Such a Time as This

PrPrayer Focus: Nigeria

Bible Reading: Esther 1-5

Scripture:

12 When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai,13 he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape.14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions. (Esther 4:12-17)

Observation:

Every time I read this scripture, I have to pause and check my heart.  What place has God brought me to?  What thing has God put in my path that requires His help to carry out?  Do I step away, letting God raise up another?  Do I step out in faith and let the results rest with God?

Most of us will never have to petition a powerful man to avert genocide.  But each of us live lives  touched by violence.  Each of us have everyday choices that will either invite us to participate  in it, or stand against it.

Application:

When faced with those tough things in our life, the proper response is prayer and fasting.

Contemporary Christianity doesn’t seem to practice fasting any more.  I wonder what we’ve lost in terms of power in our prayer life because of it.  I urge you to see what God has to say about fasting and prayer.  Discover their links, find out why He calls us to this spiritual discipline.  Search for those answers in the Word, then put it into practice for yourself and see if there is a difference in your prayer life.

I don't know what you are going through.  But I do know that violence touches all of us.  I paraphrase Mordecai "Who knows but that you have come to this place for such a time as this?"

Prayer:

Father God, I pray for those reading this journal entry; that you would draw them to you through whatever circumstance they are in.  Life is messy, and confusing and we have so many voices trying to lead us astray.  I pray you honor those who practice spiritual fasting in the coming days and weeks.  Meet them where they are, give them direction and courage and deepen their faith as they seek you first.  Amen.

Warriors

Prayer Focus: Netherlands, Neth Antilles

Scripture Bible Reading: Daniel 10-12

12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."  (Daniel 10:12-14)

Observation

Cyrus, King of Persia had given the Jews permission to leave and return to their homeland.  Daniel stayed.  He was in a place where he could intercede for those who stayed behind.  He was near the hub of what was happening for the people and in a unique position to petition God for them.

When chapter 10 opens it describes Daniel praying and fasting for the people.  God heard his voice in heaven and dispatches an angel to tell him “what will happen to your people in the future”.

I won’t pretend to understand the visions and portents that the angel gives Daniel, and he records.  I don’t have the wisdom to interpret those things.  They make for a fascinating study, and I encourage you to read them for yourself and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you about it.  But here is what I see as very plain: Daniel was a prayer warrior.  In response to the turmoil of the time and the shifting power bases that threatened his people, God dispatches a warrior angel who fights spiritual battles on their behalf and willingly shares with Daniel not only a peek into the future but also speaks plainly about the battles waged behind the temporal curtain on their behalf!

Application

It’s so easy for us to sit on the sidelines of events and bemoan that we are only one person, that we can’t change the world and we are insignificant.  The temptation is to take a fatalistic attitude and let apathy win.

When righteous people pray, God hears.  (Pr.15:29, 1^st Peter 3:12, Ps. 34:17, James 5:16)

When He hears us, he DOES something about it.

Suddenly, our prayer life takes on new meaning.  We become active players on a battlefield; deploying angels to battle, defending the people from harm or from the spiritual battle that hides behind the physical one.

Whatever the situation you are in, you have the opportunity to turn from selfish ways, and humbly seek God’s wisdom and power.  When you do, this makes you a Prayer Warrior.

Prayer

I come to you, Lord, humbly asking for you to reveal yourself to those who seek you.  Help them cast off the sinful desires and temptations that lead to apathy of the soul.  Empower them to see the spiritual battle that wages for their time, attention, and allegiances.  Help them see the part they have in your story.  Give them courage to seek you and join the battle.  Amen!

Hope

Prayer Focus: Mozambique

Scripture:Bible Reading: Ezekiel 37-40

11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.'12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'" (Ezekiel 37:11-14)

18 "When your people ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by this?'19 say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim's hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.'20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on21 and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezekiel 37:18-23)

Observation:

God allowed his people to be in exile for the purpose of reconciling.  (Ezekiel 37:18-23)  But what triggers the timing of prophesy to bring them back together and restore them to their land?  Why did God use the valley of dry bones to illustrate this promise?

To be honest, in all the years I’ve read this passage I’ve never asked myself those questions until today.  I always got caught up in the imagery of the illustration.

I believe that God wanted to keep the hope of the people alive.  They were feeling abandoned by God and some had even lost hope.  Verse 11 says “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off”.

Hope.

When I let my heart rest here on this concept, the Holy Spirit unfolded verse after verse from my memory.   I have decided to get out of the way and let scripture spell out why God felt it so important to restore the hope of his people.  The scriptures are active links, so you can read them in context.

