Somebody is Listening

I am wearing an old green t-shirt this morning that Joy always liked. It reminds me of the days when she was learning colors and she would always point out that “Nana’s shirt is green.” She was so proud of herself for it, and of course, so was I. God has been nudging me about the example I am before her. For instance, the image that accompanies this devotional. Before covid, I taught a weekly Bible study for the women on the campus where I work. My daughter-in-law would come and of course, Joy came with us. She was just starting to cruise and would move from person to person around the chairs that kept her corralled. She stopped at my knee that morning and was listening intently to me teach.  Her mommy snapped the picture and it serves as a constant reminder that she always is watching me and learning from me – whether I am intentionally teaching her or not. That’s a huge responsibility, one I don’t take lightly.

The Lord pressed that point home to the Israelites when Moses taught them God’s Law and how important their daily lives were. He told them: “The [these words] to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deut 11:19). In other words, in everything you do all throughout your day, be a walking, talking, living, breathing testimony to the Lord God.

What happens when we don’t? When the Jews returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity and resettled the city, Nehemiah discovered that “half of their children spoke . . . the languages of other people and did not know how to speak the language of Judah” (Neh 13:24). Sound familiar? And I’m not talking about linguistics – I’m talking about the language of truth, righteousness, and holiness. The language of God. The children didn’t know the language of Judah because the generations before them fell into speaking the languages around them so that they might fit in. Again – sound familiar?

This is not just a parenting/grandparenting message. The same applies to the church’s influence – or lack thereof – on the culture. We cannot represent Christ to the world if we sound just like them. Everything about us should speak Jesus. Because, like Joy, someone is watching and listening – whether you realize it or not. Beloved, what are they seeing and hearing in you?

Advent 2022: His Name is Love

“You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus” (Luke 1:31).

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him ‘Immanuel’” – which means, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23).

When my son was young, he loved to go to the playground at the local park which was almost always crawling with boys and girls.  He would join in with one or two children and for some reason, he called all the other kids “dude”.  I told him over and over, “Ask them what their names are.”   One day on the way home I gently lectured him on the social grace of using people’s names.  He replied, “I only seen them today and I won’t see them tomorrow so I don’t need to know their name.”   Lecture over as I tried to stifle a laugh.  But he had a point – to know someone and call them by their name indicates a relationship, ranging from playgrounds to the intimacy of lovers.

God spoke volumes in the name He gave His One and Only Son.  “Jesus” – Iesous in Greek, Yeshua in Hebrew (translated Joshua) – carried the meaning “Yahweh saves.”  The Jewish people would hear Jesus’ name and remember that the Lord had saved His people in the past and He had promised to save them again.  They recalled Joshua in the days of the exodus from Egypt, a mighty military leader and warrior who lead the armies of Israel against multiple enemies on the way to the Promised Land.  They clung to the hope of salvation and restoration from Roman rule.  Jesus was a name that spoke of the power and faithfulness of God.

But Matthew records another name that would be bestowed on this Child – Immanuel – God with us. This name speaks of God coming physically near to His people.  In the Garden, God walked with Adam, until sin came between them.  In the desert, God’s presence was in the cloud of fire, and in Jerusalem, His presence dwelt between the cherubim in the Temple – behind a heavy curtain.  But now God Himself once more walked among his people.  He shared the street with His creation, broke bread together with men, and laid the hand of God on their children’s heads.  He lived among men – and died among them.

In a perfect combination of names, He personally brought the salvation of God to all humanity.  He is the victorious power of God and the intimate love of God.  He is Jesus – Immanuel – the God who came near to save us. It is the name of Love.

Let the Name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore – Psalm 113:2.

In The End

I wrote yesterday about God’s pre-knowledge of the ups and downs, blessings and tragedies, and Joys and heartaches in our lives. The question then comes, “Why would He allow us to go through these very hard things?”  “Why does He set us on a path when He knows it leads to hardship?” I confess, I’m far from an expert and I certainly can’t read God’s mind, but I can read His Word and glean some things that might help us to understand.

When the Israelites escaped Egypt they rejoiced, yet “on the fifteenth day of the second month [figure about 6 weeks] after they had come out of Egypt . . . the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron” (Ex 16:1,2). They missed the plentiful food of Egypt. So God sent them food – manna. It was their daily diet for forty years (v. 35). After a long steady run of the stuff, they complained, “we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Num 11:6). It became a source of contention for the Hebrew people.

