Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Psalm 116:1  I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy.

My story Part 1: Although I was raised going to church, albeit a liberal one, I never developed faith to speak of.  The idea of being born again or meeting Jesus in a personal way was totally foreign to me. When I went to college, what little faith I might have had was lost due to atheistic instructors and discussions with unbelieving students who seemed intent on obliterating any ideas of faith.

I came from a good home.  I was close to my mom but my father and I argued when we were together and loved each other while apart.  In the fall of ’68, while a junior in college, I agreed to go to a Christian retreat with them.  It still amazes me that I went, but nothing was going on that weekend at college and it was important to them – so I went.  The retreat center was at an old time camp back in the woods overlooking a small lake in Michigan.

In the first large meeting, a man spoke about the love of Jesus in a way that I had never heard before.  In fact he talked as though he knew Him – personally!  I was somewhat saddened by it because I thought, “If Jesus were real, that’s what He would be like – but what good did it do me?”  I couldn’t believe – or so I thought.  After the meeting, all of the high school and college age went to a separate meeting room.  There were about fifteen of us sitting in a circle and I was easily the oldest.

The man came in and asked if there was anyone there who didn’t know Jesus as Lord.  I was too embarrassed to raise my hand.  He then asked if there was anyone with any doubt about it.  Something raged within me as I sat there and I struggled with whether or not to raise my hand.  In spite of thinking there was no hope for me, I lifted my hand.

I was then startled by one of the young men (age 15) who jumped up from his seat, pushed a chair into the center of the circle of students and enthusiastically said to me, “This is where you meet Jesus!”

To be continued tomorrow….

Proverbs 20:12  Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.

Opportunities – they surround us each and every day.  How many righteous opportunities do we miss because we don’t perceive them?  How many unrighteous ones do we walk into because we don’t perceive their nature either?  Today, let’s focus on the righteous opportunities that are there around us.

When our two oldest sons were little we lived in Wheaton, IL.  Nearby was Morton Arboretum.  We loved to take John & Jamie for hikes there.  In the spring of one year something important occurred.  We were walking through the woods and I asked them what colors did they see?  They answered, “Brown, black, gray.”  I said to look closer and got the same answer of, “Brown, black, gray.”  They just saw soil, leaves covering the ground, tree trunks and tree limbs without leaves – all brown, black and gray.

Then I pointed to a tree and said to look beneath it.  When they started to answer, “Brown”, I said, to look closer – in the leaves to the left of the tree.  All of a sudden they shouted, “Oh, there’s green!”  I pointed to another area and they shouted, “There’s pink!  Blue!  White!”

They began to see the spring flowers in bloom all around us.  They just hadn’t seen the colorful flowers before because they were distracted by the dominant brown, black and gray.  Their eyes were opened, by being trained in what to look for.

We likewise have to train our spiritual eyes and ears to recognize many of the opportunities that the Lord puts in our path.  We can miss so much “color” because of the brown, black and gray of life.  But with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can see and embrace many more of the beautiful and colorful opportunities that are all around us.  Ask Him to train your eyes and ears to perceive them, and He will.

Nehemiah 8:10c “…for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Yesterday we wrote of Jesus laughing and playing with little children.  A friend emailed me a picture of Jesus laughing and it speaks volumes to me!  All too often we think of Jesus as always being serious; always involved in serious things.  Maybe our view of Jesus – particularly as it relates to us – is that He is like a parent who is distressed by their child (you or me) who is forever messing up.  We don’t see the joy and wonder that would have been so evident in Him.  We don’t see Him smiling, let alone laughing.

Think of Jesus in the boat with the disciples as they rowed the boat and shared their experiences growing up with one another – talking about the fish that got away. Think of Jesus walking on the road with the disciples and they start picking on one of their group and Jesus has to rescue him.  I can just see Jesus rolling His eyes at them as He intervenes.

Think of Jesus doing miracles and witnessing the explosion of joy that occurred when the lame walked or the blind saw; or a parent received their dead child back to life.

Think of parents bringing their crippled children to Him and they are made whole.  Think of the little kids to whom the miracle occurs!  Picture the little kids running around yelling at the top of their lungs that they were healed.

In Acts 3:1-10 there is the story of the crippled beggar who has a miraculous healing.  Verse 8 describes his reaction:

“He jumped to his feet and began to walk.  Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.”

This man wasn’t quietly thankful, soberly contemplating the event that just happened to him.  He jumped to his feet and began walking, jumping and praising God.  All who saw him were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

I thank God that He has given me a wonderful understanding of the joy He has in His people.  In spite of all my short-comings and frailties, I can see Him smiling at me – while He works with (and on) me.  I hope you can see Him smiling at you too.