Psalm 130:7 (NIV)

Israel, put your hope in the lord, for with the lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

Jeremiah 31:17 (NIV)

So there is hope for your descendants," declares the lord. "Your children will return to their own land.

Those are a few that pertain to the Israelites for their time and their situation, prophesy that was spoken to increase their hope.

Application:

“So what has this got to do with me and the circumstances I live in today?” 

Romans 15:12 (NIV)

And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope."

Romans 15:4 (NIV)

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

“Why is hope so important?” 

My study of hope tells me that it is tied together with our faith:

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NIV)

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

Romans 15:13 (NIV)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“What can we do when we have hope?”

Colossians 1:21-23 (NIV)

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Mark 9:23 (NIV)

“‘if you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."

Romans 12:12 (

The last word

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Prayer:

Father God, I echo Paul when I pray for those who read to day:

"Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions." 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5 (MSG)

An Everlasting Covenant

Prayer Focus: Mexico

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 13-16

Scripture

"'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.'"  (Ezekiel 16:59-63)

Observation

Today’s reading has four chapters long of God telling the people the shape and form of his wrath.  What he will do, when he will do it, and how many will survive.  At the end of it, in Chapter Sixteen, God says:

“Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.”

So much promise packed into this one sentence.  I wish that he’d unpacked it better for them, especially on the heels of all doom he was pronouncing.  In fact, it’s pretty easy to skim over it, while you are still emotionally throbbing from the terrible things coming.

But I don’t want you to miss it.  Let’s slow it down.

Application

The application for us is contained in that second part of the verse, “and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.”  There are many places we can go in scripture to explain this covenant.  One of my favorite is here in Ephesians 2:22.  “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”  I couldn’t possibly say it any clearer.

Prayer

Father God, you worked through time and circumstances to reveal your nature to us.  You labored over a faithless nation, and remained faithful in order to show us who you are, and how much you love us.

Rock Bottom

Prayer Focus: Mali

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 51, Psalm 137

Scripture:

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.  (Psalm 137:1)

Observation:

The Israelites were captives of Babylon.  Exiled, some served in chains, some in forced labor, some in poverty at the edges.  God was not some tame idol they could carve from wood and and sit on a shelf.  He was a living being, who loved, got angry, fought protectively for them, was jealous.  He demanded that they follow HIM, not use him to serve themselves.  There was a bond, vows between them that neither party could dissolve.

Now that they'd hit their Rock Bottom, the people turned to one another in a unity of heritage.  After so long of a split, they had a common foe.  And they turned to God.

In this verse above the Babylonians commanded that the musicians, conscripted to service, play their harps and sing songs about Zion.  They contemptuously rubbed their noses in their captivity and worked at breaking their spirits.

This served only to unite them even more.  It caused them to remember their vows.  It reawakened in them the hope of a deliverer.

Application:

I know what it's like to have all the supports knocked out from under you.  I know what it's like to feel alone and treated with contempt.  Though my experience is nothing compared to what the Isrealites went through, I am aware of the rock-bottom feeling when you realize all the things you'd counted on fall away.

And maybe that's the point.

God pulled them down to that rock bottom place to prove to them that they were chasing the wrong things.  The New Testament has a parable about a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and how it didn't survive the storms.  As a nation, the people needed to build their house on the rock.  In the thing that can't be knocked out from under them.

Most of us don't realize what kind of ground we've built our foundations on.  Maybe it's a faith built from what our parents gave us or from what was handy or near by.  The storms come (and they always do) and they reveal what we cling to.

I don't often look directly into the audience of those who read this blog.  It feels safer to point the lens at myself, and work at a transparent growth.  But today I am asking you directly what you cling to.  What is your foundation built on?  If you find yourself at rock bottom, my heart aches for your circumstances.  It's not a comfortable place to be.  But like the people of long ago in our reading, they found that when they were at rock bottom, they could be assured  that that ground would not shift and turn on them.  They remembered, the verse says.

Prayer:

Lord, I ask you to stand watch here at this blog, to speak directly to the people who stumble in and read.  You know their circumstances, what they cling to, and where their foundations are built.  For those who are at their rock bottom, Lord I ask that you show them that there is deliverance.  I pray that you increase their hope, and draw them unto yourself, like a mother does her child.  Rock bottom is the best place to meet you.  It's the best place to start over.  Amen.

Then They Will Know

Prayer Focus:Latvia

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 13-16

Scripture:

Do people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!"

"Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.

