THE LORD SPOKE (July 26)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Job 10-13

Can you “talk back” to God? If your answer to that question is “no” then you’ll have to do some explaining to Abraham, Moses, and David. And to Job.

As our children grow older, there comes a point at which we encourage them to talk back to us. Not in rebellion but in mature interaction. Healthy engagement is part of growing up. It may not always be easily definable but there is a red line over which they may not cross. Both they and we can sense when things have gone too far. An outsider (like Zophar in chapter eleven), hearing our conversation might not understand. The words and/or tone might convey the wrong idea.

So it is with Job and his conversations with God in this book. Don’t forget God’s evaluation of Job in the first two chapters (1:8 and 2:3). We’re dealing with a very mature child of God here. We’re being allowed to eavesdrop on an interchange that builds all the way through chapter 37. Then the heavens split open and justice rolls down in Job 38. At times Job gets dangerously close to the red line. Sometimes it even looks like he crosses it but the Heavenly Father lets him keep talking. We learn some things about prayer in the process.

(1) The purpose of prayer is not to change God but to change us. Prayer changes things? Yes! It changes us. We don’t change God’s mind. Though He chooses to listen to us, we don’t change the way He does things. We don’t change the outcome of things. Would we if we could? How presumptuous to even think so. Instead, we want to submit to His will in all matters. Prayer helps us to bow before Him appropriately and acknowledge His sovereignty.

(2) The process of prayer is more important than the words we use. If Job could edit the book written about him, I’m willing to bet he’d take out some things. He’s probably embarrassed by some of his own words and wishes they weren’t flapping in the breeze for everyone to read. I don’t want everyone to hear me when I bare my soul before the Lord. Job shows us that it’s okay to pour our heart out to God. He already knows but He has encouraged us to do it anyway. Sometimes the very articulation of those thoughts to Him helps us see things more clearly.

(3) The power of prayer is evident in the slightest of answers. It’s always hardest when God says “later” rather than giving an immediate yes or no. Job had to wait it out but God was actually answering prayer long before Job felt he got his answer. Even the on-going conversation with his miserable comforters was part of God’s way of answering Job’s prayer. Job was being used of God even as he waited.

It’s like the Murphy’s Law calendar page: “They said, ‘Cheer up, things could be worse.’ So I cheered up and, sure enough, things got worse.” Even when things got way worse, Job didn’t give up. He says, “though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him” (13:15). Prayer can do that for you.


New Testament: Hebrews 3

A few years ago now, Hank Williams, Jr. had a song with an [unintentional] spiritual application:

Your cheatin' heart will tell on you
Your cheatin' heart will make you weep
You'll cry and cry and try to sleep
But sleep won't come the whole night through
Your cheatin' heart will tell on you
When tears come down like falling rain
You'll toss around and call my name
You'll walk the floor the way
I do your cheatin' heart will tell on you

The author of Hebrews speaks of a hardened heart (Heb. 3:7-11). God’s sentence for Israel’s sin was because they provoked God when they:

1. didn’t hear His voice
2. hardened their hearts (c.f. vs. 13 & 15)
3. rebelled
4. tested and tried Him
5. went astray in their own hearts
6. never really knew Him

Or, you might have a straying heart (Heb. 3:10,12-14). You need to protect your heart (vs. 12 - “see to it”). You need to help each other (vs. 13 - “encourage one another daily”). You need to persevere (vs. 14 - “hold firmly till the end”).

What you must especially guard against is an unbelieving heart (Heb. 3:12,16-19). This can be the result of the deceitfulness of sin (vs. 10), the disobedience of rebellion (vs. 8,15,16), or the doubts of unbelief (vs. 12,19), but it must be dealt with. Put the stethoscope of God’s Word to your heart! Has stress and anxiety raised your pressure lately?

Remember this:

1. Faithfulness flows from a clear and healthy view of Jesus. It involves the INTELLECT.
2. Faithfulness involves choosing obedience based on trust in God. It involves the WILL.
3. Faithfulness grows from an encouraging association with the community of faith. It involves EMOTIONS.

