Tag Archives: daily walk

My Sacred Medallion

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The New Testament tells us that one of the things Jesus did when he went to the cross is make us a kingdom of priests (or kingdom and priests). He is absolutely our High Priest, but we who know him have the privileges and responsibilities much like Aaron and his sons had in the Old Testament.

I don’t claim to understand all of what that entails. There is so much symbolism in the account we read in Exodus 39. But one thing is clear to me, Aaron and his sons took a great deal of care in following every detail before they went before the Lord. Including what they wore.

As I read about the robe, the ephod, the breastplate, and the rest of the required clothing, I was convicted when I read about the sacred medallion Aaron wore on his turban. It was engraved with the words: HOLY UNTO THE LORD. It was placed in such a way no one could miss it.

I wonder if my spiritual sacred medallion is as visible to the people around me. Does my lifestyle scream that I worship God, that I make choices based on his Word, that I am a sinner saved by grace? Do people see Jesus in me, Holy Unto the Lord?

I pray that the days of my keeping my faith between God and myself are behind me. I pray that I will stand out in every circumstance of life as someone who wears Christ’s name honorably and proudly. I pray that the choices I make today will point others to the Savior.

I pray the same for you. May we be a kingdom of priests, set apart, faithful to God, HOLY UNTO THE LORD.

I Am Amazed

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I was reading in Exodus today about God’s instructions to Moses for the building of the Tabernacle. I don’t think I ever read this portion of Scripture without being in awe.

I am amazed at the details of the instructions. God was interested in every stitch, every stone. And every part of that tabernacle held special meaning.

I am amazed at the amount of materials required to build the Tabernacle. Where did they get all that gold, bronze, and silver, all the wood and stone there in the desert? How did they dye the enormous amount of thread needed to make yards and yards of material so it looked like one piece of cloth?

I am amazed that, in the desert, men could forge golden cherubim, tiny hooks, utensils. They sure didn’t have the machinery we have today.
I don’t know how long it took to complete the Tabernacle but it amazes me they ever got it done. It took three weeks for my bathroom to be updated and it’s a tiny bathroom. There in the desert, so many individuals completed so many tasks. How did they do that?

God would remind me that the Christian life should look like that. Each of us should identify our gifts and use them to build the kingdom as we lead sinners to Jesus. The world should stand in awe of us and ask themselves, how did they do that?

Does seeing God alive and working in us amaze our unsaved friends and family? It should.

God, you are amazing. We who know you know that truth. Now, God, equip us to show the world just how awesome you are. In these days when the Truth of Scripture is being attacked and disregarded I pray that your people will stand, that we will work together, that the world will see your grace in us and want what we have. May they recognize your greatness because they see your greatness in each of us. And may they be amazed at what you do and who you are through us who represent you.

Famine in the Land

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When the Bible talks about a famine in the land, I look for the spiritual application for the times when my relationship with God dries up. You know those times, right? When God seems so far away, when you have a longing that isn’t realized. Something is missing. You feel lost and alone, scared and sad.

I also think reading about famine in the Bible refers to the Church’s lack of ability to grow, to reach lost souls for Jesus.

So what can we learn about the dry days in our personal lives and in our churches? Joseph instructed the Egyptians in Genesis 47 to give him everything: their material possessions as well as their own bodies. They could hold nothing back. They laid it all at Joseph’s feet and in return, he gave them everything they needed. 

Now here’s something important to remember. The Egyptians didn’t receive what Joseph gave them and go home and turn on the TV. They went to work. They planted crops that would feed their families and produce seed to keep planting food to feed their families. They paid their taxes with the grain they planted, cultivated, and reaped.

God wants us to do the same. Whether it’s our own personal time of drought or an ineffective church, we are told to bring everything to God, lay it at his feet and leave it there. We cannot hold anything back.

Our material possessions? His. Our health? His. Our dreams, our fears, our jobs, our relationships? His. Our families and our bodies given to him with no strings attached.

God wants us to know that he will give us everything we need. He’ll feed us and revive us, give us strength and assurance. Then we need to get to work. God will bless us and care for us. But we need to be obedient.

