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

Embrace The Journey

The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.  The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night.  And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.  Exodus 13:20-22

This past weekend represented the end of the football season.  I am sure there is a mixture of sadness if you are a fan like me and relief if you are like my wife.  That all being said, one must realize that a journey started well back in July last year culminated for one team, Kansas City, out of thirty-two celebrating a Super Bowl championship.  However, that was not what they were thinking early in November when they lost to a team they would later have to beat for the chance to win Super Bowl.  Back then, they were barely the best team in their division let alone the league.  But that was the last game they lost in the season.  For them, it had to be an amazing journey each team member will relish for the rest of their lives.

Sometimes our journey of faith is like a season.  It ebbs and flows having various changes in courses.  I can speak to that having suffered a lot of disappointment and pain lately.  However, I was reminded of a story of a Vietnam veteran named James Stockdale, who was imprisoned and tortured for over seven years.  His story of perseverance has been studied by not only military leaders but also business and religious leaders as well.  The question that he was asked was quite simply how he survived in such dire circumstances.  His answer, which is better known as The Stockdale Paradox, was this:

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

You see, his faith was that he would get out of there even as things looked incredibly bleak in isolated moments.

We must always view our relationship with Jesus Christ as a long journey where God’s glory is there even if we cannot see it at that moment.  Today, we come to the part of Exodus where Israel has been freed by Pharaoh, and God is leading them on their journey to the Promise Land.  There was an easier road that was more direct road there, but God chose to have go a different way.  The Bible said, “So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.” (Exodus 13:18) This was much like I spoke earlier in the story of God ‘setting the stage.’  However, today I wanted to focus on the ‘how’ and not the ‘what’ God was doing.  He led and guided them every step of the way by clouds, light, and fire.  They traveled day and night knowing where to go and which way to turn.  As I thought of my own journey thus far, I did not always know where I was going.  But there was a time that I began to fully put my trust in Him, and time after time, He would lead me the right way.  So, I now trust Him even as I know the twists and turns are upon me and I cannot see the ultimate destination.  But through the storms and battles, there is God leading the way, and we know the destination at the end where there is as said in the Bible ‘milk and honey.’  It’s that faith we must maintain even in the most trying circumstances.

God is always the light in front of us.  Ours simple but challenging task is to simply follow.  Martin Luther King once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”  Understanding this, we must fully commit to finding this light and following it even if it appears to lead us somewhere, we might not have anticipated.  We should learn as Israel did that God loves to set the stage for His glory to be revealed for all to see.  No matter where you are today in your journey, recommit your trust in Him to guide you to the Promise Land.  Where are you in your journey today?  Are you following the light God has placed in front of you?  My prayer is that we trust in God and embrace the journey.  Amen.

The Lord is my Strength

Psalm 59:16-17

But I will sing of your strength,
    in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
    my refuge in times of trouble.

 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
    you, God, are my fortress,
    my God on whom I can rely.

A few weeks ago I shared that I was excited to be able to watch my nephew leave for bootcamp.  This past week, we got word that he was being discharged.  Long story short, he couldn’t get past some of his past and was not going to be able to handle what would be ahead if he was still hung up on the past.  He will hopefully be home sometime this week. 

In times of uncertainty, prayer is the best thing we can do.  God is our strength in times of trouble. 

Each of us face times of uncertainty.  Sometimes those are exciting but uncertain times.  Sometimes those are not so exciting times.  Through it all, we need to remember that we can rely on the Lord and we are to sing praises to him. 

Next week I will share more on facing times of uncertainty with the strength of the Lord.

Brokenness

“But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

the chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

and by His stripes we are healed.”

     Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

I recently saw the movie “To Save a Life.” It's theme is brokenness--how the things of this world bring destruction instead of satisfaction, yet Christ can redeem and heal. To be honest, the movie was very hard for me to watch because I could relate to it in so many ways and it brought up so many difficult memories.  In my family, we experienced teen suicide, divorce, tragic fatal accidents, alcoholism, domestic abuse, abortion and estranged relationships over generations. Growing up, that was my normal.  The fact is, we live in a fallen world and families are often marked by trauma and dysfunction to some degree.

I knew personal brokenness as well before coming to a saving faith in Christ as an adult. I know that in Him, my sins are forgiven and by His stripes, I am healed.  Yet part of the brokenness is still there; the consequences of my poor choices remain, as do the hard memories and regrets. And my heart hurts because of it all. But I hold fast to the promise that one day, I will be fully healed in glory. I find strength and comfort in knowing that I am a new creation in Christ and that in Him old things are made new.

