Monday, August 31, 2015

...we make it our aim
            to please Him.

           2 Corinthians 5. 9

(No matter what.
   Even in this?
Especially in this,
       creative in His grace.)

Sunday, August 30, 2015

But we have this treasure
       in earthen vessels,
to show that the transcendent power
  belongs to God
             and not to us.

                    2 Corinthians 4. 7

(Our lives manifest
      His transformation in us.)

Saturday, August 29, 2015

But He knows the way
                that I take.

               Job 23. 10

(Pray for direction,
    go in His Presence.)

Friday, August 28, 2015

But thanks be to God,
              who in Christ 
always leads us in triumph,
and through us spreads the fragrance
of the knowledge of Him everywhere.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God
among those who are being saved
and among those who are perishing.

                     2 Corinthians 2. 14-15

(This kind of fragrance comes from within,
that which embraces others,
              lingers behind,
and points others to God.
Not like that from a bottle
              which masks an odor,
but what a transformed life smells like,
        the always fresh grace of Christ
that impacts everyone around.)   

Thursday, August 27, 2015

For He will complete
   what He appoints for me,
and many such things
             are in His mind.

                     Job 23. 14

(Aware and responsive to 
                His appointments,
faithful to Him in all things.
Not laying my day before Him,
but letting God lay 
             His day before me,
that which has no interruptions,
    just divine encounters.)
                      

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

...to make us rely
not on ourselves
               but on God,
who raises the dead.

              2 Corinthians 1. 9

(God always bears deeper strength
           than the difficulty itself.
He empowers me
          to rely on Him through it.
And to realize He is God
                  and I am not.)

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

...for a wide door
            for effective work
            has opened to me,
and there are many adversaries.
   
                  1 Corinthians 16. 9

(Recognize the opportunities
that God opens every day,
a word here,
an act of kindness there,
a cracked door for the gospel
       in a casual conversation.
Be aware and ready.
His divine appointments
are not always comfortable,
convenient,
           nor expected.)
              

Monday, August 24, 2015

Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast,
     immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord
            your labor is not in vain.

                      1 Corinthians 15. 58

(No matter what you do today,
                 abound in it.
God is using you
      for His great purposes.
Even in what appears to you
   most insignificant of all,
             God brings His glory to it.
Nothing is wasted in God's economy,
no effort for naught.)

Sunday, August 23, 2015

...Who does great things beyond understanding
and marvelous things without number.

                                       Job 9. 10

(We are surrounded by His deep mercies
      of which we are not even aware
and His purposes
       of which we would stand in awe.)

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Mark the blameless man,
     and behold the upright.

                     Psalm 37. 37

(Watch how their relationship with God
       impacts everything they do
and touches everyone around them.
Seek them out.)

Friday, August 21, 2015

The steps of a man 
         are from the LORD,
and He establishes him
    in whose way He delights;
though he fall,
he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD
         is the stay of his hand.

                  Psalm 37. 23-24

(God provides not just a hand up,
         but His hand on.)

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Fret not yourself;
it tends only to evil.

                 Psalm 37. 8

(Fretting just trips me up,
distracts me from who God is,
and keeps me 
       from what I should be doing.
Trust God.
Even in this.
Especially in this.)

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

And who knows whether you
have not come to the kingdom
         for such a time as this?

                            Esther 4. 14

(God's strategic placement
       and divine appointments
are manifest
       wherever He places you today.
Things don't "just happen."
Nothing is insignificant
                        in His sight.)

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Do this in remembrance of Me.

                  1 Corinthians 11. 24

(May my love for Christ
     may the love of Christ
     infiltrate everything I do today.
Bring the name of Jesus there.
"Remember Me,"
            even in this difficulty.)

Monday, August 17, 2015

Say to my soul,
       "I am your deliverance."

                    Psalm 35. 3

(Am I so intent on seeking an exit
that I neglect to seek God in this
                         and through this?
The great I AM is my guiding light.
Let His purposes be fulfilled.
Even in that which I don't understand,
                  God is always faithful.)

