Thursday Devotional - Proved Correct

Last week we saw Paul’s words of advice ignored. He warned that if they sailed, it would be disastrous, but they decided to sail anyway. They quickly found out he was correct!

Acts 27:14-15, 18-26  ¹⁴ Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. ¹⁵ The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along… ¹⁸ We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. ¹⁹ On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

²¹ After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. ²² But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³ Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴ and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ ²⁵ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. ²⁶ Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

Because Paul’s warning had proved correct, I would guess they were more likely to believe his promise and heed his encouragement from God!

God’s warnings and promises have proved correct time and time again. The more I’m reminded of this, the easier it is for me to heed His warnings, believe his promises and take His encouragement.

Like Paul, just because our Biblical and wise advice has been ignored in the past doesn’t mean we aren’t to prayerfully speak up in the future. Credibility often takes time.

Where might God be leading you and me to humbly speak up again with truths from God’s Word? Maybe it’s with an adult child, a fellow church leader, a friend or a relative. As our credibility builds, let’s pray for God’s words and timing to boldly speak truth for the benefit of others.     

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Led to a Dead-end?

Have you ever had a time when you felt God led you in a certain direction and then it didn’t go at all the way you thought?

I wonder if Paul ever felt like that. He was arrested by the Jews and appealed to Caesar, but that just led to trials before various governors and kings. He faithfully shared the truth about God, but it didn’t seem to make a difference in the lives of the listeners.

Acts 26:29-32  ²⁹ Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰ The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. ³¹ After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”

³² Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Paul was passed around and never released. I wonder if he ever second guessed being led to appeal to Caesar. I think I would have felt led to a dead-end!

I’ve certainly felt led to a dead-end several times in my life. One big situation was over a decade ago. When we were studying the book of Isaiah, I felt led by God to look into adopting orphans. We did various research on orphans and adoption and eventually were led to consider foster children. God even provided a weekend foster conference nearby the one weekend we could attend! Afterwards, we registered for foster parent orientation. However, we were literally locked out of the orientation class! We couldn’t even get rescheduled for the next month, because they weren’t having one. It was very confusing. In hindsight, God was preparing our hearts, but it sure felt like a dead-end at the time.

We can follow God’s lead, even if it seems to end at a dead-end. He sees the big picture. His purposes and ways are best. His timing is always perfect.  

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Alice

Enabling All The Rest

I remember, as a kid, going to "camp". It didn't really matter what sort of camp, they all had one thing in common:  a list of what to bring. In a sense, we attempt to do the same thing with our relationship with our Creator, act like there was a list of what to bring. But there isn't. Every bit of our righteousness is like dirty rags. Paul writes of "putting off the old man" and "putting on Christ Jesus". Yet that's a difficult concept to receive and live out.

But here's why that is so crucial, if we bring anything with us in our relationship with Jesus, our hope is divided. We may hope in Jesus, but we also hope in whatever we bring. And hope is essential for faith and love. 

Now faith is the  assurance of things  hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 NASB)

How can faith be assurance of something we don't have? And if we have it, but it isn't entirely in Jesus, then how is our faith in Jesus alone?

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB)

Faith, hope, and love remain, or abide, or dwell, live together. The greatest is love, although they come as a set with the other two, and, as the previous verse makes clear, there's no faith without hope. Hope is essential for faith, and, as it turns out, love.

Think about the idea of hope for a minute. Does it bother you? Is there a little fear, fear that it will not be fulfilled? That's common, and the best indicator that our hope is mixed with Jesus and something else. But what does hope in Jesus look like?

Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. (Hebrews 12:14-16 NASB)

Hope in Jesus looks like disciples actively pursuing peace with all men, pursuing the process of being made holy to Jesus, working together to ensure we reach the grace of God together, ensuring roots of bitterness are removed even as they spring up, and not permitting godless or immoral activity among disciples as if it were simply part of our culture. Why? Because we are pursuing something not of this world:

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16 NASB)

Paul applies the call to follow the pattern of thinking in Jesus using himself as an example in Philippians 3:7-16. In Philippians 2:5-11, he lays out the pattern of Jesus, in 2:19-23, Paul uses Timothy as an example of Jesus' servanthood. In 2:25-30, he uses Epaphroditus as an example of Jesus' obedience to the point of death. But the emptying of Himself, for that element of Jesus' pattern Paul uses himself as the example in 3:7-16.

