Our Path is Lit

⁷ For you are my hiding place;

    you protect me from trouble.

    You surround me with songs of victory.

This morning I found myself just wanting to sit and settle into peace.  Dealing with family conflict is so up-and-down.  Even when it has been quiet, it is still unsettled.  You find yourself just wanting to build a wall, draw a line in the sand, something, so it can be contained and dealt with appropriately.  The moving insincerity and gamesmanship is hard to understand and you find that all you want to do is move forward in an authentic relationship that is honest and real or to get out of the relationship forever.  There are times you just can’t put it anywhere else.

⁸ The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

    I will advise you and watch over you.

⁹ Do not be like a senseless horse or mule

    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

Today’s devotions were on not looking into the future, but letting God’s light for today light our path for today.  I am to do what He has for me today and if I get to a decision point or a crisis He will guide me at that time in the way I am to go.  Applying that to the family, I am not to worry about what might happen tomorrow, next week, or even next year.  God has got that.  I am to do what I know today and to live today in a way worthy of someone following Him.  How would Jesus live today in my person if I were not restricting His Spirit?  That is my question. 

While I know this, applying it to daily life is difficult.  People cannot just be written off.  We don’t just erase them from our thoughts.  At least, a person following Christ doesn’t.  Therefore, the lesson is … faith.  Just know that I have enough for today, He has my path and direction for tomorrow.

¹⁰ Many sorrows come to the wicked,

    but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.

¹¹ So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!

    Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure! – Psalm 32:7-11

Unfailing love.  It surrounds me.  May I trust in Him and have confidence in my knowledge that He has it under control.  He will advise me and guide mes where I need to go.  He is protecting me.  May I follow Him today in obedience to His Word.

The Tempest

The front door of our home faces due east.  This morning I was met with a 20 mph gusty wind directly in my face when I opened the door to leave.  Ah, a tempest I thought.  As I looked at and settled into it, I became aware of how long it has been since we’ve had a hurricane or any significant storm of any kind.  How quickly we forget.

“And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’  But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” – Matthew 8:24-26

I find it hard to reach the place where God wanted these men to be.  One, they were with Him.  They had Him in their boat.  Two, they were where He wanted them to be.  He said go across the sea and they were trying to cross the sea.  Three, when they were perishing, about to drown and sink, they called out to Him.  Which of these is wrong?

We want God with us.  We want to walk with Him.  We want to go where He says go and we want to rely only upon Him as our Help.  He must save us and nothing else.  These all sound good to me.  Yet, Jesus said “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” 

Consider the points again.  God was with them.  God is with us.  His Spirit is alive within us.  They were doing exactly what He told them to do.  They were where He wanted them to be.  Are we where God wants us to be?  Are we doing what God told us to do?  He has written a lot of Words.  Do we believe what they say and do them?

If we have God with us and we are exactly where God wants us to be, then Jesus’ question to us is, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”  The point to ponder is, what is the faith test here?  Haven’t we already passed the faith test by believing in Him (putting Him in our boat) and traveling where He told us to go?  Absolutely, these are important facets of faith, but faith has many, many layers.  Some layers can’t be reached until others have been crossed.  

Further, wasn’t our faith more evidenced by our calling upon Him in our trouble?  Absolutely not.  Everyone, even the person with the smallest or even absence of faith reaches out for anything when they are drowning.  Calling upon God in our times of trouble does not measure our depth of faith.  However, we do gain faith greatly once we are rescued in our rescuer.  (There is another lesson here.)

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” – John 14:1

If you have God within you and you are where He has led you, do you believe it is for your undoing and harm?  The faith answer is no.  Wherever it is that I am where He has led me as He walks before me is exactly where I need to be, whether it is in a tempest and I am drowning or not.  Maybe the best thing He has for me is to perish.  I don’t like the idea, but if He is with me and has led me there, then that is the best thing for me.  I must trust that; I must have faith in Him and Him alone.  I find this thinking to be very hard to reach.

It is so difficult to walk in a storm and take your senses off the storm and focus solely on Jesus.  There is a strong wind carrying rain and waves blowing across you.  The water covers you and is blown into your eyes so much you have trouble seeing.  The howling of the wind across your ears is so loud you can hardly hear.  The boat floor is moving so much you can barely hold on well enough to stand, if you can stand at all.  You feel the wetness soaking through your clothes all across your body.  YET, you have Jesus with you and you are where He said to be. 

Do you focus on your senses in this world or do you have confidence in that you are completely settled into where and what He has for you, even if it is a storm?  

