Devotional 127 - Listen to the Music

"We Christians are prone to follow the book while ignoring the music." Max Lucado

"And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Galations 4:6 NLT

"...through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit..."  Romans 15:30

Rhett and I were taking tap dancing lessons online. First the instructor told us the name of the step, then he demonstrated it, and after much practice, he added the music. We needed all of it together to dance. Without the music I was just a bunch of robotic steps that very often had no rhythm.

I do not have a trained singing voice. On occasion I have tried to sing a song, without music, to my five year old granddaughter. It always ended with a plea..."Stop singing, Nana."  I sing much better when I sing with music.

So to learn to tap dance or sing a pretty song, I need it all...the instructor, the example, and the music.

There is such beauty in the way God works in our lives. The Father gave us His precious Word to guide, direct and encourage. The Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, gave us His life as an example on living the Word out in the world, which included dying for us. The Holy Spirit is the wind beneath our God-given sails and the music in our hearts to not only know His presence and comfort, but to feel it.

Yet there is never a separation between the Father, or Son, or Spirit. All three are one, working together as one in our lives. When we remember this, we can have confidence that God's purposes for our lives will come to pass. How could it not, when such awesome power is at work!

The Holy Spirit makes what you know about Jesus come alive in your life. He lifts your heart up in joy and praise. He is the music in your life, the gentle breeze, the whisper that comforts and convicts.

You don't have to try so hard to be good if you will just listen to the music, to the whispers of the Spirit in our lives, the Spirit who wants to infuse our whole being with Christ.

Devotional 126 - Blessed Easter

"...the Aramaic word for "rejoice" is the same as the word for "dance", leading one to wonder whether Jesus was actually telling people to experience the joy of  living or to get into the dance of life."  Soul Salsa  Leonard Sweet  pg. 14

Psalm 33:1-3   "Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the LORD with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy."

Psalm 16:11 "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy: At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Spring always brought tornadoes to the Kansas prairies. When I was little my parents would send all of us kids to the storm cellar while they stood outside at the top of the stairs like sentinels scanning the sky. We children sat deliciously huddled in the dark looking up and out the cellar door as the black sky boiled and twisted above. But none of us were afraid or sad because our mother and father were near and treated it as an adventure. We were happy during a storm because we trusted those who were near to take care of us.

Isn't that what this Psalm is about?  Even in a crisis, we can still always find ways to joy because we trust in His presence.

In His presence is fullness of joy even when the sky is dark.

Oh lovely, blessed Easter...a time to rejoice, a time to dance! Even when a storm blows in, the resurrected Lord is always there. His blood has served the sentence passed by the Father for my crime. I was under a death sentence and my dear Savior paid the full penalty for my crime by His own blood. His resurrection declares that He continues to intercede for me. This is a time to lift up our hands in grateful praise.

Rejoicing in the Lord can take many different forms -smiling, singing, playing instruments, painting, speaking words of adoration, hugging my kids, cooking a good meal, forgiving and asking forgiveness....and dancing.

Obedience to Christ includes rejoicing in Him. 

How are you doing in the "joy" department?

Devotional 125 - March Madness

Daniel 4:30 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built...by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?"

"...constantly thinking little of ourselves is still thinking constantly of ourselves."  Beth Moore

Do you know what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar after making the "I am great" statement above? He went completely mad. He was driven out into the field with the beasts, eating grass like an ox. "His hair grew like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws."  Daniel 4:33

We all know as Christians that pride is sin because it takes our eyes off of Jesus and on to ourselves. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance..." Proverbs 8:13. We have read that pride comes before a fall. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18 

But it was an eye-opener to me the day I was in the pit and moaning about my failings, that my husband pointed out the pride involved in feeling inferior.

 

"Really? How so?" I questioned. "I hate myself right now. How could that be pride?"

"Because," he said, "it is still about you."  Once again in my obsessive lowly thoughts about myself I was still taking my eyes off of Jesus. 

Beth Moore, author and speaker, wrote: "Nothing like priding yourself in hating yourself. Beloved, let's let this one sink in deeply: constantly thinking little of ourselves is still thinking constantly of ourselves."

