Daily Devotions

Thursday, May 14

Rejoice - The Lord is King!

After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. - Hebrews 1:3

This text by Charles Wesley is another of the more 6,500 hymns written by the "Sweet Bard of Methodism." Wesley wrote on hundreds of scriptural passages as well as on every eonceivable phase of Christian experience and doctrine. This text was developed by Wesley to encourage his followers to have a more spontaneous joy in their lives as they become aware that Christ reigns victorious in heaven.  It was based on the apostle Paul's instruction to the Christians at Philippi: Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)

It is important to remember that this instruction was written while Paul was a prisoner of Emperor Nero in Rome.  The teaching of the entire Phlippian letter is that it is possible to be a victor in life - regardless of the circumstances - when our faith is in an ascended, reigning Lord.  There are twelve references to rejocing in this one short book.

"Rejoice - the Lord is King" first appeared in John Wesley's Moral and Sacred Poems in 1744, and two years later in Charles Wesley's collection, Hymns for our Lord's Resurrection.

"Rejoice in the Lord always" is easy to quote but difficult to practice.  Yet we must remember that this attitude of joy is not an option for the Christian but a spritural command - the result of an intimate relationship with our reigning Lord.

Friday, May 15

Daily Truths Devotions

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. - 

1 Peter 1:6

When God places you in the middle of a trial, He puts you there for a little while to burn our you imperfections so that you can become a vessel of honor to Him.  If you cannot endure great burdens, you will never survive great success.

Any you might as well smile while you're walking through the valley, because your attitude in the trial will determine just how long you stay there.  Are you interested in wandering around the dessert for 40 years? Use the valley as a time for God to restore you soul, to reveal Himself to you in a very real way, to learn the things that you won't learn anywhere else.

The people who are most successful in life are the war-torn and battle-scarred, not the chubby little babies whose parents never disciplined them. They are the lean, mean fighting machines who have weathered the storm and lived to tell.

God uses challenges in your life to develop within you something that will honor Him and bless others.  So rejoice, and face the challenges of this day head-on, choosing to be made better, not bitter.  Our God is able!

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. - Numbers 6:24-26

What is a blessing? It is the imparting of the supernatural power of God into a human life by the spoken word of God's delegated spiritual authority.

In ancient Israel God commanded the high priest to speak the blessing over all Israel.  Once the blessing was spoken,  God poured out His unsearchable riches over the land.  The spiritual authority in a home is the father.  If the father is absent, then the mother is the spiritual authority.  A father or mother can bless the members of his or her household by the power of Almighty God.  Parents can literally give the angels an assignment to watch over their children and to keep them safe in all their ways.

God has given us the authority to use His power to release the blessings of God upon our friends and family. You are born to be blessed! Not because you deserve it, but because God is your Father and He chooses to bless you with blessing you cannot contain.

Saturday, May 16

When God Speaks, It Is So

So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. - Isaiah 55:11

When God speaks, nothing remains the same.  At the beginning of time, God spoke. and a universe was created our of nothing.  God followed a pattern when He created the earth: He spoke, it was so, it was good (Gen. 1:3-4). This pattern continued throughout the Bible.  Whenever God revealed His plans, things happened just as He said, and God considered the result "good" (Phil. 2:13). God doesn't make suggestions. He speaks with the full determination to see that what He has said will come to fruition.

Whenever Jesus spoke, what He said came to pass.  Lepers found that a word from Jesus meant healing (Luke 5:13, 17:14). The blind man discovered that a word from Jesus meant sight (Luke 18:24). Through a barren fig tree the disciples saw that a curse from Jesus meant destruction (Mark 11:20). The sinner experienced forgiveness through a word from Jesus (John 8:11). How many attempts did it take Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead? Only one (John 11:43). There was never a time that Jesus spoke that what He said did not happen.

