Keeping Watch

 

“Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.”

—Proverbs 8:34-35

“Daddy’s coming!” Can you just hear the rumble of rushing feet toward the door? Or “It’s almost time for Daddy to come home!” Can you see the same eager children rush to the window? They enjoy keeping watch because they know for whom they watch.

What overwhelming joy these children bring to a parent who comes home to this kind of anticipation. Imagine God’s pleasure in us as we sit and watch for Him, as we read His written Word, or come to Him in prayer.

Psalm 63:1-3 expresses that exact kind of longing for God’s presence:

“O God, you are my God, earntly [early, eagerly] I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.”

This same kind of eager anticipation for the fellowship with God that He desires from us can be ours daily. But, we must set aside a time for that to happen. A quick devotional thought from a book over breakfast seems more like a teenager on her way out the door yelling, “Hi, Dad, Bye, Dad!”

At any time of the day or night, God will hear us and bless us with His presence. Many find that setting aside time first thing in the morning offers the best opportunity to meet with God. Even David, in Psalm 5:3, expresses his enjoyment of the morning hour spent with God. David writes:

“In the morning O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

Coming to God in anticipation should result in far more than simply a time of requesting this blessing or that one. We should eagerly pause and listen for His voice and His direction. We should rehearse His character, His goodness, His greatness, along with His love and care.

What sweet fellowship God desires with us, if we will come with that kind of love and humility—watching for Him, and listening for what He wants to say, in addition to talking with Him about the things we need.

If this kind of intimate fellowship with God seems new to you, why not start by reading the Psalms. These “songs” reveal the heart within so many of God’s followers. The Psalms will give you the words you might need to express the depth of praise and devotion you wish to give to God.

Let us watch for Him daily, and enjoy the anticipation of His coming!

 

 

Zeal or Complacency?

 

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion.

—Amos 6:1

When she hurried into my music classroom at 8:15 in the morning, she looked cold. While other students had arrived earlier for the before-school chorus rehearsal with their parents, or in carpools, she came alone.

When I had the chance, I asked her about it. “Oh,” she said, “my mom goes to work too early, so I walked.” That might not seem like a big deal, but it was.

You see, in order not to miss our rehearsal, this ten-year-old 4th grader had walked clear across town in work traffic. She had walked largely in areas that had no sidewalks. Her route took her through some of the rougher neighborhoods in our town.

I was startled. I realized her early morning walk had taken determination and a fearlessness. Her journey had taken her over an hour to get from her home to school. I could hardly believe she had walked all that way. I set about arranging a ride for her on future rehearsal mornings.

This brave ten-year-old girl revealed her zeal for singing in the chorus, her pride in belonging to the group, and her fortitude against the early morning odds.

I wonder: “How do we fare as adults in the more important matter of church attendance?”

• Do we make it a point, whether difficult or not, to get to the Worship Service, or to the Christian Education hour, despite all the odds?
  
  
• Do we assure our attendance in spite of the bad weather?
  
  
• Do we arrive each week at church in spite of the other activities offered on that day?
  
  
• Do we place church attendance at a higher priority than family expectations?
  
  
• Does our persistent church attendance ever cost us anything?
  
  

In the days before northern Israel was taken by Babylon into captivity, the prophet Amos warned these well-off and contented Jews of the impending doom that was coming for them because of their complacency, their self-indulgence, and their haughty rebellion against God. In Amos 6:4-6, the Prophet reminded them:

You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

Had these contented people even noticed the sinful behavior that, very subtly over time, had become part of their lifestyle?

• Did they go through the motions of traditional worship, but neglect the poor and plunder them for their own benefit?
  
  
• Did they not notice when the Lord withheld rain from them, or not watch when locusts and mildew struck their crops?
  
  
• Did they wonder why the plagues had come?
  
  
• Did they take note of the increase in the number of floods, the increase in the number of earthquakes, the increase in the number of tornadoes, and the increase in the number of other natural disasters?
  
  
• Did they ignore the increase in violence in their cities, the eroding of the structure of their society, the corruption in their government, and the general decline in the goodness of their people?
  
  
• Did they not see how greed had become the major motivating factor in every level of their society—greed that drove people to lie, to steal, to hide their true motives, to make evil sound good, and to make good sound evil?
  
  
• Did they fail to recognize God’s clearly displayed warning signs?
  
  
• Did they consistently ignore God’s calls for repentance from their many sins?
  
  

As I look around our great nation, I fear that, very gradually over time, the American church has fallen into the same kind of sins as these ancient people did. And, when God sends us a pandemic, a failure in war, violence and destruction of our cities, and a rapidly increasing financial instability and scarcity of our resources because of the greed that motivates so many decisions that people in authority make, do we even consider the possibility that He may be trying to get our attention, and to warn us of a plight similar to the one that overtook His people in Amos’ day?

We need not stand by with looks of surprise on our faces. By studying the events that overtook the people in the days of the Prophet Amos, we can learn from their offenses and God’s pleas.

Through the Prophet Amos, found in Amos 5:4, 6, and 14-15, God spoke these words as an instruction for the sinful nation:

Seek me and live; … Seek the Lord and live … Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is.

Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

May we wake up and repent. And, may God be merciful to us!

 

 

"I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up"

 

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.

—Psalm 146:5

The older I get, the more I detest the commercials on TV that show a poor woman alone and on the floor, calling: “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Although physically I may not yet personally relate to that kind of weakness, I certainly can find myself in the emotional position of having fallen and needing help getting back “up” to my normal self.

I’m sure other women—those who have lost their husbands, or whose children have moved away—can relate to the need for both help and hope. Most people need help with computer programs, or motor vehicle problems, or help with any number of the multitude of puzzles in our lives with which we seem ill equipped to deal.

Men without wives need help understanding the washing machine and clothes dryer, or how to make proper purchases at the grocery store, or help with the issues related to keeping a house clean and neat. When any of us find ourselves in the hospital, or merely needing a ride to a medical test, we need help.

The Hebrew word ezer—as used in the Bible—means “helper.” God used the term when He said the following words in Genesis 2:18:

“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper [ezer] suitable for him.”

In other places, this word is used to describe God Himself, as the “Help of Israel.” Just as God engineered the male and female to help one another, so has God given us His own self to become the “Help of Israel.”

How comforting to know that we do not fight our battles alone. Rather, God has come alongside us as a help.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrew Christians throughout Asia Minor has used the word “help” in writing the following, as recorded Hebrews 4:16:

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

We also need the hope that the Psalmist promised in the verse at the beginning of this devotional. Nothing so weakens and destroys our emotional strength as the loss of hope. We have the feeling, “I’m on the floor here and since no one comes, I might as well just give up.”

Instead of giving up, we can cling to these precious words from the Apostle Paul, found in Romans 15:13, where our God is named the God of Hope:

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.

These are truly blessed promises! When we need help, no one can fill that need like our God. When we need hope, He can cause us to overflow with it. When we will feel the loving, helping hands of our blessed Lord and hear His words of hope-filled promises, we can respond by looking ahead with joy and peace. Amen!

 

 

A Time of Harvest

 

	“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
	—2 Corinthians 9:6, 8

Soon, we will begin to sense the coming of autumn. We will find ourselves in the midst of that special time of year when all around us farmers will harvest various crops.

During my teaching career, I loved those crisp fall days when the kindergarten children would walk out to their buses with bulging backpacks full of the fruit they had picked on their field trip to the apple orchard. They proudly exhibited how much weight they could carry by expressing with groans of heavy toil as they walked past me. Todd beamed, too. But, instead of keeping his apples hidden, as he made his way down the hall, he carried his apples in his hands and offered them to staff members.

“Hey, look what I picked! Would you like one?” he asked as he walked toward me.

I accepted his proffered gift and thought about Todd and his sister. Looking at them, it was easy to see that these children obviously lacked in ordinary material possessions. The clothing they wore betrayed their poverty. Yet here Todd came, the poorest of the lot, cheerfully giving out his apples right and left.

Was it possible that Todd, at age five, had already discovered the joy of giving? While other children excitedly took their harvest of apples onto the bus, so they could surprise their parents with the bounty they had picked, Todd was definitely taking a much different tack.

Perhaps this rare occasion, when Todd had something tangible to give away, he was moved by a sense deep within himself to share with others those precious apples. This act on his part certainly provided those of us observing him with a clear glimpse of Todd’s generous heart.

It pleases God, whenever we give cheerfully. It brings a special smile to our heavenly Father’s face on those occasions when we follow the example so clearly set by Todd.

Yes, sometimes we are motivated to give because we feel others expect us to do so. Other times we may give because someone has actually asked for a donation. Perhaps some of us give in the hopes that the person to whom we are giving will feel obligated to us—even might respond by giving back to us at some point.

Following the example set by this amazing five-year-old boy, what can God teach us today about giving? If we think about this narrative, what principles emerge?

• Do we consciously remember all of the many wonderful gifts that God has given to us?
  
  
• Do we think about God’s gift of His precious Son, Jesus, to die in our place on the cruel Roman cross of torture?
  
  
• Can we think of a time when God might have prompted us to give generously, but we withheld what He had so graciously given to us?
  
  
• In contrast, can we remember a time when we responded to God’s prompting and gave to another in obedience? If so, did we find that this giving was a special blessing for us?
  
  
• Do we have a possession that we could give away that would bring pleasure to another?
  
  
• Do we have something God wants us to give in a cheerful and abandoned manner?
  
  

Let’s ask God to clearly share with us His perspective on giving. Let’s search His written Word for what He has to say about giving. Then, let’s take note of the verses we find, including the verse that opened this blog post.

If we follow His instruction regarding giving, in our obedience we will surely reap a generous harvest! And, all the more so, we will know that we have done something that pleases our God, who loves us with His everlasting love.

 

 

Disgustingly Distasteful

 

“I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit.”

—Revelation 3:15-16 MSG

Imagine someone in her car arriving at the coffee shop’s drive-thru window and purposely ordering lukewarm coffee. She’s missing some of the great comfort of a well-brewed, piping hot cup of “joe,” or an ice cold cup on a very hot summer day. (Personally, I prefer tea, but only if it’s very hot or very cold.)