We must have God with us and be doing what He told us to do, before we can not be troubled and believe in His Words as best for us, no matter how hard the wind blows.

Quiet Moments

I sit there quietly.  The presence of a new day, a new dawn around me.  My heart is open as the pressures of my work responsibilities conflict my immediate family ones, my thoughts reflect lost family, destroyed relationships, and I consider my inadequacy to be the father my kids need or the husband my wife deserves.

I start a slow drive to work this Saturday morning.  It’s nice out so I let the windows down and turn the A/C off.  As I pull up to the office, Holy Spirit by Francesca Battistelli starts playing on the radio. 

“There’s nothing worth more

That could ever come close

Nothing can compare

You’re our living hope”

My spirit breaks.  Tears well up in my eyes.  Pain flows down my cheeks.  Goose bumps rise across my back and over my body.  God is here, in my heart, comforting me. 

“Holy Spirit, You are welcome here

Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere

Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for

To be overcome by Your presence, Lord”

I am conflicted between being overcome with thankfulness that He is here, for this very moment, and my unworthiness to be deserving of even a passing glance or thought from Him.  Why commit me to Your graces?  I am someone who has never fulfilled the potential You created in me.  I am a fragile egg, capable of being cracked apart at the smallest drop.  Why me O Lord?  Don’t waste Your grace.  Find a more worthy vessel!

“I’ve tasted and seen

Of the sweetest of loves

Where my heart becomes free

And my shame is undone”

I am immediately so thankful for God’s love upon me.  There are so many blessings in my life.  God wraps a cover of warmth over my soul.

My thoughts move to those who will never have a moment like this.  Where is their comfort?  Will they ever find rest?  Lord, help them to find You!  Lord have mercy on them and give them another chance to choose You, even today.

One Authority

Every parent has had this conversation with their child.  “Do not cross the street unless there is an adult with you.”  “Okay.”  At some time the child crosses the street without an adult.  “Did you know you weren’t supposed to cross the street unless an adult was with you?”  “Yes.”  The child knows the rule, but does it anyway.  Most likely they don't answer yes or no, they make up an excuse or justification for their action.

The problem we have with anyone who is in sin or who believes a particular sin is okay is not in the sin itself, but in that person who knows it is sin.  If a Christian believes that an action, although clearly written as a sin in Scripture, is not a sin then the problem is one of authority.  They believe their authority is greater than God’s authority.  This creates a problem between believers.  If a non-believer refuses to believe an action is a sin, then that is their prerogative because they do not believe, so there is no other authority except their own.  I like the way Francis Chan put it, “I choose to believe what the Eternal One says, not the 47 year old.”  It sounds crazy when it is put so simply. 

My experience is that if you ask a Christian if they believe in Jesus they will answer “yes”.  But if you ask them if a sin in their life that they enjoy is a sin they are hesitant to confess it.  Even if you point to the text and ask about it.  A sensitive heart to God’s Spirit will respond to such conviction; a hardened heart will only be angered against you.  You are seen to be a provoking authority, but actually you are only a road sign, or even better a thermostat. 

Dr. David Jeremiah comments upon how we should be thermostats and not thermometers.  We don’t sense the temperature of the world around us and move to it like a thermometer.  We maintain the temperature of the world around us, like a thermostat, because we are set by a higher authority.

Christians know what the Bible says.  They know what sin is.  It’s just, is it what the Bible says, is it what society tells me it is, or is it what I want it to be?  We are accountable for our knowledge, even if we choose to redefine it to be what we want it to be.  Why do we constantly want to redefine the eternal wisdom and authority of God?  Do I really believe I know more than the Creator of man what will make me more fulfilled?  Really?  Isn’t that an absurd idea?

The issue for any person is one of the heart.  Do you have faith?  Do you really believe?  If so, you won’t have a problem with someone showing you a sin in your life.  You might not like it, but you’ll be thankful for it.