He’s given us his Word. Do we read it? He’s promised to hear our prayers. Do we pray? He’s told us he will go with us and help us share the gospel. Do we talk about him to those who need him? He tells us to flee sin, to guard our hearts, to be separate from the world. How’s that going?

Jesus said he is the Bread of Life and the Living Water. May we allow him to feed us, to refresh us, and may we get out there and point others to the One who can satisfy their souls, too.

Father, I thank you for being everything we need every minute of every day. May we who are experiencing a kind of famine in our souls follow Joseph’s example and bring everything we have and are and lay them at your feet. May we trust you to provide what we need and may we enjoy the blessings that come from feeding on the Bread of Life and the Living Water. Then, Lord may we serve you with grateful hearts. May others find you because we are faithful.

December 27

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Revelation 2-5

As we jump into the book of Revelation, I am not going to even try to interpret John’s vision. I’m not going to try to convince you to believe that a Great Tribulation will occur before… or after… the Rapture. I’m not going to try to identify an antichrist or talk about lamp stands, bowls, and four living creatures. 

I know there are a lot of dear Christians who spend a lot of time and energy trying to uncover the mystery behind the words written in this last book of the Bible. But instead, I am going to do what I’ve done every day this year. And that is to ask God what he would have me learn from his Word about my relationship with him, about my service to him, and my response to his grace.

As I read the letters to the seven churches I noticed that with each one God pointed out what appeared to be true, then told them what WAS true.

Like the church in Ephesus. They didn’t tolerate wickedness, but when it got right down to it, they had no love.

In Smyrna God saw their poverty yet told them they were rich because of their faithfulness.

Pergamum were true to God, yet they tolerated false teachers among them. God told them to repent.

Sardis talked the talk, they had a great reputation but they were dead.

Philadelphia was struggling but God commended them for keeping his word and not denying him.

Laodicea was indifferent about their faith. They had everything they needed materially and didn’t even realize how poor they really were.

God is saying to me that it’s not enough just to look like a Christian. There is so much more to this than just going to church and saying grace before a meal or reading my Bible and blogging. God is much more interested in my heart’s condition.

Each of the seven churches will receive exactly what they need. And that’s what God wants me to realize today. If I’ve lost the love, if I am indifferent, if I am too comfortable or have tolerated sin in my life, I have only to go to my Savior and confess, knowing he will give me exactly what I need to be the person he intends for me to be.

And one day, I’ll join that amazing worship service John tells about in his vision. I will sing with every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever.

Amen!

God I thank you for John’s vision. My prayer is that you will reveal to us who are reading it here at the end of 2013 the things that will encourage us or convict us, excite us or break our hearts. Then, Father, may we use what you are teaching us to lead others to your saving grace. Thank you for letting us have a glimpse of heaven. I can only imagine!

December 26

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I John 4-5; 2 John; 3 John, Revelation 1

In his letters, John is emphatic about the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh. This is a fitting subject one day after Christmas, isn’t it? John says in 1 John 4:2&3 that if you believe Jesus has come in the flesh, the Spirit within you is from God. And he says, if you don’t believe Jesus is God with us, the spirit within you is the antichrist. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.

As you read John’s letters you can’t help but notice a repeated theme. Love. Love of God toward man. Love for Jesus. Love for the Father. Love for one another. 

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16b)

We love because he first loved us. (verse 19)

This is love of God; to obey his commands. (1 John 5:3)

Is your life defined by love? Is your love for God evident in the way you live, set apart, holy, obedient? Do you love others? And do they recognize your love by the way you treat them with kindness and respect?

If God is love and if he lives in us who have accepted his grace, love will be a natural outpouring of his Spirit within us. God demonstrated his love for us when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, when he went to the cross and shed his blood so each of us could be forgiven, and when he rose again. We demonstrate our love for him by our obedience.

Dear God, thank you for Jesus who is God in the flesh. Thank you for the privilege of celebrating his birth. But may we not forget why he came. May we remember the cross. And may each of us accept the forgiveness your death purchased. I pray that you will find us demonstrating our love for you by the things we do, the places we go, the words we say, even the thoughts we think. How can we help but love you when you loved us so!