What happens when Jesus speaks to you? Have you been reading the words of Jesus in your Bible without experiencing His word that transforms everything around you? Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they assumed that knowledge of the written Scriptures would give them life.  They were satisfied with having the words instead of experiencing the person who spoke the words (John 5:39).  How powerful a word from God is to your life! As you read your Bible and pray, listen to what God has to say to you about His will for your life.

Sunday, May 17

Faithful with the Impossible

And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” - Judges 6:14

In Gideon's mind, victory over the Midianites was an impossibility, and he was absolutely right! The Midianites, along with their allies, overwhelmed the feeble Hebrews.  Yet the moment God told Gideon to fight them, victory was no longer an impossibility!

When Jesus commanded His small group of follwers to make disciples of all nations, was that possible (Matt. 28:19)? Certainly, if Jesus said it was! When Jesus told His disciples to love their enemies, was He being realistic? Of course, because He was the One who would achieve reconciliation through them (2 Cor. 5:19-20).

Do you treat commands like these as implausible? Do you modify God's word to find an interpretation that seems reasonable to you? Don't discount what is possible with God (Phil 4:13). When God gives an assignment, it is no longer an impossiblitiy, but rather it is an absolute certainty.  When God gives you a seemingly impossible task, the only thing preventing it from coming to pass is your disobedience.  When God speaks, it can scare you to death! He will lead you to do things that are absolutely impossible in your own strength.  But God will grant you victory, step by step, as you obey Him.  How do you respond to assignments that seem impossible?  Do you write them off as unattainable? Or do you immediately adjust your life to God's revelation, watching with anticipation to see how He will accomplish His purposes through your obedience?  God wants to do the impossible through your life.  All He requires is your obedience.

Monday, May 18

Duel in the Desert

The temper . . . said, "If You are the Son of God . . . If You are the Son of God . . . All this I will give You . . . if . . ." - Matthew 4:3, 6, 9

There is really no place in this world where we can say that we are absolutely safe from the devil's temptations. We all know the usual worldly props the devil uses for his temptations - bars, bright lights, expensive goods of all kinds, throbbing music. Undoubtedly that was the bait he held out to the prodigal son of Jesus' parable. We tell ourselves if we stay from such places, we are safe. But are we?

The devil can tempt people also when all the worldly glitter and glamour is absent - when there are only barrenness and loneliness, bleak rocks and sand, thorns and thistles.  This was the experience of Jesus when He was in the wilderness for 40 days, tempted by the devil.  There Satan made his first assault by saying: "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

In his temptations the devil tries to appeal to human desires for exotic books and drinks, for honor and power, for running foolish risks in order to avoid unpleasantries. What Satan did not figure on was that Jesus would not succumb to his overtures.  Jesus adherd to God's Word.  That is also how we can defeat the devil.

This was not our Lord's last duel with His prime opponent.  The Gospel account says that the devil "left him until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13). The final showdown came in the encounter on Calvary's cross. There Jesus triumphed totally. (Though Satan may have needed a few days to figure it out.) On Calvary Jesus won a great victory - enabling us to overcome Satan also.

When Two Contradictory Voices Speak

Jesus said to him, "Away from Me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'" - Matthew 4:10

When two persons in a room speak to you at the same time, you may have trouble understanding both of them. A more difficult problem arises when, on the moral and spiritual level of life, two voices bid for your attention, especially when they are contradictory, one good and one evil, but they both sound right.  One voice calls you to the good life, through sacrifice; the other calls you to the good life without pain. Things get really hard when the two voices speak in the same family: husband versus wife, parents versus children.

There is consolation in knowing that contradictory voices speak also to Jesus.  At His Baptism the voice of the heavenly Father was heard to say: "This is my Son, whom I love" (Matt. 3:17). Then, when the Spirit led Him into the wilderness, another voice sought to raise doubt by saying: "If you are the Son of God . . . Don't you have just a little doubt? the voice seemed to say.

Some might think, that for Jesus, the voice was no problem.  Jesus, after all, was the holy Son of God and always knew right from wrong. True, but He had become a human being, and as such He was in all points tempted as we are.

