Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Scripture is at the end.

Imagine living 2000 years ago in the Middle East in the land of Judea; specifically in a region called Galilee.  There are no hospitals, no pharmacies, no vaccinations, no antibiotics and very little medical care of any kind.  Injuries and illnesses that today are no big deal were life changing or deadly back then.

Our neighborhoods and families would likely have individuals who were crippled or sick with conditions that greatly affected their daily lives and the lives of those around them.  Chances are that some of us would be among those with such conditions, with no hope of them ever improving.

Into this mix comes word of a Nazarene carpenter named Jesus who is doing unbelievable things.  He’s going around doing miracles!  Cripples are being made whole, deaf are now able to hear, the blind are receiving their sight, the sick are no longer sick, lepers are being healed, demon-possessed are set free and there are even cases where the dead are brought back to life!  On top of that – we have seen individuals whom we know personally who experienced miraculous healing and restorations through this Jesus!.

Yes he is teaching about God, but teachers have always been a part of Jewish life.  Although people say he is teaching like no one they’ve ever heard.  No one has ever done what he is doing – and it’s not just isolated cases here or there.  He is healing everyone who comes to him!!!!  Multitudes are flocking to him.

Can we imagine the excitement?  Do we think that we’d be sitting around, discussing whether we were going to go see this Jesus – or not?  Rather, doesn’t it seem likely that we would be beyond excited; doing everything we could to gather all our sick and crippled family and friends – helping them to get to him?

Jesus was so much more that a ‘great teacher’ – there has never been anyone like him.  Here is Matthew’s description of the above scenario that we have been imagining together (4:23-24):

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

He was AND IS the Christ – the Son of the living God!  He is our Savior and Lord!

2 Corinthians 9:15  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Today – a prayer:  For the past couple of days I’ve just been so aware of the wonder we have being loved by our God.  This isn’t just a general Biblical truth but a faith-filled experiential reality. This is one of those precious times when God heightens our awareness and appreciation of Him.

All my thoughts just keep coming back to how fortunate and blessed I am.  I am just overwhelmed with God and His love for me.  What follows is written a bit differently.  I’ve written it in first person so that you can read it and pray it and speak it for yourself.  I pray that it will bless you as much as it’s blessing me.

How can I ever thank you Lord for making me your own?  You, the God who created the universe know my name.  That is almost beyond imagining.  I am in awe of the fact that you care about me; that you would want me to be your child – to be part of your family for eternity.  It’s beyond words that you have made me your son and you are my father.

How can I ever thank you Lord that you let me experience your presence; that you give my life purpose and meaning?   How can I ever thank you for allowing me to be your hands extended; that you give me the opportunity to touch others with your love.

How can I ever thank you for Jesus?  Without Jesus, I have nothing.  With Him, I have everything.  How can I ever thank you for your Spirit who lives within me?  I am never alone.  You are always with me; loving me, encouraging me, comforting me, convicting me and helping me to repent whenever I need to.

How can I ever thank you for your Scriptures?  They teach me all about you – but even more wonderfully, they teach me how to love you!  Oh Lord, I do love you!  It is just so amazing that you give me the opportunity to be a blessing to you.  I don’t begin to understand it but I rejoice that I can give you pleasure.

How can I ever thank you for the passion you have put in my heart to live my life for you? – That I can gather with your people and sing to you and worship you and experience you.  Thank you Lord for my heart – that is bursting with gratitude for your kindness and love for me.

Forevermore your child, Don

Psalm 116:2  Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

My story Part 2: Nothing prepared me for what happened when I raised my hand – acknowledging my doubt about knowing Jesus as Lord.  I thought it was hopeless, that I had too many doubts, but what did I have to lose?  I was startled to see a young man of about 15 push a chair to the middle of the circle of students and say, “This is where you meet Jesus!”

The evangelist came over to me and said that I could confess my sins and know that I was forgiven – that I would be clean inside; that if I wanted to know Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord – beyond a shadow of a doubt – to walk out to that chair and let them pray for me – so I did.

All of the students gathered around me and began praying – and pray they did!  There came a point when the evangelist asked me if I knew Jesus as Lord.  I replied, “No. But I want to!”  At that moment, it happened – I met Him!  From the top of my head, through my body to my toes, His power went through me!  God gave me a thunderous conversion experience beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of!  My Matterhorn of doubt was leveled in an instant.  Inside I was utterly changed, cleansed and filled with His presence.  Jesus was real and I was His!!!!

I was absolutely overwhelmed.  Within me was a tumultuous mass of joy, excitement, freedom, cleanness – there was Jesus, inside of me! And He didn’t go away!  After praying for others, we walked out of that prayer room into the main meeting area.  I so clearly remember looking out the windows at the woods and the lake.  I thought, “I’m 20 and life expectancy is about 70.  How do I keep this alive and vibrant for 50+ years?”  There was nothing in my experience that led me to believe that something this incredibly good could be sustained for any period of time.  The idea of it getting even better never entered my mind!

October 11^th was my 55^th birthday in the Lord.  My love relationship with Jesus is more vibrant and more wonderful than ever.  It has never grown cold.  Words cannot describe the gratitude that I have because God made me His own; the joy of tears streaming down my face because of Jesus.  I will love Him forever because He heard my cry.  Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

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.  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.

