Category: Devotional

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Ancient Three-Point Checklist

“Give thanks to the Lord.

Call on his name.

Make known among the nations what he has done.”

1 Chronicles 16:8

We all have busy lives . . . even in the middle of a pandemic.  In the midst of so many changes to what had been our “normal,” it’s always good to “check in”  and see how we are doing.  This ancient checklist is just the thing, I think, for a heart-check that helps us to pause and check-in on how we’re doing in this new reality in life.  Though it’s thousands of years old, it’s surprisingly current! 

  1. Give thanks to the Lord.    How’s your attitude these days?  Are you able to pull your old head up out of the way your life has changed in 2020, take a step back and find some things to be thankful for?  Have you watched for God’s Fingerprint on your day?  It’s easy to see the things that are frustrating, disheartening, and downright scary.  Those are often knocking at our doors.  But where and what are the things that have actually been good in this new chapter in our lives?
  2. Call on His Name.   He is present.  He knows what is going on.  But whereas we mainly see the current realities, as compared to when things were better, He is   looking at all of the good things that He has planned for you including the sweet times that will come out of this world-changing season.   Talk to Him.  Ask Him to help you know He is near . . . He knows all the details…. He is fully capable to handle your heart and your life in the midst of all of this.  He knows you by name.  Talk to Him….one-on-one . . . by Name.
  3. Make known among the nations what He has done.   This world is as dear to Him  . . .  all the nations  . . . as is our nation to us.   Knowing Him, and His Presence in our lives, is not a shared knowledge nor experience in most of the world.  Yes His love for them is real.  At this moment, it is not even possible to physically “go” among the nations.  But our prayers can go.  Our hearts can go.  And God has brought “the nations” to us.  In our towns, our neighborhoods.  Having a conversation with someone from “the nations” is very possible.  Telling of His Goodness and Love is usually very, very welcome.  He will be right there with you. . . with His Loving touch to their spirits as well.
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Where Are We Going?!?

“By faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went,

Even tho’ he did not know where he was going.” 

I was in an old car, late at night, being driven through the Sahara desert, returning to my “home” in the Saharawi refugee camps.   A friend and I had attended an event in a different camp, which had lasted long into the night.    The driver was new to me and did not speak English.  It was a very quiet drive.

The desert sky is spectacular in the night.  There are no electrical lights, nor cables or poles or trees to distract from the vast expanse stretching from horizon to horizon.  It’s just the brilliant moon and shimmering stars and galaxies filling the entire sky set against the black canvas.  I never tire of looking up, in awe of the display.

As I watched through my open window, the busyness of the day drained away, and soon I was nodding off.   Little did I know….my driver was having the same experience!

I don’t know how long I’d slept, but when I woke up, I noticed that the moon was shining through the opposite window from where I’d last seen it.   Strange.  After mentally rehearsing how to say in Hassanya,  “Where are we?”, I tapped the driver’s shoulder.   His head jerked up, and he began looking at the sky through his window.  Quickly stopping the car, he got out and stood looking up.  A  few moments later, he turned the truck around and headed a different direction, now extremely awake.   The moon was back in the place I’d seen it when I had dozed off.

He had fallen asleep!    No idea for how long, and I didn’t really want to think about that.   But that night sky was his map . . . no GPS necessary.  He knew his star map, and it worked the best in the dark!  (Most effectively with eyesopen!)

Abraham would have been following the same “map.”  Even though he “did not know where he was going,”  he at least knew, from his “sky map”, where he was and where he had been. God’s celestial map was in place, especially detailed in the darkness of night.  It was not Abraham’s job to plot the course, nor decide the destination.  That was God’s role.  But in His gracious kindness, God had provided (from The Beginning) an infinite expanse high above our earth-bound lives, affording us a visual Constant under which to live.  Especially in the dark.

“By faith . . . “   Abraham went.   Three wise men/kings went.   Prophets went.  Hagar went. Joseph and Mary, cradling their precious baby, went.  All of them, and so many more…went, because God told them to go into that vast desert unknown.  Nightly map provided.  His Presence provided.

That was what mattered most.

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Rest

“Come to Me,

all who are tired of carrying heavy loads,

and I will give you rest.” 