THE LORD SPOKE (May 2)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: II Samuel 1-2

Once again, after a traumatic event in his life (the deaths of the king and of his best friend), we read that "David inquired of the Lord" (II Sam. 2:1a). And, once again, we find that "the Lord spoke" to him (II Sam. 2:1b). Are we detecting a pattern here? David's instantaneous and intimate contact with God is not only refreshing, it is very rare. There are three other examples of this in Scripture:

Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17) and his writings are peppered with evidence that he took his own medicine.

Nehemiah is found often on his knees. We have a greater number of his prayers recorded than any other individual in the Bible. Some were long and crafted (e.g. Neh. 1:5-11) while others were "sentence prayers" offered up quickly at the moment the difficulty appeared (e.g. Neh. 2:4). You have to be "all prayed up" to do that.

Jesus' own prayer habits frequently demonstrate an ease and depth of conversation with his Father which betray a continual prayer relationship (e.g. John 17).

Summarizing lessons learned in the last several instances of David turning to God in moments of personal need, here are four suggestions we need to follow:

1. Admit your sin - acknowledge it as disobedience.
2. Ask for accountability - seek counsel and supervision.
3. Arm yourself - through prayer and Scripture.
4. Associate with other believers - lean on them, savor fellowship, encourage them in return.

May we, like David, use those moments of distress or weakness or temptation as a trigger to turn automatically to God for help.


New Testament: Romans 5

Did you hear about the guy who bought a beautiful new chainsaw but came back to the store a couple days later complaining that it wouldn’t cut anything? When the salesman pulled the cord and it sprang to life the unhappy owner said, “What’s that sound?”

A man trying to save himself by his own efforts (good works or otherwise) is no less silly. Paul says we’re “powerless” to do so. We’re “ungodly” (Rom. 5:6), “sinners” (Rom. 5:8), and therefore “God’s enemies” (Rom. 5:10). How could we possibly change that? We can’t, but He does! By the death of His Son we can be reconciled to God. This brings justification and access to God (Rom. 5:1-2).

In the second half of the chapter, Paul demonstrates how Adam’s sin affected us all. He answers the question, “Are we sinners because we sin, or do we sin because we’re sinners?” It’s the latter! We’re born with a sin nature (Rom. 5:12,14) and it’s our bent to sin. We sin because we’re sinners.

But “while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8) and His righteousness now can be ours. “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Adam brought sin and death into this world but Christ brought righteousness and life. Paul calls Adam a “pattern” of Christ (Rom. 5:14) in that just as his one act of sin brought universal death, so Christ, by His one act of righteousness, brought universal blessing. But be careful! That does not mean universal salvation. Christ’s death is sufficient for all but only efficient for those who believe.

That’s the burden of this whole book. Paul has already argued, and will yet go into much more detail, to show that it is necessary for man to trust in God’s Promise in order to be saved. It’s “by grace, through faith”. Salvation is for “those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace” (Rom. 5:17). When he was in the jail at Philippi, he told the jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31).

THE LORD SPOKE (March 30)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Joshua 10-11

“There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to the voice of a man.” (Josh. 10:14)

Indeed! And aren’t you glad?! Aren’t you glad that God listens to the voice of a man? Where would we be if He did not hear our prayers?

Joshua was at the end of his rope. They’d marched all night (Josh. 10:9) and then fought all day (Josh. 10:13). That’s an important detail. He wasn’t back in camp in Gilgal holding a prayer meeting. Not that there’s anything wrong with a prayer meeting but there’s a time to pray and there’s a time to act and this was the time to act. (See Joshua 7:10-11 for a similar situation where the Lord had to tell Joshua to stop praying and get busy with his job.)

Joshua prayed as though he never worked and then he worked as though he never prayed. That’s a winning combination because God expects us to ask Him for everything, to commit all our anxieties to Him, to pray without ceasing. That must come first, lest we run the risk of trying to solve our own problems in the power of the flesh.

But then there is a divine/human cooperative that takes over. God gives us the physical strength, the mental capacity, and the resources and abilities to answer our own prayers. There’s still (always) the risk of trying to do it in our own strength but there is certainly the element of obedient action on our part.

Look at Joshua. He did everything he was supposed to do: he actively trained his men for war, he sent out spies and made sure he was familiar with the terrain, he got all the necessary supplies together, he set the alarm clock so he could move out at zero hour, he pushed his men to the top of the hill and fought bravely across the plateau, he pursued the enemy to drive him completely out. But he ran out of time. He was at the end of his rope. He cried out to the Lord for help.