What did Jesus do? He clung to the voice of God - the voice that spoke to Him at His Baptism, and the voice that spoke to Him in the Holy Scripture.  He met every temptation of the devil with the "It is written" of God's Word.  He heeded this voice at all times, also at the end when He was obedient unto death, even death on a cross for our salvation.

That is also what we must do when the voice of evil tries to outshout the voice of good.  We follow God's Word, for we know He will lead us aright.

Prayer Suggestion: Pray that the voice of Jesus Christ, your Good Shepherd and dearest friend, will at all times prevail in your heart. Pray that in the hour of trial and temptation Jesus Christ may plead for you and give you the strength to overcome your opposition.

Tuesday, May 19

Trials - Punishment or Opportunity?

And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” - Job 2:3

"Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" the disciples asked Jesus one day. They were unde the common impression that when misfortune strikes, when everything goes wrong, when there is extreme suffering, it must be a punishment for some great sin. Jesus set them straight. The man was not blind as a result of anyone's special sin, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" (John 9:3).

Job had lost everything. And worse was yet to come. He would lose even his health. In the midst of his suffering, though, all that his friends could tink of to comfort him was to tell him that his suffering must be a punishment for some great hidden sin. If he would only repent, everything would be all right again.

The only problem with this advice was that Job had been repentant all along. His faith had been in his Redeemer from the very beginning.  He knew it and for that reason rejected his friends' counsel. God knew it too. That's why, in the middle of Job's misfortue, he called Job, "my servant," and "blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." Even though Job had lost everything, "he still maintains his integrity." Job's suffering wasn't a punishment.  It was an opportunity for this man of faith to hold to his Lord in bad times as well as in good.

When trouble strikes, a job is lost, sickness incapacitates, or a loved one dies, it is good to know wht we are still the servants of God through faith in Christ. God himself will say so, just as he praised Job.

As Christians we believe, "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). There are tests. There are helpful chastisements. But our punishment has already been borne by our Savior, Jesus Christ. Heroic faith in times of adversity is a faith like Job's It trusts that God is still with us, still loves us and still calls us his servants.

Lord, give me a strong faith when the dark clouds of adversity

threaten, so that I may be comfortedf by the promise of your

everlasting love in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday, May 20

Faithful to the End

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit." - Acts 7:59

"Why? Why did he have to die? He was such a faithful follower of Jesus. He actively served the Lord and was sorely needed by the church.  Why did the Lord take him so soon?"

The questions are familiar to many of us.  I'm sure they were familiar to the earliest Christians.  When Stephen was stoned to death, he was a highly respected church member. But why did he have to die in such a way and at what appeared to be the prime of his life? The answer is simply: it was God's will. The death of Stephen has remained one of the finest examples of being faithful to the end, and many a Christian has been strengthened by Stephen's example. When he was being murdered, he did not curse the name of Jesus, nor did he voice the question, "Why must I die now, Lord?" Rather, it is written that with his last ounce of courage and faith Stephen confidently prayed: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." There was no doubt in his mind.  Jesus was his Savior from sin, death, and hell.

What an example Stephen is for us! He was faithful to the end. He accepted God's will as good.  Even though in this life the will of God occasionally seems hard to understand, we too can continue to find the peace and hope that Stephen found.  It is a peace and hope which moved him and can move us to pray at our last hour: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

If you know of someone who is dying, share with him the story of Stephen, for through it God the Holy Spirit offers peace and courage, strength and conviction - offers that same hope of eternal glory which Stephen had in Christ.