When I picture an image of “rest”, I picture a sleepy child in the arms of someone who loves him/her.  It doesn’t really matter what had caused that child to end up on that lap.  But they had found it to be a place where they could become still, nesting within safe arms, their head near to a steady, beating heart.  Sleep came.

Our world is in the midst of turmoil and chaos, beyond what most of us have ever seen or experienced before.  Insecurity and fear has seeped into our homes. . . our families . . . and our hearts.  It becomes mentally, emotionally, psychologically exhausting.   We are “carrying heavy loads.”

But we have One Whose very make-up is Love.   He knows what life is on this old earth.  He experienced it.  His choice to take on human form and  experience ‘in His own body’ our daily realities is beyond my comprehension and reasoning.  He could have just “fixed” it, or ignored it. Instead, He chose to immerse Himself in this human experience.  There is a vast difference between gaining understanding through exposure versus  actually experiencing something personally.  On your own body.

Love does that.

So, in the stillness…in the quiet…when you allow yourself to feel the tiredness in your mind and heart, let His Words sink into your mind . . . into your heart.   “Come to Me….”   Let Him lift you up onto His lap, settle you in, gently press your head with all its worries and weariness, to His chest, where His Heart beats for you, and just let Him hold you.  Quiet your wiggles and words.  And in that quiet nest, hear His heart beating….for you.  Whispering your name, with love.

And rest. . . .

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Bending Down to Listen

“I love the Lord because he hears my voice,

my pleas for mercy.

            Because He bends down and listens,

            I will pray as long as I have breath!”

Psalm 116:1-2

I have a quiet voice.  (Although my family might beg to differ about that at times.)   I’ve heard that complaint of, “Speak up!  I can see your lips moving but I can’t hear anything you’re saying!”

I think that is why I love  this verse.  To picture the God Who made me, quiet voice and all, caring enough about what I have to say (or whisper) that He would “bend down and listen,”

It’s such a loving, kind thing to do.

Typical human reactions to someone with a quiet voice are often more like:

“Please speak up!  I can’t hear you!”

“Say it again!”

Maybe a smack to the back of the head with a “Speak up!”

“Maybe my hearing’s going out, but I can’t hear you!”

“WHAT are you saying?”

Or…. being simply ignored.

Take a moment to visualize God’s response to someone who is normally quiet, or in a crowd where the quiet voice is drowned out.  Maybe the quiet one doesn’t have the status or stature of those with the louder voices.

Maybe it is a child.   Maybe it is you.

Whatever the case, in this verse’s particular circumstance there is a hesitant, perhaps fearful “plea for mercy” involved.

How do you picture God’s listening posture toward you?  Do you try to make yourself small?  Does shame or guilt muffle the words in your mind and heart?  Are you afraid of what He might say to you?  Do you think that His attention passes right over you, focusing on those voices that

are far more powerful than yours?   More important  than yours?  Do you believe that you must first get yourself into a better….higher….more worthy position before you should even use your voice with Him?

The writer of these words is pleading for mercy for something going on in his life.  It’s someone who feels very unworthy of God’s attention or help.

Yet, God has “bent down” to listen for that quiet voice.

He loves to hear your voice . . . especially talking to Him.   So, be that child…imperfect language, imperfect grammar, imperfect mind and heart.

He is leaning in to hear you telling Him what is in your heart. . . and on your mind.

 

 

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Night Song

“The Lord commands His Mercy during the day, 

and at night,  His Song is with me –

A Prayer to the God of my life.”

Psalm 42:8

When my grandchildren began coming into my life, my favorite time was putting them to sleep.  A simple, little lullabye had woven its way into my mind, nothing I’d heard before.  But it became “the lullabye” for my grandchildren. Each baby heard it, and most would almost immediately start nodding off when, cradled in my arms, I’d begin humming the song.  It was an experience I treasured with each of them.   Some of them still remember it.

God has His own Song that He sings over each of us.  It is especially sung at night,  when weariness has come,  and energy has gone. The pressures of our days, the pace of our lives, the burdens we carry, the fears we try to suppress, fill our days.  His Mercy is desperately needed, especially in the times in which we are currently living.  So much is filling our lives … our world … our thoughts.  It seems completely out of control.  Frightening.  Dreadful.

During these days, God’s Mercy is near, by His command.  In the midst of the “terrible,” He is near, holding back the “too much to survive.”  Though it may seem too much, His Mercy is near.  It’s for us to grab onto.  He knows.  He sees.  He is near.