And “the Lord listened to the voice of a man”. He’ll do the same for you. Call on Him!


New Testament: John 21

Have you ever noticed how a particular scent can bring back memories in an instant? Something you smell can transport you back miles and years to an event or memory from the past. Most likely, that happened to Peter in this chapter. When he got ashore and smelled the “fire of burning coals” (Jn. 21:9) he no doubt had a flashback to that night in the courtyard of Caiaphas when he’d denied the Lord three times. The word for “coal fire” is a peculiar Greek word only used twice in the whole New Testament - John 18:18 and John 21:9. The smell of those coals must have brought back a flood of memories.

Everything else did too. He’d seen those hands before giving out bread and fish on that same shoreline. He’d heard that voice before saying, “Follow me!” at that same corner of the lake. He’d felt that same rush of joy before when the Master said, “I have a job for you to do.”

In a moment of time, Peter learned that loving God properly will (1) free you from your past, (2) give you a mission and real purpose for your present, and (3) take away all your fears about the future. He’d been learning about it for three years but he finally understood what it meant to move from fisherman to shepherd. Later he would pen these words:

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.... Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. I Pet. 5:2-4,6

It’s remarkable that John chose to end his Gospel in this way. In vs. 25 he tells us that there were many other things that Jesus did which were not recorded. In fact, if you put everything together from the four gospels combined, we have only about 52 days of Jesus’ life recorded for us. Out of 1000+ days of public ministry that’s not much! Yet John chose the restoration of Peter as his closing story.

That’s because every one of us has need of restoration. We’ve each one stumbled from time to time along the path. The Savior graciously reaches out to us and says, “Get up again - I’ll help you. I have a job for you to do.”

THE LORD SPOKE (March 26)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Joshua 1-2

Joshua was a man set to change history. From his call by God (Josh. 1:1-3), he was given the monstrous task of leading the children of Israel after Moses. Three times (Josh. 1:6,7,9) he was commanded to “Be strong and courageous!” No doubt, he needed that reminder.

Two things stand out in the text. First is the promise of the Lord’s enabling presence: “I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.... The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Josh. 1:5,9). He’s told that God would be with him “just as he was with Moses” and that’s really saying something!

The second factor is Joshua’s link to the Word of God. Moses had written down God’s revelation to him. A copy of those five books were recorded on a scroll (“this Book of the Law”) and given to Joshua to instruct him in the way he should go. He was to “meditate on it day and night” and to be careful to put every detail into practice (Josh. 1:8). Then, and only then, was success guaranteed.

Our situation is not far different. You may not have to lead a recalcitrant people like Israel, and you may not find yourself following in the footsteps of a man like Moses. But, no doubt, you need and want the Lord’s enabling presence in your life. Jesus has promised that the Comforter would be with us forever (Jn. 14:16,26; 15:26). Besides His enabling presence, He will guide us into all truth.

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (Jn. 16:8-13)

A major part of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives is in leading us to an understanding of the proper meaning (interpretation) and application of Scripture. That, of course, presupposes that we are reading Scripture regularly, systematically, and with an open heart.

How is it with you? Do you hear His voice?


New Testament: John 17

It almost feels like eavesdropping. We’re allowed for a moment to listen in on an intimate conversation between the persons of the Godhead. Once again Jesus is found praying just before a momentous event - in this case, His hour of greatest need. This was his “finest hour” and we are allowed to listen in.

His words are a grand summary of what is most important in life. All the elements are there! Consider the following:

• PRAYER - The whole of this chapter is a prayer but three times the Lord states specific requests: “I pray for [the ones you gave me]” (vs. 9); “My prayer is...that you would protect them from the evil one” (vs. 15); and “My prayer is for...those who will believe in me through their message” (vs. 20).
• SCRIPTURE - All things come about “so that the Scripture would be fulfilled” (vs. 12). Jesus says, “I have given them your word” (vs. 14) and “your word is truth” (vs. 17). It’s what motivates us to obey Him (vs. 6).
• RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD - This - to know God - constitutes eternal life (vs. 3). It comes to us by revelation (vs. 6, 8). It is what sustains us through all trials (vs. 11, 12) and that which will protect [us] from the evil one” (vs. 15).
• MISSION / PURPOSE IN LIFE - By His example (“I have brought you glory” - vs. 4a), Jesus has shown us the ultimate purpose of life. Just as he completed the work the Father gave Him to do we are to carry on that mission. He has sent us into the world (mentioned 18x in this chapter!) to spread His message so that others will believe also (vs. 20).
• LOVE - God’s love for us is what motivates us to seek His glory (vs. 24-26). This is in stark contrast to the world which produces only hate (vs. 14). So, while we’re in the world, we’re not of the world. But Christ has placed us in the world to demonstrate His love to others (vs. 23).

What a prayer! Maybe it will motivate us to think a little more about how we pray.

THE LORD SPOKE (March 03)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Numbers 20-21

Whenever the name “Kadesh Barnea” came to mind, it was filled with powerful memories for Moses. He would have thought about:

1. As a little boy, hearing the stories about Abraham related to that place (Gen. 14:7; 16:41; 20:1).
2. The first time he saw it for himself, one month after leaving Mt. Sinai (Num. 20:1f). No doubt he would think of the spectacular topography of Scorpion Pass and the Desert of Zin (Num. 34:4).
3. Sending out and then the return of the spies, their report, and the awful rebellion that took place there (Num. 13:26f; 32:8 and context; Dt. 9:23-24). The people were ready to stone him on the spot.
4. His sister’s death. He left his dear sister, Miriam (the one who watched him in the river and arranged for his own mother to be his nursemaid), buried at Kadesh (Num. 20:1).
5. His moment of rage that kept him forever from the Promised Land. It was there that he struck the rock a second time in disobedience to the Lord (Num. 20:6-13; 27:12-14).
6. Sending out the emissaries to Edom, being rejected, and deciding to take the long way around (Num. 20:14-21).
7. The 38 miserable years it took after he left Kadesh Barnea (Dt. 2:14) to finally arrive at the back door to the Promised Land, leaving thousands and thousands of graves along the way. How many times did he remember the lovely oasis of Kadesh on that trip?

Yes, Kadesh Barnea bore some powerful memories for Moses for the rest of his life. Those lessons will only be lost if we forget them ourselves.


New Testament: Luke 18

He was so proud of his humility. Like a peacock, he preened and strutted when he went up to the Temple. The Pharisee really knew how to pray too. O, how he prayed! His special prayer voice even sounded like a peacock - rather grating on the ear. No antiquated Thee’s and Thou’s for him. He did manage to get four I’s into two sentences though. And the prayer soared for a moment and then crashed and burned on the floor of the Temple courtyard.

In stark contrast, a sinner knelt in an out-of-the-way corner and, with a broken heart, asked God for mercy. He was embarrassed to be seen, hardly daring to raise his voice to heaven. With a contrite spirit he let his request be known to God. It was simple enough - “Lord, please forgive me.” When he got up from his knees he was a different man. A great burden had been lifted. With a new bounce in his step, he returned home a happy man for he’d been set free of sin and death. He’d been forgiven!

The Pharisee, on the other hand, clomped back home carrying just as much baggage as he’d had before. Not only did he not get rid of anything, he actually picked up some more. Because he was “confident of [his] own righteousness and looked down on everybody else” (Lk. 18:9), he walked out with the same load he’d brought in. Like the self-righteous people Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount, he received his reward in full (Mat. 6:2,26) and it only added to his burden.

What’s the solution?

1. Get down off your high horse. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (I Pet. 5:6)
2. Lay your heavy burden down. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (I Pet. 5:7)
3. Deal with the Devil. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (I Pet. 5:8-9)
4. Let go and let God. “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (I Pet. 5:10-11)

THE LORD SPOKE (February 18)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Leviticus 20-21

It’s not an all-inclusive list. There are others that are more complete even in this same book of Leviticus. But the categories of punishments for sin listed in Leviticus 20 are very revealing:

• vs. 9 - “put to death”
• vs. 14 - “burned in the fire”
• vs. 17 - “cut off before the eyes of their people”
• vs. 19 - “be held responsible”
• vs. 20 - “die childless”

The categories of sin under each of these punishments is also very interesting. Go back and read it again - you wouldn’t expect some of them. Keep in mind that for a Jewish person to be “cut off from his people” was as bad as, or worse than, being put to death.

