Friday, Feb 17

You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him. Deuteronomy 10:20 (TLB)

A few years ago I had a health scare. I was so freaked out by it that I didn’t share it with even my prayer chain. It shook me to the core. I spent a lot of time wondering if it was going to happen again and if my life would suddenly end. In the midst of all this I started praying. And eventually found again the text that says “You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many ...months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.” (Job 14:5 NLT) Then I remembered; God is in control. You see, we can’t control everything that is going to happen. We don’t even know what today is going to bring. But we do know who holds today and that is who we should cling to. Clinging to Jesus will not change our circumstances but getting through them will be sweeter and we will be at peace.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:38 (NLT)

Thursday, Feb 16

For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. 1 John 3:20 (MSG)

It’s been a very busy week. Everything is chaotic. There doesn’t seem to be enough time to do what I want to do and more importantly, I feel like my time with God is hurried – like I can’t linger as I want to. I was talking to God about that this morning and asking him for guidance. The worst thing we can do is be so busy we block out the whispers we need to hear. Then I... came across this text. My worried heart relaxed. God knows where I am. He knows my heart and his ability to get my attention speaks volumes above my busy schedule.

Father God, thank you for talking. Thank you for loving us enough that you respond to our prayers. And Father God thank you for lingering with us whether we feel too busy or not. Your love is too marvelous for words! Amen

Wednesday, Feb 15

For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13 (NIV)

I have been blessed with a grandson. He brings such joy to my heart and honestly, words cannot express what that truly means. If you are a grandparent, you know what I mean. Recently, he started learning to walk. At first things were really shaky and I held his hand. Then, he became more sure of himself and more independent. He takes off across the room with no fear. As I follow him, I scan the room, the direction he is headed and note any cracks, folds, obstacles that he might stumble on. I don’t stop him from stumbling because it’s good for him to learn how to navigate things but I do stand close enough so that if he’s going to do serious damage I reach out my hand and grab his hand. It’s my way of protecting him and saying “It’s OK. I am here to help you.”

The other day as we were toddling around the room and I was monitoring his path, I realized this must be similar to what God does with us. He surveys our path; notes any cracks, folds or obstacles that we might stumble on and he waits. He doesn’t stop us from stumbling because in our faltering we learn but he does take hold of our hand when we need help and says “Don’t be afraid. I am here.” And as I reflect on the love I have for my grandson, I am overcome by the fact that God loves me more.

Tuesday, Feb 14

Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.
John 21:17 (NLT)

Today is Valentine’s Day. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day. It’s too commercial and honestly, I think we should be going out of our way to show each other love every day, not just one day. But as I pondered this, I started thinking about God. And I wondered how many love letters he would get today. So I wrote one. After that, I started thinking about the people I know that could really use a love pick-me-up; folks who maybe don’t have someone to give them a Valentine. Today, as we celebrate love, let’s celebrate it with God and with the people we know who need an extra heaping helping of it. And while you’re at it, write God a love letter. He loves you very much and is, after all, the author of love.

We love each other because he loved us first.
1 John 4:19 (NLT)

Monday, Feb 13

It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away……And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.” Joshua 3:15-16 (NLT)

Sometimes in my conversations with God I say “You go first and I will follow.” On the surface that sounds just fine because we always want to follow God, right? Maybe – maybe not. Sometimes God knows this is a lack of faith on my part. Sometimes he knows that while my mouth says I trust him my heart does not so I want him to demonstrate what he can do FIRST. That’s not really following. That’s more about a lack of faith. In the Bible text above the priests had to step into the water first before the water dried up. If they had stood on the bank saying to God “You go first”, they might still be standing there. God promises his provision. We sometimes have to take this on faith and step into the scary unknown. If nothing is moving in your life, maybe God is waiting and saying “You go first.”

Friday, Feb 10

Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. Luke 16:19-20 (NLT)

In our society a lot of emphasis is put on the rich and famous. A lot of us know who’s who when it comes to this category of folk. A picture will flash on the screen of a millionaire/billionaire or a popular actor and we know who they are. I wonder if that makes ...us feel as if we aren’t important because after all, most people don’t know our names. In this story Jesus was talking about the rich guy and the poor guy. He never says the rich guy’s name. But he does call out the name of the poor beggar. How God-like is that? In our lives we don’t have to be rich and famous for God to know who we are. He knows our name. He knows everything there is to know about us and he still loves us. Today, notice the people around you – not just the popular and powerful but every person God puts in your path.

But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you.
O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1 (NLT)

Wednesday, Feb 8

“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied. John 1:46b (NLT)

The first chapter of John lays out the perfect formula for discipleship. First, someone finds Jesus – in this case it was Philip. Then, he goes to someone he knows and shares what he has found. The next thing he does is say “come and see for yourself.” You see, in order to be a disciple we have to first know Jesus ourselves. And in order to make disciples, we have to tell someone about what we’ve found and then encourage them to ‘see for themselves.” Quite simple really. Why do we make it so difficult?

Tuesday, Feb 7

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? Luke 7:44 (NIV)

What a loaded question. They all saw her when she came into a room full of men (which was against the rules), kneel at Jesus feet and bathe his feel with oil and tears. Then they saw her let down her hair (totally unheard of in public) and wipe his feet with it. They already knew her. She was the prostitute. They were trying very hard not to 'see' her. But what Jesus saw was very different than what they saw. He saw a woman found by him who had been touched by his love. He saw a woman who knew she was forgiven and was making herself vulnerable to worship him. How many times do you pass by someone seeing them only so you can put them in their place? How many times do you decide that you already ‘know’ someone when in reality what you know is what you’ve seen only on the outside? Jesus calls us to see (perceive, discover and understand) each other. He wants us to open our eyes to see people as he does. Maybe today, we should take off our blinders and look with a vision that is filtered with God’s love.