Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

1 Chronicles 16:11-12  Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.  Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

The other day I had an unexpected surprise.  It was a typically busy day with lots to do and not enough time to do it all.  In the midst of this I went to get a document I needed and it wasn’t where I thought it was.  So I had to hunt for it.

The search took on a life of its own.  I knew it was in the office but the issue was where.  (Those who know me have heard of my Prego filing system -“It’s in there.”)  While going through a stack of stuff that I hadn’t looked at in quite awhile, I encountered the surprise.  No it wasn’t money – but in some ways it was even better.  It was a stack of pictures from years ago.  Needless to say, I stopped my search and sat down and looked at the pictures.

The joy I experienced in savoring each one.  Our sons growing up, dogwood trees in bloom at our home in Peninsula, grandbabies, being with friends, trips to Brazil…  Some of the pictures were more special than others because of the memories and good times they linked to.  They were like a doorway into a gallery of memories – of treasured experiences that had not been thought of for too long.

One common theme running through so many of the pictures was the goodness of God to Donna and me.  Yes there have been difficult times, stressful situations and all the other stuff of life – but through it all and overshadowing it all has been the presence and blessing of our Lord.

How good and powerful it is to remember Him and the things He’s done – in our lives and throughout history.  The wonderful memories develop hearts of gratitude and strengthen our faith!  How good it is to recognize Him in the midst of everything.  We can become so blind that we don’t see the forest for the trees.  He is with us, intimately involved in every aspect of our lives.  We are never alone.   We need to recognize just how important it is to seek Him – to regularly set aside time to remember what He’s done and treasure Him and the memories we have of Him.

James 1:20  For man’s anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires]. (Amplified)

One of my all time favorite films is Chariots of Fire* – the 1981 British film that tells the
fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics.  One is Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and the other is Harold Abrahams, an
English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.

In the film, Harold Abrahams is a gifted runner who was stunned by being beaten in a race by Liddell.  He recognized the need to run faster, so he approached Sam Mussabini to become his coach.  After watching Abrahams run, Mussabini said to him, “I can find you
another two yards.”  Two yards to a sprinter can be the difference between the Gold medal and being an ‘also ran’.  Abrahams embraced the good news that Mussabini could enable him to improve.

There were things Abrahams needed to change in order to experience the excellence he was capable of – and he committed himself to that process.  This is such a vital principle that we need to understand in dealing with the ‘stuff’ in our lives that we must continue to deal with.  There are habits or remnants of habits that might not keep us from being ‘good’ or ‘better’, but they can definitely keep us from becoming the best that we can be.

Yesterday I wrote of my experience at Grad School where I was totally unaware of becoming angry.  In that classroom discussion I was so angry that ‘steam was coming out of my ears!’  Talk about being blind to the obvious!  Our anger does not promote the righteousness of God.  It is a habit that will promote unrighteousness.

Thank God the Lord made me aware of this problem and enabled me to effectively deal with anger over the years.  He has done the same with many Christians.  But how many of us recognize that there may still be subtle remnants of anger that pop up in our lives.  Such remnants keep us from the excellence we are capable of and that God expects from us.  Let us remember that no matter how much we improve, the Lord can always find another ‘two yards’ within us.

James 1:19  My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

In the mid-seventies I got to attend Wheaton Grad School.  It was one of the richest times in my life.  One of the more embarrassing and revealing memories I have of that time was in a counseling class I took.  On that particular day the instructor had us bring our
spouses with us to class, so my wife Donna was there with me.

We were all seated in a large circle and discussing some subject.  At one point I became engaged in a dialogue with another male student on the other side of the circle.  It
was a lively discussion as we disagreed with each other on whatever the subject was.

All of a sudden, the instructor who was sitting in the circle listening to all this, broke into this ‘dialogue’ the two of us were having.  She looked at me and asked, “Are you angry?”
I looked at her and said, “What?”  She pressed her point and asked, “Are you experiencing anger right now?” I replied, “Of course not.  We’re just having a lively discussion.”

