Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Habakkuk 3:17-18  Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

These verses are among my very favorite in the entire Bible.  They speak of where God wants us to be in our relationship with Him when everything seems to go wrong. They reflect a reality that God wants to work into our lives, thereby making these sentiments genuine.   We need to understand that we can be doing everything right and find ourselves in such situations.

In an agrarian society consider the reality of what verse 17 talks about: no buds on the fig trees; no grapes on the vines; a failed olive crop; the fields produce no food; no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls.  Nothing is working.  Nothing is doing what it is supposed to do.  The source of food and income is not there.

Think of this description and apply it to our lives.  Some modern counterparts could be; no sales, no income, no results, lost revenue, lost jobs and no success to name a few.  Think of everything we attempt to do in terms of work and livelihood being fruitless.  But then consider the word YET!

“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  In spite of all the negative, I will rejoice in the LORD..  In spite of all the losses, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  How do we do it?  How do we get to a place where this verse genuinely describes the reality in our heart?  The good news is God provides a way to get there.  I find it to be a practical example of James 4:8, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.”

It won’t happen over night, but it can happen.  By His Spirit and by us walking in His ways, He will transform us so that no matter what happens, we will more and more, rejoice in the LORD and be joyful in God our Savior.

To be continued.

I Kings 18:27  At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”

I’ve wondered why this verse always brings a smile to my face.  I’m grinning even as I write this.  And now I am laughing.  Really!  I am sitting here typing and laughing.  It’s not laughing at the prophets of Baal shouting and dancing trying to get the attention of their god.  This verse just taps into such a wellspring of joy within me that comes from Him.

Think of it.  This verse paints such a perfect picture of who our God isn’t!  Our God isn’t deaf!  He isn’t distracted or asleep or busy or traveling.  He’s never asleep.  He doesn’t put out a “Do Not Disturb” sign.  He never says, come back later I’m too busy now.

Our God never has an “Oops”!  He doesn’t miss anything.  Nothing catches Him by surprise.  Nothing catches Him off guard.  There is never the need for Him to apologize to us because He was too busy elsewhere or distracted and just missed what happened to us.  He’ll never say, “Oh, how did that happen?”  He’ll never ask, “What do we do now?”

This reality must become bedrock in us.  Once it does, nothing will shake us.  No matter what happens, our first thoughts are of Him.  He knows what we’re facing.  He knows what’s coming.  If it happens, He allowed it and will get us through it.  Our God is always with us!  His grace and mercy and strength are there for us.  There’s nothing He can’t redeem.  We are never alone, even when we think He is no where around!

The more this wonderful reality of our God dawns on us, the greater is our joy and gratitude.  I guess that is the source of my smile – my overwhelming gratitude over who God is (and isn’t!) and that He made me His own.

Happy Birthday to our youngest son, Michael.

Proverbs 3:3-4  Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Love and faithfulness – what marvelous attributes these are!  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every Christian was primarily characterized by these?

Consider the contrast by viewing verse 4 in two different ways.  On the one hand, verse 4 becomes the question, “What can I do to win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man?”  This is an entirely appropriate question and desire.  The Lord provides a wonderful answer in verse 3 to accomplish that goal.

But there’s another question that can be asked that reflects a subtle yet significant difference in motivation.  “Lord, what things are important to You that should characterize my life?”  Love and faithfulness (verse 3) is an answer to that question and verse 4 becomes the result of living such a life.

In both scenarios, the obedient Christian will live a life expressing love and faithfulness.  This results in favor and a good name.  But I think the motivation of the second question expresses a “more excellent way”.  The distinction is that the goal is not winning favor and having a good name, but living a life that expresses love for God – that will glorify Him.

This all speaks to the issue of “why”.  Why do we do what we do?  What is our motivation?  Do we do things to get blessed?  Or, do we do things to express our love for Him and one another – and blessings are the fruit?

Mark 1:40-42  A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  ⁴¹Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Our son Andrew is a wonderful actor who lives in Denver.  Last night while Donna was at class, I watched a DVD of a marvelous Christmas program Andrew was involved in a few years ago where he played the role of Nathaniel, the leper.  In that role he was the narrator of the program that told the story of Jesus and culminated with him telling his story.

He told of being a farmer, of his home life with his wife and daughter, of becoming a leper, and then losing it all and the years of being alone.  He was considered unclean – untouchable.  But then he told of hearing about Jesus and what led up to his encounter with Him described in today’s verses.