Sunday, August 16, 2015

...in charge of
     the songs of thanksgiving.

                          Nehemiah 12. 8

(Praise and giving thanks are
      that intentional and significant,
a continual loop of praise
    that changes my heart
    and impacts my mindset
                  in all I do and say.)
           

Saturday, August 15, 2015

...and delighted themselves
               in Your great goodness.

                     Nehemiah 9. 25

(Surrendering to God's design
    is not missing out on anything at all,
but the opening of a goodness
              beyond your wildest imaginings.)
 

Friday, August 14, 2015

...so that they went
through the midst of the sea
             on dry land.

               Nehemiah 9. 11

(Sometimes God's deliverance   
is right through the deep
    and impossible places.
Follow Him into it,
      trust Him in it,
   God will bring you through.)

Thursday, August 13, 2015

After him....
after him....
after him...
after them...

             Nehemiah 3

(Obedience creates a chain reaction.
When I follow the LORD,
      it gives others the courage
      and encouragement
                to do the same.
My obedience gives others the initiative
       and the freedom
                               to obey as well.)

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Now I was cupbearer to the king.

                          Nehemiah 2. 1

(God uses you wherever you are,
   strategically placed
               for His purposes.)

Sunday, August 9, 2015

...that we might humble ourselves
                before our God,
to seek from Him
      a straight way for ourselves,
our children,
              and all our goods.

                                 Ezra 8. 21

(O LORD,
    how do I navigate this day,
       this situation,
       this relationship?
Help me to see Your way in it.
God protects in ways we never even see,
      provides in ways we may never realize,
      guides by His intricate design,
                 no problem too big,
                 no detail too small.)

Saturday, August 8, 2015

For who sees
anything different in you?

               1 Corinthians 4. 7

(Christ makes
        the visible difference in you,
inside and out.
How do I approach this differently
       because of His abiding?)

Friday, August 7, 2015

...to preach the gospel
and not with eloquent wisdom,
lest the cross of Christ
       be emptied of its power.

                1 Corinthians 1. 17

(the gospel translated
               into real life
in all I do and say.
Bring the light of Jesus there.)

   

Thursday, August 6, 2015

But we have the mind of Christ.

             1 Corinthians 2. 16

(How do I see this impossible situation,
         this difficult relationship,
even approach this "ordinary" day 
             with different eyes
             and a different heart
       because of Christ in me?
Whom I worship
impacts everything in my life.)

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

...in whatever place he sojourns...

                        Ezra 1. 4

(Where has God placed me today?
Always strategically,
      always with purpose.
There are no little things,
             nothing mundane,
     in God's economy.
It is not my attitude that changes things,
               but my eyes on Him.)

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

...stand in the holy place...

              2 Chronicles 35. 5

(Wherever God places you today,
          worship Him there
and bring the name of Jesus
in all you do and say.
You are not at work or school,
   but standing on holy ground.
Not an office or classroom,
     or whatever messy situation,
but the middle of a sanctuary.)

Monday, August 3, 2015

Be strong and of good courage.
Do not be afraid
         or be dismayed
before the king of Assyria
and all the horde that is with him,
for there is One greater with us
                than with him.
With him is an arm of flesh,
but with us
        is the LORD our God,
to help us
   and to fight our battles.

             2 Chronicles 31. 7-8

(A great passage of Scripture
       to start the week,
whatever your struggle,
whatever your own overwhelming horde.
Everyone struggles with something.
This is not "you can do it,"
but God who brings the victory
over whatever you fear,
            both real and imagined.)

Sunday, August 2, 2015

On what are you relaying....?

                 2 Chronicles 31. 10

(Depending on God
         or something else?)

Saturday, August 1, 2015

...praised the LORD
           day by day,
singing with all their might...

                      2 Chronicles 30. 21

(Praising in words and actions
           and attitude.
Worship reorders our lives aright.
Praise allows us to see
                             differently.)