Devotional on Ecclesiastes

2003 – Rocky Mtn Natl Park – Colorado

Listening in prayer
Ecclesiastes 5: Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear.
Some folks think God wants to hear us pray in the language of the King James Bible: “Almighty God, Thou Who art from everlasting to everlasting….” To them, prayer is a rather formal event that ought to be filled with plenty of pomp and circumstance. Sometimes, as Iā€™m reminded here, Iā€™m better off to pray without words at all and let God be in charge of what happens next. It does make sense. God is always the “first mover.” After all, the Bible doesn’t start off with “In the beginning man…”! So, rather than coming to prayer in what might be called “automatic mode,” in which every prayer is pretty much a copy of the one before, or with a sense of formality, I want to come to him humbly and honestly; not saying what I think he wants to hear, but in a genuine desire to hear from him. If I let him lead the way my prayer time will be more satisfying to both the Lord and to me. Prayer is just as much a matter of listening as it is a matter of talking.
Take Away: Being still before the Lord is a legitimate approach to prayer.

Devotional on Proverbs

2004 – Big Island, Hawaii

Leadership, not dictatorship
Proverbs 16: A good leader motivates, doesn’t mislead, doesn’t exploit.
Solomon knows a lot about leadership. Heā€™s watched his father, David, lead Israel for many years. Then when he becomes King he asks God for wisdom that he might lead His people. In all this he comes to understand leadership dynamics as well as anyone who ever lived. In the passage before me today I get just a taste of his philosophy of leadership. The guy who says these things isnā€™t some pastor with an all-volunteer staff of church people who might just walk off if they donā€™t like the way things are going. Rather, heā€™s King of Israel. He has “off with their heads” authority. In other words, if he wants he can order the direction and everyone has to follow. However, Solomon has learned that dictatorship isnā€™t leadership. He says his job is to motivate people to move together in positive directions. He says he isn’t supposed to promise what can’t be delivered and he isn’t to get people to do what he wants just to get something for himself. Honesty, unselfishness, persuasiveness — these are leadership qualities Solomon brings to my attention today.
Take Away: Dictatorship isnā€™t leadership.

Devotional on Amos

2013 – Niagara Falls

Car shopping
Amos 5: You talk about God…being your best friend.
I was talking to a car salesperson about a car. He was a friendly guy, a bit rough around the edges, using a few words I donā€™t have in my vocabulary. Then, he asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was the pastor of a church. Guess what happened? Suddenly, he was a very faithful Christian man. He told me about his church and his pastor and some words disappeared from the conversation. Amos complains about people who claim God as their best friend but live very different lives than what the Lord demands. The big issue to Amos is how the poor are treated. He says that in his society ā€œjustice is a lost causeā€ and people are ā€œkicking the poor when theyā€™re down.ā€ Godā€™s man says that wonā€™t cut it. I canā€™t expect to get away with giving the Almighty lip service while ignoring his directions on how I’m to live. Amos says, ā€œYou talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, being your best friend. Well, live like it, and maybe it will happen.ā€ By, the way, I bought my car elsewhere.
Take Away: Live like it.

Devotional on Habakkuk

2013 – Smoky Mountains and vicinity – Lake Toxaway area

Silent God
Habakkuk 1: God, how long do I have to cry out for help?
Most of the Old Testament prophets have messages from God and usually those messages are calls to repentance with a heaping helping of ā€œor elseā€ on the side. Habakkuk, who lives 600 years before Jesus is born, brings a different perspective to the ministry of the prophets. His messages start, not with a word from the Lord, but with questions for the Lord. While Habakkuk isnā€™t the only one to follow this path (we see it a lot in the Psalms) it does set him apart from the average approach of his fellow minor prophets. Thereā€™s some complaining to God in his writings. Habakkuk speaks from his heart as he tries to understand how a righteous God could possibly use an unrighteousness people like the Babylonians to do his will in punishing Israel. This little book is a good one to read when it appears that bad people are getting away with their sin. Itā€™s also a good one to help us work through the unwelcome ā€œsilent Godā€ times of life.
Take Away: Itā€™s okay to be absolutely honest with the Lord in expressing our disappointment or confusion to him.

