Weekly Devotions

“’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD… ‘So shall My word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please.’” Isaiah 55:8 & 11, NKJV.

After receiving a message from an old high school friend about meeting for lunch, I looked up the restaurant on my cell phone maps app, since I had not been there before.

“What? This can’t be right!” Five hours and twenty minutes from my house to the restaurant, according to the map service. My friend lives less than an hour from me. I know this isn’t correct. I thought. Using a different app, I looked up the address to find out that the restaurant was less than a ten-minute drive from my house.

Technology is great, when it works; when it doesn’t, one can find themselves scrambling to recover. Sometimes, when we go to God for “direction,” His response can look like my map experience. Many years ago, I prayed for God to intervene into a personal situation. I was young in my faith journey at the time and thought I knew exactly how He would respond. When God did not follow “the plan” as I had believed He would, my emotions went into a free-fall. Spiraling out of control, I cried, begging God to help me understand what seemed like His betrayal. But God was only beginning to reveal to me how His sovereignty is not subject to human approval.

Friend, God’s ways are not my ways, or your ways. We may look at our spiritual “map” and see a different way to navigate the road than the direction God is taking us, but He is not wasteful in any way. One day, on this or the other side of heaven, God’s good and perfect purposes will be made clear. Until then, trust Him.

“Remain in me and I will remain in you.” John 15:4

How can it be the last Monday in January? Didn’t we just celebrate New Year’s? Spring already looks loaded. Blossoms may be peeking out; sunny warmth should be sliding in to free up our winter spaces. Calendars are moving us to Easter!

So how are you moving through each day? What is centering you? I have set my phone alarm for daily moments to remind me to take a breath and check my focus on Jesus. You would think after 40 years with Jesus, I would have this completely in sync. Sigh….

Hear these words of Amy Carmichael:

“Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is.”

Amy spent 55 years in India serving the underserved, forgotten, thrown away. In those 55 years, Amy never returned to her home in Ireland. She loved, taught, wrote and lived in the neighborhood of those she gave her life to. Amy’s life habit didn’t include a phone alarm to remind her to be still. It was a cultivated habit, even through pain. The last twenty years of her life was spent living in her bed in pain from a fall.

She sounds like a saint right? Amy would look at you and say ‘and you are one too!’

“Saint” has nothing to do with human competence and everything to do with divine grace so Tyler Stanton reminds us in his book Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools.

As January comes to an end, take a breath. Hush your rush. Sit in the divine grace that is freely given so that we may live life, His will in our neighborhood.

Sweet Cindy Gaskins

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Our first military assignment was the National Training Center, located in the Mojave Desert of California. As a young and somewhat naive southern bride, new to both the military and marriage, the only thing I heard clearly was CALIFORNIA. My visions of palm trees and oceans were quickly replaced by the reality of tumbleweeds, roadrunners, venomous snakes, scorpions, Joshua trees, scorching heat and very little water as we traveled Route 66 daily. The desert can be harsh and unforgiving. The extremes are real and can even become life-threatening. 

I recently learned in the Hebrew Bible, the book of Numbers is referred to as, “In the Wilderness.” In this portion of the Torah, the LORD parted the sea, led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the desert/wilderness with the purpose of establishing the first monotheistic nation. Scripture tells us this took place in the spring. God’s kindness, compassion and goodness are on full display as spring would have been a much “easier” time in which to enter the desert. However, waters were at flood stage in spring, so God’s sovereignty over the natural laws of the universe…were also on full display as He led the Israelites into their desert. 

Due to difficult life circumstances, we can find ourselves in a metaphorical desert. The conditions are challenging and might seem somewhat unbearable at times. Take heart because the LORD is both powerful and good. He graciously provided daily manna, shade and water for His people in the wilderness and He will provide for your needs as well. 

Remember, eventually, God’s children will reach the Promised Land after enduring seasons in the desert on this side of Heaven. 

Cheering You On!

“Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” Hebrews 11:1

The idea that I would use math as an illustration is almost laughable, however it fits very well with this writing. In math, when given word problems to solve, one must be careful to read each word. As I learned in my last math class, a word as tiny as the word “is” can make the difference between solving a math problem correctly or not. My professors taught me when I see the word “is” in a word problem, it stands for the equals sign. Whatever comes on the left side of the word is must equal whatever comes on the right side of the word is.

In our Scripture passage leading into this writing, the word faith comes right before the word “is,” meaning what follows equals faith. So, let’s take a look at what follows: “Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” (Emphasis mine.)

Faith is a word that is hard to define, especially to someone who is not a believing Christian. Faith is not tangible in a way that proves beyond a doubt that something exists. For example, when the wind blows, we can’t see it with our eyes, but we can feel it on our skin. If we couldn’t feel it, then we might argue that it isn’t real. I have found that in my relationship with Jesus, faith in what he is doing in my life and around my life is very personal. Like a person who feels the wind, and knows that it’s real, when God works in my life in such a personal way, I believe it to be true. Others may argue with my perception, but this is what faith is called.

In our lives, we must each face God’s call with faith. Never doubt, or believe that anything is beyond the power of God to work out in your life. He loves when we cannot see and yet believe and trust in his mighty work. I pray that each of us will call upon the Holy Spirit to grow us daily in our faith.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12:24, NKJV

Three of the four seasons, flowers in my garden are beautiful. Every winter, however, the garden looks barren and brown, with the dead, remaining woody stems standing dominant. Visitors who are familiar with the garden often comment about its barrenness, when the chill in the air takes over. Hopefulness and knowledge of what lies beneath the ground, beyond eyesight are what makes the otherwise ugliness, tolerable.

Most people enjoy outdoor gardens. However, there are some people who do not like receiving cut flowers because they feel saddened when the buds begin to shrivel up and die. Cut flowers in a vase will ultimately need to be disposed of this is true, but their fragrance lingers, as does the joy their beauty delivered, at least for a while.

Jesus was the master of using everyday simple objects to teach His disciples the deeper spiritual lessons about life and death. In the 12^th chapter of John, Jesus is preparing His followers for His inevitable death. He explains, that while He is still present with them in human bodily form,

His work and purpose have not been fulfilled. Of course, we on this side of the crucifixion and resurrection understand better what Jesus meant, when telling the story about the wheat. When the wheat grain falls into the soil, the appearance of death, in proper timing, the grain will produce more wheat, the picture of resurrection.

Whether standing in my garden or receiving flowers from a sweet someone thinking of me, the moment reminds me, that for those who follow Jesus, physical death is nothing more than returning to the ground, awaiting the final resurrection, that will come at the proper time God appoints and has promised. Appearances can be deceiving.

“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake, and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead” (Isaiah 26:19, ESV).

I pray you have found eternal life through Jesus Christ.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9, NIV

“You deserve happiness!” At least this is the message that appeared on my teabag container. In the same perspective as the fortune cookie, randomly throwing out feel-good statements might make for a laugh or two with friends, but true statements are often harder to hear.

As we enter another new year, one need only listen to the news to discover that nothing about the actions of humankind is “new.” Depravity is built into the human DNA since the Garden of Eden. Sometimes my heart is so heavy that I yell out loud, God, what is wrong with people? Then, just as quickly as the words come out of my mouth, the Holy Spirit reminds me, that sin is what is wrong with people. Self-inflicted, “sin” is the human scar every person bears.

When Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, their disobedience did not come as a surprise to God. And nothing you or I do today come as a surprise to God. Freewill requires a decision; we either choose obedience or rebellion. There is no compromise. Therefore, God did not compromise when He gave us His very best, His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our rebellious nature. “Repentance” is the word Peter uses to describe the road we each must travel to receive God’s forgiveness. By repenting, we agree with God when He calls us into accountability instead of pleading our case, whatever our excuse may be.

My evening favorite tea ritual is forever changed, because whenever I read, “You deserve happiness!” I am reminded, no, I deserve misery, even death! But in His great mercy and abounding grace, through Jesus, God invites me to share in eternity with Him. God is inviting you too, friend. What do you say?

May you and I find peace with God in 2023!