December 24

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Hebrews 10:19-12:29

The “Hall of Faith” is included in the passages we read today. We saw the accounts of the people listed here for ourselves as we read through the Bible in 2013. People like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses whose stories many of us were taught since we were children. Others we read about who might not have been as familiar like Rahab, Barak, Jephthah and others who also lived lives of faith. I hope you can identify people in your own life who display faith in God as they go about the day-to-day. And I pray they would add your name to their own list.

Think about Joseph’s faith – or Mary’s. What we are celebrating today and tomorrow was something that could have resulted in great shame for Joseph and death for Mary had they not had faith that what God told them was true. Think about the early church and the faith they demonstrated by being baptized publicly to identify themselves with Jesus. 

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. The reality of the blessings that result from having faith in God should not be denied.

What does having faith look like in each of us on the Christmas Eve, 2013? Hebrews 12 says we should throw off sin and run. We should fix our eyes on Jesus, grow up, and not lose heart. The faith we stand on is sure and solid and true, if we put our faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

I pray that everyone reading this blog will have faith in God, believe His Word, and accept His Son. And I pray that our faith will serve as a part of the cloud of witnesses people are seeing and be drawn to the Savior, too.

May you know the joy, the confidence, the blessings, and the love that come from having faith in the One we celebrate this Christmas.

 

December 20

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Jude 1:17-25; 2 Peter1-3; 2 Timothy 1

People have been talking about the Second Coming since the cross. Jude told the first century church, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” Two thousand years later scoffers still follow ungodly desires. The difference is, those desires lead to actions that go viral in our cyber world and portray their depravity as normal. 

So why doesn’t Jesus just come back and put an end to this seemingly rapid decline of humanity? Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:8&9 that God’s timing is not the same as ours. We live life one second at a time. To God, a day is like a thousand years. He’s not slow in bringing justice to the world. He is, however, patient because he doesn’t want anyone to die without knowing him. 

God is asking me what I’m doing about that. As I read 2 Peter 1:3-10 I am reminded that faith in God is not passive. It’s action, it’s goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love. It’s caring enough for someone to be willing to offend them by calling sin sin and pointing them to our loving God who wants to cleanse them, who died to save them.

How can I wear the name “Christian” and not do what it takes to make it mean something real and vital? Jesus is coming again. Will he find me faithful?

Holy God, I thank you for your promise to come back some day and take us who know you home. I look forward to the moment when I can look you in the eyes and worship you face to face. But, God, while I still walk this earth, may you find me faithful. May I not sit back and relax in the wonder of my salvation. I want to grow, I want to walk with you, I want to be your arms and legs, your voice and your love to people who don’t know you yet. I want to be a soldier in your army with the intent of seeing souls saved for Jesus’ sake. Teach me through your Word and help me to be the woman you would have me be today.

December 19

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I Peter 2:13-5:14; Jude 1:1-16

In the 80’s, the school district where I worked was in financial trouble. For two years they closed schools and laid-off dozens of staff. As a music teacher with less than ten years experience, I was expendable. I found out in April my contract wasn’t going to be renewed. All of us who received that news reacted differently. Some were angry and filed grievances with the union. Some took all their sick days and stayed home. Others plunged into deep depression. Me? I kept going. We had our spring production at the elementary where I taught music, and my bands put on their regular spring concerts. I didn’t get caught up in the complaining about the administration or obsessing about what I was going to do.

I was single, had rent to pay, and the bills kept coming in. But I didn’t have a sense of doom. As it turned out, after only one year, I was called back to that same district. And I stayed there for the next 30 years. One day I was sitting around the table in the teacher’s lounge and one of the teachers commented about my lay-off. She said she had watched me during that time and was amazed at how losing my job had not changed me. I told her I knew that the school board wasn’t in charge of my life, that God was in control and I trusted him. She said- I wish I had that same confidence. To which I replied – you can! I asked if she wanted me to tell her how and she said, maybe later. We never revisited that conversation but I pray a seed was planted that day that produced fruit.

Peter reminds us to live lives in such a way that when people ask us to give a reason for the hope we have, we will be ready. Because people are watching. They are judging God by what they see in us. They are wondering if having Jesus in their lives would be better than what they have without him and they are watching us to see if what we have is real.