It's crucial for the disciple to grasp this, because it is the application of hope. That is the effect on us of having hope. And it is the antithesis of what we are seeing in our nation, in Hong Kong, in Indonesia, in India, and all throughout our world. People, without hope, will follow the pattern of the devil, stealing, killing, and destroying. Only Jesus came that we might have life, and have it to the full.

Next week, I want to share about the "content", or focus of our hope. Stay tuned.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

Thursday Devotional - Courage to do Nothing?

Jesus timely encouraged Paul in prison, giving him assurance he would go to Rome to testify. Jesus is trustworthy and Paul didn’t have anything to worry about, but did that mean he sat back and did nothing?  

Paul was in prison, so there wasn’t much he could do besides pray. Although he was already in prison, the Jews’ continued plots to kill him. God had Paul’s nephew find out about the plots, though, and he told Paul.

Paul could have told his nephew “Just trust God. Don’t worry about it!” since Jesus told Paul he would testify in Rome. However, Paul wisely (and prayerfully, I’m sure) did what he could do by sending his nephew to the commander.

Acts 23:17-22 ¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸ So he took him to the commander.

The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

 ¹⁹ The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

²⁰ He said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. ²¹ Don’t give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”

²² The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”

Paul had active faith. He also had the Holy Spirit and godly wisdom.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, we can fully trust God as Sovereign and in control of everything. That doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing. We are to have active faith. We can pray for wisdom to listen to the Holy Spirit’s direction on how to use the information available in a way that glorifies God and accomplishes His will. How will you and I do that today?  

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Driveway Encouragement

A couple week’s ago my sister, Mary, in CT wrote “Jesus loves you!” on her driveway for hundreds of neighbors to see as they walked, biked or jogged by her house. It inspired my son, James, to do something similar on our driveway. He decided to reference his memory verse from Bible study, I Corinthians 15:20, and summarized it with “He has risen!” Then, Sarah decided to write what she could spell – “LOVE GOD.” (see the pictures of both) Since then, we’ve all done different messages after the rain washed them away, including Palm Sunday!

My sister was trying to be a witness and offer encouragement to others by writing the messages. God gave her encouragement in return, though, by having someone leave 2 boxes of chalk on her rock wall out front! She doesn’t know who they were from! It was like God said, “keep doing what you’re doing!”

At times like this, people are more open to hear the truths about:

God (Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of all)

Sin (separates us from God and results in destruction and death)

Jesus Christ (God’s Son, who paid for our sin and offers eternal life)

And the need to surrender our lives to Him because He’s in control anyway!

I Corinthians 15:20-26  ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. ²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Will you join me in praying about how else God wants to use us right now to encourage others and point them to Him?

Alice 

Thursday Devotional - Confidence in Uncertainty

How have the last few week’s been for you? Has your life flipped upside down?

I doubt any of us dreamed we would be living life like we are now. Life doesn’t always

go as expected, but God is still in control, and Sovereign over all!

Paul’s life didn’t go the way he thought, either. I’ve been studying Paul in the book of

Acts in Bible study (which has been moved totally online the last few weeks). All the

uncertainties Paul faced has really helped me put my challenges in perspective. My

challenges are very tiny compared to his challenges. Yet, he wasn’t frozen in fear.

In fact, at the end of Paul’s third missionary journey he was told by the Holy Spirit and

Prophets that hardships and prison awaited him in Jerusalem.

Acts 20:22-24           ²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Wow, Paul was focused on his task of testifying about the good news of God’s grace. He wasn’t shocked, disheartened, or discouraged by what he faced. He continued to boldly speak for God, confident in God’s plan for his life.