At that point the whole class just exploded with laughter.  One of the guys in the class that had become a friend of mine shouted out to me, “You’re so angry, steam is coming out of your ears!”  I had no idea.  I sat there, dumbfounded, trying to grasp the reality of the situation.  How could I be so angry and not know it?

What a blessing that experience turned out to be!  I became aware of a major ‘blind-spot’ in my life and it involved something – anger – that can be so destructive.  Needless to
say this set off a process of discovery for me.  Fortunately, I wanted to change which meant that I had to learn to recognize when I was becoming angry and stop it from occurring.

Praise God for family, friends and co-workers who were willing to be a part of my repenting process.  Think of the value of being asked, “Do you know you’re becoming angry?” when you don’t want to be angry.   The Holy Spirit used their valuable input
to help me change.

1 Corinthians 7:22  For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.

Consider another time and another place.  Consider that we and our families are in a society where slavery is commonly practiced and it is not racially based – where anyone could find themselves in slavery, i.e., the Roman world.  Finally, consider that slavery is the lot we find ourselves in – and the world we live in it is accepted as a given.  There is no anti-slavery movement.  We are slaves and will likely remain so for all of our lives.

Maybe our masters are cruel – maybe not.  We have to live with what the reality is.  Then into our lives comes the Gospel!  We become born again, when called to faith in Christ Jesus.  We are transformed and become freed men and women, even though we still find ourselves in slavery.  Slaves yet free.  They are independent of each other!

Our focus becomes sharing the love of Christ with other slaves and becoming the best slaves that we can be.  Possibly, God will use us to reach our owners with the Gospel and transform them.  This is not done with the purpose of being set free from slavery.  It is done in joy because of the wonder of the love of Christ.  We want all men and women to come to know Him.

Yes, we might hope to one day be freed from slavery, but just like Joseph, we live our lives in a way that honors our God.  Our lives are so transformed we want to share the love of Christ with everyone.  This sharing is far more than just words about Jesus.  Our lives become filled with acts of kindness and doing the right things by God’s standards.  We live to please Him.

Think of slaves shivering outside in the cold and we, as Christian slaves, taking them blankets and something warm to drink.  We do it not to tell them about Jesus, although that might result.  We do it because it is a kindness that we would want if we were in their
situation.  We see needs and meet them as we are able.

The Gospel is a ‘Prosperity Gospel’ for all who receive it but not in the sense that we western Christians might first think of.  It is not about becoming rich materially.  It is about the incredible richness that we have in Christ no matter what our circumstances.  We must separate the reality of the Gospel from the cultural trappings that so easily hinder us.

We must fight the tendency to view the Gospel through the lens of our culture and circumstances rather than recognizing that the Gospel enables us to live first as citizens of His Kingdom.  We are able to experience His love and prosperity no matter what our situation.  We are free – even if we are slaves.

Psalm 29:2  Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

Our God is wonderful all the time.  But having said that, He does some of the most special things in our lives to bless us and communicate that we are His.  In a worship service I experienced something wonderful yet difficult to put into words.  As we were singing the Revelation Song, I was caught up in the absolute wonder and majesty of who God is:  Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty…With all creation I sing Praise to the King of Kings.

Then in the midst of this glorious worship of our King, He did something that I didn’t expect.  I don’t know how to describe it, but He provoked the joy-filled realization within me that I was His son who brought Him pleasure.  One minute I was part of creation worshipping and adoring Him – the next I was a son basking in His pleasure.  The only thing I can think of to describe what happened was – it was like He winked at me!

Over the years I’ve seen the President do that.  In gatherings he would see someone dear to him and would make eye contact and wink with a hint of a smile.  In the midst of all the seriousness, he subtly acknowledged the relationship and brought pleasure and blessing to the recipient.  We’ve probably all experienced something like that with a loved one.

The wonder of belonging – we are not our own, we are His!  Jesus isn’t an add-on to our lives; He becomes the very core of our being.  Seven days a week we are His and He is ours.  While duty and responsibility play a roll in our lives, there is so much more.  We get
to live for Him basking in the warmth of our relationship with Him.