But it’s in the night time . . . when the darkness comes, enveloping our minds and hearts . . . that He comes as a Song.  His Song.  A tender communication from God.  There’s something special about a song, more than words alone that come into our minds and are processed through our logical brains.

He sings His Song to us in the night.  Gently.  Softly.  I would call that a Lullabye.  Simple enough to sink into the heart of a child.  The words are not the most important piece.  It’s the sweet, gentleness of the melody that penetrates beyond words. My “babies” could not yet even understand the “words.” They  recognized my voice and the simple melody…..the familiar tune that seemed to have an almost immediate effect on their emotions.

God’s Song in the Night is meant to go to that deep place which words usually cannot touch . . . outside of our logic or knowledge.  It touches our very spirit.   Allowing His Song, His Voice to come into my heart, my spirit, quiets me.  As I listen to His Song, it becomes a prayer,  and my heart responds back to Him.

You are His child, held in His Arms, near His Heart.  May you listen to His Song,     bringing Peace and sweet Rest.

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Racism

“There are neither Jews nor Greeks, slaves nor free people, males nor females. You are all the same in Christ Jesus.”   

Galatians 3:28

As I write this, overt public actions and words throughout my nation are exposing a whole new level of racism.  It’s nothing new, most unfortunately.

Racism was alive and powerfully active even in the times when Jesus walked this earth.  No one was immune to being labeled by others, and treated badly.  (Jesus was of the “race” that was often brutalized by the powerful ruling Romans.)  But the example Jesus lived out while here was clearly not one that accepted racism.  He blew through all those labels and walls, and consistently related to humanity with respect and dignity.  That is what comes out of Love.  That is what comes from the heart of God.

By the time Paul came on the scene, even those who claimed to be followers of Jesus were carrying attitudes and actions of racism.  Paul gives us a broad glimpse of what was going on.  His broad “catagories” of racism were:

  • Jews – Paul’s own race and religion
  • Greeks/Romans – The “occupiers” of Paul’s homeland, Israel. Their “gods” were many, . . . they even worshipped themselves (physical strength and beauty.)  Wealth, political positions, political power, and moving in the top circles of government were part of being “at the top” in that world.  Paul knew that world well…  he had personal experience as having been part of it in his years before encountering Jesus.
  • Slaves – Under the Greek and Roman occupations, most of Paul’s people (Israel) were divided into  two categories. . . either slaves or free people.  Slaves had no rights, nor freedoms.   They were often not even treated as humans.  Their only value was in doing whatever their masters / owners demanded.
  • Free – In occupied Israel, the Jews still lived under the control of Romans, and then Greeks.  Their “freedom” was extremely limited and conditional.
  • Male or female – If you were a Jewish man or woman living under Romans or Greeks, you were still not free.  Life was still precarious, as those in power controlled the Israelite’s homeland by the rule of the occupying nation.  Men had much more “position” in daily life . . . family life.  But women came “under” male authority across the board.

Paul had experienced a position of power personally, within the occupying political power of his time.  So, he knew what that life was like.  He knew what it was to be  a privileged authority with his own people.  He also knew what his core identity of being a man had afforded him.

But when Paul encountered Jesus, everything changed.  His thinking . . . his activities . . .  his priorities . . . his attitudes . . . his realities . . .his interactions. Paul’s heart and thinking   CHANGED.   The entire direction of his life changed.

That is what happens when Jesus comes into a human life.  The Change begins very soon, and will continue to deepen and broaden as we begin walking in a New Life with Jesus Christ.  And others will notice the change in the daily life.  The “change” will more and more resemble Jesus’ life example while on earth.

Paul’s checklist of the racism of his day is only different from our days in the specific nations listed.

If we, as people of God, followers of Jesus, hold any attitudes inconsistent with what Jesus lived out when He walked on  Earth, our own identity in Christ is in question.

May we view and treat “others” with the same foundational truth that Paul addresses and Christ lived out.

 

 

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Clouds  (II)

“See, He comes with clouds.”

Rev. 1:7

I do not like to fly.  This is a very unfortunate reality, considering the Assignment that God planted deeply in my heart happens to be in North Africa and the Middle East.