If you have been on this ‘reading the Bible through in a year’ journey with me, you know that we lost my 22 year old nephew Geoffrey in an auto accident in June of 2012. I am not going to tell you that Geoff was a saint, or that he always did the right thing. But I would like to tell you the verse we put on his tombstone. It’s I Peter 3:8:

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

You see, Geoff lived his life like that. He was a peace-maker, he was kind to everyone and went out of his way to befriend the down-and-outers. He had a sweet spirit and a tender heart. And he had no idea how incredible he was. And people noticed. People still comment on Facebook or call his mom to say how much Geoff still means to them.

Friend, what do people see when they observe your life? Because they are watching, they are taking notes, and they are judging Christianity by what they see in you. For myself, I want them to see I Peter 3:8 in me. And I pray they will want Jesus in their lives because they see how amazing he is in me. 

I believe if the things we read in I Peter 3:8 are evident in our lives, people will ask us to give a reason for the hope we have. Let’s pray that we’ll be ready to give them the answer and introduce them to their Savior. God bless you as you represent him today.

December 18

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Titus; I Peter 1:1-2:12

The older I get the more I feel like I don’t “fit in” to my world. I don’t find funny the things many people seem to laugh at. Like commercials where grown men act like little girls or play “Jingle Bells” in their boxers.

I don’t watch most sit-coms because I just don’t see the humor in sexual overtones or portraying fathers as idiots. My definition of “having a good time” doesn’t involve alcohol. I get angry when I see pictures of sad, abused puppies plastered on TV with the attempt to get me to contribute to the ASPCA when there are thousands of babies – human beings- who are being murdered every day and I don’t see their pictures on TV telling me how unfair that is. I believe legalizing homosexual marriages is a slap in the face of God. And I am sad to think what kind of world we are fashioning for my great nieces and nephews.

I don’t appreciate the trend of churches to entertain on Sunday mornings, emphasizing a “worship experience”, or pastors who jump around and tell jokes. I crave meat when there is just too much puff pastry.

No, I don’t fit in. But Peter says that’s ok. In fact, he encourages us to live as aliens and strangers in the world. He reminds us that God tells us to be holy as he is holy. And that involves abstaining from sinful desires, living such a good life that people will notice and want what I have in Jesus.

I don’t want to pout about not fitting in. Who wants to be around a Debbie-Downer? I want to express my love, my joy, my Savior to everyone I meet. I hope they see me as different. I pray they see me as better.

Dear God, thank you for saving me. I pray that my life will stand out, that I won’t compromise what I know is true in order to fit in to a world that is running from you. Give me strength. And may someone be drawn to you today because they see a difference in me and want what I have in you.

December 14

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Colossians 

I grew up singing and loving A.B. Simpson hymns. Yes, I know the melodies are often difficult to sing and, as a church organist, I also know chord progressions are tricky. But Dr. Simpson packed so much truth into those hymns.

One of those hymns is based on Colossians 1:27 where Paul is once again writing about the mystery that had been kept hidden for ages. The inclusion of Gentiles into what had been a Jewish religion was accomplished because of Jesus. And because Jesus lives, he lives inside believers of every nationality.

Do you believe Jesus is able to do that? Paul identifies Jesus as God in the flesh. Look at the first chapter of Colossians and meet Jesus. In 2:9 Paul tells us “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”. Yes, Jesus is God and in 3:4 Paul calls Christ “your life”. Not just a part of my life. My life, my existence, my everything.

Here is what Dr. Simpson wrote in his hymn, “Christ in Me”:

This is my wonderful story – Christ to my heart has come;
Jesus, the King of glory, Finds in my heart a home.

I am so glad I received Him, Jesus, my heart’s dear King;
I who so often have grieved Him, All to His feet would bring.

Now in His bosom confiding, This my glad song shall be:
I am in Jesus abiding. Jesus abides in me.

Christ in me, Christ in me. Christ in me – Oh, wonderful story.
Christ in me, Christ in me. Christ in me, the hope of glory.

I am so grateful that the God of Creation lives in me. My prayer is that as one of his chosen, I will clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (3:12) I will forgive as the Lord forgave me. (3:13) And over all, put on love. (3:14)

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”. (3:17)