The section begins with a strong statement to “consecrate yourselves and be holy” (Lev. 20:7) and repeatedly throughout the chapter the reason given is “because I am the LORD (Yahweh), your God”. It is God’s holiness that establishes both the standard and the reason for holiness. He says it again later in the chapter: “You are to be holy to me because I the LORD am holy...” (Lev. 20:26).

The continuation of the statement in vs. 7 is very significant: “Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD who makes you holy.” In the final analysis, we can’t be holy. Not as He requires. The standard is too high and even our “righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6, KJV). But He becomes our righteousness (Jer. 23:6; 33:16). He make us holy. That truth is even more pronounced on the pages of the New Testament for Jesus Christ died to purchase our pardon and credit righteousness to our account (Rom. 4:24; 5:21). When that pardon has been applied, God sees us as holy.

Purify my heart,
Let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart,
Let me be as gold, pure gold.

Refiner's fire, my heart's one desire is to be holy;
Set apart for You, Lord.
I want to be holy.
Set apart for You, my Master;
Ready to do Your will.

Purify my heart,
Cleanse me from within and make me holy.
Purify my heart,
Cleanse me from my sin deep within.

Refiner's fire, my heart's one desire is to be holy;
Set apart for You, Lord.
I want to be holy.
Set apart for You, my Master;
Ready to do Your will.


New Testament: Luke 5

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)

You probably wouldn’t think of Jesus as needing prayer. On one occasion when speaking with the Father, He indicated that the communication between them “was for your benefit, not mine” (Jn. 12:30) but that would not explain the many references to Him seeking out a solitary place (c.f. Lk. 4:42; 6:12; Mk. 1:35). He taught His disciples to “come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mk. 6:31). Taking off on the King James English of that passage, Howard Hendricks used to say, “Come apart lest you come apart.”

Jesus practiced what He preached. You wouldn’t expect it to be any other way. So He must have meant it when He told us that we need our solitary times and places. He himself needed that time alone with the heavenly Father. Most of us lead pretty busy lives and find it hard to get alone with Him on a regular basis. If you have small children, you rarely have a spare moment - never mind a solitary spot. But you too must come apart occasionally or you’ll just end up coming apart.

So get serious about this! If may be that your only solution will be to get up a little earlier in the morning so you can find solitude. By the way, have you noticed how Jesus had to do just that, sometimes getting up “a great while before day” (Mk. 1:35). Yes, those few extra minutes of sleep may be hard to give up but you won’t regret the cost when once you’ve done it. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8).

Commune with the Lord. Speak to Him and let Him speak to you. Cast your cares upon Him. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).

When our request is wrong, He says, “No.”
When our timing is wrong, He says, “Slow.”
When our motivation is wrong, He says, “Grow.”
But when we ask for the right thing at the right time in the right way, He says, “Go.”

THE LORD SPOKE (October 16)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Jeremiah 11-13
Did you know that it’s sometimes wrong to pray? There’s a time to pray but there’s also a time when you should not pray. Jeremiah is specifically told “do not pray for this people” twice (7:16 and 11:14). That word comes directly from the mouth of the Lord so maybe it’s not directly applicable to some current situation in your life. But we do have other examples and even some clear wording in Scripture to instruct us when we should not pray. Consider the following:

You should not pray...

• when you should be doing something else that God has given you to do and you’re using “more prayer” to put it off
• when you know you’re asking for something contrary to God’s Word - like praying for God to let you marry that unbeliever you’ve fallen in love with
• when it’s just “vain repetitions” (Matthew 6:7)
• when it’s “to consume it upon your own lusts” (James 4:3) - you're asking for something selfishly
• when you do it only out of guilt - such prayers are ineffective, mere words tossed heavenwards

Consider that last one a bit more. There are several other spiritual disciplines which would fall into this category. If the only reason you do them (pray, give, read your Bible, witness, etc.) is because you feel guilty when you don’t, then they don’t have much value, do they? However, the proper solution is not to stop doing them. The right response is to get your heart right with God so that you do it from the heart.