Luke 18:16  But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Back in the 70s, Johnny Cash made a film titled “Gospel Road” about the life of Jesus.  I was thrilled a few years ago to discover it had been re-issued.  I purchased it and was so blessed to see it was as wonderful as I remembered.  It presents aspects of Jesus in a manner that I’ve never seen in another film.  One of my favorite scenes is Jesus with the little children.

Picture a bunch of children playing in the water and on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  They are having a great time splashing and running – just being little kids.  Maybe I relate to them so well because I grew up right on Lake Michigan and spent so many hours playing like they were.  But then, they see Jesus coming!

The children all run to him and he kneels down on the shore with them and they are thrilled.  Can’t you just see Jesus sitting on the shore with a little kid in his lap and all the kids playing around them, splashing and carrying on.  Then he’s digging in the wet sand with them.  What a marvelous picture, seeing Jesus and the children grinning and laughing together having just a wonderful time.  He even picks one of the kids up and does a “zerrbert” on his chest – laughing all the while.

The children knew Jesus was someone they loved to be around.  He was special to them.  But they were also special to him.  He loved to be with them as well.  Can you picture him laughing and grinning?  Can you imagine having fun with him?  Think of being with him and going home knowing it had been one of the best times of your life – one you wished would never end.

The wonderful news is that we are never too old to experience such joy and delight in Him.  We too can experience him smiling and enjoying us.  We just need to become more like children.

Psalm 130:6  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

About twelve years ago, in our Sunday service, a song based on this verse was being sung.  The words of the song were describing a passionate longing for the Lord that I didn’t have.  In the distress of this realization, I went forward in the midst of it being sung and spoke to our rector who was leading worship.  I told him, “I can’t sing this song because it doesn’t describe me.”  When the song ended, I was so blessed by his words of wisdom.  He commented, “When we sing songs that don’t describe us, let the song be a prayer that you are asking to become true of you.”

God used this experience to create within me the desire to become passionate for Him – with a passion that was palpable.  I began searching for verses in the Psalms that communicated passion to me – and I found many of them.  Another verse that particularly struck me was Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”  I wanted to have my soul pant for the Lord.  These verses then became the focus of my “Lord make this me” prayers.

My passion-meter or “passiometer” as I have referred to it, was not budging at all when this began.  No passion was being reflected within me as I read and prayed the passion verses that I wanted to become true of me.  Week after week; month after month; year after year, I prayed these verses throughout the Psalms.

As time went by, I was thrilled by the realization that the Lord was doing it.  He caused passion to grow within me so that I could honestly say that these verses were now describing me. I hadn’t “arrived” but my “passiometer” was now registering passion within me as a Geiger counter recognizes radiation.

God in His goodness allowed me to see that I was missing such an important attribute that He wants growing in me. He desires me to become more and more passionate for Him.  He gave me a plan and the determination to pursue it so He could bless me by answering it.  He will do the same for you.

Proverbs 17:3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.

Where are we?  Where are we going?  And, how do we get there?  Isn’t God good to use testing to show us!  Has the thought crossed your mind that testing is vital to our destiny and is a priceless blessing?  Where would we be without it?  It’s a good thing that it is, because there’s a limitless supply of testing for each of us! 

God is in the midst of it all working in our lives; revealing who we are and where we are in our walk with Him.  Testing highlights are strengths and weaknesses; it shows how far we’ve come and how far we have to go.  It is like a spiritual GPS – it let’s us know where we are.  Fortunately, the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, are the components that give understanding to the ‘where we are’ piece, but more importantly they are also the components that let us know where we are going and how to get there.

Think about that.  This process applies to every area and aspect of our lives: our thoughts, habits, idiosyncrasies, mannerisms, attitudes, interactions, etc…  God wants to transform every area of our lives to be like Jesus.  This applies to absolutely everything about us – without any exemptions.  And God uses all circumstances for testing, not just the difficult times.

How do we respond when things are going well?  How do we respond to praise and success?  Do we have a tendency to become less dependent upon the Lord in such times?  Do we walk in humility and grace; or do we become proud of what ‘we’ have accomplished?  When things become difficult, do we blame or question God?  Do we become anxious and stressed out?  Do our lives demonstrate that we are genuinely trusting God?  Are we kind and considerate no matter what happens?

Fortunately, God works with us in everything.  No matter where we find ourselves with regard to any aspect of our lives, He has a redemptive path for us.  Do we need to repent – or are we affirmed because we responded righteously to the situation?  If we responded well, could we have done better?  Do we then glorify Him by properly responding to what the ‘testing’ has shown us about ourselves? 

It’s so important that we remember that we are not our own.  We belong to Him and He wants us to be demonstrations of His love and grace.  Just as the crucible and furnace are used to purify silver and gold, God uses the testing to purity us – so that we might glorify Him.