(Jeremiah 16:20-21)

Observation:

A prophet’s calling was to speak words of the Lord.  Among them, Jeremiah is referred to as the weeping prophet, because God was mourning over his people.  The Israelites had turned their back on Him.  They worshiped hand-crafted idols and, through the influence of their king Manasseh, performed despicable acts in the temple – yes, that’s right – IN THE TEMPLE.  God’s anger burned because of what his people were doing.  He had held his wrath a time or two for an upright king like Josiah or Hezekiah.  Finally, the time had come.

Sometimes we wonder, “What does God hope to accomplish by unleashing His wrath?”  In today’s passage, we get a glimmer of understanding.  His anger doesn’t flare as an uncontrolled tantrum.  Instead, it burns with a Holy purpose.  Although the effects of His wrath were awful, it served to draw them back to Himself.  He needed to break them and their bondage to sin, so they could again be followers of the one living God.

Application:

The Israel nation didn’t fall into idol worship over night.  How did they arrive at this awful place?  Did they slip by degrees, like the proverbial “frog in a kettle?”  Is it possible they took offense at anyone telling them what to do or how to live?  Did they claim those who were holding to a standard were intolerant?

How can we, as a people of God, learn from their mistakes?

Prayer:

Lord, help me have my eyes open.  Help me see the places where I let myself compromise to the world.  Amen.

NoteBored Lives Again!

I don't have time to write a real post here today, because I'm working on a revision and shouldn't even be here now... but I just wanted to say it out loud and with much excitement...

NoteBored Lives Again!

I"m so excited about it I had to come and do a happy dance where I wasn't pestering anyone else.

We are now located at www.notebored.proboards.com

We have a workshop to peer review works of fiction (including novels).  We also have a challenge section to generate new ideas and stories.  We have polls set up to vote, reward pips to brag and track your strengths, and feedback on your story to know if you have something you can refine into a novel or short story or if you need to pare it down into a flash.

That's what I am doing today: the first challenge generated a short story that I've found a market I want to submit for.  The deadline is August 15th.  So I'm working on polishing that story to submit it in time.

Meanwhile the second "Timed Challenge" trigger and due date is posted.

Notebored lives and I am thrilled to be writing again!

Purging Idols

Prayer Focus: Kenya, Kiribati

Bible Reading: 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chron. 34-35

Scripture:

Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curset and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. (2 Kings 22:18-19)

Observation:

The OT story we just read shows the uncovering of the book of the law from the temple that the previous king, Manasseh, desecrated.  At this time Josiah ruled, a king of whom the bible says  "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left." His response to finding the law was to gather all the people together to hear the law of the Lord read aloud.

After hearing how far off they were from what God's law commanded, he wept and tore his clothes in distress.  Further, he went on to clean out all traces of idol worship in their temple, their land, and their homes.   He also reinstated the observance of Passover; something that no king had done since the time of Samuel.  Even though the wrath of God was coming, he spared Josiah from having to see it in his lifetime.

Today, the temple (the place where God dwells) is in our own hearts.  Like Josiah of his time, God desires to show mercy to us when we turn from evil and follow Him.

Application:

I challenge you to look in your life for areas where the world has encroached and you've let the idols of this age have more of your time, energy or talent than you should.  If you find that you have; purge them from your life, and get back into the Word (his law) where the truth is found!

Prayer:

LORD, search me and know me.  Speak into my life and show me what has become as an idol to me.  I want my heart, clean.  I want you at home with me so that I can obey with gladness.  Give me the courage to look where you point, purge where I should, and embrace what you have for me!

Survivors of God's Wrath

Prayer Focus: Israel

Bible Reading: Isaiah 36-37; 2 Kings 18:9-19:37; 2 Chronicles 32:1-23; Psalm 76

Scripture

Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,
and the survivors of your wrath are restrained. (Psalm 76:10)

Observation

My paraphrase version of our reading today:

The king of Assyria, Sennacherib, sent a party to Jerusalem to negotiate a surrender. They'd previously taken the Northern Kingdom of Israelites by laying siege to their city for years, and then finally carrying them off to captivity. Now they had their sights set on Judah.

He issued a challenge, mocking God by saying "Where were all the other nation's god's when I destroyed them? You won't stand against me either." God answered Sennachrib's challenge by killing 180,000 of his men in their sleep, forcing him to withdraw from the field!

Soon after this event, God spoke to Hezekiah through Isaiah, telling him to get his affairs in order, he was going to die soon. Hezekiah prayed and wept bitterly for himself and for the fate of the nation. God answered his prayer by telling him that He would grant him another 15 years. The sign for his belief was that he would move heaven and earth, literally. He caused the shadow of the sun to move backwards by 10 steps on the staircase.

