Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Proverbs 2:6  For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Years ago I was an assistant pastor and was going through an exceedingly difficult and painful situation with some members of the high school youth group and their families.  In addition, there was also an amazing mini-revival going on with other high school students at the same time and I was in the middle of it all.

I was loved by some and hated by others.  I had never experienced anything like it in my few years of ministry.  The pain and stress of the situation was compounded by the fact that I just didn’t understand why such negative things were happening – and they were happening!  Fortunately, the senior pastor was very supportive of me.

This situation went on for months with no end in sight.  Early one morning I was walking around the sanctuary, carrying the names of all the young people, and crying out to God for help.  I finally knelt down, weeping as I cried to the Lord, because I just didn’t understand what was going on.  At that time, the Lord spoke to me – not audibly – but unquestionably!  He simply spoke the name of a book and the chapter number in the Bible, one I hadn’t read yet.

I immediately opened to the chapter and read it.  I was stunned – it explained everything! – specifically!! – down to the details of painful things that had been done to me!!!  It gave me understanding of what was going on and the ‘why’!  It explained why He had brought us there and what we were to accomplish.  Importantly, it also expressed His expectations of me to respond to it all in a godly manner.

It was not information and understanding that I could use against anyone.  It was meant to help me.  We still had to walk through the painful circumstances, but the Lord had given us understanding and encouragement.  It was like the Lord put outriggers on BOTH sides of our canoe as we were going through turbulent white water to keep us upright and stable through the worst of it.

The fact that He had intervened and answered my cry was and is beyond priceless.  An incredible peace settled within Donna and me because we now understood what was going on, but more importantly, God had spoken to us.  This was a supernatural intervention of God into my life that would be part of the bedrock of my faith for the rest of my life!

We were at that church for another 15 months before leaving for grad school.  Before we left and in the months following, every one of those ‘problem’ high school students apologized to me for what they had done and the pain they had caused us.  To this day my Bible has a highlighted copy of that Bible chapter that the Lord spoke to me taped inside the back page.  It’s like in the Old Testament when the Lord told Israel to erect a memorial to remind them of the wonder God had performed.  It is an ever present reminder that God always hears our cries and is our source for wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

This week we’ve talked about ‘Why?’ and ‘Why not?’; skunk factors, saltiness and excellence.  All of these have addressed particulars of our lives.  As Christians we all want to ‘get it right’.  This involves dealing with all aspects of life.  But at the heart of it all is a pearl of great price – who we are in Him and who He is for us.

We are God’s chosen people, but it’s a whole lot more than that.  We are dearly loved!  He swept us off our feet.  When we thought we were unlovable and lost.  He found us and made us His own.  When we were lonely and feeling rejected.  He said, “I want you!”  Do we understand that we are talking about the God of the Universe!  The maker of stars and heavens and planets!  He knows our names.  He cares for us!

I think of little Samuel, as a child in the temple being awakened by the Lord calling his name (1 Samuel 3).  The final time it says, “The Lord came and stood there calling as at the others times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!”  Try to grasp the thought of the Lord standing by you and calling your name!  I remember a chorus on this theme that has always been dear to me, “I heard the Lord call my name, listen close you’ll hear the same.”

Our Lord and Savior didn’t just set us apart like choosing members of a team.  He made us His.  He made us new.  He radically changed us so that we could be like Him. He desires that we show forth His love by developing and showing forth the qualities that He has expressed to us – the ones identified in today’s verse: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Can you think of finer attributes than these?

Yes it’s important to know what not to do and what to avoid – but the thrill of our hearts can be –and must be – becoming like Him.  We can never repay Him for what He has done for us, but we can bring Him pleasure!  He enables us to live out these very qualities that express His love and that will draw others to Him.  He wants to use us to extend His family!

Galatians 5:1 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Have you noticed that everything that is considered ‘excellence’ requires effort and work?  Music, sports, writing, college, cooking, careers, parenting, marriage, gardening, etc… it makes no difference.  Excellence doesn’t happen by accident.  Each area of endeavor has its own requirements of things to be learned and mastered.  They all have standards that identify what excellence is.