The scene is very moving say the least but last night it seemed like the Lord just highlighted even more for me the fact of Jesus’ love for this man and the fact that Jesus touched him.  Seeing Andrew, as the leper, with tears streaming down his face describing with such passion this encounter with Jesus, left me totally captured by the wonder of being touched by Jesus. He described the look in Jesus’ eyes and the incredible fact that Jesus didn’t cure him with a word, but that Jesus reached out to him and touched him – an unclean leper. It was as though Andrew really had been the leper and Andrew was describing what had actually happened to him.

Sitting there watching this, I was so thrilled that I too had been touched by Jesus.  I had my own overwhelming wonder at what He had done for me – thankful that being touched by Jesus isn’t limited only to those who lived with Him 2,000 years ago.  Jesus Christ is alive – touching people every day!  Our God is not some distant, unapproachable, unloving being.  He is the very opposite.

This morning as I write this, I am consumed with gratitude and wonder that the God of the universe not only cares for us, but that He touches us and makes us His own.  The touch of God in our lives is every bit as real as the touch that healed this leper of his leprosy.  We are forever changed.  May we be forever captured by the wonder of it all!

Isaiah 7:14,15  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.

How do we know what is right or wrong?  What is good and what is evil?  What is our basis for identifying such things?  Such determinations don’t happen by accident or just come about naturally.  They require us to learn Scripture and learn to respond to the working of the Holy Spirit within us.  We become enabled to recognize and discern the truth no matter how convoluted the circumstances.

The world has its own idea about what is good and evil or what is right and wrong.  Are there circumstances that make it appropriate to lie?  How about situational ethics?  Sometimes it seems that the biggest evil to the world is Christians making any kind of judgment that something is evil or wrong.  We can become so accustomed to the world’s lies that we adopt behaviors that declare the Truth to be the forgery.  Isaiah addressed this problem when he wrote:

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. (Isaiah 5:20)

Some things are so blatantly evil that you can’t miss them.  But that isn’t the general way the enemy of our soul attacks us.  He tries to blur the lines and induce Christians to walk in pathways that lead to temptation – that present unrighteousness in attractive packaging.  Just think of much of the commercial advertising and TV programming we are exposed to.  We become familiar with pathways that have his ‘forgeries’ presented as the norms of ‘good’ behavior.  His goal is to have us reach a point where we affirm the forgeries and reject the ‘original’.  Or where we succumb to societal pressures and tolerate his redefined ‘acceptable’ behaviors in our lives.

If we persist in the path of accurately identifying evil as evil and good as good, the enemy of our souls will try to move us to becoming overtly judgmental of others.  That can produce a prideful blindness that is repugnant to God.  Remember the Pharisees were so concerned with sin they missed Jesus.  But doing this the right way is our destiny and is included in learning to reject the wrong and choose the right.  God is our enabler.

The Scriptures are our standard.  They identify that ‘good and evil’ apply to behaviors, thoughts, attitudes – every area of our lives.  God wants us to walk in righteousness and it is imperative that we learn from Scripture what it is and isn’t, and His requirement to do it the right way.  We must recognize that with the Holy Spirit we can accurately reject the wrong and choose the right but it requires focus, intentionality and learning.  He expects no less of us.

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.

Happy Birthday John!  Our oldest son in Brazil is 39!

Hebrews 12:2a  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, …  Matthew 6:27  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Early this morning I had an experience that is common to us all.  I woke up at 3 AM with a slight cough that was persistent.  I finally went and took some cough medicine, got a cough drop and tried to go back to sleep.  As I laid there, resisting the urge to cough, I felt it beginning to recede.  It was almost enjoyable experiencing the urge to cough totally disappear over the course of several minutes.

I was so grateful I started thanking the Lord for the blessings of having it go away and to be able to rest peaceably.  At that moment my mind was filled with a wonderful song: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.  I love the way the Newsboys do this song.  What a blessing to lie there, worshipping the Lord, while this song was running through my mind – and free from the cough!  In the midst of this moment the Lord just impressed upon me a much broader lesson that I had just experienced with my disappearing cough.

The Lord turned this simple, everyday kind of experience into an important lesson of the reality He is in our lives.  We are surrounded by worry, anxiety and stress (pick your word) – much of which comes from very real problems we face.  They all can provoke a real life spiritual ‘cough’ within us, that can affect everyone around us.  A major answer to this problem is eyes of faith, fixed upon Jesus.  He gives us perspective.  He enables us to see that He is the one we look to and trust.  He is the remedy for dealing with these problems – not worrying about them.