How confident are you and I in God’s plan for our lives? He’s in control. He has a plan. We don’t need to worry, but just do what He’s called us to do, take up our cross, trust Him and follow Him!  

Alice

Thursday Devotional - A Different Sunday, Part II

Well, our “different Sunday” may be our new normal for a while. We did get to watch the live-stream of our worship and sermon again. We also got to watch the live-stream of one of my sister’s services, where she was playing most of the music.

We did several additional prayer/Scripture/song times spread out throughout the day, similar to last Sunday (although, not as many ☹).

We started with praising God for who He is, then a thanksgiving session for all His provisions and blessings, and then prayers for how we could help others during this difficult time. It was encouraging to hear all the attributes of God that James and Sarah thought of for which to praise God, all the blessings they appreciated and their own creative ideas on helping others.

1. Praise God

Holy Holy Holy

Acts 4:23-31

2. Thanksgiving

At the Cross

Acts 12:21-24

3. How we can help others

God Will Take Care of You

Acts 22:30-23:22

Acts 4:23-24, 29-30     ²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them… ²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

We can pray for safety and health during this time, but notice what Peter and John prayed during their time of crisis. They first praised God for who He is and then asked for boldness to continue spreading His message. We can do the same! The biggest need of people right now is to know their Creator, whether they end up seeing Him soon or not for many more years.  

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Loving Believers

We all know we are to love one another. It’s often easier said than done. Sometimes it’s even extremely difficult to love fellow believers in our churches. However, I think those are the very people God especially wants us to love and help.  

When Jesus gave His new command to the disciples in John 13, I think He was specifically referring to them loving each other as disciples. They were quite a unique bunch of misfits!

John 13:33-35     ³³ “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

If we have love for one another as believers, that can be attractive to outsiders. Sadly, outsiders often see the quarrels and divisions within the church and don’t want any part of it!

Let’s not be a part of that trend, but let’s allow the Holy Spirit to help us reverse it! What fellow believer will you and I especially love this week? Maybe it’s by giving a helping hand, a note of encouragement, or genuine prayers for their spiritual growth.  

Let’s love each other well!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - God's "No" to Jesus

Do you ever feel like God isn’t listening because you aren’t getting your desired answers to prayer? Did you ever think about the fact that Jesus didn’t get a “yes” answer to all His prayers, either, even though God definitely heard Him?

Hebrews 5:7-9      ⁷ During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. 

God heard Jesus’ prayer to spare Him from death:

Matthew 26:39a    Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.”

God answered Jesus’ prayer “no.” However, Jesus acknowledged that might be the answer and ended His prayer praying for God’s will to be done instead of His own. (Matthew 26:39b “Yet not as I will, but as you will.”)

Just because we don’t get the answer we want doesn’t mean God isn’t listening. He has a better and more perfect plan, even if we don’t understand it at the time. (Like God’s answer “no” to Joe and I wanting children early on in our marriage, but later providing them almost a decade into marriage in a very unique way.)

What other “No” from God do you and I need to accept? Let’s submit to His will, like Jesus did. When we pray for His will to be done, the answer is always “yes!”

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Daily Encouragement

God gives us each other to help encourage us and to stay accountable to follow God’s Word. If we aren’t careful, we can be easily misled. Having godly people around us daily is important.  

Hebrews 3:12-15 ¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. ¹⁵ As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.”

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I usually do my quiet time and Bible study during Sarah’s nap in the afternoon. Well, this past Sunday, I didn’t do that. Joe, James and I were talking in the living room together instead. Then, after the kids went to bed, I wanted to look up some of the Michigan ski deals. However, since Joe was doing Bible study, I did my Bible study first and then had a few minutes to do some research.

We need people around us daily to encourage us in the right direction. (I’m daily encouraged by the other devotional writers and those that comment with additional insight!) We can also be that encouragement to others. Who can you and I encourage today to hear God’s voice?

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Quiet Time

Last week we talked about setting goals in line with God’s goals. One goal He has for us is to know Him better. We can do that by reading, studying and applying His Word.

