Friday June 29

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Don Schmidt

1 Peter 4:9, 10  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

There is an old story that has a powerful message about opportunities.  An Arab was traveling through the desert at night to escape the daytime heat, guided by the stars.  Crossing a deep dry riverbed he heard a voice call out in the night.  It said, “Dismount and gather up stones from the bed of the river and go on your way.  In the morning you will be both glad and sad.”

He did what he was told and gathered up a handful of small stones from the riverbed, and mounting his camel, he continued on his way.  At first light he opened the pouch in which he had put the stones and discovered that they were priceless jewels.  At first he was ecstatic and then he was sad.  He was grateful for what he had gathered but sad that he had not gathered more.

An opportunity had come to him and he had responded by filling one pouch.  He could have ignored the voice; or he could have filled several pouches with stones. The blessing he received – or missed – was based on the choice he made.   We encounter opportunities all the time.  The question is do we have the eyes to see them and the motivation to respond if we do?  We can be so caught up in our busyness that we don’t recognize or even consider them.  All too often, opportunities can appear to us as burdens – a pocketful of stones.

Today’s verses describe a way of life that is rich both in blessings and rewards; being a blessing to others and receiving the rewards of administering God’s grace.   These aren’t ‘stones’ to encumber us, but jewels to enrich us.   Offering hospitality and serving others are pathways to building relationships, establishing community and expressing the love of God to one another.  They are also marvelous blessings to the recipients.  The wonderful thing is that our Lord opens our eyes to see the treasure that these things are while we are doing them.  Pray that we will all respond faithfully to the opportunities He sends us each day.

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Tuesday June 26

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:18  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

When I read this verse I think of the many wonderful things the Bible has to say about peace, and peacemakers.  I think of Jesus – He is the Prince of Peace.  In the midst of turbulence and strife we can be filled with peace because we have learned to trust in Him.  In Isaiah 26: 3 it says, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

Have you noticed that we can share the peace we have with others?  It’s like the widow’s pot of oil in the Old Testament – there is a never ending supply.  We must understand the powerful impact God wants us to have in the lives of those around us, particularly when they are upset and stressed out.  The words we speak, and the manner in which the Spirit leads us to do it can have such a redemptive impact.

In Proverbs 25:11 it says, “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”  Our faith and trust in the Lord make us immune to their lack of peace – their nervousness and anxiety.  In fact our destiny is to be peacemakers.  Remember in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”  (Matt 5:9)

The more we walk in God’s ways – meaning bringing our lives into conformity with His word – the more we love Him.  The more we love Him, the greater the blessing we will be to all around us.  When we are faithful to Him, we won’t rise to provocation or insist on having our way.  We acknowledge when we are wrong and others are right.  We apologize and ask for forgiveness.

We are other oriented.  Instead of contributing to the anxiety and unrest, making bad situations worse, He will use us to defuse the unrest and turn the situations in a redemptive direction. He will use our righteous responses (meaning doing things His way) to positively impact the situations we find ourselves in.

The themes our lives are to involve love, faithfulness, righteousness and peace.  These qualities are so evident in the verses of Romans 12:9-21 that we have been looking at.  It’s like peace is the fruit or guest that comes when the other three are present.  Psalm 85:10 presents such a beautiful picture of what God does in us when we love Him: “Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.”

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Saturday June 23

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

There are probably people in our lives that we wouldn’t mind seeing burning coals heaped on their head.  But the overall context of the verses we have been looking at really speaks to our attitudes and actions toward those who wouldn’t make our friends list.  Paul has been writing about being a people whose love is sincere.  This includes blessing those who persecute us; to bless and not curse; and not repaying anyone evil for evil

This is the Kingdom of God way of life – just the opposite of how our old natures want to respond.  The Message states this verse this way, “Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness.”  Jesus takes it even further.  He tells us to, “…love our enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  He asks what credit is it to us if we only love those who love us; if we only do good to those who do good to us; if we only lend to those from whom we expect repayment?  Our heavenly Father is kind to the ungrateful and wicked and He expects us to be merciful just as He is. (Luke 6:27-36)

There are two examples given in Exodus 23:4-5 that flesh out this reality in a practical, helpful way.  “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.”  Think of it this way.  If we’re driving down the road and see someone who is nasty to us with a flat tire and need of help, we stop and help them.  Or if they are taken ill and we have the opportunity to help with meals or assist them in some way, we do it.