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

These verses make me think of a pastoral picture.  Think of a large flower garden with the morning sun upon it.  There is a breeze blowing and rain is falling upon the garden from a small cloud above it.  Sunshine, rain, a breeze and flowers blooming providing both enjoyment and a place to labor.  It is a picture of freshness, vitality, beauty and joy.  Day by day God’s provision is there.

That picture is such a thing of beauty to me, just like the marvelous realities that these verses describe!  God’s love for us is fixed and unchanging and unending.  It never ceases.  It doesn’t depend upon us thinking it’s there.  It is there for us to experience – to trust in and to enjoy.  It’s like the air we breathe, it’s there. Think of the times when we feel the wind blowing upon us.  The air, that we typically don’t see or feel manifests itself in a way so we feel it.  God does the same thing with His love for us.

Likewise His mercies – they never come to an end and are new every morning.  Think of the manna – the bread of Heaven – that came down every day for the Israelites when they were in the wilderness.  Each day they could only take what was needed for that day.  Tomorrow’s manna, came the next day, not today – except on the 6^th day when God supplied double because the 7^th day was the Sabbath.  His mercies are never ending and there for us each day.

Consider that it is impossible for God to be unfaithful.  If we think that He is or has been unfaithful, we’re simply wrong.  Think of situations when you have been faithful to someone or experienced someone being faithful to you. Faithfulness is such a blessing – something so important to be able to count on.  In our times of need, God is always there.  He’s always faithful.  The blessings He offers if we but have the eyes to see and the sense to turn to Him.

Be a blessing to God each morning by recognizing and being thankful for His love, His mercies and most of all, for Him.

Matthew 28:19-20  “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The ‘Great Commission’ struck me as a fitting capstone to the last three weeks of these devotionals.  It speaks of making disciples and what they are to be taught; what kind of people we are to become as disciples of Christ.  Over this period of time we have been looking at the treasure contained in Romans 12:9-21.  As we noted at the start, these verses contain guiding principles and qualities that we must have in our lives in order to be the men and women that God has chosen and destined us to be.  They identify what a Christian should be like.

Here is the list contained in the verses of Romans 12:9-21

• Love must be sincere
• Hate what is evil
• Cling to what is good
• Be devoted to one another in love
• Honor one another above yourselves
• Never be lacking in zeal
• Keep your spiritual fervor
• Serve the Lord.
• Be joyful in hope
• Be patient in affliction
• Be faithful in prayer.
• Share with the Lord’s people who are in need
• Practice hospitality
• Bless those who persecute you
• Bless and do not curse
• Rejoice with those who rejoice
• Mourn with those who mourn
• Live in harmony with one another
• Do not be proud
• Be willing to associate with people of low position
• Do not be conceited
• Do not repay anyone evil for evil
• Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone
• If it is possible, live at peace with everyone
• Do not take revenge
• Leave room for God’s wrath
• If your enemy is hungry, feed him
• If he is thirsty, give him something to drink
• Do not be overcome by evil
• Overcome evil with good

What a beautiful list of attributes that should characterize each of us!  The more we look like these – the less we look like the world.  Do we recognize that the items in this list are in reality Jesus’ commands to all who would be His disciples?  It is by doing these things (i.e., obeying His commands) that we love God and demonstrate the reality of our friendship with Him.  As the song says, ‘And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.’

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.

John 15:14  You are my friends if you do what I command.

Friends.  Have you ever considered what a broad spectrum that word covers?  People we see and speak to at church, at school or at work.  People we hang around with.  Our neighbors or the people in a small group we’re a part of.  From people we enjoy seeing and being with – to those who are important in our lives – to those we absolutely treasure.

Hopefully, we all have some friendships that are in the ‘treasured’ category.  Typically, we don’t have many and to have even one is beyond a blessing.  Some friendships move into this treasured category because of shared hardship.  One of you, or a couple, was going through a very hard time and you were there with them – or they were there with you.  Praying together, crying together, hurting together – friend letting friend know they are important and loved!  It is a refining process that brings forth a quality and depth of friendship that wouldn’t be there without it.

I never cease to be blessed by the treasured friends Donna and I have who enjoy us as much as we enjoy them.  They love to bless us as much as we love blessing them.  They enjoy being with us as much as we enjoy being with them.  The joy and pleasure we experience when we see that a call or text or email is from them.  They brighten our lives.

This is the nature of the friendship that Jesus offers us.  It’s not just being one of the group.  It is an opportunity – an open door to a relationship that He wants to have with us.  It is not just a theological truth.  It is real – something that He wants to manifest in our lives.  It is the stuff that dreams are made of – dreams that can come true!

Treasured friendships are priceless and Jesus offers each of us the best one we can ever have – a friendship beyond imagining.  All we have to do is love Him.  Thankfully He has given us His commands so that we can know that we do love Him.