Can you imagine your church having the kind of evaluation that you read in the Scripture at the top of this devotional? Can you imagine reading that your church is stale, stagnant—lukewarm—when God made your church, and those who belong to it, with the purpose of being present in order to refresh and to revive others, as well as to please Him?

Not only that, but this ancient church of Laodicea—located in a region of Greece that is now a part of modern day Turkey—received even more accusations from God. In the passage from The Message, found in Revelation 3:17, God says:

“You brag, I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone, oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.”

This sentence reminds me of the twisted American mentality that has crept into our churches. We have readily accepted God’s blessings, believing that through our hard work and wisdom we have created the riches to which we have grown so accustomed. Have we gotten to the point where we no longer hear the warnings of Scripture? Do we really intend to ignore the calls to put God and His Kingdom first? Does God have to vomit us out of His mouth, or can we become useful and thirst-quenching again?

Laodicea had much to brag about. The region was known for its industries in banking, black wool making, and manufacturing of eye salve for tired eyes. And, this geographic region contained followers of Christ that God greatly valued. So, He warns them in Revelation 3:18:

“Here’s what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that’s been through the refiner’s fire. Then you’ll be rich. Buy your [white] clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You’ve gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.”

Do you hear the urgency in this passage of Scripture? Just as He spoke to the church at Laodicea, I think that God calls us and our church to change our ways.

Have the COVID-19 Pandemic and the tragedies in leaving Afghanistan caused us to hear our Lord’s voice? Will we heed the warning He gives us? Will we seriously repent of our uselessness and our pride? Will we plead with Him to send the Holy Spirit to empower us?

We need divine power in order to get busy supplying the Water of Life to this world. We need holy power in order to display the gold that shows the richness of His glory. We need God to give us white clothing to replace the clothing of those still wearing worldly rags. We need God’s holy medicine to heal the spiritual blindness of our world.

Spread the word! Hurry! The coffee is getting cold!

 

 

Sober or Silly?

 

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

—1 Peter 4:7

As a teacher, I identified second graders as “seven, social, and silly.” They had discovered that school gave them a chance to giggle and have fun with others their own age. It didn’t take much to get them concentrating on silly things at the expense of the reasons they should have come to school. I remember some lessons that I toiled over and even included learning games. But, some crazy stunt by one of their classmates took everyone off task.

Sometimes, I look at God’s people and wonder if they have taken “silly pills,” too. The prophet Jeremiah had a sobering message for God’s ancient people, whom he saw headed for exile. In his frustration he stated the following, as recorded in Lamentations 1:12:

“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me, that the Lord brought on me in the day of his fierce anger?”

The people who had the Holy Scriptures, the Law and the Prophets, were, so to speak, “fiddling while Rome burned.” In these days of collapsing countries, tyrannical leaders, weather disasters, moral decay, pride, and complete neglect of truth, what is God calling His people to do?

In another passage of Scripture, 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6, the Apostle Paul admonishes us:

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

I have no way of knowing when Christ will come back for His church. But, when things go awry all over the world, it begins to look like the “growing pains” leading to the Second Coming that the Bible talks about. Along with the society in which we live, we can be tempted to “eat, drink and be merry,” to enjoy life, and to try to forget the terrors experienced by Christians in other places of the world.

Instead, God calls us to live sober-minded lives. He calls us to live in this way, so that we can pray, so that we can live urgently to serve Him and, as best we can, to call others to know Him and prepare for His coming.

Let us not disappoint our Heavenly Teacher with our giggling and silly distractions. Instead, let us face Him soberly and live seriously, as He has instructed. The days call for a spiritual work force, clear minded and ready to serve, relying upon Christ’s power and wisdom.

 

 

Inky Blackness

 

“You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.”

—Jonah 2:3

Have you ever been in complete darkness? The closest most of us come to that is a tour of an underground cavern or walking in an unlighted tunnel at night. We might grasp for the wall to keep our equilibrium, but we do not know where we’ve been or where we’re going.

Jonah had a most unique experience with darkness. After disobeying God and being tossed into the sea by a boatload of reluctant sailors, a great fish swallowed him alive and he stayed in the belly of this fish for three days and three nights. What’s the difference in night and day in a place like that anyway?

God had Jonah where he could not escape. God must have known that was the only place where Jonah would wake up to the requests his God was making of him and recognize his responsibility to Him. In Jonah’s astounding prayer from the fish’s belly, as recorded in Jonah 2:9, he finally cried:

But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.

Does God also have you in a place where He waits for you to “cry Uncle”? We know from this story that God takes advantage of the places and circumstances that will turn us to Him. I don’t believe God willingly creates circumstances like this, for Jeremiah said in Lamentations 3:33:

He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

You know the famous line parents often give when punishing a child: “This will hurt me more than it hurts you.” God sees your plight if you have found yourself in a dark place with no way out and not a clue what to do. He understands and has compassion on you. Be reminded of Jonah. Though he went through utter distress, God knew all along the circumstances He would use to get Jonah back on track with His plan.

God wants us to trust Him in the dark. He alone has the means to rescue us. He wants us to believe in His power and in His will to do just that!