But let’s add a twist.  We must be careful not to assume that our kindness will produce an immediate change in them.  That is for the Lord to do.  How do we respond if the person we help then continues to be nasty – and then we encounter him needing help on the road again?  Do we drive by and say, “You deserve it! I’m not going to help you!”  Or do we stop again, because we have forgiven them and this is another opportunity from the Lord to bless them (and us)?  Maybe an angel did in the tire because he knew we were coming and wanted to see what we would do.

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Friday June 22

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This verse really underscores the importance of the Scriptures and the critical role they play in our lives.  Their absence is debilitating while their presence is empowering.  By absence, I mean that we have a casual approach to the Scriptures and the role they play in our lives.  By ‘presence’ I mean that we embrace the Scriptures; learn them and apply them.  They develop the framework through which we view life.  They are the basis for us defining what is good and evil.

How do we resist being overcome by evil if we don’t recognize the evil that surrounds us?  While much evil is obvious, there is much that is not.  Likewise we must learn to recognize good.  The problem is twofold: the society around us at times is clueless as to good and evil; and the Church is greatly affected by the fact that our culture has so infiltrated the church.  This results in the problem that Isaiah identified in 5:20 where he pronounces a warning:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

We must recognize that this is going on all around us now and the Scriptures enable us to address it.  In Hebrews 5:13-14 we see the reality of this problem and the vital role God’s Word has:

13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

The Lord wants our lives to glorify Him.  We are able to do that by living lives that are not overcome by evil, rather we overcome evil with good.

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Tuesday June 19

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Daniel 3:16-18  16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

These three young men provide a sterling example of faith and trust in the face of death.  Note that these young men did not say, “Our God is able to keep us from being thrown into the blazing furnace.”  They did not say that He would keep them from the trial.  They believed he would rescue them if they were thrown into the furnace – and He did.  BUT, what they went on to say is priceless because their faith was not predicated on God rescuing them.

They declared, “But even if He does not (rescue us),…we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold…”  They chose to be faithful to their God – even if it cost their lives.

Many of us have faced or are currently facing trials or situations that range from serious to seemingly insurmountable.  What has been – or is our response?  How is it actually expressing our faith in God?  Might someone conclude from observing our response that we feel abandoned or betrayed by our God?  Or might they conclude that our response simply doesn’t reflect any faith in Him.

In the face of death, they proclaimed they would be faithful to their God.  Think about this in the “fiery” trials that we face.  We can communicate this same truth.  In the midst of difficult situations we can declare, “Our God is able to heal, provide, deliver, rescue, answer, communicate, set free …..BUT EVEN IF HE DOESN’T, we are not going to murmur or grumble or complain.” No matter what happens, we are going to stand with Him.

It is so important to remember that in every test we find ourselves, we have the opportunity – and responsibility – to respond in a way that glorifies Jesus.

 

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Monday June 18

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Exodus 5:22, 23 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?  Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

Moses experienced the miraculous wonder of the burning bush and the encounter with God.  He and Aaron came to Egypt and met with the Elders of the Israelites and performed the wonders he was to show them.  The people were blessed knowing that God was concerned about them.

But then came the meeting with Pharaoh and Pharaoh was not convinced in the slightest.  Pharaoh’s response was to make everything worse.  So much so, the Israelite foremen met with Pharaoh to appeal for relief.  Their concern grew when it was rejected by him.  They encountered Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them and declared how they (Moses and Aaron) had made them a stench to Pharaoh.

