Month: August 2022

My dog and I walk everyday, and most times I find myself looking down at the sidewalk. First, because I don’t want to trip, fall, and break a bone…and the other is because I become engrossed in my own thoughts and just zone out. It’s then that God gently reminds me to lift up my eyes. Lift up my eyes to His creation all around me, and marvel at the beauty I’m obliviously walking past. Lift up my eyes with praise and thanksgiving…honoring God in His holy dwelling of heaven, high, exalted, and glorious. For I know that in times of distress and persecution… when my eyes are downcast with care and worry, the appropriate posture is to lift up my eyes and seek the Lord.

Job knew a thing or two about affliction and adversity…he also knew his God well. But that didn’t stop the confusion and distress he endured in the middle of his suffering. Job likened it to God heaping stones up in a wall before him, blocking him from moving…a barrier preventing him from escaping his torment. Isaiah 59:9 laments about this, “Justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn’t reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.” We will all go through times of suffering when the way ahead is cloaked in obscurity and God seems far away, but if we continue to stand on His Word, He promises His light will illuminate the darkness.

Everyday we make hundreds of decisions…some are small instant choices that have no consequences…while others may be life-changing. That’s why we need God’s counsel and guidance in our decision-making. The reasons are simple, “Teach me Your Ways so I may know You.” (Exodus 33:13) “Teach me what I cannot see.” (Job 34:32) and “Teach me Your Way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path…” (Psalm 27:11) God’s way is always correct and we can confidently walk in it knowing that it is the way of righteousness. Or as God affirms to us in Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the Way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”

Water is necessary for life. Without water, vegetation withers and dies, the parched soil refuses to bear crops, and everything perishes under the scorching sun. And without the living water of the Word in our lives we too become spiritually dry…our lives like an arid desert, void of joy and hope. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Psalm 36:8-9 shows us the abundance of God’s steadfast love, generosity and eternal life when it says, “They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life.” Here in John 7:37-38, Jesus was quoting Isaiah 58:11, linking the idea that with the Word active in our lives we can be like well-watered gardens, and like springs whose waters never fail.

I’m going to build on the Devotional I wrote yesterday about serving/volunteering in Church. The verse above speaks of commitment to the Lord… about whole-hearted devotion, obedience, and integrity on our part… not only with Him but with His Church also. Yes, with His beloved bride, the Church. We may think we’re fully committed to Jesus Christ, but when it comes to His Church, we’re lukewarm at best. We’re fine with some short-term commitments, especially if they’re a high profile, lots of public exposure type of functions. We’ll help out at a one day Church Conference, or bring a dish to a funeral dinner, or serve a day or two at Vacation Bible School …but don’t you dare ask me to be a Sunday School Teacher, or greet at the front door, or heaven forbid, lead a home Bible study group at my house! That’s just too much of a burden and obligation for me to take on! But commitment to Christ is commitment to His Church there’s no two ways around it. So again I exhort you, if you are not fully engaged in your Church serving in some capacity…you need to be.

Imagine with me your Church is a large ship. Now it can either be a cruise ship, where people come in every Sunday to relax and be waited on hand & foot…or it can be a battle ship where it’s a “All hands on deck” atmosphere. An interesting statistic about serving/volunteering at Church is…only 43% of people serve in some regular capacity in their Church…with the top 10% doing 72% of the majority work. That leaves a whole lot of people with a whole lot of gifts & talents just languishing away. Serving/volunteering at Church really needs to be looked at as a form of discipleship and spiritual growth, not as some menial task I’ve been asked to do. Just think about it, the Twelve Disciples worked side by side with Jesus everyday…caring for others, serving the needy, and acting in the best interest of the less fortunate. It was a “All hands on deck” kind of Ministry they were involved in…and look what they learned from it.

Regardless of what God did for them, the Israelites grumbled. They didn’t fully believe or trust that He could deliver them safely to the Promised Land. First they cried out for water in the desert and God split the rocks and gave them water as abundant as the seas verse 15 of Chapter 78 tells us. Then they grumbled about food, and God opened the doors of heaven and rained down manna for the people to eat. (verse 24) But when they grew tired of manna and complained about wanting meat… again God showered down quail like dust inside their camp. (verse 27) But every time, God’s graciousness was met with grumbling…His loving-kindness answered with rebellion…even while the food was yet in their mouths. But it tells us in verse 38, “Yet God was merciful; He forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them.” Which only goes to show the vastness of God’s grace, mercy, and love towards His people.

It’s the duty of older members of God’s Community to teach the young what He has done for His people. We need to remember, recount, and pass on God’s justice and mercy…and our required response of faith and obedience. For it would only take one generation to lose sight of God’s goodness to abandon Him. And Psalm 22:31 specifically tells us that we are to declare the Gospel Message into the future… to those people yet unborn…generations yet to come, that they may know God.

Our life can be full of running after temporary satisfaction that may fill us for a while, but then when it doesn’t… off we go looking for the next pleasure to gratify us. Isaiah 55:2 asks, “Why do you spend your money for which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy?” This vicious circle of searching for temporary satisfaction will continue until we realize that true, and full satisfaction can only be found in a right relationship with God. Deep contentment and satisfaction with the Lord is of itself is a blessing we can hardly contain…filling our souls with only good things (Psalm 107:9) So stop running after that which only satisfies for a moment, and instead look to God to fill you fully and forever.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:14, “That small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life”…and that starts with submission to God’s correction and direction. For if you think about it, Jesus was the perfect balance of gentleness and sternness…righteousness and toughness among the wicked. He pulled toddlers up on His lap to bless but yet pulled tables over in the Temple for what the people had allowed it to become. Yes, Jesus was perfectly balanced…magnanimous in spirit to forgive any sinner seeking pardon, while calling out with no uncertain terms those who indulged in evil.