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 remember one professor, a former pastor, believed that a nursing baby at its mother’s breasts was in the “Garden of Eden”.   Original sin was when the baby bit its mother’s breast and caused her to stop nursing the baby.  So the baby was expelled from the Garden!  And it went downhill from there.

In the fall of ’68, while a junior in college, I agreed to go to a Christian retreat with my parents.  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, the speaker for the retreat 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 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.  A room full of “teeny-boppers” (a term popular way back then).  My impression wasn’t positive.

There were about fifteen of us sitting in a circle and I was easily the oldest.  Then the speaker came in and asked if there was anyone there who didn’t know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.  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 say the best was yet to come is an understatement for the ages!!!

To be continued tomorrow….

Psalm 19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

When I was a little boy I had a book about Grandpa Bunny Bunny.  He was the founder of Bunnyville and the father and grandpa of many little bunnies.  He was dearly loved by them all. He taught his children and grandchildren how to paint Easter eggs and spring flowers and autumn leaves.  People would see the incredible beauty around them and wonder where it all came from.  But the little bunnies would laugh, because they knew it was Grandpa Bunny Bunny’s doing.

Then came a day when Grandpa Bunny Bunny told all the little bunnies that it was time for him to leave – and then he was gone.  A few days later, after a rain, there was a sunset of incredible color.  All the little bunnies who loved him so, knew that he was still painting.  The colorful sky was the work of their beloved Grandpa.  In my family, we referred to such colorful sunsets as “Grandpa Bunny Bunny” skies.

So many people are blind to the wonder of creation.  Others, instead of recognizing the heavens as evidence of His existence, struggle with questions that deny the reality of what they are seeing.  The heavens declare God’s glory – but they are also designed to provoke a response in each of us to find the One who created them.  The “creator” wants to be found by the “created”.

When we look at the stars and the skies; when we see a glorious sunset or enjoy the beauty around us – we get to recognize them as the work of our beloved Lord.  They are not the work of some omnipotent, unknowable, distant being.  We are able to view the wonder in the context of our love relationship with Him.

While God’s greatness and power are beyond our imagining, it never ceases to amaze me that through Jesus, we belong to Him – and that He loves us so! As I sit and write this, I’m laughing and grinning with joyous wonder because He made me His.  The God who made the heavens knows my name and made me one of His sons.  WOW!  The wonder of the heavens pales in comparison to that!

1 Peter 2:19  For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

We have a tendency to expect positive results when we do the right thing.  Nothing wrong with that, but we must be aware that often that isn’t the case.  Peter is talking about us bearing up under the pain of unjust suffering because we are conscious of God – just like Joseph did.

Joseph refused to yield to the temptation presented by Potiphar’s wife.  Day after day she talked to him and he repeatedly refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.  When she caught him by his cloak one day, they were the only ones in the house and Joseph fled.  She proceeded to lie to Potiphar accusing Joseph of being the one wanting her.

It appears that Potiphar believed his wife for Scripture says, “he burned with anger.”  I’ve often wondered if he ever asked for Joseph’s side of the story – and would he have believed him if he did.  Potiphar then took Joseph and put him in prison.  Joseph did what was right and wound up in jail.  In spite of doing right, because he was conscious of God, he experienced even more pain of unjust suffering.

“But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.” (Gen 39:20b, 21)  In the midst of it all, Joseph could see that God was there with him.

Do we understand the importance of maintaining a godly attitude and godly behavior when in trying situations?  We too can be falsely accused.  We can be fired or receive unfavorable treatment because we refuse to go along with illegal or unethical demands.  We can lose sales or clients because we are unwilling to lie or deceive.  We can face the loss of “friends” because we refuse to participate in activities that are sinful.  If our focus is Jesus, we will make the right decisions and do it with grace – not self-righteousness.  Our goal is to do it right.  Wherever we wind up, the Lord will be there with us.

Genesis 37:36  Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Life is filled with all kinds of experiences – many good, some not-so-good, and some downright awful.  I think at this point, Joseph probably viewed his situation in the downright awful category.  How do you adjust from being free and part of a family – deeply loved by your father, and suddenly find yourself as a slave – sold by your brothers no less – in a foreign land?

Joseph had a short time to come to a decision on how he was going to respond to his situation.  He might have viewed escape as impossible and viewed slavery as his lot for the rest of his life.  His attitudes and demeanor could have played an important role in who he was purchased by.  Did he realize or have a clue that the events of his life were being orchestrated by the God of his fathers?

He was purchased by Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.  At this point, the scriptures note that, “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered…” – so much so, that Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and was giving him success in whatever he did.

Remember, this is occurring long before Moses and the law.  Joseph’s knowledge of God would have been from the stories passed on by Abraham, Isaac and his father Jacob.  Yet Joseph responded rightly to what was occurring in his life.