Devotional on Habakkuk

2013 – Cataloochee Valley – Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Telling it like it is
Habakkuk 1: Why are you silent now?
The complaint of the prophet to God is startling. He comes to the Lord and lays it all on the table, confessing his confusion and disappointment. He knows God to be righteous and loving but what he sees happening has none of that in it. The godless army of Babylon is destroying Godā€™s chosen people and that doesnā€™t make sense to Habakkuk. Not only that, but his prayers go unanswered. Why, of all times, does the Almighty choose this dark hour to go silent? Where is God when evil is winning the day? Does Godā€™s use of unrighteous people to achieve his purposes make God, himself, unrighteous? Habakkuk writes more on this topic, including a report on how God finally responds to his questions. However, today Iā€™m taken with how he goes into the presence of the Lord to state his fear and disappointment. Thereā€™s something refreshing about Habakkukā€™s approach to the Lord here. Habakkuk isnā€™t irreverent toward the Almighty, but he openly expresses his disappointment in how the Lord is doing (maybe better, isnā€™t doing) things at this point. I know Iā€™m called to trust the Lord no matter what, but if Iā€™m having doubts the Lord wants me to bring them to him. To pretend I believe when I donā€™t does me no good and is dissatisfying to the Lord as well.
Take Away: Better to victoriously march on in overcoming faith but when there is doubt we can be frankly honest with the Lord.

Devotional on Malachi

2014 – Horsethief Campground – Moab, UT
Repentance lessons
Malachi 3: Return to me so I can return to you.
If my relationship with God is strained or even broken today thereā€™s a remedy. When, like the Prodigal Son, I come to my senses, rise, and return to my Father I find that heā€™s been waiting for me all along. What a relief it is to know that the Lord doesnā€™t hold a grudge against me. Rather, he patiently reaches out to me, calling me to himself. When Malachi states this spiritual fact of life to his congregation, someone asks for more information on this ā€œreturningā€ business. Exactly how do they do that? The prophet has an answer ready. A sure sign that a person’s returning to God is honest repentance on their part. In Jesusā€™ parable, the Prodigal is honest with himself and with his father. Heā€™s messed up and he wants to make things right. He knows he doesnā€™t deserve re-admittance into his fatherā€™s household as a son, so heā€™ll take what he can get. That, my friend, is honesty. In this passage, Malachi points out that theyā€™ve been dishonest with God in the stewardship of their possessions. He tells them that, for them, honesty with God means admitting their failure in this matter. This business of bringing sick and blind animals for sacrifice has to be stopped, confessed, and made right. Their practice of shortchanging God with their tithes has to end and be corrected. Thatā€™s what repentance is all about: confession and change. Through his prophet, the Lord says, ā€œIf youā€™ll return to me in repentance, Iā€™ll return to you and bless your life in wonderful ways.ā€ When a nation as a whole makes things right with God, Malachi says, itā€™ll be voted ā€œHappiest Nationā€ and be known as a ā€œcountry of grace.ā€ Thatā€™s a good place to live.
Take Away: A sure sign that a person’s returning to God is honest repentance on their part.

Devotional on Romans

2014 – Cape Disappointment – North Head Lighthouse

No Scripture abuse allowed here

Romans 16: Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching you have learned.