The result of these miracles?  It witnessed powerfully to the surrounding nations. Tiny Judah, who has a God who fights their battles for them, saves them from disaster, turns back time, and gives their King a longer life is not to be trifled with! Asaph, Hezekiah's recorder, wrote a song, likely sung far and wide in that time, and the scripture I've pulled for today is from that song, Psalm 76. "Surely your wrath against man brings you praise and the survivors of your wrath are restrained. Make vows to the Lord and fulfill them; let all neighboring lands bring gifts to the one to be feared."

And so the neighboring lands, did.

Word got to Babylon about these gifts, and they sent envoys to survey. Hezekiah took them on the royal tour, holding back nothing from their sight. Isaiah scolded him for this, prophesying that Babylon would come and take it all.

Hezekiah's response was "Good. There will be peace in my lifetime." We could speculate all sorts of reasons why Hezekiah would say that. Was he being short-sighted? Didn't he believe Isaiah? Was he simply tired of conflict? Maybe he just wanted to finish well, for the records to say that as far as was up to him he lead in righteousness and there was peace. I don't know. I do know however, that at the height of a recent victory, before any conflict with Babylon had happened yet, Isaiah was prophesying disaster. The rise of a good king forestalled the consequences of  the rebelling of Israel, and God’s plan for uniting them. 

Application

The lesson I draw from today's reading is what Asaph declared in verse 76:10 "Surely your wrath against men brings praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained." If you take that verse out of context it sounds like God gets glory from violence, but when you place it back in the time and place it was written, you see that the wrath was not against his children, but against their oppressors, the ones who were trying to take their land and would make them slaves. God's wrath rescued the people in an event that echoed the angel of death during the Passover before they left Egypt. The whole purpose was to remind his people and the world that he was a God not made by man and crafted of wood or stone, but a living, breathing, fully-engaged God who fights his own battles, and protects his children. He doesn't abandon us to ourselves.

Prayer

Lord, look on me and cleans me from all my rebellious ways. I am so grateful to you, mighty God, for not leaving me alone in my sin. You conquered sin and death and rescued me, and I am a survivor. Your wrath teaches me restraint. Amen

Mantle

Mantle


Prayer Focus: India
Bible Reading: 2 Kings 1-4

Scripture
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?"
"Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
10 "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not."
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.12 Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
13 Elisha then picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. (2 Kings 2:9-13)


Observation
Elisha asked for a double portion of the gift - and got it.  He went on to do many miracles, proving that he indeed had Elijah's mantle.  The Holy Spirit transfers twice the power and effectiveness from Elijah to Elisha after Elijah is taken by the Lord. The bible goes on to record twice as many miracles for Elisha. 

Application
 When I let my imagination sit here in this place and time I wonder what sorts of things went through Elisha's mind that provoked his request.  We don't have a peek into his thoughts, only what he did with the power once granted.  I encourage you to go to today's reading and see what that was.
The take-away that I have with today's reading is simple: What has the Holy Spirit gifted us as Jesus was taken up into heaven?  To find the answer to that, go to mark 16:15 where Jesus tells his disciples "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Prayer
Lord, give me the courage to be bold, to proclaim your word as I ought.  Your word promises gifts of your Spirit to enable me to do this.  Help me reach for them, help me reach for you!

Judgement

Prayer Focus: Haiti

Bible Reading: Isaiah 13-17

Scripture:

Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The Lord Almighty is mustering
an army for war. (Isaiah 13:4)

Observation:

The scripture reading for today details the judgement against Babylon, Moab and Damascus.

There is a movement among us as believers that wants to see only the friendly side of God. The tolerant side, the one that doesn't judge and is ever patient with us. Even now, when searching for what to say to you here, I want to find the rainbow, the happy place to take you and boost you in his love before you go on your way. But this is a side to God we must look at.

I urge you to spend time with a reference book or a google engine researching what these nations were like. Put God's wrath in the context of the people who lived there and the sins they were committing in that time. I've typed and erased several attempts to explain why God's intervention in this way was necessary, but it always goes outside of the scope of this short devotional. I will say though, that God's judgment to Israel and to the surrounding Nations was a rescue. The result was the prophesy of the Messiah, comfort that God would redeem his people. He would not abandon them! The judgements and exile would, in the end, restore their faith as a nation, and prove to the Gentiles that He was the Lord God.

Application:

My take-away from this is to look more closely at my life. What sins have I allowed in my life thinking that they weren't so bad? Where do I justify my actions to suit my needs? Where am I compromising? Do I live my life today as though there will be an accounting of my choices?