But God knew all this. He knew when He sent Joseph to Egypt to save his family they would become enslaved for four hundred years. He knew that Pharaoh would oppress and abuse them. He knew Moses would be born at a time when Hebrew baby boys were killed. He knew that Mama would make a basket to float him down the river just as Pharaoh’s daughter would bathe in the same river. He knew that Moses would run after he killed an Egyptian for abusing a Hebrew slave. He knew right where to send him where a bush waited. He knew Pharaoh would forbid the Hebrews to leave. He knew they would be pinned between the river and the enemy. He knew they would rebel. He knew they would wander. He knew they would make a golden calf. He knew they would get hungry. He knew they would eventually grow sick of the manna.

He knew all this. Yet He worked in it all. And Moses declared, “He gave you manna to eat in the desert . . . to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you” (Deut 8:16). All of it, from Joseph to the manna was part of God’s plan. God used the manna to humble them and test them and bring them to a place of blessing. And that’s what He’s up to in your life too. In the good, the bad, and the ugly, He’s working to make you useful and usable in His kingdom. He’s working for your good. That season you’re questioning is part of His plan. And His plans never fail. Be encouraged, Beloved, God is up to something. And in the end, it will go well with you.

This is the Way

Hubby and I went into town yesterday to run some errands. But first breakfast at our favorite breakfast spot. When we got to the 3-way intersection by the church, I expected him to take the middle road, knowing where we were headed. He went to the road on the right. I opened my mouth to say that this was the wrong way, but then I remembered that he grew up driving on these backroads and I settled back in my seat. He loves to take alternate routes. Riding with him is an adventure but we always end up in the right place.

After 400 years of enslavement, the Israelites were allowed to leave Egypt and journey to Canaan, the Promised Land. But there would be alternate routes all along the way. If you look at a map, the easiest way would be due east, hugging the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, but God didn’t lead them that was because they would have crossed through Philistine country and faced a fight they were not strong enough to handle. He said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt” (Ex 13:17). So He detoured them to the south toward the Red Sea.

Then he turned them back the way they came. I’m sure they were thinking, “God, what are you doing here? Where are you taking us?” But He said, “Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’” Thinking he had the upper hand Pharaoh pursued them, but God divided the sea and led the people across on dry ground. Then He closed the waters up over Pharaoh and the Israelite army. And they glorified Him. (Ex 14:1-31).

Of course we know about the detour through the wilderness when the Israelites disobeyed Him, but in the end, they crossed over the Jordan (again in a miraculous way) and into the Promised Land. Even in their sin, God was working to take them where He wanted them to be. Traveling with God is always an adventure. He never directs me the way I expect. But He has never gotten me lost. Every time I think He’s given me a wrong turn it turns out to be a different path to the right place. And when I fail to listen and think I know the way, He guides me back to the place I need to be. He knows every backroad and every detour because He blazed the path long before.  Beloved, you can trust God to lead you well. Whatever path he guides you to, He will always get you Home.

More Than Words

The more tired she is the more Joy fights sleep. I suppose she doesn’t want to miss a thing around her. When she was just a baby I would snuggle her close in the rocking chair and give her her bottle. She would drink just a little, pull away, then immediately complain because she didn’t have her bottle. I’d plug it back in and say, “You’re the one who turned away from it sweetie.” We would repeat this cycle several times until she finally gave up and drifted off.

This little ritual reminds me of people who complain, “I don’t feel God anymore. I don’t think God cares about me. Why does God not love me?” The first thing I ask them is, “What is God saying to you in His Word?” And they answer, “Oh, I haven’t read the Bible in a while – I know I should, I just haven’t felt like it.” DING-DING-DING! They just answered their own question. They don’t “feel” God or think he cares about nor loves them because they have turned away from the very place they find Him.

God gave the Israelites His commandments and His Law so that they would obey Him. But it was about more than just compliance, it was about knowing Him. The closer they lived to the commands of God, the more He revealed Himself to them. They came to know God by knowing and obeying His Words. Moses declared to them, “The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” (Deut 30:14).

The Word of God has never been more readily available than it is today. The Scriptures are literally at our fingertips, in printed form, electronic media, by audio and video – and in almost every language on earth. You can have it any way you want it. But you have to want it. You have to pick up the book or open the app or pull up the podcast. You have to make God’s Word a priority in your life. The less you read, the less you want to read.  And the converse is true: the more you read, the more you want to read.

The Bible is not just a bunch of stories and rules and words on paper. It is the true and living Word of God (Heb 4:12), inspired and empowered by the Spirit of God (2 Pet 1:20-21) and embodied in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 1:14). Have you turned away from the very thing your spirit is craving? Come back to the Bible, Beloved. “These are not just idle words for you, they are your life” (Deut 32:47).