Thursday, May 21

Ask Jesus In All The Needs Of Life

As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" - Luke 17:12-13

Leprosy was the common cancer in the days of the New Testament. Like cancer, leprosy was dreaded and feared. Like cancer, leprosy struck with no distinction of sex or age or previous health.  Today cancer (and leprosy) can sometimes be treated, but 2,000 years ago there was no cure for leprosy.  When a leper was detected, he was considered ceremonially unclean and sent away from his home and family; he was forbidden contact with society; he could not work but had to beg for his food and clothing; he could only suffer until his leprosy brought its own relief in death.  Because lepers were so separated from other people, it is understandable that these ten lepershand banded together to aid and comfort one another in their hopeless situation.

Standing afar off, because they could not come close to those who did no have leprosy, the ten called out loudly to Jesus, that he might hear them and help them.  They cried out to Jesus, for their need was great.

As those who know and trust Jesus, we also cry out to him in our needs.  We needn't wait until we have a great need, for Jesus wants us to come to him in all the needs of life.  He is not a helper only when things get to be "too much for us to handle." He is a helper for us in matters great and small - or too great - for him.

He especially invites us to come to him to be cleansed of our leprosy - the leprosy of sin.  Our sins have made us unclean and have separated us from God's fellowship.  Our sins will bring us eternal death - unless they are cured.  And we have a perfect cure in Christ, who shed his blood on the cross for us.

The invitation to come to Jesus is well expressed in one of our hymns:

Come to poverty and meanness, Come defiled, without, within; From infection and uncleanness, For the leprosy of sin, Wash your robes and make them white; Ye shall walk with God in light. (LSB 435 stanza 2)

Whatever our need, be it a need of the body or of the soul, Jesus always can help.  And he always will help, for he is our Savior. He is our God.

Lord Jesus, have mercy upon us. Amen.

Friday, May 22

The Ethics of Jesus

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. - Acts 1:8

The teachings of Jesus belong to the Church, not to society, for in society is sin, and sin is hostility to God! Christ did not teach that He would impose His teachings upon the fallen world.  He called His disciples to Him and taught them, and everywhere throughout His teachings thee is the overt or implied idea that His followers will constitute an unpopular minority group in an actively hostile world.

The divine procedure is to go into the world of fallen men, preach to them the necessity to repent and become disciples of Christ and, after making disciples, to teach them "the ethics of Jesus," which Christ called "all things which I have commanded you." The ethics of Jesus cannot be obeyed or even understood until the life of God has come to the heart of a man or woman in the miracle of the new birth.

The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk in the Spirit.  Christ lives again in His redeemed followers the life He lived in Judea, for righteousness can never be divorced from its source, which is Jesus Christ Himself!

Faith and Experience

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! - Psalm 34:8

I insist that the effective preaching of Jesus Christ, rightly understood, will produce Christian experience in Christian believers.  Moreover, if preaching does not produce spiritual experience and maturing in the believer, that preaching is not faithful to the Christ revealed in the Scriptures.

Let me say it again another way: the Christ of the Bible is not rightly known until there is an experience of Him within the believer, for our Savior and Lord offers Himself to human experience.

When Jesus says, "Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden," it is an invitation to a spiritual experience.  He is saying. "Will you consent to come? Have you added determination to your consent? Then come; come now!"

Yes, our Lord gives Himself to us in experience. David says in Psalm 34: "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good." I think David said exactly what he meant. Surely the Holy Spirit was saying through David: "You have taste buds in your soul for tasting, for experiencing spiritual things. Taste and experience that God is good!"

Saturday, May 23

Leaving The Porch Light On

He's waiting for you. God is standing on the porch of heaven, expectantly hoping, searching the horizon for a glimpse of his child. You're the one God is seeking.

God is the waiting Father, the caring Shepherd in search of his lamb.  His legs ae scratched, his feet are sore, and his eyes are burning.  He scales the cliffs and traverses the fields.  He explores the caves. He cups his hands to his mouth and called into the canyon.  And the name he calls is yours.