I have lots of questions that I am going to take with me into my prayer closet.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to fear you as I ought, help me turn my eyes to you. There is a verse in chapter 17 of our reading, verse 7, I will end my devotion with your words breathed as a prayer "In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.. "

The Sinful Nation

Prayer Focus: Indonesia

Bible Reading: Isaiah 1-4

Scripture

2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
"I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner's manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."

4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him. (Isaiah 1:2-4)

Observation

Israel split into two nations that was at times antagonistic and other times in alliance with one another. When Isaiah, a prophet to the tribe of Judah, enters the scene the two nations were jockeying for power from each other. God spoke through Isaiah and warned Ahaz not to make deals with outside nations. Warnings he would ultimately ignore. The opening verses here in Isaiah set up the premise, and the following 39 chapters deal with the Judgment of Judah, the nations, and the world.

Israel had forsaken God. His great love wouldn’t allow them to degenerate past what he could redeem. So he would take action; action through the subjugation of his children by another nation, this time Babylon instead of Egypt. They would go into an exile that would cause them to cry out to God once more as a people. The result was repentance and unification of this fractured people, and in the time of Nehemiah, they would trickle back to build their home again.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Right now in our reading, we are at the beginning.

Application

I can’t help but see the warning here in these opening verses! I hear the heart of God breaking over his children’s sin and his frustration that they are walking away from him. God had made a promise to Abraham that he would remain faithful to his people, even if they were unfaithful. We recently read in Hosea how he felt about the direction they were going, how personally he took heir national rejection of him.

Every day that we go our own way, we grieve the Holy Spirit, and there is a reckoning. The verses we are looking at today addressed a nation, not an individual. However, we must take the warning of judgment Isaiah delivered personally, for people are the building blocks of a nation. It’s a warning that is as vital for us to recognize today, as it was for the people of Isaiah’s time.

Prayer

Lord, I pray that we as a nation hear you, obey you and return to you. The bible says “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14) America needs your restoration. I don’t have it in me to ask for exile and slavery, like what befell Israel twice. But if that is what it takes to save us from ourselves, then I pray you do what you must to keep our nation from being completely given over to our sin. Amen.

The Sinful Nation

Prayer Focus: Indonesia

Bible Reading: Isaiah 1-4

Scripture

2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
"I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner's manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."

4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him. (Isaiah 1:2-4)

Observation

Israel split into two nations that was at times antagonistic and other times in alliance with one another. When Isaiah, a prophet to the tribe of Judah, enters the scene the two nations were jockeying for power from each other. God spoke through Isaiah and warned Ahaz not to make deals with outside nations. Warnings he would ultimately ignore. The opening verses here in Isaiah set up the premise, and the following 39 chapters deal with the Judgment of Judah, the nations, and the world.

Israel had forsaken God. His great love wouldn’t allow them to degenerate past what he could redeem. So he would take action; action through the subjugation of his children by another nation, this time Babylon instead of Egypt. They would go into an exile that would cause them to cry out to God once more as a people. The result was repentance and unification of this fractured people, and in the time of Nehemiah, they would trickle back to build their home again.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Right now in our reading, we are at the beginning.

Application

I can’t help but see the warning here in these opening verses! I hear the heart of God breaking over his children’s sin and his frustration that they are walking away from him. God had made a promise to Abraham that he would remain faithful to his people, even if they were unfaithful. We recently read in Hosea how he felt about the direction they were going, how personally he took heir national rejection of him.

Every day that we go our own way, we grieve the Holy Spirit, and there is a reckoning. The verses we are looking at today addressed a nation, not an individual. However, we must take the warning of judgment Isaiah delivered personally, for people are the building blocks of a nation. It’s a warning that is as vital for us to recognize today, as it was for the people of Isaiah’s time.

Prayer

Lord, I pray that we as a nation hear you, obey you and return to you. The bible says “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14) America needs your restoration. I don’t have it in me to ask for exile and slavery, like what befell Israel twice. But if that is what it takes to save us from ourselves, then I pray you do what you must to keep our nation from being completely given over to our sin. Amen.

Run

Prayer Focus: India

Bible Reading: Jonah 1-4

Scripture

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:
"In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry. (Jonah 2:1-2)

Observation

The wickedness of the land of Nineveh had "come up" before God and he sent his servant Jonah to preach against them. And what did Jonah do? He ran away. In fact, he ran in the opposite direction of Nineveh! When the boat he was on was in danger of sinking, his guilt compelled him to tell the sailors to pitch him overboard to save themselves.