One of the “jumping off points” to my final destination is Spain.  An early morning flight began a long day and night of flying.  On the drive to the airport, I was dreadfully aware of the early morning horizon, and the massive wall of storm clouds between my plane and my destination.  My stomach was churning with dread.  I knew there would be turbulence at the least.  Ugh!

I carried the knot in my stomach throughout the next few hours of airport lines, checks,

lines, more checks, etc.  All the while, I was rehearsing the “final” message I would send to my dear ones at home (internet access pending!)  [God…couldn’t You have given me an assignment somewhere that I could just drive?]

The plane rumbled down the runway, and my stomach knots grew.  My eyes were glued on the mountain of clouds into which we were quickly ascending.   White…white…white.. ….Bumps…harder bumps….rattles….thoughts of my funeral service.

And then, quiet.    Blue skies.  Billowing Pillows of white below us.   I was still alive.

As I looked down, I heard The Whisper . . . “I’ve got you, Jan.  (Was that a bit of a British accent I heard?)   You’re sitting in My Hand.  No matter what comes, I’ve got you.  Always.”

Whatever was happening on the earth below me…. be it thunder, lightning, rain, wind…. I was in the middle of peaceful blue skies.  The clouds were far below me, and He was carrying me to the desert and the Saharawi people He and I love so much.  Going through the clouds brings anxiety and fear to my vulnerable heart.  But sitting in His Hand, I am safe.  It’s the safest Place to be.

He often uses Clouds to give us a visual of Himself . . . His Presence. . . His Power.  But the safest Place to be is sitting smack-dab in the Palm of His Hand.

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Clouds

“Look!  He comes with clouds.”

Rev. 1:7

 Remember looking up at the sky as a child and seeing different forms clouds create far above on their blue canvas? Especially the “thunderheads” we called them.  I loved watching them as a child, and loved having moments with my little boys…often chuckling at what they were “seeing.”   Now, it’s grandchildren looking up with me, and it’s still delightful  to hear what they see.

As with our moments of looking up at the sky to watch the clouds, we live with the reality of different “clouds” in our lives.  The  clouds  come between us and our blue sky . . . our happy moments when the shadows are gone and we can see the sunshine and clear blue stretching above our lives.

Often, throughout the Bible, God is depicted with a Cloud, because His Power and Radiance would be too much for a human to see and survive the experience.  Just as looking directly at the sun would be blinding to a human eye, our human eyes and minds could not handle direct contact with Him.

But when God’s Presence is with the clouds, it is life-changing.

I remember a day during a very painful season of my life.  I was about to leave a building to go to my car.  As I opened the door, I literally gasped at the sky.  The deep colors of pinks, purples, blues, greens, and many shades of each were breathtaking.  I had never seen anything like it.   I slowly walked to my car, looking up.  Even as I drove out of the parking lot, I could not stop watching the sky.  I do not remember ever seeing such a beautiful sunset.

I had hardly left the lot when I got one of those “Whispers” . . . “Go back…and just watch.”   I knew it was a God-Whisper in my mind.  I turned around and went back to my parking place, and just watched, facing the sunset.   As the gorgeous horizon of colors continued, I realized that the sky canvas was being painted above me, and continuing to spread all the way behind me, filling the entire sky to the horizon behind me.

I sat in the silence, watching the beauty unfolding all around me.

Then The Whisper . . .  “Keep watching . . . just stop, and watch.”

Then,  “Look at the colors . . . all the rainbow colors. . . . What is catching and displaying all those colors?”

I saw.   “The very bottom layers of the clouds are where the colors are.”

The Whisper,  “Haven’t you been saying you feel like you’re ‘under a cloud, and cannot get out from under it’?”

My silent “Yes” hung in my thoughts.

“Without the ‘clouds’ you would not be watching this sky of Beauty right now.   I do some of My very best Work using Clouds.  They’re the Canvas.”

 Tears began running down my cheeks.  I kept watching, and the colors continued stretching, catching and moving the beauty from horizon to horizon.

And the “clouds” that had seemed to only cast shadows and sadness in my life began to take on a new meaning in my mind and heart.  The glimpse of His Artistry, using the ‘clouds’ covering my life, began to reflect a whole new perspective and significance.

Clouds continue . . . but so does His beautiful Work.

 

 

 

 

 

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Running for Your Life

“Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith,

we must get rid of everything that slows us down,

especially sin that distracts us.

We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up.”  