The Lord is the God of the universe, but He is also our Father.  We are family.  When we love Him we bring Him pleasure.  As we worshipped, I moved back and forth between awestruck creature and beloved son – enjoying and being enjoyed by His Lord.  It’s like they were the two sides of the same coin.  What a marvelous combination!   May we respond to Him with lives that increasingly reflect a true and vibrant love for our God.

Psalm 38:9  All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.

How do we begin to thank God for what Jesus has done for us. Because of Jesus, and what He accomplished, our lives and our longings can be transformed.  Our longings can become a symphony to the Lord of what we want Him to do in our lives. I have personalized these longings so that they will speak to each of us as individuals.  Hopefully, to an increasing degree, they express what is in each of our hearts:

O Lord Jesus,

• I want to glorify you
• I want to please you
• I want to love you more and more and more
• I want to walk in all your ways
• I want to fulfill your purposes for my life
• I want to fulfill the calling that you have given me
• I want to be used by you
• I want to honor you
• I want to love my spouse
• I want to love those around me and those you bring into my life
• I want to teach others to love you
• I want to always be grateful for you and all you do
• I want to praise you continually
• I want to be faithful
• I want to embrace your disciplining me
• I want to trust in you
• I want to worship you
• I want to fear you
• I want to bring delight to you
• I want to live a life worthy of your esteem
• I want to do your will
• I want my love for you to be passionate
• I WANT YOU

1 Thessalonians 5:18  give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Hurricanes have been the dominant news stories in recent weeks.  Seeing the rain and flooding brought memories of May 2010 when we lived in Tennessee.  Yesterday and today I am posting devotionals that I wrote at that time.

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Yesterday I wrote about the immense amount of rain that fell on Central Tennessee over the weekend.  The flooding in so many areas is beyond severe – it’s devastating. Homes, cars, livestock, belongings and lives have been lost.  Many didn’t have flood insurance.  It will take months for the region to recover.

For those Christians who have been seriously impacted by the flooding, their faith is going to be challenged as they come to grips with their situation.  Are they going to see God as a villain for allowing this?  Are they going to retreat in their faith because they just cannot reconcile such events with their understanding of God?  Or are they going to be thankful to Him because He is with them in this trying time?

How might a Christian respond when he faces a total loss and his unrighteous neighbor somehow comes through this event unscathed?– particularly if that neighbor throws this fact in His face, “Your Christian faith sure didn’t do you any good in this storm!”  

Hopefully, in the midst of all of this, they will find strength and resilience in their faith.  Hopefully, they will find themselves living out the admonition in Job, where he did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.  They are not at the mercy of anyone but God.    

The Lord desires that our faith in Him to have such richness and depth, that in times like these, we have hearts of gratitude no matter what happens.  Giving thanks to our Lord is to be like breathing – it just comes naturally.  In the midst of loss or grief or pain, we can experience His peace and presence that produce a settledness within us that can only be explained as coming from Him.

In the midst of loss there is opportunity to glorify Him.  His will is for us to give thanks.  No matter what, we have Him.

Genesis 7:12  And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

Hurricanes have been dominant news story in recent weeks.  Seeing the rain and flooding brought memories of our experience in May 2010 when we lived in Tennessee.  Today and tomorrow I am posting devotionals that I wrote at that time.

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Many of you might be aware that we have had a bit of rain here in Central Tennessee.  Here in Franklin on Saturday and Sunday we received over 26 inches of rain in about 36 hours.  Saturday the total was over 17 inches.  Never in my life have I seen rain come down like this in terms of length of duration.  It’s one thing to have a cloudburst for 20-30 minutes or for an hour and then see it let up.  But this was different.

Here in Franklin the cloudburst went on hour after hour after hour.  I vividly remember staring out the window in wonder and amazement at it. The stunner was that it just wouldn’t stop.  We talked with people from here and they had never seen anything like it in their lives.  This morning the news is reporting rivers at 10’, 15’, 20’ and 25’ over flood stage.  Fortunately, the sun is out here and over most of Central Tennessee.

