One-a-Day Thursday, 12/12/13

Posted on by December 11, 2013
Reply

number 1Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me, and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

This psalm ends with a request.  Like I said last week, this is a powerful way to check the state of your relationship with Christ.  If the thought of God searching your heart frightens you, you’ve got to ask, why?  Three things to notice here:

1. The psalmist asks God in.  God is a gentleman when it comes to our hearts; he won’t barge in where he’s not invited.

2. The psalm began with the line, “O Lord, you have searched me…”  So this is not a one-time event.  It is a recurring, ongoing process.

3. The psalmist asks for four things: search me, test me, examine me, and lead me.  We present ourselves before God so that he can show us what is getting in the way of our relationship.  Essentially, we’re trying to clear out the junk so that God can bring us closer to him.

Are you in a place where you can ask this of God?  Can you afford not to?

Be courageous, Beloved.  Ask him in.

One-a-Day Wednesday, 12/11/13

Posted on by December 10, 2013
Reply

number 1If only you would slay the wicked, O God!  Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!  They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.  Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?  I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.  (Psalm 139:19-22)

Wow.  Right in the middle of this psalm celebrating the wonder of God’s love and care for me, I get a call to holy war.  What’s that about?  If you do a little study on this verse, you find that it echoes the ancient Near East covenant language between King and Vassal.  The vassal swears that any enemy of the king will be his enemy.

Are you impressed with my scholarliosity?  I love those study bible footnotes.

But God is a God of love, right?  Aren’t we supposed to love everyone?

Show me where it says that in the Bible.

Well, Jesus said, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

Oh yeah, he did…huh.

I’ll admit—this is a toughie.  I’ll be happy to hear from any of you who have thoughts about this passage.  It seems to me that, in light of the gospel, we should be pretty careful about hating people.  There is plenty for us to hate—the ways of the world, the devil and his schemes, our own flesh—plenty that rises up against God.  People seem pretty far down the list.

I think this passage is a call to total allegiance.  You have a God who knows every thought you have ever entertained and loves you anyway.  He surrounds you, literally, with his love and protection.  Pledge your fealty to him again.  Go forth into your Wednesday as the sworn enemy of all that stands against him.

Serve the king who loves you.

One-a-Day Tuesday, 12/10/13

Posted on by December 10, 2013
Reply

number 1How precious to me are your thoughts, God!  How vast the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.  When I awake, I am still with you.  (Psalm 139:17-18).

Can you imagine what goes on in the mind of God?

No, I don’t suppose you can.  Me neither.

It’s like the worm I dig up in the yard knowing my thoughts.

No…it’s more like the microbial parasite living in the worm that I dig up in the yard knowing my thoughts.

No…it’s more like the subatomic particles that make up the microbial parasite living in the worm that I dig up in the yard knowing my thoughts.

Which probably doesn’t happen.

And yet, God wants us to know at least a portion of his thoughts.  That’s why he gave us his Word.  You can fall asleep with his thoughts in your mind and awake with his thoughts in your heart.  You can move through this day meditating on his Word, and making his thoughts your thoughts.

Because he wants you to know him.

Because he loves you.

Which is just another of many reasons it’s better to be you than a worm.

One-a-Day Monday, 12/9/13

Posted on by December 8, 2013
Reply

**note–My apologies to those of you who are wailing and gnashing because I missed the last two weekend posts.  Fret not, I’ll have something for you this weekend.  Let’s just say that I was compelled to attempt household repairs again, with predictable results.  In the meantime, I hope you are still getting your One-a-Days.

number 1My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  (Psalm 139:15-16)

You are so very important to God.  Don’t believe the lies the enemy or your own insecurities might tell you.  You never go unnoticed; you are never forgotten.  From the day he first came up with the idea of you, he has watched and woven and written your life into being.  And he will continue until he brings you into glory…and beyond.

Take that, Monday!

One-a-Day Friday, 12/6/13

Posted on by December 5, 2013
Reply

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; all your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  (Psalm 139:13-14)

You were made by God, my friend.  Do you know that?  Seriously…are you really realizing that the Lord of the entire universe, he who put the stars in their places, he who designed the atom, he who called it all into being just by the force of his will—he knit you together?  Every fiber of your being was specifically designed by him.  You didn’t come off an assembly line; you didn’t rise from the muck.  You are no accident.  You were custom made by God.

You are his work; you are wonderful.

Know that full well.

One-a-Day Wednesday, 12/4/13

Posted on by December 4, 2013
Reply

number 1Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise up on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me; your right hand will hold me fast.  (Psalm 139:7-10)

There is simply no place that God is not.  I love this image.  Overwhelmed by God’s presence, I try to flee from him—but there is nowhere to go. Wherever I run, he is already there, waiting to guide and protect me.

Question for today: Where, and why, do you try to hide from God?

One-a-Day Tuesday, 12/3/13

Posted on by December 2, 2013
Reply

number 1You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.  (Psalm 139:5-6).

Continuing on yesterday’s theme, there are really two ways to see this passage.  If your heart isn’t right before God, you probably picture a prisoner, bound and chained, surrounded by guards.

Been there.  Felt that. No Bueno.

If your heart is right with God, you picture something like a squad of elite soldiers surrounding you, protecting you from whatever may attack.

Been there, too.  It’s better.

That’s where David was when he wrote this psalm.  He felt God’s hand upon him, not to hold David down, but to lift him up.  The whole idea was, “Too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”  Think about that for a minute.  You serve a God who loves you more than you can even fathom.

His angels surround you.

His hand is upon you.

He’s got your back.

Walk in that today.

One-a-Day Monday, 12/2/13

Posted on by December 1, 2013
Reply

number 1O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. (Psalm 139:1-4)

Every once in a while you need to give yourself a spiritual systems check.  You know, make sure that everything is in working order, and that nothing is slipping in between you and God.  Psalm 139 is a great passage of Scripture for that.  I find that most people have one of the following three reactions when they read the above passage.  Which is yours?

1. These lines give great comfort.  You love the idea that God knows everything about you, that he even knows your thoughts.

You, my friend, are in a great place with God.  Proceed to praise.

2. These lines creep you out.  There’s something Orwellian about God searching your inmost being.

Guess what?  You’re not right with God, Beloved of Christ.  May I suggest that you spend some time dealing with whatever it is you don’t want God to see in you?

3. These lines have no effect on you whatsoever.

Wow.  You may be in spiritual heart failure.  Just so you know, I’m praying for you today, that God would ravage your heart with his all-consuming love.

He’s searched you.  He knows you.  Oh, and one more thing–he loves you.

Happy Monday

Give Thanks

Posted on by November 30, 2013
Reply

Cajun TurkeyThis week, I hope you’ll enjoy some excerpts from my book Thanksgiving for the Dad-Man.  It’s a book aimed specifically at—as you might guess—dads.  Still, it’s for everybody.  In it, you’ll find a week’s worth of devotions that take you up to and through the holiday.  There are also some great recipes and ideas to make family memories at Thanksgiving.

If you find that, after reading the excerpts, you simply must have the full book, click here and knock your socks off.