Hebrews 12:1

Who inspires you?  Who have you watched live out their own personal faith?  Perhaps it’s someone in your own family who has encountered serious struggles, but has never turned away from their own love and commitment to their faith.  Perhaps it’s a friend that you have watched walk through great loss or heartbreak, yet they have only tightened their grip on God’s Hand.   Maybe it’s someone to whom you are not even personally connected, watching from a distance as they have come through great tragedy. Yet they’ve held even more tightly to God, trusting Him with each step as they keep moving through experiences you could never imagine surviving.  They have been your examples of faith.

Sometimes the greatest losses and tragedy can be used to bring a new page in our life . . . things we had carried in our lives that had actually served to slow us down, or distract us from where our heart was longing to fly.  They may have been very good things in our lives . . . perhaps wonderful people we would have never wanted to be without.   But, for whatever reason, the void left in their absence has provided you a new opportunity to step into the Race of your own life in a deeper or more focused way.

The Race is your Life.  No one else is running your Race.  It’s between you and God alone.  Others may run beside you for a time, but they are not running your race.  They are running theirs.

How have you been running?   Are you just standing on your mark still trying to get your shoe tied?  Are you focusing on hearing that gun go off, on your mark, ready to go?  Or are you looking at the crowd to see who’s watching you?  Are you still adjusting your running suit?  Does it even fit?  Are you focusing on the finish line, or are you just checking out the runner beside you?  Comparing his/her physique to yours?   Do you even know where the finish line is?  Or are you just running because it’s what everyone else is doing?

Have you intentionally connected to runners who have been proven over time?  They have run their race with consistency and focus.  They know exactly where they are going, and have been running for a long time.  Who is in your life that you know has wisdom and proven experience that can help you improve your running….your technique….your focus….and your outcome?

Whether you intentionally joined the Race, or just wandered onto the field, you are in it.  It’s up to you how you run it.   Who are you looking at?  People who’ve proven they  know how to run their own race? Or do they merely have all the knowledge of how it should be done?

Focus on the Finish Line.  And run for your Life!

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My Trinity in the Sky

“The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky displays what His Hands have made.”

Psalm 19:1

Today was a rough day.   Disappointments seemed to be having a party, and I was the honored guest.  I would have much rather not been invited!

I decided to just get out and take a drive, ending up in  my son’s driveway, facing a beautiful sunset.  For some reason, watching sunsets over the fields  surrounding his home are unusually lovely, and seem to last a long, long time.  The clouds far across the fields hold the light and colors for almost an hour, subtly changing as the light slowly moves beyond the horizon.

I simply watched for a long time.  In the past, I have tried to capture the sunsets there on my phone’s camera.  But the colors never look as beautiful on the photo’s as they do to my watching eyes.  Mesmerized by the changing beauty, my thoughts were also focused on some disappointments today, and my sadness of handling life on my own for the past few years.

After watching for a long time, I got out of my car and  looked at the surrounding skies.  While I had been focused on the beautiful, moving sunset, I hadn’t realized that behind me was a huge full moon, softened by a hazy glow.  Looking back to the colorful sunset, and then at the beautiful moon, the double display seemed to be suspended.  I sensed God’s Spirit’s whisper….

“I Am here.  I was with you in all those disappointments today.  You have been watching what I can do with everyday air…every day, whether you are watching or not.”

“And with a simple turn of your head, you see the beauty of the moon… reflecting the Sun’s light all night long.  In the darkness of Life, the blackness of night, I extend My Light.  It is how I bring the sun’s powerful light into a gentleness through which you can sleep.”

 Then, I heard an unexpected sound to the north, many miles away on my right.  Fireworks!   Some small country town was having their celebration a day early.  The loud, powerful explosions of earth-bound sparkles and colors had joined the celebration taking place in the heavens.  All three were happening at the same time.  I was surrounded!   I sensed God’s un-capturable and indescribable, lasting Presence in the sunset, creating beauty “out of thin air.”   Then the soft, gentle glow of the full moon gave it’s peaceful comfort in the darkness, where fears lurk and thoughts trouble.  In the fireworks was a happy celebration as He dances over us in Love.

I had been given a glimpse of His Heart for me:

Beauty in the fading light of day…

His gentle Peace  reflected even in the darkness of night,

and the Joy He gives as He dances over me.

He surrounds me with His Love.