Having said all that, most people probably don’t need to be told when not to pray. They’re already doing too much of that. What we really need is to pray! Do you remember how the disciples framed their request to Jesus in Luke 11:1? “Lord, teach us to pray.” Not, “teach us how to pray” but “teach us to pray”. There’s really not much that’s very hard about knowing how to pray. Our biggest challenge is simply to do it.

So, how are you doing? Have you prayed yet today? Why not take a little time and do it now?!

Psalms 59-60
It’s a national prayer! We don’t know much about such things, do we? The superscription of Psalm 60 describes the historical situation, about which we know very little. It appears to be found in II Samuel 8 and I Chronicles 18 (maybe II Samuel 10 also). But here’s what’s significant: the superscription also tells us that this psalm is “for teaching”. While that’s true of any portion of Scripture, this is the only psalm that says that specifically.

So, what is to be taught from Psalm 60? One clue may be found in how this psalm is used in Psalm 108, where over half the psalm is quoted verbatim. It is a national prayer for God’s assistance after the nation has suffered a severe blow from a foreign country. The prayer may have been led by the king (the “me” of Ps. 60:9?). Note that it comes after the feeling that God has rejected the nation (Ps. 60:1). The outline is as follows:

Ps. 60:1-3 - Lamentation that God has rejected us
Ps. 60:4-8 - Plea for help (and grounds of confidence)
Ps. 60:9-12 - Confidence that God will yet give us the victory

Can we expect the same? Yes, if we repent and turn to God. No, if we do not.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Ps. 33:12)

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (II Chron. 7:14)

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. (Prov. 8:17)

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jer. 29:13)

What’s true on a national level is also true on a personal level. If you will turn to God as an individual and seek forgiveness and restoration, He will never turn you away.

With God we will gain the victory.... (Ps. 60:12)

THE LORD SPOKE (October 10)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Isaiah 62-64

It looks like the church bulletin or a missionary prayer letter. “Praise and Prayer” is at the top (the NIV heading before Is. 63:7). The requests section might sound a little different. After all, our city doesn’t lie in ruins (yet) and our temples (churches) are still standing. We’ve all been moved at some point to say, “I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us....”

But then, haven’t we also pled with God that He would “rend the heavens and come down” (64:1)? Aren’t there times when we wonder “where is He” who kept us going in the past? And then we’re reminded that it is our own sin that has broken that relationship. Even “our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (64:6) because we do them with the wrong motivation - for our own selfish ends rather than to His praise. And so we “shrivel up...and waste away” (64:6-7).

Why didn’t Israel turn back to Him? Just take a look at the verbs in this section that describe God’s care of Israel. He sustained them, supported them, redeemed them, carried them, shepherded them, guided them. He treated them with compassion, kindness, love, mercy, tenderness. Why didn’t Israel turn back to Him?

Why don’t we turn back to Him? Why do we, like Israel, rebel against Him, grieve Him, harden our hearts against Him, continue to sin, and fail to call upon Him? Let us instead, remember Him, call upon Him, strive to lay hold of Him.

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
You come to help those who gladly do right,
who remember your ways.
Isaiah 64:4-5

Psalms 47-48

Why do people spend thousands of dollars every year to go visit Jerusalem? Mark Twain put into words the feeling of many after such an ordeal:

Rags, wretchedness, poverty and dirt, those signs and symbols that indicate the presence of Moslem rule more surely than the crescent-flag itself, abound. Lepers, cripples, the blind, and the idiotic, assail you on every hand, and they know but one word of but one language apparently - the eternal "bucksheesh." To see the numbers of maimed, malformed and diseased humanity that throng the holy places and obstruct the gates, one might suppose that the ancient days had come again, and that the angel of the Lord was expected to descend at any moment to stir the waters of Bethesda. Jerusalem is mournful, and dreary, and lifeless. I would not desire to live here. (Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad, from chapter 53 [1867])

If you can get past the street urchins and pick-pockets, the Arab shop keepers will eat you for lunch. The cacophony and strange smells that assault the senses are innumerable. Even after you’ve bartered the price down to 30% of the original tag you still walk away knowing that you paid twice as much as that silly piece of olive wood is really worth.