They did.

I think Jonah must have thought that was the end. I think he realized in a visceral way the truth of Psalm 139:8 "If I make my bed in the depths, you are there." No matter how far or fast he ran, he couldn't get away from God' Spirit. At some point during those three nights in the belly of the fish, the other half of the truth in that verse hit him - no matter where he was, GOD WAS STILL THERE. And in his distress, he called out to Him.

Application

I don't know about you, where you are in your life, what God has called you to do that frightens you. I don't know what you are running from.

But I do know this: WE ALL RUN.

We all get afraid of the things that seem to big for us. Maybe God isn't calling you to be a missionary to a hostile and wicked nation. Maybe he isn't telling you to preach the truth of His Kingdom to people who might react violently.

Wait... he did.(Mat. 28:16-20)

When I read the story of Jonah, I think of all the times when I've come face to face with the big plans God has for me and it seemed too big, and I ran.

Prayer

Lord, help me to remember that no matter where I go, or how far I've run, that you are there. Help me see that nothing I've done is ever too much or too far away to come back to you. The enemy likes to camp out and ambush me with lies, he tells me that you don't really love me enough to take me back - that I'm not worth the effort. It's so easy to project my own fears and insecurities on you! You rescue me from the wicked world I live in and from the wickedness of my own self-hate. Nothing can stand against your powerful mercy!

I pray for those who read this devotional today who need to know that you love them enough to pursue them. You are the God of second chances! It doesn't always mean that we get out of those plans (it didn't for Jonah) but it does mean that there is no where we can go that you aren't there.

Mantle

Prayer Focus: India

Bible Reading: 2 Kings 1-4

Scripture

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?"
"Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.

10 "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not."

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.12 Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

13 Elisha then picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. (2 Kings 2:9-13)

Observation

Elisha asked for a double portion of the gift - and got it. He went on to do many miracles, proving that he indeed had Elijah's mantle. The Holy Spirit transfers twice the power and effectiveness from Elijah to Elisha after Elijah is taken by the Lord. The bible goes on to record twice as many miracles for Elisha.

Application

When I let my imagination sit here in this place and time I wonder what sorts of things went through Elisha's mind that provoked his request. We don't have a peek into his thoughts, only what he did with the power once granted. I encourage you to go to today's reading and see what that was.

The take-away that I have with today's reading is simple: What has the Holy Spirit gifted us as Jesus was taken up into heaven? To find the answer to that, go to mark 16:15 where Jesus tells his disciples "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Prayer

Lord, give me the courage to be bold, to proclaim your word as I ought. Your word promises gifts of your Spirit to enable me to do this. Help me reach for them, help me reach for you!

Idols

Prayer Focus: Holy See

Bible Reading: 1 Kings 13-14; 2 Chronicles 11-12

Scripture

1 By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.2 By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: "Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: 'A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'"3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: "This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out." (1st Kings 13:1-3)

Observation

At this time in Israel's history, a rebellion, lead by Jeroboam, separated the kingdom into two halves, northern and southern. Jeroboam now has a problem, because the law of Moses says that everyone has to travel to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. Jerusalem is inside the southern territory. His solution was to set up a new sect for worship in two cities (Beth-El and Dan) with the creation and installments of two alters in the shape of golden calves, and made it unlawful to go to Jerusalem as the law required. God's response to this? He sends a prophet up from Judah (the southern kingdom where Jerusalem sits) to Bethel and tells him to "cry out against the alter", in the verse I selected above.

This establishes the beginning of Baal worship among the people.

Application

How do I rebel against God? What things do I set up and choose to worship instead? A look at my calendar and my checkbook will show where I spend my time and where I store my treasures. (Mat. 6:21)

I urge you to spend time today talking to God about what things you are tempted to idolize.

Prayer

Lord, help me see clearly the idols that are around me. The temptation to trust in what I can see or what I feel is strong! I pray for your deliverance, for a love of truth.

Self Control

Prayer Focus: Guatemala

Bible Reading: 1 Kings 9; 2 Chronicles 8; Proverbs 25-26

Scripture

Like a city whose walls are broken through
is a person who lacks self-control. (Proverbs 25:28)

Observation

For some versions of this verse the bible says “He that has no rule over his own spirit” instead of “self-control”. I like that. It cuts right to the chase, telling me that I need to lead my heart instead of it lead me. So much of our culture today is wrapped up in following our hearts and doing what feels good. The imagery of the breached city walls is a vivid description of being vulnerable to attack, the walls having first been breached from the inside out, from our own foolish behavior. Proverbs 28:26 says “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.”