This is not what Moses expected to happen.  Things didn’t get better – they went from bad to worse.  Yet this was God’s plan.  He just didn’t tell Moses that it was going to unfold quite like this.  Moses knew that God was going to harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he wouldn’t let the people go.  But Moses didn’t expect Pharaoh to make the situation worse.  Nor did he expect the Israelites to blame him.  God’s response to Moses’ concern was, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh…”

The principle at work here happens over and over throughout Scripture and in our lives.  God calls us to a mission or task and gives us an idea what ultimately will happen.  But as we obey, God allows all manner of unexpected difficulties to rise up.  He expects us to respond with faith and look to Him.  It’s through this process that we are changed and God’s plan is accomplished.  It just doesn’t happen the way we thought it would.

 

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Sunday June 17

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Acts 7:30  “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.”

Moses was 40 years old when he fled Egypt to Midian after killing the Egyptian.  He was sitting by the well when Jethro’s 7 daughters came with their sheep.  They had problems with some other shepherds but Moses came to their rescue.  Moses later married one of Jethro’s daughters and spent another 40 years tending Jethro’s flock.  And now as he was leading his flock out in the far side of the desert near Horeb, the mountain of God, he encountered the bush that was on fire but did not burn up.

Moses was 80 years old when this happened.  Over the years I wonder if Moses ever thought about what might have been.  What if he hadn’t impulsively killed the Egyptian who had been beating an Israelite? What might he have accomplished with his life?  He probably thought that now he would just have a family, tend Jethro’s sheep and die in the desert.  But God had other plans for this ‘young’ man.

Moses sees the bush on fire and is intrigued that it isn’t burning up.  So he decides to go over and see this strange sight.  One of the most fascinating and stimulating verses to me in the Bible is involved in this event.  It is Exodus 3:4, “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush…”

Think about it – what might have happened – or not happened – if Moses hadn’t turned aside to look.  God did something powerful to capture Moses’ attention.   He inserted this powerful event into the normal daily course of Moses’ life – but then Moses had to respond to it – he had to turn aside.

One way of thinking of this event in terms of how it impacts us today, is the expression, “Opportunity knocks.”  Do we have ears to hear its sound?  Do we have eyes to see the ‘faith’ opportunities that God provides that typically aren’t directly in front of us, but they’re ‘off to the side’.  When we see them with the eyes of faith, we are intrigued and we turn aside to see.

Such opportunities might be easily missed and we might have to interrupt our plans to respond.  But when we ‘turn aside’ we encounter God given opportunities to be used by Him to accomplish things He has planned for us.  Afterward, it is not unusual to be thrilled with what happened and to have this thought running through our minds, ‘We could have missed this if we hadn’t turned aside!’

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Friday June 15

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Ruth 1:20 “Don’t call me Naomi, “she told them.” Call me Mara, (bitter) because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

Can you think of times when your hopeful expectations were met with disappointment and perceived failure?  Where everything seems to turn negative and then go from bad to worse?  How do we respond in such times?  Where is the Lord in the midst of our difficulties?  Even if we think everything is ‘bitter’ as Naomi did, faith leads us to a different conclusion.

The Book of Ruth is also the story of Naomi.  Naomi and her family moved from Bethlehem to Moab due to famine.  While there her husband died and her 2 sons married Moabite women.  Then her two sons died and Naomi returned to Bethlehem with only her daughter-in-law Ruth, who refused to be separated from her.  Although she had Ruth, her focus was on what she lost.

We go though difficulties and misfortunes as well.  Losses, hurts, disappointments are part of life.  They are not separate from our faith, but God is always in the midst of them.  We can respond in faith and trust Him – or be focused on our circumstances and view God negatively.  Even when we don’t understand, He is faithful and He is with us as we go through the trials.