The first theology book of Christianity is being concluded. The final pages are more about words of greeting than theology. Now, almost an afterthought, the Apostle warns his readers about the danger of taking ā€œbits and piecesā€ of the truth and using them in such a way as to create an untruth. Some people, Paul warns them, are pretty good at doing this bad thing. They take true statements and then twist them to their own purposes. He tells his readers to stay away from people like that. As I read this warning I canā€™t help but think that one of the best ways for me to avoid this trap is to study Godā€™s Word, making the effort to know what it really says. Another thing that comes to mind is that I donā€™t ever want to be one of these troublemakers who abuse the Bible, making it say what I want it to say. I canā€™t help but think that had Paul seen the future and how it would be his own words that would most often be abused in this way that this particular admonition would have been given a more prominent place in this letter. It might have been placed on page one, written in capital letters, rather than being shoehorned between words of greetings here on the final page.

Take Away: The Lord doesnā€™t take it lightly when people abuse Scripture.

Devotional on Genesis

2013 – Pilot Mountain, North Carolina

An old wrestling injury
Genesis 32: He deliberately threw Jacobā€™s hip out of joint.
Jacob has a lifetime of taking advantage of people and Esau is the one who has lost the most to him. Hearing that Esau’s coming with a band of 400 men Jacob fears for his life and the lives of all those with him. He shrewdly prepares for the encounter, sending wave after wave of gifts to his brother and instructs his servants to identify Jacob to Esau as ā€œyour servant.ā€ Having done all he can do, Jacob retreats to a place where he can be alone. As he considers his life he finds himself in a wrestling match with a man. Now, all his life, Jacob has struggled with people. His very name means ā€œheel grasperā€ and he’s lived down to that name, tripping up others to his own advantage. However, this unknown opponent canā€™t be beat and they struggle through the night. Finally, his opponent reaches out and throws Jacobā€™s hip out of joint. At that, the wrestling match is over because Jacob can fight no longer. Still, he holds on, refusing to let go. Now, it may be that Jacob knows whatā€™s going on from the beginning or at least through the night he realizes that this battle is of a supernatural nature. As he clings to his opponent he insists on a blessing. In forcing Jacob to say his name his opponent is making him admit that his whole life has been about ā€œheel graspingā€ ā€“ cheating and taking unfair advantage of others. Once Jacob does that he receives the blessing he requests. His days of ā€œheel graspingā€ are over. From now on, heā€™ll be known as ā€œIsraelā€ — a man who knows how to get hold of God and hang on. While I understand that Jacob has wrestled with the Lord through that night, I think he was really wrestling with himself. Finally, the Lord had to bring real pain to him to cause him to realize he can never win unless he confesses to himself and to God who he is. What does it take for us to admit our sin and failure? Restoration starts with confession.
Take away: Sometimes the best victory possible for us is admitting our failures and yielding in defeat.

Devotional on Deuteronomy

2014 – Florence, OR

Just do it
Deuteronomy 23: If you don’t make a vow in the first place, there’s no sin. If you say you’re going to do something, do it.
Reading through the middle part of Deuteronomy causes me to feel like Iā€™m back in Leviticus with all of its rules and regulations. Still, there are some gems to be found along the way. When talking about vows, the words of Moses feel a bit more like one is reading in the books of Wisdom than the Law. Here, Iā€™m reminded that itā€™s easier to make promises than it is to keep them. Iā€™ve heard young people make big claims about what theyā€™re going to do. One said she was going to be a lawyer and another said he was going to enter the ministry. They had big plans and I believe they were sincere about them. However, they first had to work through the smaller details like getting out of bed and going to class each day. I understand that Moses is talking about vows made to God here but I see that to great extent even vows made to God are first vows a person makes to oneself. “This is worth doing, and Iā€™m going to do it.” That works whether Iā€™m talking about doing something for the Lord, or pursing some life goal, or living in harmony with those around me. The council here isnā€™t against making promises. Instead, itā€™s about making promises worth keeping and then keeping them.
Take Away: Donā€™t avoid making promises, just be sure the promises are worth keeping.