Donna, my wonderful sweetheart, makes a bread pudding to die for.  The recipe came from a master chef in New Orleans that we got at a sales conference many years ago.  There are 10 different ingredients in it including pecans, raisins and coconut – and a marvelous sauce to go with it.  The recipe has nuances, such as the nature of the bread used, that are critical to the outcome.  It is warm and moist – not dry or mushy – and the flavors are amazing.  It doesn’t happen by accident.

Excellent, Christian lives don’t happen by accident either.  We need to understand what constitutes such a life, what must be done to develop it and cultivate the desire for it to happen.  The Holy Spirit is central to all of this.  We must listen and respond to what He shows us.  A major arena of our lives in which He will continually work with us on deals with the desires of the flesh.  These are identified in many places but let’s look at those identified in Galatians 5:19-21 (New Living Translation)

¹⁹ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

These are all ‘skunk factor’ land (see Sunday Dec 14, 2025 Devotional) – and will undermine and overcome our efforts to live a Christian life.  Their impact is far worse than just making us ‘smell’ bad.  They will radically affect who we are.  These are things to run from – just as you would from an approaching skunk with his tail raised.  They are the antithesis of walking in the Spirit.

To be continued…

Psalm 9:10  Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

“Why?”

This is a question that many of us frequently have.  Sometimes there are ready answers, i.e., “Why did I do poorly on that test?”  Answer: I didn’t study.  Question: “Why is my spouse upset with me?”  Answer: I behaved like a jerk.

Then there are the ‘why’ questions that are more difficult to answer.  Why did I have to lose my job now?  Why couldn’t that accident have been avoided?  Why does it seem we are always going through difficult times?  Why does it seem that everyone else is being blessed and we’re not?  Why did I have to lose that client? – That sale?  Why did we invest our savings in something that was going to collapse?  Why did she have to die?

Two thoughts for us to consider: The first is our culture is preoccupied to an unhealthy degree with the question ‘Why?’  We want to know the why of everything.  Often this question and how we respond to it lead us down a road with no outlet – leading to frustration, discouragement, anger, a sense of ‘victimhood’, rejection or abandonment.

The other thought is to choose to make the question ‘why’ an invitation from the Lord.  By that I mean that whenever we are hit with a difficult ‘why’, we look to our Lord for wisdom, insight and understanding.  Think of it as a wonderful learned reaction.

If Ohio State Buckeye fans hear someone say “O-H” the immediate response is “I-O”.  Likewise in these situations when we think or hear “W-H-Y” our response needs to be “J-E-S-U-S”.  He is our refuge and resource.  He is the one we trust.  Even in silence, He enables us to become secure experientially – not just in theological head knowledge – but in the reality of His trustworthiness.

For many of us, this is going to involve a significant transition process. The Holy Spirit is our comforter, counselor and guide.  He lets us know we need to change; He shows us the way and enables us to learn how to walk in it.  He will help us establish new God-centered habit patterns that bring life and righteousness.  The more our lives reflect our dependency upon Him the freer we become.

Deuteronomy 8:2  Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

Suppose the Lord spoke to you in a dream and let you know that the next day you were going to be tested by Him, but He didn’t go into the particulars of what it would entail.  When you got up in the morning you were excited and a bit nervous because you wanted to pass the testing.

Spend a moment and think about what kind of things the Lord might do to test you.  Might it involve work – dealing with what you do and how well you do it?  Would it involve relationships?  Would it involve the possibility of a promotion, where it would be an interview or performance evaluation regarding how well you know your job?  Would the testing involve big things or small things?  How do we tell the difference between big things and small things?

Suppose when you got to work, your boss told you that he needed you to prepare an important presentation for that afternoon that could result in major new business for the company.  This unexpected opportunity would involve you working with a bunch of people throughout the day to put it together.  A lot to do; with little time to do it; with a major opportunity as the potential outcome – what a test!

Most of the day was an adventure interacting with co-workers to obtain what was needed.  They were all so busy as it was and helping you seemed like just one more unwelcome task.  Their responses to you ran the gamut from helpful to wanting to ignore your requests.  Fortunately, the presentation was completed, delivered to your boss and the big opportunity was won.

But at the end of the day, you discovered that winning the opportunity wasn’t the test the Lord was referring to.  Your boss was pleased with the end result, but the Lord had been looking at something else.  His test involved all of the human interactions that you had in preparing the presentation.

Given the importance of the project, did you fall into a more abrasive style where ‘the ends justify the means’ mentality kicked in – in order to get the job done?  Did you take offense at some of the resistance you encountered and respond in kind?  Did you assume fences could be mended later?