God Will Not Let You Down

When God rescued Israel from Egyptian bondage by opening up the sea and swallowing up their enemies, the Israelites rejoiced. They sang a song exalting God’s strength, salvation, power, majesty, holiness, love, and faithfulness. Then three days later, they were grumbling. They went from rejoicing to griping in THREE DAYS! God had rescued them in a powerful way just 72 hours ago – and they would be grumbling again six weeks later.
I read this account and want to shake my head – why were they so quick to turn from rejoicing to grumbling. Then I look a little closer and see myself in this crowd of grumblers. Oh, how often I forget about God’s goodness and faithfulness yesterday in the difficult moments today. It’s as if the God who rescued me last summer has somehow lost His ability to rescue me again. Or – as I often think – He has grown weary of rescuing me.
Can you relate? I think we’re all guilty of fretting and complaining when things go wrong, forgetting about God’s goodness to us in the past. But doesn’t He always comes through? Read the rest of the story and you’ll find that He provided for the Israelites every step of their journey, with every need that arose, and He brought them safely into the Promised Land. He is the same God with the same power and faithfulness today. He doesn’t grow weaker with age. He doesn’t forget His promises. He doesn’t get weary of helping His children. God was faithful to me last summer—He will be faithful again in my time of need. I know He has been faithful to you in the past – He will not fail you today Beloved. Let’s not be grumblers. Let’s trust God’s track record of faithfulness and goodness. Let’s take our needs to Him and believe that He is still willing and able to meet them. Then we can say with Moses, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. From everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:1,2)

Sin in the Camp

I don’t want to write this devotional. I’ve tried to talk God out of it, but He is persistent. This is His word to the Church – and the individual parts of it. Get your boots on and read Joshua 7.

Joshua and the army of Israel had just taken the city of Jericho. It was an extraordinary victory. Now they prepared to take Ai and the spies come back saying “Just send two or three thousand men to take it, for only a few men are there” (v. 3). But those three thousand were routed by the few men of Ai, and thirty-six were killed. The Israelites were in mourning – and in shock. Joshua went before the Lord and accused Him of bringing them out to destroy them (vv. 6-9). God corrected him saying, “Israel has sinned” (v. 11).

When the army went into Jericho they were commanded to not take any of the “devoted things” – the precious metals and other costly things – for themselves. All of those things were to be designated as “sacred to the Lord and put into His treasury”. Joshua said anyone who took them would bring about their own destruction and bring trouble on the whole camp of Israel (6:18-19). But somebody ignored that command. Through a process of elimination, Achan was found to be the guilty party. He saw a beautiful robe and silver and gold and he took them and hid them under his tent. He was the reason for Isreal’s defeat by a much smaller army. One man. One sin. But God regarded it as the whole nation’s sin. Achan and his entire family and even his animals were stoned to death and God’s curse was lifted from the nation.

Here’s what the Lord keeps speaking to me. The reason the Church today has so little power and has lost her godly influence in the world is because there is sin in the camp. The Church – the bride of Christ – has failed to keep herself pure and devoted only to Him. She has taken on lovers and allowed them to infiltrate His holy place. She has welcomed what God has called an abomination. She has championed perversion. She has fought for the slaughter of innocent babies. She has become like the world.

But here’s the other part of the problem. You and I are the church. You and I share the guilt because our personal, private lives affect the faithfulness of the camp, just as Achan’s did. You and I are joined to the whole body. We don’t live one life at church and a separate life outside of it. We cannot invite sin into our private lives and think it won’t matter. It all matters. To all of us.

So here is my pointed question – and believe me, I’m asking it of myself as well. What is buried under your tent Beloved? “You cannot stand until you remove it” (Joshua 7:13).

Can you Spot the Lie?

As a Bible teacher, there is nothing I love more than expounding on the Word of God. I know this is what I was created for. But my goal is to teach myself out of a job. What do I mean? I want you to know and love the Bible so much that you don’t need me to teach you anything. I want you to have such a hunger for the Word that you go digging in it for yourself. You need to know what God says because the devil and the world will try to twist Scripture and confuse you – and then defeat you.

Hezekiah ruled the southern kingdom of Judah. The Scripture says, “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Isreal. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow Him” (2 Kings 18:5,6). One of the first acts of Hezekiah’s reign was to tear down the places of pagan worship (v. 4) – don’t miss that, it’s important. An enemy, Sennacherib king of Assyria, was sweeping through the surrounding territories. He set his sights on Judah and sent his field commander with threats, trying to gain their surrender (v. 19-25). But Hezekiah refused, trusting instead in the Lord to protect them.

