through the night (Luke 6:12), after a full day (Mark 6:46), off by Himself (Luke 5:26). And I love how He left Himself open to interruption (Luke 9:18).

There is much about godly wisdom here for us to apply:

• We can ask for wisdom - James 1:5.

• Whether or not we are wise shows by what we communicate, in word and action - James 3:13-18.

• We can grow in wisdom as we consistently meet with God, in the same way that Jesus did, having ears that are awake to listen and learn. We do this "morning by morning" (or whenever we schedule that meeting time), assimilating into our lives His "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, / Line upon line, line upon line, / Here a little, there a little…" - Isaiah 28:13.  

PRAYER: Dear God, how desperately I need Your wisdom. Help me to really listen and put into practice what You tell me. I especially need the wisdom of tender-heartedness toward the discouraged and broken. Amen.


MORE: Handel's Messiah Alert

Words from Isaiah 50:6 are part of  Chorus 23 from Handel's Messiah. This video includes a graphic modern interpretation of that bloody scene.

He Gave His Back to the Smiters

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

What are you?

"The Call of Gideon" by Gerard Jollain
Engraving, about 1670.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 6:1-21


TO CHEW ON: "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!'" Judges 6:12

The description the Angel of the Lord gave Gideon — "mighty man of valor" — doesn't seem unusual until we read on and discover Gideon was anything but that. He himself argued against it when he said to the angel: "Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house" - Judges 6:15.

Later, just beyond the end of today's reading, he did what the angel told him to do but at night, "...because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day..." Judges 6:27.

He reminds me of Peter. Remember the cowardly Peter, so intimidated by events that he couldn't even bring himself to admit knowing Jesus? Then, only weeks later, he was the one who stood up and explained the Holy Spirit coming on the Day of Pentecost, turned the healing of the lame man into an altar call, and just wouldn't stop talking about Jesus even when commanded and threatened (Acts 4:18-20).

What made the difference?

In Peter's case the priests themselves figured it out: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus" - Acts 4:13.

Gideon would also turn out to become what the angel said—a man of valour. When we read his whole story (Judges 6-8) we see that as he spent time with God, heard His instructions and did them he truly came to impersonate what the angel said he was (though at the end of his life, there was slippage - Judges 8:27).

What does God say about you and me? Here is a sampling:

• We are the salt of the earth - Matthew 5:13.*

• We are the light of the world - Matthew 5:14.

• We are saints - Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2.

• We are God's living stones, being built up as a spiritual house - 1 Peter 2:9-10.

• We are children of God and will resemble Christ when He returns - 1 John 3;1-2.

Do these things seem true about us? Or would we like Gideon argue otherwise? We can make it so as we spend time with Jesus, letting Him change us.

PRAYER: Dear God, I would love it if people puzzled over the grace and power evident in my life — and concluded that the only reason for it was because I had been with Jesus. Amen.


MORE: Five more things we are:

• We are God's workmanship (handiwork) created (born anew) in Christ to do His work that He planned beforehand that we should do - Ephesians 2:10.

• We are righteous and holy - Ephesians 2:24.

• We are citizens of heaven and seated in heaven right now - Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6.

• We are sons/daughters of light not of darkness - 1 Thessalonians 5:5.

• We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession to proclaim His excellencies - 1 Peter 2:9-10.

*Taken from "Who Am I?" p. 8 of Resolving Personal Conflicts workbook, Dr. Neil T. Anderson, 1990, Freedom in Christ Ministries.

(From the archives)

What are you?

"The Call of Gideon" by Gerard Jollain
Engraving, about 1670.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 6:1-18


TO CHEW ON: "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!'" Judges 6:12

The description the Angel of the Lord gave Gideon — "mighty man of valor" — doesn't seem unusual until we read on and discover Gideon was anything but that. He himself argued against it when he said to the angel: "Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house" - Judges 6:15.

Later, just beyond the end of today's reading, he did what the angel told him to do but at night, "...because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day..." Judges 6:27.

He reminds me of Peter. Remember the cowardly Peter, so intimidated by events that he couldn't even bring himself to admit knowing Jesus? Then, only weeks later, he was the one who stood up and explained the Holy Spirit coming on the Day of Pentecost, turned the healing of the lame man into an altar call, and just wouldn't stop talking about Jesus even when commanded and threatened (Acts 4:18-20).

What made the difference?

In Peter's case the priests themselves figured it out: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus" - Acts 4:13.

Gideon would also turn out to become what the angel said — a man of valour. When we read his whole story (Judges 6-8) we see that as he spent time with God, heard His instructions and did them he truly came to impersonate what the angel said he was (though at the end of his life, there was slippage - Judges 8:27).

What does God say about you and me? Here is a sampling:

• We are the salt of the earth - Matthew 5:13.*

• We are the light of the world - Matthew 5:14.

• We are saints - Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2.

• We are God's living stones, being built up as a spiritual house - 1 Peter 2:9-10.

• We are children of God and will resemble Christ when He returns - 1 John 3;1-2.

Do these things seem true about us? Or would we like Gideon argue otherwise? We can make it so as we spend time with Jesus, letting Him change us.

PRAYER: Dear God, I would love it if people puzzled over the grace and power evident in my life — and concluded that the only reason for it was because I had been with Jesus. Amen.


MORE: Five more things we are:

• We are God's workmanship (handiwork) created (born anew) in Christ to do His work that He planned beforehand that we should do - Ephesians 2:10.

• We are righteous and holy - Ephesians 2:24.

• We are citizens of heaven and seated in heaven right now - Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6.

• We are sons/daughters of light not of darkness - 1 Thessalonians 5:5.

• We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession to proclaim His excellencies - 1 Peter 2:9-10.

*Taken from "Who Am I?" p. 8 of Resolving Personal Conflicts workbook, Dr. Neil T. Anderson, 1990, Freedom in Christ Ministries.

Coming January 1, 2010...

Daily devotions from the Bible. 

Right here!

If one of your New Year's Resolutions is to begin having a daily quiet time, you've come to the right place. Starting January 1, 2010, I'll be posting a short meditation each morning right here.

Based on the daily Bible Reading Guide from the Canadian Bible Society each devotion will have:

- Today's Special: the Bible Reading Guide passage, linked through Bible Gateway (you don't even need to own a Bible).

- To Chew On: a focus verse (from the day's reading) and some thoughts on how you can apply the ideas from this verse to your life.

- Prayer: a short prayer.

- More: quotes, links, songs - generally more stuff to help you take what you learned from the Bible into your everyday life.

I'm so excited to start these daily devotions! Won't you join me January 1st?