In and Out: E-Devo

Another way to get the Word in..and back out in your life:

“Quiet Walk Devotional” is an excellent Bible-based daily devotional that works through the Bible using scriptures for prayers of praise, thanksgiving, and confession, plus a suggested list of 3 or 4 items to pray over for action in your life. It’s short and to the point.

I’ve had it arriving in my inbox the past few months and have appreciated the extra reminder to focus on loving the Lord using His written truths. Admittedly, many days I delete it before even reading, but other days I spare two minutes and pray through the scriptures sent. On those days, His Word often reaches me at my exact point of need. He is indeed an alive and active God!

Lisa

Get in the Word----Daily Bible Reading

It’s almost January 1. Again.

How many Christians are resolving, once again, to read through the Bible in a year? And how many more have given up ever resolving that again, after bogging down in Leviticus by mid-February and conceding total defeat?

Want a more workable plan? Take 2 years instead. It’s really not sacrilege, and your chance of success is more than doubled. Revised from a chronological plan handed out at Central a few years back, this plan takes 60 weeks to read through the Old Testament, and 35 weeks through the New Testament.

Readings are only for 5 days a week instead of 7, again increasing your likelihood of success. And because the schedule is padded for only 95 weeks of reading in 2 years, you have a safety net for catch-up days (and weeks!).

Ten years from now: would you rather have never made it through the Bible from a too-grandiose one-year plan, or made it through 5 times from a slower reading plan? (Or even 3 times from a 3-year plan?)

The goal, of course, is never to just check the box by reading some words. However, there will be days like that; don’t let that stop you. Remember that the Spirit is more powerful than our faulty motivation. So read anyway. And check the box if it makes you feel better.

But keep your eyes open—even in our struggling-to-read days, God works in mighty ways to bless our efforts to know Him.

Even in Leviticus.

You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them.
I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 18:4

Lisa

The Good Shepherd

I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.
I am the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd lays down
his life for the sheep.

~ John 10:10-11

Still Point

Christ is the still point of the turning world.


~ T. S. Eliot

O Thou Fount of Ev'ry Blessing

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
Your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.
How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low among men find refuge
in the shadow of your wings.
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;
In your light we see light.

~Psalms 36:5-9

Magnificat

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.

He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever."

Luke 1:46-55

A Prayer at Mid-Day

In the hustle of Christmas month, may this prayer offered in Richard Foster's Prayer Treasury help us remain focused on Jesus.

The day has been breathless, Lord.
I stop now for a few moments and I wonder:
Is the signature of the Holy over the rush of the day?

Or have I bolted ahead, anxiously trying to solve problems that do not belong to me?

Holy Spirit of God, please show me:
how to work relaxed,
how to make each task an offering of faith,
how to view interruptions as doors to service,
how to see each person as my teacher in things eternal.

In the name of Him who always worked unhurried,
Amen.

Who's Your David?

Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. Psalm 25:1

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you. Psalm 63:1

David, did you know that we, thousands of songs later, would still be singing your songs? …to praise with you? …to cry with you? …to thank with you?

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Psalm 31:1

David, did you know that we, thousands of years later, would still be reading your words? ...to voice our thoughts? …to confess our sins? …to brag on our God?

Sometimes words come hard. It’s not always easy to verbalize what we’re thinking or feeling.

But when we open the Psalms, and read the words of David, Solomon, Asaph, Ethan, and yes, even Moses (Psalm 90), the words we fumble for pour out. They utter the intimacies that we feel, but struggle to articulate.

If all I had was one last breath
I’d spend it just to sing Your praise
Just to say Your name

But these are not words of David. Do we still have “Davids” today? While not inspired by the Spirit in the same manner as David, don’t we still hear voices to help us express the same thoughts to the Father?

If all I had was one last prayer
I'd pray it 'cause I know You're always listening

If all I had was one more song to sing
I would raise my voice to make the heavens ring

Who is your David? Toby and Aaron? Max and Beth? Britt and Mandisa? Ken and Brandon?

None replace David in breathing out God’s messages. But others can help speak for us when we can’t speak for ourselves.

'Cause I know You're there,
I know You see me

You're the air I breathe
You are the ground beneath me

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

~ Lisa

When Your Hut Is on Fire

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Everyday he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger.

He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?"

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?," asked the weary man of his rescuers.

"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

The Moral of This Story:

It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives..... even in the midst of our pain and suffering.

Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.