To shake the people’s confidence the field commander claimed that Hezekiah had removed the high places and altars devoted to the Lord God. Why, then, should He protect them after such an insult by their king (v. 22)? He also said, “Have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord? The Lord Himself told me to march against the country and destroy it” (v. 25). But they knew the truth. Because they knew their God. They knew that the king had honored the Lord not insulted Him. They knew that the Lord was their Defender. They knew He had not sent the enemy nation to destroy them. When Hezekiah sought out the Lord He told them “Do not be afraid of what you have heard. I will defend this city and save it” (19:6, 34). And He did.

But what if the people didn’t know God? What if they accepted Sennachrib’s lies? They would have trembled in fear and surrendered to their enemy. That is why I want you to know the truth – God’s Word – for yourself. If you don’t, you will fall for the lies every time. Your enemy will use just enough Scripture to make his lie sound plausible. You need to know this Word so that you can spot the lie and reject it. Beloved, I will gladly teach you about God and His Word until I draw my last breath, but you need to know it for yourself. The enemy knows how to tell a slick lie. Get into the Word and stand firm on the truth.

Bitter or Better?

In my younger days, I was a very negative person. I could always find something to complain about. When everyone else saw the rainbow, all I saw was the wet, muddy ground. My mom said as I child I worried like an old woman. Even after I became a Christian, negativity was my constant focus. When a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age I prayed for her and said, “What a waste of a beautiful life it will be if she dies this young.” And the Lord replied: “No more a waste than if you live for 100 years with a bitter, miserable heart.”

What makes us bitter? Life in a fallen world. There’s so much evil and sin and hurt and grief and loneliness and – well, I don’t have to tell you – you know. You’ve seen it and experienced it for yourself. The bigger question is what makes us better? What can turn a bitter, broken heart into a healed, whole heart? I can tell you it’s not anything the world can offer. It’s not the perfect spouse, the perfect kids, the perfect house or job or ministry – if they even existed. It’s one word. Faith.

In Psalms 106 the psalmist is relaying Israel’s history with God. On one hand, the Scripture says, “they sang His praises” but on the other “they grumbled in their tents” (vs. 12, 25). What made the difference? Faith. Listen: when “they believed His promises they sang His praise .” When “they did not believe His promise, they grumbled in their tent.” Believing God changes everything, including – especially – our hearts.

What does it mean to “believe God?” It’s more than intellectual assent. James said, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (Jas 2:19). Faith – believing God is knowledge combined with trust. The writer of Hebrews said that faith that pleases God “believes that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Heb 11:6 – emphasis mine). Believing God, by definition means to trust, to be certain, and – get this – to be quiet. No more grumbling in the tent.

Believing God also means obeying Him. The psalmist noted that the grumblers “did not obey the Lord.” James said that faith and actions work together (2:18-26). That’s the difference between demons and God’s redeemed people. We believe in God – more than that – we believe God and we act on it. Sometimes that means marching around the city wall or stepping out into a raging river. Sometimes it’s singing His praises and sometimes it’s being quiet and still before Him. That’s where I’m putting my faith in this difficult season. Beloved, do you believe God?

Dig a Ditch

The nation of Moab was on the attack. The armies of Israel, Judah, and Edom set out to fight Moab in the desert. After a week of marching, they ran out of water – a deadly thing to face in a desert. Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel turned to God’s prophet Elisha for the Word of the Lord. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Make this valley full of ditches’” (2 Kings 3:16). Jehoshaphat assumed God was going to send rain to fill the ditches and provide water. Not so. Elisha said, “You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water” (v. 17). Water is going to magically appear in the desert? Right! The prophet answered, “This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord” (v. 18). Not only will God provide water for Israel, but “He will also hand Moab over to you” (v. 19). The armies obeyed and set to digging. In the morning the ditches were flowing with water! The army and the animals were refreshed and ready to press on.

But remember God’s second promise? When the Moabite army began to take up their battle positions in the early morning, the rising sun was shining on the water. “To the Moabites, the water looked red like blood” and they assumed that the armies had turned on one another and slaughtered each other. Their battle plan changed – “To the plunder, Moab!” (v. 23). But Moab walked right into the revitalized armies, and the few that survived turned tail and ran.

I confess I sat down to write with a heavy heart this morning. I am facing some tough things right now. I feel the press of the enemy against me. I feel his hot, nasty breath on the back of my neck. I was flipping through my Bible for inspiration and God stopped me here on this page. This is what He is speaking to me right now – and to you. “Yes, the enemy has put a bullseye on you, but I will help you. Watch Me easily do what is too hard for you. Dig a ditch and prepare to receive My blessing. Watch Me use that blessing to overthrow your enemy.”

I don’t know what the enemy has up his evil sleeve against you. But I know Who has your back. Beloved, dig a ditch.