Or, were your attitudes, words and actions consistent with your faith? In difficult human interactions were grace and kindness there?  Would your co-workers be grateful for the way you performed your task in spite of how they might have behaved?  We have a real tendency to focus on the ‘destination’.  The Lord is vitally concerned with how we get there.  In His eyes, the process is the goal.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Long ago a man embarked on a journey home.  It required him to be on a ship for the major part of the journey.  This was still during the time when slavery was common and there were slaves serving on the ship.  Over the course of the voyage the man struck up a friendship with one of the slaves.  As the days went by they enjoyed the times together more and more.

When they arrived in port the captain came to the slave and informed him to get his belongings because he had been purchased.  When the slave discovered that he had been sold to the passenger who had become his friend he was outraged.  The slave confronted his new owner and asked, “I thought we were friends!  But now you have purchased me to make me your slave – to serve you!  How could you do this to me?”

The man looked at the slave and said, “You misunderstand.  I didn’t purchase you to make you my slave.  I purchased you to set you free!”  Upon hearing this, the slave exclaimed, “I will serve you all the days of my life!”

I heard this story many years ago and never cease to be moved by it – maybe because I relate so to the slave.  The details of my life are obviously very different from his, but I remember the struggles I was going through 57+ years ago – the loneliness, lack of direction, the inferiority complex.  I always seemed to be struggling with feeling un-chosen, left out or left behind.  I didn’t realize it but I was a slave.

Only, I didn’t have a voyage to get to know someone who would surprise me with freedom.  For me it was totally unexpected and what He did was so much more than just physical freedom.  In my stunning encounter with Jesus (October 11, 1968), my ‘Matterhorn of doubt’ regarding God was leveled!  He made me someone entirely new!!!!  I am still amazed at how utterly transformed my life was in a single moment.  I so understand the slave saying he will serve his new master for the rest of his life.  Even now I am overcome with emotion and gratitude thinking of what my “new owner” did for me 57 years ago – and Jesus has never stopped doing it!!!  He overwhelms me with love!

I am so grateful that I get to serve Him the rest of my life – only it is so much more than that: He enables us to love Him in return.  We become friends and family – in relationship with Him every day of our lives.  The more we realize the incredible wonder of what He has done for us, the more we want to love Him.  That is what makes the Christmas season so special to me.  God so wanted us that He gave us Jesus, so that we might become His – forever!

1 Kings 3:5  At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Solomon’s answer pleased the Lord.  God said He would give him a wise and discerning heart.  He also would give Solomon that which he didn’t ask for – both riches and honor.  In this dream God closes with this admonition for Solomon, “And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” (1 Kings 3:14)  God was saying I will bless you with long life if you love me.

Yesterday’s devotional focused on earnestly seeking God – and the fact that He will reward those that do.  The same question (as in today’s scripture) was raised in terms of identifying what we would like the Lord to give us as a reward for earnestly seeking Him – if He asked.

We would probably ask for what is most on our hearts – and that could cover many things:  The salvation of parents or children or friends; a better job; money to pay bills; ability to be a better husband, wife, parent or child; to love better; to be better at what we do; to love the Lord more; to be used by Him; for an opportunity of ministry; for support for our ministry; to have good devotional times with the Lord; to have a desire to read and learn scripture;  – the list just goes on.  And none of these answers are wrong.

But at the end of the day, what does God really want and what is He offering?  I think of John 14:21, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”  The Amplified Bible makes this verse jump off the page:

“The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]”

God wants to meet our needs and He instructs us to make them known to Him.  But He wants our relationship to grow beyond seeing Him as our source and provider.  He wants to be the love of our life.  He wants us to want Him so much that we receive the incredible blessing of His presence which He reserves for those who love Him this way.

I am reminded of the final scene in Anne of Green Gables.  Anne was an orphan and the story describes her adventures growing up and particularly, her relationship with a boy named Gilbert. At the end of the 4^th film there is a scene of the two of them on a little bridge over a pond.  He starts to tell her that he cannot give her wealth or diamonds… but she interrupts to tell him that she doesn’t care.  She looks up at him and says, “All I want is you.”  May our lives lovingly declare the same message to our Lord Jesus as we celebrate His birth.