Devotional on Deuteronomy

2014 – Florence, OR

Letā€™s make a deal
Deuteronomy 25: Donā€™t carry around with you two weights.
This portion of Deuteronomy is a grab bag of varied topics. Some of them are pretty hard to read as they deal with stuff like fluid emissions, forced marriage, and rape. Others strike me as mostly curious. The prohibition against plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked together and the one against wearing clothes of mixed fabrics comes to mind. Then there are the practical ones like what to do if a farmer finds his neighborā€™s ox loose and wandering around, rules for charging interest on loans, and the prohibition on carrying differing weights. This is a simple call to honesty. An individual doing business isnā€™t to have two weights that he claims are the same but are actually different. A dishonest person might reach into bag and grab the heavier weight when purchasing, say, some silver. Then, when selling it, he might use an identical, lighter weight to measure the weight of the silver. That way he gets more silver than he paid for, and then cheats the buyer by selling less than what is shown on the scales. The Lord says, ā€œdonā€™t do that ā€“ instead, be honest in your dealings with everyone.ā€ Some of the stuff in these chapters feels dated and even a bit weird. However, a call to honesty in business speaks to every person whoā€™s ever filled out a tax return or sold a used car. In all of business Godā€™s people are free to make the best deal they can; that is, so long as itā€™s an honest deal.
Take Away: Honesty is the best (and blessed) policy.

Devotional on 1 Kings

2015 – Natchez, MS State Park

Praying when in pain
1Kings 19: Elijah, what are you doing here?
More than a month has passed since Elijah fled Jezebel and asked God to take his life. During this time the angel of the Lord has ministered to him and heā€™s traveled 40 days across the wilderness to Horeb which is the mountain range that includes Sinai where Moses met God and was given the Law. In other words, Elijah has retreated to holy ground. Here, even as Moses encountered God, Elijah has an encounter of his own. This meeting though, starts very differently. For Moses, there were earthquakes and thick smoke. For Elijah, things start with God asking him a question, “So, Elijah, what are you doing here?” With that, Elijah begins to state his discouragement, loneliness, and fear. The big stuff is still coming but Iā€™m taken with just this today. I know that prayer should generally start with words of worship and reverence. Sometimes, though, weā€™re so broken and confused that we can hardly bring ourselves to pray at all. Sometimes we have to travel out into the wilderness for a while possibly ending up at some place that’s significant to us. And then, it isn’t us but God who starts a conversation that doesn’t begin with “Our Father who art in heaven” but instead with words of pain. Know what? Thatā€™s okay with God. Take note of just who it is that asks the opening question here.
Take Away: Our prayers are going nowhere if they donā€™t come from an honest heart.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Telling it like it is
Job 3: Why didn’t I die at birth?
All of my life Iā€™ve heard people speak of the “patience of Job” and, frankly, I don’t get it. Just a quick read through chapter 3 reveals that Job doesnā€™t stoically accept his condition. Heā€™s miserable and he wishes heā€™d never been born. “May those who are ā€˜good at cursingā€™ curse the day of my birth,ā€ he says. As I look at this miserable man I canā€™t help but appreciate his stark honesty. This guy isnā€™t given to platitudes. Instead, he tells it like it is, and at this moment in his life, life isnā€™t worth living. Somehow Christians have gotten the idea that we ought to behave as Job does in chapter one when he sincerely declares “God gives, God takes.” We read that and make it our model for dealing with pain and suffering. However, we need to keep on reading. Soon we find this same man crying out against his own life. Beyond that, to excuse Job as being “out of his mind” in pain is such a horrible put-down of Job. Yes, heā€™s in agony but heā€™s still thinking and the things he says reflect exactly what he believes. When we deny ourselves (and Job) the right to be absolutely honest about how we feel we destine ourselves to continue in a shallow relationship with God. You see, when Iā€™m going through a trial God isnā€™t interested in seeing me put on a brave front and hearing me say all the right things. Itā€™s honesty that he wants and sometimes that includes our telling him, and others, how miserable we are. Such honesty opens the way for God to work in our lives at levels we didn’t even know existed.
Take Away: Thereā€™s never a time to pretend things are different than they are before the Lord.