Our gracious God loves to restore, and I pray regularly for restoration for myself, my family and those relationships that need His healing touch.  A verse from a song says that we are broken to be made more beautiful, broken to be made whole; one day we will indeed be both. It's good to remember that God has a purpose in our brokenness, and if we keep trusting in Him, He will use it for our good and His glory.

Thursday Devotional - Tax Season!

It’s officially tax season!!! There are so many tax laws and many of them change over the years. It’s hard to keep up. However, just because we don’t know the law, doesn’t exempt us from it. There are some steep penalties for various omissions.

God’s Word isn’t as big as the tax code and His laws don’t change from year to year. However, so many people choose to ignore them. I think some think that if they ignore God and His instructions, then it won’t apply to them. It doesn’t work that way. They always apply and are the most beneficial. God will also hold all people accountable.

Hebrews 4:12-13 ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

God’s Word is alive and active and helpful!

As much as I carefully study the tax law for implementation in our software, I need to accurately study and implement God’s laws into my life. As we’ve been talking the last few weeks, let’s all continue to carefully study and apply God’s Word and encourage others to do the same.  

Psalm 119:33-37   Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
    that I may follow it to the end.
³⁴ Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
    and obey it with all my heart.
³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands,
    for there I find delight.
³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
    and not toward selfish gain.
³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
    preserve my life according to your word.

Alice

Make The Change

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”  Exodus 12:31-32

At various points of my life, I have dealt with situations where I was certain of something only to change my mind.  It wasn’t that I really changed.  However, the circumstances had changed which forced me to adjust.  A few years ago, my daughter cheered for a certain team.  She got along with several of the teachers at the gym, and both my wife and me formed relationships with the parents along with our daughters.  I was certain we would be back the following year where I thought it would be her gym for the remainder of her cheer career.  However, she was kept with a lower skilled group even as her skills had advanced to another level.  I understood the reason behind the gym’s decision, and it put me in a place to make a tough choice.  Do I honor the relationships built and stay when I said we’d be back for sure, or focus on what would be best for my daughter’s career and change gyms?  We chose the latter, and that was the best decision we could have ever made.

When you are stuck with a certain decision, God will make provisions so that you can change for His will to be done.  In the story of Moses, I moved a few chapters ahead because it had become like a washer machine cycle; wash, rinse, and repeat.  In this case, the dialogue between God and Moses and Pharaoh had this cycle to it. One, God instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh to free God’s people or else.  Two, Pharaoh says, “No.”  Three, ‘or else’ comes to happen.  There are variations where Pharaoh will move a little on God’s demand (you can take the men, or take the people, but nothing else), but as God predicted, Pharaoh’s heart was always hardened to not give God what He wanted.  Note the conversation between Pharaoh and Moses after a bunch of plagues and miracles:

“Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.”

“Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.”  Exodus 10:28-29

Yet after God killed the firstborn of every Egyptian during what would become the Passover, Pharaoh finally relented.  God continued to change the circumstances over and repeatedly until getting the desired result.  There was a play years ago that was simply titled, “Your Arms Too Short to Box With God.”  There are times we are just determined to either fight for our way or push to keep our own way of doing things.  We must realize that our God is relentless in His pursuit of our hearts, and if we commit to Him, this will at times be our battle.  Our goal is to be wise enough to know that is what is occurring and change accordingly.

God wants what is best for us.  This at times will cause Him to bend situations to ensure we understand this.  Sometimes it is a subtle hint.  Other times, He will break us causing us to fall on our knees.  But like the woman where no one cast the first stone, He will forgive and encourage us to live like Christ.  Let us be aware of God’s prompting when He wants us to move closer toward Him.  When has God moved you to change direction?  How can you be spiritually aware of the changes God wants from you?  My prayer is that we focus on the growth God is challenging us to make, and simply make the change.  Amen.

Serving others

1 Peter 4:10

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

How do you serve one another?  Yesterday, my Sunday School class learned about serving others, even in difficult relationships.  Being Jr. High kids, most of them thought of their own siblings when thinking about difficult relationships. 

John 13:3-10

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. 

Jesus had to deal with difficult relationships as well.  Simon Peter was no easy person to deal with, yet Jesus served him.  Simon Peter questioned why Jesus would wash his feet.  Jesus was not washing the disciples feet simply because he thought they were dirty.  He was trying to get them to see the bigger picture of how he was about to serve them through his death.  That his death would wash their sins away. 

Each of us have been given talents to serve.  It’s not simply to make someone feel good rather to share the love of Christ with them. 