Let us be women so in love with Jesus that He maintains a more prominent place in our thoughts than we do. My life is out of kilter when the focus is on me. God has a solution.

"I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever." Daniel 4: 34

Look up and praise!

Devotional 124 - God Bless America?

"God Bless you and God bless the United States of America." President Obama - State of the Union Address - 2015

"If you fully obey the LORD your God by keeping all the commands I am giving you today, the LORD your God will exalt you above all the nations of the world....But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey...all these curses will come and overwhelm you."  Deuteronomy 28: 1, 15

President Obama ended his annual State of the Union Address the same way as all the presidents before him.. Ever since 2010 He has ended every State of the Union speech with "God bless you and God bless the United States America".

We have been a nation so blessed. There is no other country in the world I would rather live in. I am thankful daily for the safety and freedom I feel living in America. BUT......

It ain't goin' keep on happening. Why? Because our national policies are in direct opposition to God's word. God will not bless a nation that opposes Him.

Our legalized abortions and our legalized gay marriages make our nation ripe for a God take-down. Our national policies are in a wrestling match with Heavenly policies and we all can predict who the winner is going to be.

Please understand, I am not advocating for hateful, ungracious behavior towards sinners (of which we all are). I am advocating for boldness to call behaviors sin that our Lord calls sin, because this is loving. It is loving to direct people to Jesus, to their need for forgiveness, to the great joy of being in right relationship with the awesome and beautiful creator of the universe.

Whether you are gay, or have had an abortion, or are greedy, or a drunkard, or in an adulterous affair; whether you are hot-tempered, or a liar; whether you ignore God, take pleasure in anything more than God, doubt God; or whether you think you know how to run the world better than God; in all these things the most loving thing a person or church can do for you is call you to repent of your sin and come running back to God.

"We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done." Romans 3: 22  New Living Translation

So when our nation legalizes sin and restrains righteousness by its rules and regulations, we can not say "God bless America", we can only cry out "God help us one and all!" God will abandon a nation who abandons Him.

"Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator Himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires."  Romans 1: 25, 26 New Living Translation

I don’t think it will be long–perhaps in my own lifetime–that we will have a President who fails to include the traditional “God bless America” line in his presidential speeches. In my estimation, this might, lamentably, be a more virtuous act than asking God to bless what our Union has become.  Jared C. Wellman - Pastor at Mission Dorado Baptist Church in Odessa, Texas. 

Devotional 123 - January Interlude

Psalm 3: 8 Victory comes from You... Your blessings rest on Your people.  Selah (Interlude)

 Psalm 24: 10 Who is the King of glory? The Lord Almighty - He is the King of glory.  Selah

 Psalm 32: 7 For You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with
 songs of victory.  Selah (Interlude)

ʺThe moment we set ourselves to be quiet and to seek our God in stillness, there is a clamor about us; we remember things we should do, or have forgotten to do; we are disturbed in a hundred ways - anything to break into that Selah.ʺ Amy Carmichael  - Missionary to India

Some commentators on the meaning of Selah, used frequently in the Psalm, say it means to pause and think about. Others say it means praise. Still others have declared it a musical interlude. Whatever the exact use of Selah is, we can be sure God wants us to consider deeply what we have just read in the precious scriptures. Take time to think about and look at Jesus. Take time to praise His name by declaring His goodness and beauty. Sing to Him.

To be sure January for me needs this reminder. No matter how hard I prepare my heart, I always feel a little down when l begin to put away the Christmas decorations. Christmas is over. The excitement of extra family time, extra baking and eating, extra gift giving and receiving... over.

But joy upon joy, the time with Jesus is never over. Time to pause in His Word, to reflect on the great privilege to be in a relationship with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. In the verses above we can pause and praise God for victories, for rest, for protection.

Let us commit ourselves to be quiet and seek our God in stillness. Let us have a daily Selah, a pause, a praise, an interlude.... everyday. It will be our ʺJanuary joyʺ to have a ʺJanuary interludeʺ.