For many years I had my quiet time with God before bed. Then, for over a decade, I used my lunch break to have my quiet time. Now, I have my quiet time after I get home from work, while Sarah naps. However, her naps are getting shorter, and she will probably grow out of them soon, so I’ll need to figure out a different time again!

God’s the most important person in the universe, so why wouldn’t we have “lunch” with Him each day or plan an unbreakable appointment with Him???

Hebrews 1:1-3      In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. ³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Jesus created the universe and sustains it! What time of day do you set aside to meet with Him? Or what time will you set aside? He’s available!

He’s the All-Powerful Glorious and Majestic One we can’t afford not to get to know!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Christmas Peace?

Did you have a peaceful Christmas yesterday? I don’t think the first Christmas was peaceful. Ours started out peaceful, but it didn’t end peaceful.

James had an asthma attack that started just before bed and lasted many hours before he could finally calm down and sleep. Joe and I tried numerous things (inhaler/nebulizer/motrin/wedge under his mattress/chest massages/vapor rub/hot water to drink/standing on the front porch in the cold, etc.). Some of it would seem to help, but a few minutes later he was gasping for breath and coughing non-stop all over again. I kept praying for wisdom. Many times I told God I didn’t know what else to do and asked if we needed to go to the ER. I felt we had tried all we knew, but then He’d give one of us something else to try. Finally, after 3 different wedges, a final glass of hot water, and scratching his head, James started breathing well enough to fall asleep and stay asleep for several hours.

It was hard not to be afraid, but I knew God was with us and would give us direction. It made me think of the following promises of Jesus:

John 14:27    ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 16:33    ³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Whether you had what you would define as a peaceful Christmas, we can all claim the peace God offers. Most importantly, He offers eternal spiritual peace. He also offers emotional peace, when we look to Him for direction. He is Immanuel – God with us!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Better than Money

Does money really buy happiness?

I’m sure Jessica’s family would pay thousands and thousands of dollars to bring her sister-in-law back to life, pay for a cancer cure, etc. (see Monday’s devotional) Money doesn’t solve all our problems.

Peter offered better than money to a lame beggar.

Acts 3:6-10 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” ⁷ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. ⁸ He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹ When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

More than just physical healing, this man was offered spiritual healing! God used the physical healing to open the door for Peter to share the truths about God and Jesus Christ (as you can read in the rest of chapter 3). The beggar was so thankful Peter gave him something better than money!!!

What about you and me? Are we more focused on providing financial means for ourselves and our family? Or, are we giving those around us something better than money? Are we sharing the truths of God that can bring spiritual healing for all eternity, no matter what happens in this life?

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Clearing up Confusion

At the tower of Babel (Genesis 11), God confused the people’s languages because of their disobedience. They had refused to scatter over the earth as He commanded, so He made it so they had to scatter because they couldn’t understand each other anymore. However, on the day of Pentecost, God united the different languages.

Acts 2:1-6, 11-12      When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken… ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹² Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Peter boldly answered their question by sharing the truths about Jesus.

Acts 2:32-33, 36       ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. ³³ Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear… ³⁶ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

Peter then boldly called them to repent and turn to God for forgiveness and salvation. God brought all the different languages together. Jesus had died for all of them, no matter what their nationality or background. His plan of salvation is available to any who will accept it.  

Acts 2:21       And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Who do you and I know that is confused and needs clarity about God and His truths? Like Peter, we can clearly, lovingly and boldly share God’s plans with them by the Holy Spirit’s power.

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Pressing Questions

What is the one thing you want to know right now? Do you have a pressing question or dilemma?

Right before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, the disciples had a pressing question.

Acts 1:4-9            ⁴ On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵ For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

The disciples wanted to know if Jesus was right then going to restore the kingdom to Israel! He didn’t directly answer their question. He didn’t answer it the way they wanted, but gave them far more than they asked! He gave them what He knew was best for them to know right then. He does that for us today.

I’ve had several pressing questions over the years. After our miscarriage and years of infertility, Joe and I wanted to know if we were to have children, when, how, etc. God didn’t answer all those questions at once, but through the guidance of the Holy Spirit gave us what we needed to know for the next step.