Dull Sword

Pr 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

In the military, when a critical piece of equipment necessary to support our nuclear mission fails, we call it a Dull Sword event and it gets very high level of attention until its repaired to serviceable condition.  Sometimes we get dull in our walk as well.  My Dad always said that we don't serve a wimpy God and when He needs to get your attention, He will do so.  As a result of that upbringing, I've always tried to avoid the "2x4 of life" events that God can sometimes use to get our attention preferring to allow simple reminders to get my attention so God doesn't have to hit me too hard.  I'm blessed to have a brother that cares enough to seek me out to confront me about my laziness regarding devotions.  I've only managed to write one other this week, and He came over with a simple and direct question of accountability: "where have your devotions been this week."  He didn't beat around the bush, didn't pry for what might be going on, he simply drove right to the heart of the matter at hand. 
I appreciate direct and forthright approaches.  I'm not a very perceptive person and sometimes need an interpreter when people hint around.  I'm glad I serve a God who knows me and seeks me where I am with a clear, non-sugarcoated message.  Since God cares enough to send a personal reminder when I miss my devotions, I know I can trust him to deliver a clear message to me regarding other events in my life when I need them.  I worry about my kids and their maturation, but need to trust God more.  I worry about my role at work, but need to know that God can guide me there as well.  I worry about my financial future, but need to know that God has been speaking and guiding savings and investments my whole career.  I worry about our church, our youth, and so forth.  If God can send a personal messenger to kick me in the butt to get back to something as simple as daily devotions, I know I can trust Him to get a message through my insensitive ears and thick skull regarding important people and events in my life. 
I'm thankful for an accountability partner who has the courage to deliver a simple message and for a God who cares enough to inspire and send that messenger.  I'm more thankful for a faithful God in whom I can put my whole trust.  I need to learn to trust Him more thoroughly - a lesson probably best learned through daily devotions...

Holiness Above Comfort

I saw this reference in Matt Ayer's Tea in Solitude blog.  Francis Chan speaks so plainly and to the real point of suffering in trials and tribulation and on how love for and dependency on Christ allows us to persevere with joy.  It is very much worth the time to listen to this message if you are going through a trial, have been in a trial, or might be in one some day (so you pretty much need to listen to it no matter who you are).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pn7WYZE6qk

Stay Gold

“Stay Gold.”  

We watched the last half of the movie The Outsiders last night.  These were the last words to Ponyboy from his friend Johnny just before he died.  Johnny was referring to a poem Ponyboy had read him entitled Nothing Gold Can Stay written by Robert Frost.  He explained in a letter to Ponyboy that being Gold meant being young.  It was seeing the world as new and good, the way a child sees it. 

This is sometimes a very difficult concept for those of us who are “older” and should be wiser.  We have seen a lot in ourselves, in others, at work, at church, in our families, and in the world that we tend to lose some of our excitement.  We have been disappointed so relentlessly and so completely that we might find it hard to be encouraged to make a new friend, start a new work, take part in a new (same old thing) ministry effort or have to deal with so-and-so’s same old problem again. 

If we aren’t careful we will fall into a negative thought sinkhole.  We start with why should I try again today doing what I have done the last decade just to be the same person I was then?  In fact, it becomes easy to reason that you were better, then.  In this evaluation such thoughts will lead you to do things that are out of touch with Who it is that made you Gold and excited to live.  I think this is a part of what I have seen in others.  They are reaching so hard to live, but have forgotten that internal fire and passion that they had for living was from Jesus and it is Him that makes them Gold.  So they abandon what they were and put themselves into a position that they can't back out from.  Then when they try to return, they have trouble grasping why everyone treats them as a different person.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:5-7

Try this small test.  Look around, wherever you are now, and imagine with all that you can imagine that someone, no matter who it is, has died suddenly and is no longer there.  Try to grasp all that it means.  …  Are you sad?  Are you heartbroken?  Or, are you numb to it?  …  This is certainly not a perfect test, but you should have been able to at least tell if there were pangs of heartbreak or not, even for someone you might not know very well.  A result of being gold is having a heart for what God cares the most about and that is people.

“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” – Philippians 4:8

This fight to “Stay Gold” is a fight in our hearts to let Jesus rule it and not our selfishness.  It is also a fight in our mind to focus on thinking correctly.  The world is quick to drag you down and show you everything wrong with it.  To flaunt its sin fullness in our face and lead us to depression and apathy.

Have an open heart that follows what you believe Jesus is leading you to do.  Focus on the good and praiseworthy things in this world.  “Stay Gold.”

He's Got This

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; ⁷ and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— ⁹ then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, ¹¹ whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. – 2 Peter 2:4-11

God has spoken to me over and over saying, “I’ve got this.”  He has assured me then reassured me in devotions and by bringing specific passages from His Word to me at times when it was completely evident it was more than random chance.  “Chris, quit tormenting yourself, stop worrying, let it go.  I’ve got this.” 

“Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Mt 8:26)  “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt 14:31)  “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves?” (Mt 16:8)  Jesus spoke these things to his disciples, the same disciples who were the first to receive the Spirit of God and who would cast out demons, heal the lame, cause the blind to see, and begin the ministry of all that we know as Christian. 