But Psalm 48 reminds us that “God is in her citadels” (Ps. 48:3). Though He is omnipresent, there is a sense in which He has chosen to dwell forever in Jerusalem (see Ps. 68:16; 76:2; 132:13-14). He is what sets this city high above any other city on earth, to this very day.

While many world capitols and famous cities have a Round-About Line of city buses for tourists to see all the main sites on a 2-3 hour circuit, only Jerusalem has a biblical basis for such a tour:

Walk about Zion, go around her...view her.... (Ps. 48:12-13)

The passage gives several other valuable touring suggestions: “count her towers”, “consider her ramparts”, “view her citadels”. Five thousand years of continual history will keep you well-occupied for some time! You won’t soon run out of what to do. But, in your doing, do the rest of what it says: “tell of them to the next generation. For this God is our God for ever and ever” (Ps. 48:13-14). Touring Jerusalem has a purpose and it’s more than olive wood camels.

Sacred history was enacted in Jerusalem on more than one occasion. It’s where:

• Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek
• David established the kingdom and Solomon built the Temple
• Hezekiah saw Sennacherib’s whole army decimated as God protected the city
• Isaiah and the other prophets proclaimed God’s truth
• Jesus bled and died to secure our salvation

And God will part the heavens and break through again in Jerusalem. It’s where the Messiah will reign over the whole earth for the first thousand years of His eternal kingdom. Will you be there?

THE LORD SPOKE (October 6)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Isaiah 49-51

The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.... Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. (Isaiah 50:4-5,10)

Does God ever wake you up in the morning with a message? Better yet, when God wakes you up in the morning, do you seek a message from His Word? Are you listening carefully to hear His voice and pick up on what He’s trying to tell you? When He “wakens your ear” do you resist in any way? When He shows you His way, do you draw back?

Can you start your day without seeking His face? Does it bother you to do so? Or, do you get through the whole day before noticing you left His presence behind?

The other half of listening to the Lord is talking to Him. Both are an essential part of our communion with Him. Isaiah certainly had a good balance in this area of his life and his book is full of both kinds of examples. Here’s something to ponder in the light of all this.


I Didn’t Have Time to Pray
Author unknown

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish I didn’t have time to pray.
Troubles just tumbled about me and heavier came each task.
Why doesn’t God help me, I wondered.
He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I tried to come into God’s presence, I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided, “Why, child, you didn’t knock.”
I wanted to see joy and beauty but the day toiled on grey and bleak.
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, “You didn’t seek.”

I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.


Psalms 39-40

James says the same thing as the psalmist: “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (Jas. 4:14). In David’s words, “each man is but a breath” (Ps. 39:5,11). Elsewhere he wrote, “Man is like a breath, his days are like a fleeting shadow” (Ps. 144:4). Job and Solomon likewise added their assent (Job 14:2; Eccl. 6:12).

But we knew it anyway - from our own experience. Life itself impresses upon us how fragile and how fleeting it is. A walk through any graveyard will put an exclamation point to that sentence. All those people - gone, and all but forgotten. Maybe an occasional faded plastic flower, baked in the sun. Not one in ten thousand has a biography written about him and not one in a thousand biographies are normally read by anyone. If you exclude the autobiographies, there’s not much at all that gets remembered by someone else. Even the Purple Hearts in a military cemetery are soon little more than a piece of fine congressional metal. Maybe we can remember which war they were in, but not much more.

Like Scrooge in Dickens’ story, we need to glance back from time to time and to peek ahead into the future a little. We need to fit our passing vapor into a larger context. We really need to discover for ourselves the lasting value of our life. We need to find an answer to that 60's question asked by the flower children: “Hey man, why am I here?”

1. I am here because God purposed it (vs. 9 - “for you are the one who has done all this”). The Sovereign Lord knows all things because He has determined all things. It is He who created me so any purpose that my life may have must spring from that.
2. My life has meaning because of Him (vs. 5 - “you have made my days”). Yes, it may be “a mere handbreadth” but it is the Eternal One who gave it to me. It may be “a mere phantom” but he has revealed that there is substance in things hoped for and evidence for things not seen (Heb. 11:1). Death does not end all. There is a life after life - and it’s the real one.
3. I will stake everything on Him (vs. 7 - “my hope is in you”). Nothing else in life provides a satisfactory answer. Finances are fleeting, wealth is wobbly, health the same. All my own foundations are weak and all my shelters leak. But I have learned that God is dependable. He alone can be trusted and never fails.