He is the Housewife in search of the lost coin. No matter that he has nine others; he won't rest until he has found the tenth. He searches the house. He moves furniture. He pulls up rugs.  He cleans out the shelves.  All other tasks can wait.  Only one matters - the coin of great value to him. He owns it. He will not stop until he finds it. The coin he seeks is you.l

God is the Father pacing the porch. His eyes are wide with his quest. His heart is heavy. He seeks his prodigal. He searches the horizon, yearning for the familar figure, the recognizalbe gait.  His concern is the son who wears his name, the child who bears his image. You. 

He wants you home.

God wants you to be free of yesterday's guilt. He wants you free of today's fears.  He wants you free of tomorrow's grave. Sin, fear, and death.  These are the mountains he has moved by the power of the cross.  These are the prayers he will answer through the gift of his love.

The message is simple: God gave up his Son in order to rescue all his sons and daughters.  To bring his children home.  He's listening for your answer.

Sunday, May 24

The Story of My Life

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. - 1 Timothy 1:15

Biographies will probably not be written about any of us, other than a few lines in the newspaper obituary column.  But even those lines will leave out the two most important facts in our lives.

If I were to write the story of my life, wouldn't I start where Paul did? Wouldn't fact number one be my confession: "I am the worst of sinners"? Such a confession is not easy to make.  Everything else I like to exaggerate, but sin I like to shrink. Other peoples' sins I can easily spot, but my own somehow escape detection.  Yet the plain truth remains that I'm a sinner.  I don't need a microscope to examine my daily life.  Sin's contaminiation is clearly visible.  My confession is in order: "I am number one, fist in line when it comes to sinners."

Thank God fact number two is "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." There was only one reason Christ Jesus left heaven, entered a virgin's womb, and came into our world of sin and sorrow.  Only one reason why he lived in this world, died in it, and rose again.  That was to save sinners. He came not to judge, but to seek and save the lost.  And he came for me.  Because of him God won't write the word lost over my grave, but saved by his grace in Christ Jesus.  Come to think of it, what more needs to be said in the story of my life?

Lord, let it be said of me that "Chief of sinners though

I be, Jesus shed his blood for me." Amen

Monday, May 25

Life - To Have Christ

For to me, to live is Christ. - Philippians 1:21

What's it all about - this thing called life? The 20th century editor H. L. Mencken answered, "Life is a dead-end street." The 19th-century writer Elbert Hubbard said, "Don't take life too seriously.  You will never get out of it alive." What pessimism and hopelessness!

Humanly speaking, Paul might have chimed in with them.  He was a prisoner in Rome, with hsi worldwide missionary work and freedom gone and perhaps soon also his life.  How easily he might have asked, "What's this thing called life all about?" Yet what do we read? "For me to live is Christ," he shouts, "and if Christ were taken away from me, there would be nothing left to live for."

Someone wrote, "Christ is not valued at all unless he is valued above all." Isn't that what Paul it trying to tell me? God has given me life so that I might have life's greatest treasure.  All the world's stocks and bonds can't bring the peace I have in Jesus.  The best house in the subdivision looks like some falling-down shack compared to my Father's house in heaven.  When by faith I have Christ, I have it all.  When the Savior dwells in my heart, the purpose for my life is fulfilled.  God gives me life, long or short, so that by hsi grace I might know Jesus as my only Savior.

"Dead-end street"? "Never get out of it alive"? Little did they know "For to me, to live is Christ."

Lord, thank you for bringing the Savior into my heart.  Keep him there always. Amen.

Tuesday, May 26

Life - To Work For Christ

It has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. - Philippians 1:13

The great apostle could no longer plant new mission congregations and prepare more mission workers. But he could still talk about Jesus.  And he did.  Every six to eight hours another guard would come to relieve the guard to whom Paul was chained.  How many guards did Paul tell about the Savior during his two years in custody at Rome? Satan thought chaining Paul up would curtail his preaching of Christ. Instead, Paul used it as another opportunity to work for Christ.