As I had my kids wash each others feet yesterday, we then talked about how it wasn’t because they came to class with stinky feet, rather because we are all called to humble ourselves and do for others.  To be a reflection of Christ in all that we do.

What gifts do you have from God that you might be able to use to serve others?  Share those gifts today with those that you encounter.

In His Image

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in

Our image, according to Our likeness’

. . . So God created man in His own image;

in the image of God He created him;

male and female He created them.”

     Genesis 1:26-27 (NKJV)

This past week, the church I attend observed Sanctity of Life Sunday.  What a precious truth that God created every person in His own image, special and uniquely formed in their mother’s womb, and created to know God in an intimate and personal way.

As Christians, we are called to shine forth God’s light to those who don’t yet know Christ.  We are to be faithful to Biblical truth and the mind of Christ should determine our responses to the issues of our day. Thus, we should be life-affirming, to do what we can to protect and stand up for those who are weak and defenseless among us—i.e., the unborn, the elderly, those who are vulnerable because of mental and physical disabilities, etc. 

However, our pastor warned us that it’s easy to focus only on the groups of people and causes that we like.  For example, we may be pro-life advocates or champions for the disabled.  And we should be.  But let’s not forget the other people that we tend to ignore because we don’t relate to them, such as the outcasts, those who live on the fringes of our society, all the broken people we pass by every day without a thought—or worse, thinking they are outside of God’s reach or unworthy of His love. 

We are all created in God’s image and Jesus Christ died for each person.  God wants to know each one, so that all may have peace and abundant life in Him.  So let’s not be selective about who should hear this good news.  Who can you reach out to today, this week with the love of Christ?

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

Setting the Stage

Then the Lord told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”

And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.  And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners.  You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.  Exodus 7:1-5


When Grey’s Anatomy first came on, I was always fascinated by how each show would seemingly end flawlessly.  It did not always end with people being happy or everyone being safe.  The beauty was never in the ending.  It was always in how the stage was set for it.  The storyline would be told well, and you had a level of certainty where it would build to this final crescendo.  Then far too often, you found yourself saying, “Wow!  I did not see that coming!”  However, it wasn’t the kind of ‘that’s impossible’ type incredulity.  It was the ‘what an amazing finish’ type feel you had.  Sometimes you laughed, and other times you cried.  But you bought in every single week because the story was built up so well, it became entirely credible.


This brings me to the storyline God builds in our lives.  We often feel like we are fighting to just stay afloat.  We know God has a reason for us doing something, but we do not see the fruits of our labor right away.  If you are like me in my younger days, you might have given up saying, “God?  I’m just tired.  I can’t do it your way anymore.  I will do it my way now.”  Then, something changes.  God reveals Himself when you almost can’t bear to do what He asks of you anymore.  Or perhaps, you make that one final time saying to God, “Ok.  I will try one more time,” and then that makes the difference from a setback to a comeback.


When you are going through hardship, remember these are the moments God is setting you up for your greatest triumphs.  We have moved forward in the story of Moses where he and Joshua have given to Pharaoh the message to either free the Israelites or suffer from the wrath of God.  Pharaoh, with his heart hardened, chose to instead make the Israelites suffer more by making their building of bricks exponentially more difficult while expecting the same amount of work.  The beatings and agony were such that now the Israelites and even Moses were beginning to wonder if God would stay true to His word.  In the prior verses, Moses said, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me?  Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!” (Exodus 5:22b-23)  As we read further, we realize God had not forgotten His people at all.  Of course, He would never do that.  However, how often are we the Israelites getting beaten down mentally and physically and we speak with the frustration of Moses?  Don’t we sound a bit like he did?  But I digress.  God had set the stage for His greatest glory to be revealed to all so that not only His people would know who He is but also the Egyptians who had no reason to believe in Him.  This is who God has always been.  He will put us through hardship only to reveal Himself to us as the great and everlasting God.  King of kings, and Lord of lords.



There is no burden too great that our God cannot handle.  Peter once was fishing after Jesus’ resurrection.  Jesus simply told him to cast his net on a certain side, and he went from a no—luck fisherman to one who couldn’t even bring in the net (see John 21:4-6)  Just as Peter once couldn’t catch a fish, Moses couldn’t catch a break!  But God was setting the stage for Moses’ greatest triumphs to come, and perhaps, now is the time in your life where you need to keep believing in that which God placed on your heart, mind, and soul.  Let us continue to move forward trusting God is making the pathway to victory for us.  What doubts are on your mind today?  How can you fight a little more trusting God is still with you?  My prayer is that we look beyond our circumstance and realize that God is ‘setting the stage’ for us.  Amen.