           

God provides what He knows we need to know (and not always what we want to know).

What part of your and my life is confusing right now? If we are seeking His direction and desiring to follow Him, He will give us what we need, when we need it. We can trust His purposes and plans. He will prepare us for the next step, just as He did the disciples!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - See You At The Pole™

See You At The Pole™ was started by a group of students in Texas back in 1990. It has grown to become a global event, the 4^th Wednesday in September, which is next Wednesday! I know Eagan, MN is planning a gathering at their flagpole from 12-12:45 pm, Wednesday, September 25, 2019. We, in the Ann Arbor office, are planning a gathering at our flagpole from 12-12:30 pm (see the Hub event: See You at the Pole).

I think I first heard about this event back in 1993. My family was living in Oklahoma and I had just started at a new high school. I didn’t know anyone at my school, much less any Christians. I nervously decided to go early to school that day to hopefully meet others at the flagpole. When I got there, no one else was there. However, eventually others came!   

This year’s official See You At The Pole™ theme verse is:

II Chronicles 7:14              ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Please join us next Wednesday, if you are in Eagan or Ann Arbor (or plan your own for other locations!).

In Ann Arbor, we will start with a song or two, and then alternate between Scripture reading and prayer.

A – Adoration - Praising God for who He is

C - Confession of sin (personal silent time and corporately for corporate sins)

T - Thanking God for what He has done

S – Supplication – praying for our company, leadership, bosses, co-workers, and ourselves

I hope to see many of you next Wednesday! Also, please pray for and encourage students you know to participate at their schools.

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Chasing After the Wind of Knowledge

Living in a big university town, I see numerous people chasing after knowledge and education. Oftentimes it is the newest philosophy or theory. Sadly, their additional degrees and increased knowledge for knowledge sake doesn’t bring true wisdom or joy. Without God, everything is meaningless, as Solomon prefaced in Ecclesiastes 2:25 (for without him [God], who can eat or find enjoyment?).

Solomon concluded the book of Ecclesiastes with:

Ecclesiastes 12:11-14   The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. ¹² Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

¹³ Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.

Solomon was probably the wisest wealthiest person that ever lived. Because God gave Israel peace during his reign, he also had all the time and resources to chase after anything he wanted – pleasure, greatness, possessions, accumulation, flattery, immortality, perfection, knowledge, etc. Solomon realized all of this was meaningless (without God), as we’ve read in Ecclesiastes this summer.

What meaningless thing or knowledge are you and I chasing?

Following God is beneficial for all ages, all people and for all time!!! Others around us can better understand this truth as we experience and exhibit the joy and satisfaction of chasing after God and following Him in our own lives!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Chasing After the Wind of Talk

Talk is cheap. People can say or promise all kinds of things. It’s easy to talk big and another thing to follow through. Also, people can look good on paper, sound great in an interview, but be a big flop on the job.

Ecclesiastes 10:12-14 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious,
    but fools are consumed by their own lips.
¹³ At the beginning their words are folly;
    at the end they are wicked madness—
¹⁴     and fools multiply words.

No one knows what is coming—
    who can tell someone else what will happen after them?

¹⁵ The toil of fools wearies them;
    they do not know the way to town.

In an outside organization, I’ve worked with someone that is a very pleasant conversationalist, has great ideas, but is now starting to sound repetitive (multiplying words, as verse 14 states). He brings up the same issues and ideas, but talks in circles about them. We, on various advisory committees, have recommended or provided assistance to help with some of the issues/ideas. However, he either doesn’t try them or doesn’t follow through to complete what was started. So, we end up talking about the same things at the next meeting, wearying us all.

Ecclesiastes 10:18       Through laziness, the rafters sag;
    because of idle hands, the house leaks.

What about you and me? Are our words folly or wearisome?

Are we busy talking rather than working?

Maybe it depends on the project, whether it’s at work, or home or church. Where do you and I need to make sure our work matches our talk?

Alice