Not just the pastor has a pulpit from which to preach Christ. So do I. My pulpit is called daily life. Every noon the cross country Greyhound bus stopped in the same town for a 45 minute lunch break.  Forbidden by company policy to single out any restaurant, the bus driver would say, "If anyone wants me, I'll be enjoying a delicious meal at Tony's first class, spotlessly clean diner directly across the street." And his indirect advertising filled Tony's diner with hungry travelers.

Wherever God has placed me, I can advertise Christ.  Sometimes this involves words, witnessing about the only Savior to people I know and people I don't.  Always it involves my daily life.  By the way I talk and walk, treat my spouse, and train my children, and in a thousand other ways, like Paul, I can work for Christ.  My walk is heavenward, but on the way there's work for me to do.

Lord, make me a faithful witness to the Savior so that 

others may walk with me to heaven.  Amen.

Wednesday, May 27

Life - To Suffer For Christ

I eagerly . . . hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in by body, whether by life or by death. - Philippians 1:20

To have Christ and to work for Christ - that's what life is all about.  Agreed? Of course! But would all not their heads approvingly if we added that in life believers are called upon to suffer for Christ? Paul would.  For two years he had been living with the threat of death at the hands of a Roman Executioner.  But the great apostle didn't wilt.  If death were to come, his eager hope was with the help of the Holy Spirit to face it courageously so that Christ would be exalted.

For us in our country there's no danger of losing our heads because of our faith. Our problem is that we hide our heads because of our faith.  When all around us people prattle that truth is what you want to believe, it takes Christian fortitude to preach that only what God's Word says is true.  When matters like morals, marriage, and life's meaning flip-flop every other day, it requires strong faith to stand up for what God has said in his unchanging Word.  It's not even easy to face the problems in daily life when the devil suggests to me that I'm wasting my time in following Jesus.

"How do you stay so calm?" asked her pastor. The severely tested grandma answered, "When I was a girl, my mother told me that each night she slept well because she rested her head on three pillows - God's grace, God's power, God's wisdom." Those who rely on God's free grace in Christ Jesus, God's poweer to take care of their lives, and God's wisdom to lead correctly will, along with Paul, have what it takes to suffer for Christ.

Lord, I am weak, but you are strong. Be with me.  Amen.

Thursday, May 28

Life - To Die In Christ

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. - Philippians 1:21

"Life without Christ is a hopeless end," someone once wrote, "but life with Christ is an endless hope." Paul puts forward the same conclusion in his words, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Gain? Who calls death a gain? People ccall it all kinds of things but not a gain.  Only believers like Paul can say "Death is gain because it takes me to be forever with my Lord and Savior. Death is gain because it takes me to that union with Christ that is complete and that nothing can ever again corrode or crack."

When at the church door or elsewhere I'd see couples who were planning to be married, I'd ask them how many days were left before their weddings.  Almost invariably they could tell me, to the exact day and with mounting joy.  They were waiting for that day to come when they could be together for the rest of their lives.

When God brings Christ into my heart and life, he also brings the desire to be with my loving Savior forever.  from the moment on, the countdown begins, not with apprehension but anticipation. "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far" (Philippians 1:23), wrote the same apsotle who in our verse says "to die is gain." Never will I be more fully alive than when God takes me to his heaven.  But first I need to know how to get there.  There's only one way, through Jesus.

Lord Jesus, in a dying world, fill my heart with the

joy of knowing that to die is gain.  Amen.

Friday, May 29

God's Good Favor

A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man. - Proverbs 12:2

We might thnk that the opposite of a good man is a bad man.  Not so, according to this verse. A good man is contrasted here with a crafty man. God bestows no favor on those who - like the serpent is the Garden - are devious.

Our world praises shrewdness. But shrewdness has a devious side; craftiness manipulates people for one's own ends.  Why is it so tolerabe to the world and so odious to God? Because the desire to serve self is common to all humanity. Those who do it best are often admired. But craftiness says volumes about a person's belief in God. Those who are cunning do not expect God to help them; they must help themselves.  They do not expect God to honor goodness; they must seek their own good.  They do not believe God is watching; they are in this world for themselves.  In short, a crafty person denies who God is.