ʺLet us then fill our pauses with praise,... pure adoration, the loving worship of the grateful heart.ʺ 
Amy Carmichael Thou Givest... They Gather

Devotional 122 - Christmas Wonder

The coming of Jesus is more exciting to kids than Santa Claus, IF the adults feel it is and act like it is. I’ve seen this.   John Piper

 More astonishing than a baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!"John MacArthur

"Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift." 2 Corinthians 9:15

I just knew he was real. I mean I knew it. You know, the big, white bearded, jolly fellow, dressed in red. I knew because every Christmas morning there was a present I had never seen, wrapped in pretty paper I had never seen, under our Christmas tree with my name on it.  And the kicker was, it said "from Santa". It would be a very bad Santa to lie, so it had to be true. Santa was real.

I needed Santa to be real because I needed magic in my young life. I needed a moment when life wasn't about making your bed, eating your breakfast, and racing to school--- hoping I could avoid being teased about my newly permed frizzy hair, or being fearful I would disappoint my teacher by giving the wrong answer.

There were other presents under the tree from Mom and Dad, but it was the one from Santa, all the way from the North Pole, coming quietly while I slept, awaiting me when I opened my eyes in the dark morning hour, that thrilled me.

Then on December 12th, 1959, while walking home from school with a group of older, horrible classmates I heard one say, "I don't believe that baby stuff anymore. You know, SANTA ISN'T REAL."

"Yeah," the others all laughed loudly. "He's not real! Only babies believe in Santa Claus."

My heart was stricken with utter fear, like just mentioning the possibility was being a party to his murder. I had to get away as fast as I could. I ran like a jack rabbit all the way home. I burst into the door holding back tears.

"It's not true! Mom will tell me."

"Oh, those silly children. What do they know?" Mother casually replied.

I realize now, Mother lied because she needed magic and wonder in her life.

What could be more wondrous and magical than to have the attention of God Almighty, the One who created the pink/ purple sunrise I saw yesterday, the One who placed every star in the black sky for my gazing pleasure while I breathed in the crisp air, the One who placed the mountains and the oceans side by side? What is more magical than being raised from the dead to eternal life? What is more wondrous than God being born as a baby...to be cuddled and nursed? (Even the powerful demons, though they tried, could not kill the child.) That this child now our Savior is sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us? Is this not wonderful?

Christmas, for us today, is a grand reminder that you and I have ever been living in the realm of magic. Santas all cease and die. They come to an end. Our great Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace lives forever! Isaiah 9:6

"Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift." 2 Corinthians 9:15

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 1Corinthians 2:9

Devotional 121 - Tough As Nails

"...God's decrees are putting iron in our souls..."   Beth Moore

Psalm 119:175 "Invigorate my soul so I can praise you well, use your decrees to put iron in my soul." The Message

Psalm 119:175 "Let my soul live and it shall praise You; and let Your judgments help me."  NKJV

I read about my "tough as nails" brothers and sisters every month when my periodicals arrive...Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors, and International Christian Concern. I hear the stories of my sisters in Iraq who watch their husbands refuse to deny Christ and are beheaded right in front of them. I read about Kallol, his wife, and his two teen daughters who, this summer, were beaten by Hindus because they had been sharing the gospel with their neighbors and friends. How about this three year old Nigerian boy, Joel, who valued his little Bible so much, that after it was thrown in the fire by Muslim extremists, ran over to scoot it out with a stick, and was thrown into the fire also? He survives and is being helped to recover by Christian medical workers.

These are ones whom God has put iron into their souls...my "tough as nails" brothers and sisters. They are all over the world. They are out there and they are here. Let us not forget them! Pray for them! Hebrews 13:3 "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them - those who are mistreated - since you yourselves are in the body also." 

And may we be so invigorated by His word, so enamored with praise for His beauty, His sovereignty, His loving justice, His holiness, that we, too, will be "tough as nails" for Jesus Christ. May God put iron into our souls. May you and I be ready in life or in death to live for Jesus.

" And they overcame Him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."  Revelation 12:11 NKJV