And today, a much weaker vessel is given the same message, “O you of little faith.”  My conversation is something like this:  “Do you believe it is too much for Me?”  “No.”  “Do you think that I do not love?”  “No.”  “Do you think I will not work to present the truth to the hearts of everyone?”  “No.”  “Then, why are you fearful, why do you doubt, why do you reason to yourself?  Have faith in Me!”

O me of little faith, how much longer must God endure me!  There are times when we know God has it, but we can’t see it.  We don’t hear it or taste it.  We can’t feel it.  All our senses about it are inaccurate and wrong.  We have to have faith.  We must swallow it down like medicine if we can’t get it down any other way, but we must get that belief into our hearts and accept it.

Faith is a multifaceted jewel.  Although it has a single subject of incalculable value and beauty, it has many faces.  While one face might be putting everything into God’s hands and knowing God must work or nothing will happen and all is lost.  Another is trusting Him on His Word.  One is desperate (maybe both are).  But the other is purposeful.  I WILL back up and let Him work.  I WILL accept His grasp of this burden and let it go.  I WILL be free as He leads me to it.  I WILL believe.

Comfort, You who are Comforted

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Jesus comforts us in our troubles.  He is there.  He does not leave us as our hearts are cut and our own spirit is crushed, but shares it with us.  He is there.  He does not leave us when we grieve, but shares it with us.  He is there.  It is in Him and Him alone that we find peace in the midst of all that we know dying.  He does not die.  He is always there.

“Light shines in the darkness for the godly. … They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.  They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.” – Psalm 112:4a,7-8

We who know Him and walk in His Spirit of peace and comfort are able to help others who are in the storm.  Julie and I have experienced this in ways we never saw before.  Why now are we presented with so many people who are in such terrific trials?  Did we simply not notice before?  It is because we know how to comfort now.  We know how to share the truth of faith.  We do not simply understand in our mind that Jesus is the Son of God and can do all things, we know it because we have had to lay our lives upon it.  We can look someone else in the eye, who has lost all they know and loved, and tell them with complete confidence that God can change anyone and make the best from the worst.  You have to have faith.

This light of faith shines for those who know Him.  We can be confident that there will be bad news but we are more confident that the Lord will care for us.  What can this world present to us that is more than God?  We must be completely assured that God will do what He must in our lives so as many people as possible have the opportunity to see Him, choose Him, and know Him.  Regardless of what it costs us, who truly have nothing outside of His presence.

Psalm 15

¹   Lord, who may enter [dwell/abide/sojourn in] your Holy Tent [C the Tabernacle]?

Who may live on your holy mountain [C Mount Zion]?

²   Only those who are innocent [walk innocently]

                and who do what is right [righteousness; 1:1; Job 1:1].

Such people speak the truth from their hearts

³               and do not tell lies about others [slander with their tongue].

They do no wrong [evil] to their neighbors

                and do not gossip [L raise a reproachful matter with their associates].

⁴  They do not respect hateful people [L The wicked are despised in their eyes]

                but honor those who honor [L fear] the Lord.

They keep their promises to their neighbors,

                even when it hurts.

⁵   They do not charge interest on money they lend [Ex. 22:25–27; Lev. 25:35–36; Deut. 23:19]

                and do not take money [a bribe] to hurt innocent people [Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19].

Whoever does all these things will never be destroyed [L moved].

Every time I encounter one of these either from myself or from someone else the Spirit is quick to point it out.  These are timeless character trait models for us to be mindful.  When we see them in ourselves we need to ask forgiveness from God and from those whom we've offended (even if they are unaware).  We need to make sure we have people close enough to us to point these out with loving hearts and that our heart is ready to listen and turn quickly.

Get Your Worship On!

Sometimes rather than write a devotion, I'm mindful that God is simply worthy of worship and that I would do better to simply focus on him rather than me or even what He has to say to me.  I'm not good at worship, but God handles that for us too (in addition to sacrificing himself for our salvation) with scripture useful in leading us in worship.  This one is on my mind today from Luke 1: 46-55

Mary's Song
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

Make a Dang Decision!

Joshua 25:15 "...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."


Choose.  Choose Daily.  Whom have you chosen to serve today?  If you haven't made a conscious decision, you've still made a choice.  Serving God requires at least a daily decision and quite often situational decisions.  Make the choice to serve the one you know holds your future.  To do anything else is to make a poor decision.  I don't know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future.  I choose to put my faith in God who knows.  Only He can choose perfectly.