All of us have a tendency to manipulate circumstances.  We want to stack the odds in our favor, to set the best course before us, to get everyone else on our side.  But the more focused we become on our position in this world - whether at work, at home, at church, or in any other social situation - the less focused we become on God.  We cannot have our eyes on our own agenda and God's simultaneously unless ours is perfectly in line with His - and it rarely, if ever, is.

Being "good" in the eyes of God and in the definition of Scripture involves a hands-off approach to the things that belong to God.  He is the Master of our circumstances; there is no need for our guile.  The opportunities He wants us to have will be opened before us.  The people He wants us to know will come into our path.  No manipulation is necessary - or even welcome.  All that He requires from us is our willing obedience to His plan.  That, above all else, obtains His favor.

When you get your own way, you nurse a hideous idol called self. But when you give up your way, you get God. - Janet Erskin Stewart

Saturday, May 30

Pain

Read Psalm 6

The pain strikes suddenly and sharply. The lower back aches. Movement increases the discomfort.  Lying down helps, but sleep becomes difficult. The pain continues with no relief in sight.  Why is this happening? Who can help? We often live with pain - if not in the back, then the head, chest, or stomach. When pain leaves, we often forget, but when chronic symptoms persist, we wilt and lie helpless.

The psalmist struggles undeer affliction and cries out, "O Lord, heal me!" He adds, "I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears" (Psalm 6:).  No easy answers for the problem of pain. No help from philosophical answers about the inevitability of pain or the beneficial results of maturing through pain.  Like the psalmist, we turn to God in our despair. We ask of healing, for relief, for strength.  God understands and can help.  Later the psalmist exclaims, "The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer" (Psalm 6:9).

But most of all, we focus on God's Son, who took on flesh and therefore experienced pain for us.  He hurt when roughly handled and scourged.  The nails through His hands and feet sent pain stabbing through His nervous system.  And the hours of tortured breathing on the cross took their toll. In the process, He conquered sin and death. Pain continues now, but God heals, soothes, and strengthens. Risen and ascended, Jesus will come again to take us to eternal life with Him, where there will be no more pain. He stands with us.

But the pains which he endured, Alleluia!

Our salvation have procured; Alleluia!

Now above the sky he's king, Alleluia!

Where the angels ever sin. Alleluia!

Sunday, May 31

Failure

Read Psalm 73:1-5. 21-28

In our success-oriented society no word conjures up more dread than the word "failure." Students fear to take home a report card wiht an F.  Aspiring athletes hang their heads when cut from a team.  Unfortunately, high achievers condemn themselves as failures when falling short of the first prize or the highest office or the million dollar bonus.  Failures abound, with divorces, bankruptcies, prison terms, unemployment, and additions.  In short, every one of us lives with the reality of failure, either real or imagined.

The psalmist struggles with failure because he envies the prosperity of the wicked.  He sees them with healthy and strong bodies, free from human burdens, and fabulously wealthy.  He bemoans his own struggles and ill-treatment by these wicked people.  Then he realizes his own foolishness and stupidity.  He has failed to see God's love for him.

Are we failures? Not in God's eyes.  He created us in His image. Despite the failure of our sinful rebellion, God sent His own Son into the world.  Living faithfully in love, obedience, and service, Jesus was rated a failure in the eyes of the world. His crucifixion appeared to signal a final humiliating defeat. But in that sin-atoning act, Jesus won the victory.  Because of Jesus' death and resurrecction for us, God accepts us as His special people, headed for eternal life in heaven.  Yes, God is the strength of our hearts and our Portion forever.  Failures no more.

Jesus, all our ransom paid, All your Father's will obeyed; By your sufferings perfect made: Hear us, holy Jesus. Save us in our soul's distress, Be our help to cheer and bless While we grow in holiness: Hear us, holy Jesus. Amen