Devotional on Micah

2013 – Smoky Mountains

Sitting on the front row
Micah 7: Iā€™m sticking around to see what God will do.
Micah says things are going downhill fast. Heā€™s learned that he canā€™t trust his neighbor and that ā€œneighborhoods and families are falling to pieces.ā€ Clearly his day is a treacherous, difficult one. In the face of such perilous times Micah might be tempted to run for the hills or at least withdraw from society. As anyone knows, Micah isnā€™t the only one who has faced difficult days. Through the centuries godly men and women have gone through unbelievable hardship. Often that hardship has been on a national or even worldwide scale. At other times the hardship is close to home: a family or even personal struggle that fills our days with exhausting darkness. In this passage, Micah is no ā€œPollyannaā€ who insists everythingā€™s always ā€œjust fine.ā€ However, he is a man of faith. As tempting as it might be to run and get away from all the wrong and uncertainty he sees, Micah declares heā€™s staying put. Why? Itā€™s because he wants a front row seat to Godā€™s redemption! Today, we believers arenā€™t blind to the problems of life. When things take a downturn we become anxious like everyone else. However, in it all thereā€™s a thread of optimism. We believe God is still God and that heā€™s working in and through it all. The end result is salvation. We want a front row seat when that happens!
Take Away: The people of the Lord are an optimistic people ā€“ and, for good reason!

Devotional on Revelation

2014 – Monterey Peninsula, CA

A good time to turn to God

Revelation 9: There wasnā€™t a sign of a change of heart.

The final three trumpets are called by some ā€œwoe-trumpetsā€ because each one ushers in a period of suffering on earth. John is seeing future events, the end of time. He sees spiritual beings through his limited point of view so his descriptions are of strange, terrifying beings. The ā€œlocustsā€ are beings freed from the Abyss. They sweep across the earth like a huge plague of locusts, inflicting pain on a third of humanity. Angels that have been chained are set free to lead a destroying army that kills another third of humanity. Rather than fearfully turning to God those who survive continue as before: focused on material possessions, promiscuous lifestyles, and worshiping evil rather than God. Even as time draws to a violent end and the judgment of God is obvious they persist in their self-indulgent, God-ignoring ways. It hardly seems possible that it could be this way. Still, Iā€™ve seen just a hint of it. Iā€™ve seen people whoā€™ve rejected the goodness of God and then, in the face of the hardship of life responded by hardening their hearts. In their case, their personal ā€œwoe-trumpetā€ didnā€™t result in their facing the spiritual facts of life. Of course, it doesnā€™t have to be that way. First of all, Godā€™s love; his mercy and grace: these things should cause us to turn to him in sweet surrender. Second, when hardship does come, it doesnā€™t have to drive us away from God. Instead, it can cause us to run to him even as a hurt child runs to his or her Father for protection and comfort. Itā€™s not smart to wait for such a time before turning to God, but if one hasnā€™t done it yet, days of trials and hardship, pain and suffering, are good days to turn to the one who offers us hope even as our world crumbles around us.

Take Away: When life is especially hard it is, as is always true, a good time to turn to the Lord.

Devotional on Exodus

2014 – Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Big events with small beginnings
Exodus 5: Does this look like rescue to you?
The journey from slavery to freedom will not come without a struggle. Pharaohā€™s known as the leader of a country with a world class economy and he intends to keep his free labor force. He also likes getting his own way. Mix all that with his having a hard, dispassionate disposition and we have a recipe for a long struggle. Moses eases into the negotiations by asking that the people be given three days off for worship and Pharaoh responds by increasing the workload on the people. The result is that Moses is disappointed and the Hebrew people are upset with him for making life harder on them than it was before. Of course, this is the first step in what will be an epic deliverance. For now though, the whole thing feels like a pitiful failure. The thing is that most great events have less than stellar beginnings. For instance, thereā€™s the story of the founding of my own nation which is filled with several ā€œone step forward and two steps backā€ situations. Or consider the story of the Wright brothers and human flight. A person watching their early efforts might have concluded that they were crazy rather than visionary. In the passage before us today, Moses appears to have totally failed in his mission. However, he has one thing going for him that assures a positive outcome: the Lord is with him. What has happened thus far may not look like much of a rescue mission, but the Lord is just getting started.
Take Away: Great miracles often begin with what seems to be pitiful failure.

Devotional on Leviticus

2014 – La Conner, WA

Thereā€™s bad news
Leviticus 26: But if you refuse to obey me
While Iā€™d like to linger on the blessing side of Leviticus 26 I have to move on to the curse side of the chapter. God tells them, ā€œIf you obey…good things will come. If you disobey…the results will be unthinkable.ā€ The list is filled with everything from disease to famine to war to cannibalism. While these horrible things are framed as divine retribution the last part of this terrible section makes it clear that all these things will come ā€œbecause of their sins, their sins compounded by their ancestorsā€™ sins.ā€ With that clarification in mind I see that this passage isnā€™t about God getting them if they donā€™t behave but, instead, is a clear word of warning that people reap what they sow. Iā€™m not saying that the Lord has nothing to do with some of the promised terrible things, just that if they remove themselves from his blessings this, in general, is what the real world looks like. Apart from the Lordā€™s provision and protection theyā€™ll find the world to be a harsh, unforgiving place. As one generation after another shrugs off their connection to the Almighty they will fall deeper and deeper into a pit of despair and desperation. God doesnā€™t have to send bad things into peopleā€™s lives because we live in a world where bad things sometimes happen. While itā€™s beyond the scope of this short devotional, the truth is that bad things come into the lives of both the righteous and the unrighteous. However in this passage the Lord warns his people that if they reject his presence and grace, severing the special connection they have with him the result will be what’s described in this passage.
Take Away: The world is a dangerous place, especially for those who live outside the grace and mercy of the Lord.

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