If Psalm 39 stood alone, we might still be left feeling like the pre-Christmas Scrooge. But Psalm 39 is followed by the glorious message of Psalm 40.

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you. (Ps. 40:5)

THE LORD SPOKE (January 14)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Genesis 33-35

Why didn’t Jacob go straight back to Bethel once he crossed over the Jordan River? Genesis 33:18 says he camped within sight of Shechem, which is within just a few miles of Bethel but why didn’t he return to that place where he’d raised a stone memorial to God. When he left Isaac’s house, he met God and named the spot Bethel (“house of God”) and vowed:

If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth. (Gen. 28:20-22)

He did, upon arrival in Canaan, acknowledge Jehovah (did you notice the caps) as the God of Israel. He set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel, meaning “God, the God of Israel”. God had just acknowledged him by naming him “Israel” (Gen. 32:28) and he returned the favor.

But the fact that he lingered in Shechem brought trouble. It’s evident he wasn’t planning to leave too quickly, for he bought land there (Gen. 33:19) and attempted to settle down. The events of Genesis 34 made that less likely. But before he got out, his household had already begun to acquire foreign gods. The situation was quickly deteriorating. Something had to be done.

So God did it. He told Jacob clearly, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar...” (Gen. 35:1). Jacob knew it was the right thing to do, the thing he should have done from the start. So he got all his family together, buried all the foreign gods and cultic paraphernalia there in Shechem, and moved on (Gen. 35:4-5).

Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel [God of Bethel], because it was there that God revealed himself to him.... Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him.... (Gen. 35:6-7,14)

On that occasion God repeated his new name for Jacob (Gen. 35:10) and He restated the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 35:11-12) as they applied to Jacob and his descendants. That was also the go-ahead to move further into the Land of Promise. The remainder of the chapter tells of how “they moved on” (Gen. 35:16,21,27), finally getting home to Isaac. We could wish the sacred text told us about that meeting and all the discussion that took place. It also doesn’t tell us how Esau came to be there for the burial (we last saw him headed for Seir (Gen. 33:16), which is southeast of the Dead Sea. But the boys were home when Isaac breathed his last.


New Testament: Matthew 14

It’s the shortest prayer in the Bible. There was no time for dramatics or flowery language. Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Mat. 14:30).

There’s a place for fine speeches and prayers. There’s nothing wrong with polished words. We could stand some improvement in our communications with Almighty God. Try reading the Book of Common Prayer sometime. The rich cadence and majestic language, like that of the King James Version of the Bible, lifts the soul and gives voice to the majesty of God.

But it’s too easy to give voice to such prayers with the wrong motivation. We can get more interested in crafting the language than in communicating with the Lord. We can get into the style that enthralls us, rather than the Spirit that should enthuse us. [That’s a really good word from two Greek words: en + theos = in God!] We can get more involved in the God-words than in speaking God-wards. Such prayers don’t make it above the ceiling of the room where they are spoken.

Peter’s prayer was quick and to the point. It acknowledged the sovereignty of God (“Lord”) and recognized the inadequacy of man (“save me”). It didn’t divert attention or run down a rabbit trail. It came straight out the barrel and wasted no words. And, it got the job done. Jesus “reached out his hand and caught him” (vs. 31).

Jesus also admonished him. Peter was chided for his doubts. Remember, Peter was the only other person on the outside of the boat; the others had not the faith to venture out. But he still had lingering doubts. Had he prayed a little earlier in the day maybe that wouldn’t have been the case. Had he really communed with the Lord previously maybe his faith would have sustained him on the raging sea.

We never know when our faith will be put to the test so it’s wise to stay “all prayed up”. Then a one-breath prayer will keep us on track.


I Didn’t Have Time to Pray
(author unknown)

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish I didn’t have time to pray.
Troubles just tumbled about me and heavier came each task.
Why doesn’t God help me, I wondered.
He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I tried to come into God’s presence, I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided, “Why, child, you didn’t knock.”
I wanted to see joy and beauty but the day toiled on grey and bleak.
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, “You didn’t seek.”

I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.