Sunday, November 30, 2014

Great peace have those
    who love Your law;
nothing 
   can make them stumble.

             Psalm 119.165

(Move freely in the midst
of turmoil
   with peace and grace.
God's Word makes
      a visible difference
  and changes me.)


Thursday, November 27, 2014

Practice hospitality
     ungrudgingly
to one another.

          1 Peter 4.9

(Striving to be
    not the perfect hostess,
but a gracious one.
What am I serving up today?
What am I bringing to the table?)

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

...a tender heart
      and a humble mind.

           1 Peter 3.8

(What am I bringing to the table?
Approach situations
        and relationships
with gentleness,
compassion
and grace.)


Monday, November 24, 2014

...the sanctuary of the LORD
       in the midst of it.

           Ezekiel 48.10

(An intentional effort
     in all I do today,
my words,
my attitudes,
my choices.
His Presence
    changes everything.)

Sunday, November 23, 2014

...that you may declare
the wonderful deeds of Him
who called you out of darkness
  into His marvelous light.
Once you were no people
  but now you are God's people;
once you had not received mercy
  but now
      you have received mercy.

                 1 Peter 2. 9-10

(May that difference be evident
in everything about you.
It's who you are,
      forgiven and redeemed.
Nothing can ever be the same.
Live that way.)

Saturday, November 22, 2014

...I am their inheritance
   ...I am their possession.

           Ezekiel 44.28

(Live like an heir,
evident in my focus,
my vision,
in every kindness,
  the mark of His Presence.)

Friday, November 21, 2014

...the garments
in which they minister...

          Ezekiel 42.14

(An intentional mindset,
a transforming vision,
wherever we go today,
whatever we do.
God changes me.
"A long obedience
in the same direction."
    -- Eugene Peterson)

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Its vestibule faced
    the outer court,
and it had palm trees
    on its jambs,
one on either side,
and its stairway
    had eight steps.

         Ezekiel 40.37

(Even the smallest details,
    the smallest kindnesses,
are profound in God's eyes.
What am I thinking that
       "doesn't matter?"
It all does,
redeemed in a thousand ways.)

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Son of man,
    look with your eyes,
and hear with your ears,
and set your mind
   upon all that I shall show you,
for you were brought here
in order that 
   I might show it to you.

               Ezekiel 40.4

(Watch and listen
expectantly for God.
Don't miss what He is doing
           in your midst.
Don't miss why He has
   divinely placed you here.)

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

And He said to me,
"Son of man,
     can these bones live?"
And I answered,
     "O Lord GOD, you know."
Again He said to me,
"Prophesy to these bones,
and say to them,
   O dry bones, 
   hear the word of the LORD.
Thus says the Lord GOD
to these bones:
   Behold, I will cause breath
   to enter you,
       and you shall live.

           Ezekiel 37. 3-5

(Does it make a difference
if I read God's Word every day?
You will never be the same.
God's Word changes you completely,
    a visible redeeming.)

Monday, November 17, 2014

And they will say,
"This land that was desolate
has become like
        the garden of Eden,
and the waste and desolate
            and ruined cities
are now inhabited and fortified."
Then the nations
  that are left round about you
shall know that I, the LORD,
have rebuilt the ruined places,
and replanted that which was desolate;
I, the LORD, have spoken,
       and I will do it.

                  Ezekiel 36. 35-36

(A new heart,
     a visible difference,
that which changes you,
that which impacts
  everyone around you.
God At Work.)

Sunday, November 16, 2014

I will make with them
   a covenant of peace
and banish wild beasts
           from the land,
so that
they may dwells securely
   in the wilderness
and sleep in the woods.

           Ezekiel 34.25

(Live in the reality 
     of His Presence.)

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Therefore lift your drooping hands
   and strengthen your weak knees,
and make straight paths
                 for your feet,
so that
  what is lame 
      may not be put out of joint
but rather be healed.

         Hebrews 12. 12-13

(Be encouraged.
God is strengthening,
healing,
and using you mightily.
All of which 
    increase in increments.)

Friday, November 14, 2014

Therefore,
since we are surrounded
by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside
every weight and sin
     which clings so closely,
and let us run with perseverance
     the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus...

                 Hebrews 12.1-2

(The course that is set
    before me today,
surrounded by those who are watching
    to see if God is real)

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

               Proverbs 27.17

(Seek out friendships
which strengthen you)

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Rule in the midst of your foes!

                   Psalm 110.2

(Bring grace to the table,
no matter the turmoil.)

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

With my mouth
I will give great thanks
    to the LORD;
I will praise Him
  in the midst of the throng.

          Psalm 109.30
(Live out His grace
          and love,
in word and deed,
every which way you can)

Monday, November 10, 2014

With God 
  we shall do valiantly;
it is He 
  who will tread down
                   our foes.

           Psalm 108.13

(Trust Him with the outcome.
Our foes are anything we fear,
both real
       and imagined.)

Sunday, November 9, 2014

He turns a desert
     into pools of water,
a parched land
     into springs of water.

                Psalm 107. 35

(With God, we can see
    everything differently,
everything with great purpose.
Even this.
The change happens when we stop
       asking "why,"
and start asking God "what.")

Saturday, November 8, 2014

...that we may give thanks
        to Your holy name
and glory in Your praise.

              Psalm 106.47

(Giving thanks
      and giving Him glory
changes everything
about me
and about my day.)

Friday, November 7, 2014

From the bed
where it was planted,
He transplanted it
to good soil
   by abundant waters,
that it might
bring forth branches,
and bear fruit,
and become a noble vine.

        Ezekiel 17. 7-8

(Wherever He leads,
wherever we are,
God brings forth fruit
and plants big trees.
We have only
to follow Him into it.)

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Yet He saved them
      for His name's sake,
that He might make known
      His mighty power.
He rebuked the Red Sea,
and it became dry,
and He led them 
       through the deep
       as through a desert.
So He saved them 
   from the hand of the foe,
and delivered them
   from the power 
          of the enemy.

                Psalm 106. 8-10

(See where you are
        differently,
not a place to flee
but faithfully follow Him
into His deeper purposes.
God will redeem
even what I don't understand.)
     

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

He opened the rock,
and water gushed forth;
it flowed through the desert
             like a river.

                 Psalm 105.41

(When we fully seek Him,
He guides and provides
through the most
       impossible situations.
Even in what appears
   to be wilderness,
God redeems
   His deep purposes.)

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

...yet
     I have been a sanctuary
     to them.

                  Ezekiel 11.16

(Seek His Presence
    right in the midst
of your impossible situation.
No matter what is going on,
the LORD is your strength,
       your refuge,
       your shield,
             and your song.
You are never alone.)

Monday, November 3, 2014

Seek the LORD and His strength,
seek His presence 
                   continually.

                      Psalm 105.4

(Seeking Him
 becomes my intentional default
               in all things,
          on all days
          both great and small,
that which will change
     the course of my life)

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Let us then with confidence
  draw near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help
             in time of need.

             Hebrews 4.16

(That time of need
may not be my own,
but drawing near
to impart grace
    in desperate situations
    and the desperate hearts
    of those all around us.)

Saturday, November 1, 2014

And you shall speak
     My words to them,
whether they hear
           or refuse to hear,
for they are a rebellious house.

                    Ezekiel 2.7

(We are called to be faithful
and leave the results in God's hands.
Even when it appears
      no one is listening,
    you never know who is.)