He enables us to dismiss the ‘shadow’ worries and deal with the real problems – but from a place of faith, anchored in Him.  We enter into His peace and are able to function effectively, free of the spiritual ‘cough’.   Allow yourselves a few minutes to enjoy this wonderful song and turn your eyes upon Jesus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQzAYQE-U4Q&feature=related

1 John 3:1a  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God!  And that is what we are!

Yesterday in worship we sang a deeply moving song.  It spoke so beautifully of our Father’s love for us and the treasure we have in Jesus.  It has been resonating within me ever since.  The more we grasp His love for us, the greater is our gratitude; the greater is our desire to love Him in return.  Allow the words of this wonderful song to minister to you.  At the end is a video that presents this lovely song.

How Deep The Father’s Love For Us by Phillips Craig & Dean

How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory 

Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Genesis 40:23  The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Focus on the verse above and ask yourself the following question:  “Did Joseph spend two more years in prison due to a cupbearer’s faulty memory?”

The story of Joseph is a favorite of many and it contains many important lessons to be learned.  One of particular importance is this aspect of his experience with the cupbearer.  While in prison, Joseph interpreted the dreams of both the cupbearer and the baker.  After interpreting the cupbearer’s dream Joseph asked him,  “…remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.”

Joseph went on to describe how he was forcibly carried from the land of the Hebrews and had done nothing to deserve being in a dungeon.  The cupbearer was restored to his position just as Joseph said he would.  But the chapter ends with noting that the cupbearer forgot him.

The next chapter begins, “When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream.”  None of the magicians or wise men of Egypt could interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.  It was then that the cupbearer remembered Joseph and recounted his experience with Joseph while in prison.  Pharaoh sent for Joseph.

Throughout Joseph’s years in Egypt up until this time, the Lord was with him and gave him success in everything he did.  This success translated into blessing for whoever was responsible for him.  When tempted to sin by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph recognized it as wickedness and a sin against God.  When it came to interpreting dreams, Joseph recognized that interpretations belonged to God.

I believe that Joseph spent two more years in prison because that is where God wanted him.  He was not subject to a cupbearer’s faulty memory. God was working in Joseph and until the time of Pharaoh’s dream, the Lord wanted him there – in jail.

It is critical that we recognize that God is intimately involved in our lives – particularly in the difficult seasons that we go through.  If our prayers don’t bring relief, it could be that God wants us to be exactly where we are, and is going to keep us there – just like He did with Joseph in jail.  Hopefully, we will respond as faithfully as Joseph.

Job 1:22  In all this Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

It’s difficult to imagine the impact of all the disasters that happened to Job in chapter one.  Scripture describes him as being blameless and upright; one who feared God and shunned evil.  But through no fault of his own, loss, destruction and death were involved in each of the 4 messages brought to him, one after another.  The last one being word of the death of his seven sons and three daughters by a mighty wind causing the house they were feasting in to collapse on them. Yet his response was to fall to the ground in worship.

Seldom will we or anyone we know experience loss of the magnitude that Job did.  But we do experience loss, pain and tragedy in many forms.  In such times, how wonderful it would be for our immediate response to be one of worshipping the Lord as Job did.  Unfortunately many would find it difficult to worship freely in such a time of agony.  But that is where the verse today is so critically important.

Job didn’t charge God with wrong doing.  He didn’t say, “God how could you….”  He didn’t lash out at the Lord or blame Him in any way.  It’s so important that we understand that such responses are sin. Let’s say that again but more pointedly: ‘Charging God with wrongdoing is sin.’  The importance of all this is further emphasized in Job 2:10b where we learn, “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”

It’s not that God won’t forgive such responses, but it’s what they reveal about us.  They reflect an inadequate and inaccurate understanding of who God is and of our relationship with Him.  To respond negatively towards God shows us we are weak where we should be strong.  When we find ourselves in such situations, think of the difference between these responses: 1) “God how could you…” and 2) Oh Lord, I’m so glad that I have you in the midst of this…”

There are times when we are experiencing difficult and painful things that our hearts are not in the place to worship.  But hopefully, they are also not in the place to charge our Lord with wrongdoing.  In such times let us take the faith position of thanking the Lord for keeping us from sinning and asking Him to work the change in us so that our heart-response is to worship Him in the midst of it all.