Sometimes we are able to see the good that comes out of our struggles – sometimes not.  But the Lord is always with us and always for us.  He is actively at work in us to bring forth His character and to bring about His plan.   Remember the marvelous joy we experience when we are tested and come through it faithfully.

Little did Naomi realize that God was using her in a marvelous way – to accomplish His plan of bringing Ruth to Boaz.  How different her response at that time might have been if she was aware that her losses and difficulties were essential for God’s plan to unfold. Not only was Naomi to be provided for abundantly, but she cared for the child born to Ruth and Boaz who was named Obed.  He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

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Thursday June 14

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Psalm 95:1-3  Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  3 For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

What reality do these verses have in our lives right now?  Do they describe a vibrant inner excitement regarding the relationship we have with our God?  Or, are they words that we acknowledge as true, but they are just that – words?  Is there a ‘flatness’ in our experience of reading them that is more like a soda that has been opened and the fizz is gone?

Think of eating a meal where no seasonings have been used in its preparation.  The food is bland to the taste, and while still nourishing, the enjoyment of it isn’t there.  With each bite we are thinking that it’s not what it could be – or should be.  Our lives can become like that.

Are our days ‘flat’ as well?  Are we so caught up in busy-ness that we don’t savor or even see the wonder of the blessings we have in our lives.  Now that we are back in Akron, I get to see three of our four sons each week, and their wives and children – WOW, what a blessing that is!  Thank God for phones and texting enabling me to communicate with our son in Colorado each week.

Every day I get to see my Donna.  I get to hear her voice; see her smile; and feel her touch.  Just to be near her is beyond words.  The blessing I receive when these devotionals touch those reading them.  The thrill never diminishes.  Yet all of these things pale in comparison to the daily wonder available to us in the relationship we have with our God.  He has given us the Scriptures to reveal Him and to lead us to Him – to daily guide our steps.  Finding Jesus is just the start of the adventure!

We get to serve Him with all our heart.  He will enable us to weep for joy and gratitude because of His love for us.  He draws us to learn to seek His face.  He teaches us to love Him with all our heart.  We can get so caught up in other things that we lose sight of the fact that loving and worshipping Him is the pinnacle!  Out of that will flow everything else.  Our hearts will be tender, our spirits will be responsive to Him and our lives will be an obedient walk with Him.  Our lives will be filled with the vibrant excitement that comes from knowing Him.

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Wednesday June 13

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Don Schmidt

Proverbs 9:10b  and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding

Why is this happening?  Why did that happen?  How could that happen?  I don’t understand!

How often are these expressions in our minds, on our lips and evidence of a storm raging within us?  They reflect a cry for understanding – and given our culture, we have developed an inordinate requirement to have understanding.  Something has happened or is happening that we don’t understand.  Frequently, it involves significant difficulties or tragedies that occur.

Currently we have a world filled with a growing amount of strife, wars and disasters.  The earthquake and tsunamis that have hit Japan and Southeast Asia; the killing and rebellion that is going on throughout the Middle East and North Africa; Christians and their churches being targeted for extermination; terrorism striking throughout the world – to name a few.

These are on top of the day to day difficulties of losing jobs, unexpected tragedies and dealing with things that the enemy of our souls is so quick to strike us with the question, “How could a god of love allow that?”  We find ourselves buffeted by the storms raging around us and the inner difficulties that stem from our inability to understand it, let alone explain it.

This is where knowledge of our God is so critical.  The more we know of Him, the more readily we experience the shelter and source of strength that He is to us.  The more we know Him, the more embedded within us is the response to turn to Him like a compass pointing ‘North’.

The way we increase our knowledge of Him is by walking in His ways.  The more we do, the greater is our desire and opportunity to learn of Him and know Him.  Because of His Spirit working within us, our knowledge and understanding of Him go through a marvelous transformation as our eyes see more and more of the Glory of who He is and what we have in Him.  He gives us peace in the midst of the storms.  Jesus referred to this as having our house built upon the Rock!

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