While it is difficult for us to relate to being sold into slavery, there are those in the world right now that are having this happen to them.  Famine, plague, war, bombings, slavery, natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes – they are occurring now, all around us.  In our lives it might be loss of jobs, or loved ones – disappointments, accidents, bankruptcy, acts of violence, persecution.  Dealing with the woke culture and the government’s responses to the pandemic. These things happen – things that we don’t want – wouldn’t choose – wouldn’t want to happen even to people we don’t like.  But they happen to us or people we care about.  God expects us to respond consistently with our faith – not like the world responds.

As Christians, our Lord has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.  In the midst of every situation, no matter what happens, He is there.  There is nothing He cannot redeem.  Pray that this knowledge of the Lord being with you – ALWAYS – becomes a rock-solid reality in your heart.  It will transform you – and those around you.

Genesis 42:21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.”

Today’s verse is from the remarkable story of Joseph.  His brothers have come to Egypt for grain and find themselves being treated as spies by the Governor of Egypt who is Joseph.  He had recognized them and when they bowed down to him, he remembered his dreams about them.  But they did not recognize him.

Joseph spoke harshly to them and held them in custody for 3 days.  When told that they would be allowed to return home by leaving one of the brothers in custody in Egypt, the brothers spoke today’s verse to one another.  In spite of his pleadings, they remembered their cruelty to him.

Picture the scene 21 years earlier when Joseph found his brothers near Dothan.  A young man of about 17, he was simply obeying his father in finding his brothers, to see how they were doing.  He had no idea what lay in store for him – what God had in store for him.  When he got to them, they stripped him of his richly ornamented robe and threw him into a dry cistern.

Can you imagine what Joseph was experiencing?  He faced the anger of ten older brothers who wanted to kill him.  It’s possible that he heard them debating over whether to kill him or not and how they would cover it up if they did.  At this time, the caravan of Midianite merchants passed by.  Joseph finds himself being pulled up out of the cistern, not to be set free or killed, but to be sold as a slave and taken to Egypt.

Think of Joseph as the caravan moved on to Egypt.  Did he have any hope of seeing his father again or his brother Benjamin?  Did he have any thoughts of the dreams that he’d had?  Was he grateful for simply being alive – that they hadn’t killed him?  Did he cry out to God?

Did he have any idea that being sold into slavery by his brothers was God’s plan for his life?

James 1:2  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

The house we lived in in Tennessee backed up to a school yard that had a ½ mile walking path.  I would typically walk it at a very brisk pace.  In one corner the path has a slight incline in it.  Walking at a leisurely pace it might not be noticed, but at the rate I was going it was noticeable.

There are other places to walk that go across hilly terrain that are a bit more taxing.  At the far end of the spectrum are paths or trails in the mountains that are very rigorous.  In Colorado a very popular trail is the Pike’s Peak Incline – a railroad tie stairway up the mountain.  A friend of ours, has taken groups to Nepal to climb to the Mt. Everest Base Camp that is at about 17,590 feet.  It takes about 2 weeks to hike there and back.  It’s not only a rigorous climb but because of the height, there is altitude sickness to contend with.

When considering today’s verse, using the illustrations of hiking, many of us only think of it in terms of big or rigorous trials – like encountering mountains.  We tend to perceive it as being instructed to have joy when we encounter mountains to climb – not the little hills or inclines.  But that severely limits this verse and our accountability to this command.

Again, thinking in terms of hiking terrain, the ‘trials of many kinds’ in today’s verse applies to everything from ‘a slight incline’ to going to the Base Camp’.  No matter how small the ‘incline or hill’ we are to have joy.

Maybe the word ‘trial’ throws us.  Consider some words used in other translations instead of the word trials: temptations; tests; challenges; troubles.  Think of all the ‘little’ things that occur everyday we encounter and we have to deal with.  The little ‘tests’; the little ‘troubles’; the many temptations to respond in situations unrighteously – these are the heart of this verse.  These are the places where our joy is to be evident.  Do we respond with joy – or with annoyance, frustration or anger?  These are the places that prepare us for the ‘big’ trials.

In looking at other versions of today’s verse, two in particular really stood our.  Please consider these as you go through your day:

• Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. (The Message)
• Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. (New Living Translation)

2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

I would like us to consider aroma and fragrance.  These words have to do with the sense of smell, and in a positive sense, things like food cooking, perfumes, the scent of flowers.  The things that we do – our very lives when centered in Christ – emanate the richness of our God.  And this richness is noticed by those we interact with.

Think of all the positive things that impact us – that we notice – that are helpful or make our lives richer: an encouraging word, a helpful hand, the thoughtful presence of a friend, acts of kindness.  All of these things can communicate the love of our Lord.  This opportunity we have is expressed wonderfully by Paul: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” (2 Corinthians 2:14)

The day by day journey of our lives is as important as the ultimate destination.  Day by day others can experience Jesus as revealed in our attitudes, words and actions.  The more our lives reflect His ways, the more they will emanate the wondrous fragrance of our God.

Think of it!  In a world of darkness and despair He has chosen to spread His fragrance through us.  Some will recoil because they are not interested in Him.  But others will be attracted because they are responding to the work of His Spirit, drawing them to redemption.  We get to share His fragrance with all who surround us, knowing and trusting that there are those who will respond to Him.