Application

I don’t think we spend much time guarding or leading our hearts. Oh we talk about salvation plenty. And God is the one who graciously does that for us. An act of mercy for us – the thing we couldn’t do for ourselves. (Eph. 2:8-10)

And so many stop there.

But the bible has made it pretty clear that he’s very interested in what we do after that.

Proverbs 4:23 says to keep your heart with all vigilance. Phil.4:6-7 says that the peace of God guards our hearts. Rom. 12:2 says not to be conformed, but to be transformed. Psalm 51:10 begs God to renew a right spirit. Luke 6:45 tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

What we give permission for our hearts to dwell on or lust after… matters to God. When we allow un controlled thoughts to batter against the boundaries, the protections that keep us safe from the enemy, we run the risk of breaching the walls and opening ourselves up to attack.

Prayer

Father God, forgive me for the times I have stepped over the rules you set out to protect me! Galatians 5 says that self-control is a fruit of the spirit, I pray that you grow this fruit in me, help me to guard my heart with vigilance.

Deep Waters

Prayer Focus: Germany

Bible Reading: Proverbs 17-20

Scripture

Many are the plans in a person's heart,
but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. (Proverbs 18:21)

The purposes of a person's heart are deep waters,
but one who has insight draws them out. (Proverbs 20:5)

Plans are established by seeking advice;
so if you wage war, obtain guidance. (Proverbs 20:18)

A person's steps are directed by the Lord.
How then can anyone understand their own way? (Proverbs 20:24)

Observation

Recently a dear friend of mine asked me to “listen” to the Holy Spirit with her. She had direction she was seeking on some specific matters and needed discernment on what she should do. She wasn’t asking my advice on what she should do, rather, she wanted to hear from God and get confirmation of what He said through trusted others who’d be praying and listening too.

Immediately, three verses came to mind. I dismissed them as me being afraid of silence and assumed that I’d just supplied them from my own memory, and went on listening...

...To silence. I had no word of wisdom to repeat back to her beyond what scripture had already provided, and I felt like I’d let her down. Maybe even over my head in waters too deep for me.

Then, when I went to prepare today’s devotion, I see those same verse are in today’s reading! I got chills! This was confirmation to me and I immediately wrote her back to tell her what I now felt was surely the thing He wanted me to say to her. Though I couldn’t unpack it’s meaning for her in her particular circumstance, I am confident that God will use it.

Application

But what does it mean for you and me? How do we get the answers we are looking for?

The Holy Spirit has been known to actively guide people down roads that defy the logic of the moment; Him being able to see things we can’t further down the road from where we stand at the crossroads. He has specific plans that require us to be in a certain place at the right time. (My interpretation of Prov. 20:24)

Conversely, sometimes He remains quiet while we cast for answers, content to make good on whatever we choose. I believe in these instances he’s more interested in guiding our hearts and responses to the world around us wherever we are than in the individual plans we make. (This my interpretation of Prov. 18:21)

Our human (sinful) nature wants to have control. God created us and knows that we struggle with these things; He understands that we need plans, intentional actions that produce predictable results in the patterns of our lives. He knows that this tendency leads us to marginalize His involvement. It is why He gave us His Spirit – to override it and take the static verse in the Gospel, and transform it into a living conversation between Him and us.

The question then becomes… what are the purposes of your heart? Can you articulate them? Have you sought wisdom, counsel, and patience? Prov. 20:5 says that “one who has insight will draw them out”.

If you can’t articulate it on your own, find someone who will help you talk through what’s going on in your heart. Jesus sent the Spirit for just this purpose. 1^st Cor. 2:10 – 13 says “these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a persons thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.”

Prayer

Lord, thank you for sending your Spirit to intercede on my behalf. Thank you for providing a way to search out your will for my every day circumstances. I now ask you for the courage to follow your leading outside of my comfort zone.

Amen.

Arise

Prayer Focus: France

Bible Reading: Song of Solomon 1:1-5:1

Scripture

My beloved spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.”  (Song of Solomon 2:10)

Observation

This book of poetry, though expressed as a human love, is really supposed to convey the metaphor of the romance between us as the bride, and Christ as the groom.

Application

To have Christ look on me with affection and call me “darling” and “beautiful” is something that I long to hear.  His is not the love of an infatuated suitor, but one who is fully aware of my failings, my sin, and loves me anyway.

In the Jewish tradition, the groom would go to prepare a place for his bride,  and when the house was ready he would come at a moments notice to whisk the bride away to the wedding banquet.  Jesus deliberately invoked these words in John 14:1-4 as a promise.  One day he will call to his beloved, inviting us to leave the corruption of the world.  He will call us from the clouds to say “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.”