I couldn’t’ help but think of Noah and the flood – and that God doesn’t like sin.  It is not the least bit difficult to believe that the flood happened just as scripture says.  I’m grateful for His promise to Noah that He will never again use a flood to destroy the earth.  The sign of that promise is the rainbow.  

The point is that God wants people to embrace righteousness not sin.  Out of His love for mankind, Jesus came to earth.  Through His sinless life, death and resurrection, we are offered the gift of life.  

Through faith in Jesus and obedience to His word we are enabled to live our lives in a way pleasing to God.  God isn’t pleased with the death of the unrighteous.  He wants all to come to a knowledge of the truth.  

Seeing the rain – thinking of Noah – then the flood – God’s judgment – God’s promise – God’s gift – relationship with Him through Jesus – living for Him – eternal life – what a wonder!!

Colossians 1:9  For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all
spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Back in the 1990s many of us were involved in Promise Keepers (PK) – a wonderful move of God among men.  In 1996 PK held a large conference for pastors in Atlanta and most of the pastors of St. Luke’s, the church we were attending in Akron, OH were able to attend.  While there, they were exposed to the marvelous study Experiencing God by Dr. Henry Blackaby.

In January 1997 St. Luke’s kicked off a church-wide 13-week study of Experiencing God.  Before the study, there were about 15 weekly home groups, during the study the number of home groups expanded to over 50.  It was truly an extraordinary experience for the entire church.

One of the most important lessons from Experiencing God is incorporated in today’s verse – and that is the importance of being filled with the knowledge of God’s will.  We each
have a tendency to focus on, “What is God’s will for me?” – a much more subjective and self-centered approach.  Unfortunately, this can lead to a lifestyle that is more about us than about God.  We become pre-occupied with ourselves rather than seeing the larger picture.

Our focus should instead be on knowing what God’s will is – for all believers – and doing it.  Doing God’s will is like Basic Christianity 101.  Through faithfully living out God’s will in our daily lives, God will make clear where He has unique things for each of us.  His specific will for ‘me’ is to flow out of a life centered on living a life pleasing to Him – being Christ-like in every situation.

When I woke up this morning….

… the word ‘holy’ was there – in my mind.  It’s fascinating the way the Lord will give me a thought that when I wake up, it’s just there in the center of my mind, with an attraction to it that makes it undesirable to turn way.  Such thoughts stimulate curiosity, wonder and
excitement within me because I know the Lord has something for me to explore and be blessed by.  This doesn’t happen everyday, but when it does, I love the adventure it brings.

I think it’s accurate to say that for most Christians, ‘Holy’ is a word that is used today primarily in connection with the Spirit of God: the Holy Spirit.  Many of us love the old hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy” because it so wonderfully addresses the majesty and holiness of our God.  But this morning I was aware that the focus wasn’t to be upon how this word describes God but upon it’s application to us.

In looking through the Scriptures to discover the path to explore this with today, I was attracted to the prophecy given by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, following the
birth of John.  He had been silent for months, unable to speak, because he didn’t believe the angel Gabriel when told about the birth of this son.  In the midst of praising God after informing everyone that the baby’s name was to be John, he was filled with the Spirit and began to prophecy how God had come and redeemed His people.

In the midst of the prophecy is this description referring to the people of God, “To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our foes, might serve Him fearlessly ⁷⁵in
holiness (divine consecration) and righteousness [in accordance with the everlasting principles of right] within His presence all the days of our lives.”  Luke 1:74-75 Amplified

What a picture!  God has delivered His people so that they might serve Him fearlessly in holiness and righteousness! – Within His presence all the days of our lives!! This picture is to describe us!!  In helping us understand this, the Amplified Bible gives the thoughts of divine consecration and living in accordance with the everlasting principles of right.  This is how our fearless service to Him – and our very lives are to be
lived out.

Peter writes wonderfully of this in his first epistle, “[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel].  ¹⁵But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living.”   1 Peter 1:14-15 – Amplified

Do we understand that this is not a burden to bear – but a never-ending gift to enjoy?  Let us renew our commitment to embrace the joy and wonder of living such lives.