Prayer

Lord, I pray that you find me with oil in my lamp and ready for your summons.  (Mat. 25:1-13)  Even so, come!

Yours

Prayer Focus: Estonia

Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 27-29, Psalm 68

Scripture

11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.

12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.

13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.

(1 Chronicles 29:11-13)

Observation

David had just used the national stores to help build the temple, plus his own private wealth, and then encouraged the people to give generously too; and they responded! The scripture verse above is the prayer of thanksgiving that David offered after they raised all the funds to build and outfit the new temple.

Application

I don’t know about you, but I find myself reminding God about his wealth and power right about the time I need to borrow some of it for my own purposes or when I’d like him to help out someone I love or am praying for. For the record, I hate/love when I’m spanked with self revelation like that. Uncomfortable as it is, it usually leads me to growth – though it’s painful in the admission.

David, HAD all the wealth and power-and that was the moment he reminded God it was his: as he was offering back to Him from his own storehouse. I can’t help but remember all the times I have done it backward.

Luke 16:11 says “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”

Prayer

Father, while you may own the cattle on a thousand hills, I pray that you give me the faith that lets me leave it all on the field for you. I don’t want to hold back for myself, or play head games trying to manipulate you into doing my will with your resources. I want you to be pleased with me.

Amen!

Passing Disasters

Prayer Focus: Dominica, Dominican Republic

Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 22 - 23, Psalm 57

Scripture

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me. He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me—God sends forth his love and his faithfulness. (Psalm 57:1-3)

Observation

As I have been reading the Psalms over the last few weeks I’m struck with the tendency to take these verses with their imagery and melodies (that are the templates for many praise songs) and completely skip over the tops of them like a flat rock across a stream. It’s easy to forget the turmoil and crisis that precipitated them.

Today’s Psalm comes from David, a man literally “hotly pursued” by Saul, not metaphorically. Taking refuge in God while being chased by the enemy with the resources of an entire nation wasn’t just poetic prose, but life and death for him. I find it interesting that even in these moments, David sees perspective in his circumstances and calls it a "passing disaster".

Application

In the last few weeks, I have been made aware of no less than three families who have lost their homes due to tornado, fire, and economic circumstances. I am not taking creative license to illustrate a point – I’m talking about displaced and homeless people who are desperate for refuge.

The storms come. No matter if the storm is literal, like the tornado that hit Dexter several weeks ago, or financial, like the economic recession that ate so many jobs, or elemental, like the fire … the storms come. Sometimes we find ourselves in temporary shelters (hotel rooms or living in a car) instead of caves, chased not by soldiers but creditors.

Prayer

Lord, show me how to best use the resources that you’ve blessed me with. Help me know how to best help these families. I pray that you would show them your love and faithfulness. I pray that their passing disaster drives them to take shelter and refuge in you; that their souls awake to salvation and that they meet you at their point of great need.

Amen!

The Struggle...

I'm sure you've noticed how quiet it's been on the blog lately.  Partly that's because of the situation we've had with Jess, but it's also because after a talk with my husband I see that I was crossing some lines of personal information that he wasn't comfortable with.

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I'm struggling to find a balance here.  I'm using this blog as I would my journal time, a place to sort myself out and make sense of all that's going on in my experience.  Normally, it would be full of details and specifics - things that I can pin down until they stop squirming so I can identify them.  I'll trace it back through my history on why I feel, or am acting or responding the way I am to this trigger, and ask the Lord's help on making it right, healthy, whole.  Sometimes it means that I only have to acknowledge what's happened, name it for what it really is through the lens of truth, and not the lens of wanting to be the hero in my own story... But sometimes I have real harm I need to address.  Harm that's been done to me or that I've done to others while in reaction mode.

All of that self-examination reveals  more than my own story, since I share a life with my husband and children.  So I struggle to find a balance where I can speak a universal truth, yet step softly around the details that would make this MY journey instead of one you might able to relate to as well.

I struggle with knowing if what I am saying "out loud" here on the blog is something that God is using.  I can step softly around the details, and continue here if I know that what I am saying has value to another.  But if all I am really doing is standing in an empty room talking to myself, I can go back to my spiral notebooks for that.

I don't usually beg for responses.  But today I am.  If you know me personally and you have my e-mail address, or you know me on facebook or twitter, please send me a note letting me know that you read my blog and what type of posts speak to you.  If you have stumbled across my blog from the net, and you keep coming back to it, leave me a comment?