Tuesday, May 31, 2016

The unfolding of Your words
                 gives light;
it imparts understanding
                 to the simple.

                 Psalm 119. 130

(Daily time in God's Word
   gives light and understanding 
before we need it
         for when we need it.
God's Word
will change you
and the course of your life.)

Monday, May 30, 2016

It may be that
the LORD will look
upon my affliction,
and that the LORD
will repay me with good
for this cursing of me today.

               2 Samuel 16. 12

(Apply a thick layer
         of grace to it,
and leave the outcome
                  to God.)

Sunday, May 29, 2016

A man's mind
       plans his way,
but the LORD
       directs his steps.

         Proverbs 16. 9

(When I don't lay my day
before the LORD,
but ask Him 
to lay His day before me,
there are no interruptions,
only divine appointments.
Listen for His voice,
follow Him into it,
and trust Him 
        with the outcome.)

Saturday, May 28, 2016

If Your law had not
      been my delight,
I should have perished
      in my affliction.

                   Psalm 119. 92

(You never know
the full impact
of God's daily Word,
His strength in you
        and shield over you
in unexpected places.)

Friday, May 27, 2016

The LORD has made
everything for its purpose....

                   Proverbs 16. 4

(....to bring us into
intimacy with Him.
Trust God in it.
There is nothing
 the LORD cannot use.
There is nothing 
    He cannot redeem.
We can only yet see
   the earthly side.)

Thursday, May 26, 2016

And the king said,
"Is there not still someone 
of the house of Saul,
that I may show
the kindness of God to him?"

                2 Samuel 9. 3

(Who has God placed
on my path today?
Kindness is intentional,
         never random.)

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give to you,
not as the world gives
   do I give to you.
Let not your hearts
            be troubled,
neither let them be afraid.

                 John 14. 27

(The peace of God
is like nothing else,
   not dependent on
       circumstances,
but on His Presence.)

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

"The LORD has
broken through my enemies
like a bursting flood."

              2 Samuel 5. 20

(He is the Lord
      of breaking through,
no darkness too deep)

Monday, May 23, 2016

...and girded Himself
             with a towel.

              John 13. 4

(How do I go
        into this day?
How do I handle
        this situation?
Towel in my pocket,
ready to serve
       no matter what,
bearing the mind of Christ
into it.)

Sunday, May 22, 2016

This is the day
which the LORD has made;
let us rejoice
      and be glad in it.

            Psalm 118. 24

(Praising God
       dispels despair.
Gratitude to the LORD
even in the hard places
alters the entire landscape.)

Saturday, May 21, 2016

...all the people
        were bitter in soul.
But David strengthened himself
     in the LORD his God.

                 1 Samuel 30. 6

(Make a choice
       in how you respond.
There is always an available excuse
        to live in despair,
but that is never God's way in that.
God never promised that life 
               would be easy,
        but that "I am with you.")

Friday, May 20, 2016

Because you did not 
     obey the voice of the LORD...
  
                        1 Samuel 28. 18

(Choices have consequences.
Obedience bears blessing
        in more ways than we can know.
Disobedience always leaves
      victims in its wake.)

Thursday, May 19, 2016

So may the LORD 
    reward you with good
for what you have done
to me this day.

               1 Samuel 24. 19

(Show me, O LORD,
      Your way in this.
God always blesses obedience,
            grace,
and kindness in impossible places,
   even in ways we cannot yet see.

I cannot know with what you struggle,
but everyone struggles with something.
And this I do know
       that God loves you
       more than you can comprehend.)

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

And David remained
in the strongholds
         in the wilderness,
in the hill country
  of the Wilderness of Ziph.

                   1 Samuel 23. 14

(Why am I here
    in this backwater,
    in this barren place,
    in this foreign land?
To be faithful to God.
God is working mightily
    even in unexpected places,
    even when I don't understand.
The most fruitful place on earth
     is the center of His will.
And there we are.)

Tuesday, May 17, 2016


The sword of Goliath...is here...

                     1 Samuel 21. 9

(Obedience to God
   always comes back
to aid us in times of need.
Obedience reverberates
   in us and through us,
a provision,
a guidance,
a story of His Faithfulness.
Your following God in this
radically impacts 
      everyone around 
      and all who come after.)

Monday, May 16, 2016

And David had success
      in all his undertakings,
for the LORD was with him.

                1 Samuel 18. 14

(The question is not
       is the LORD with us,
but are we with Him in this?
God brings great victory
through what looks like
      a simple act of obeying Him.
David followed God into it,
and He takes care of the outcome.
Our obedience to God
and God's victory in it
always impacts
   the welfare of many people.)

Sunday, May 15, 2016

And David said,
"The LORD who delivered me
from the paw of the lion
and from the paw of the bear,
will deliver me
from the hand of this Philistine."
       
                   1 Samuel 17. 37

(God is faithful
            even in this.
"I have seen too much
  to question God in this."
Trust Him
   with your "Philistine,"
those overwhelming fears.
You are not alone.
     God goes before you.)

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Rule in the midst
           of your foes.

                   Psalm 110. 2

(Rise above the turmoil,
choose the high road through it,
and bring grace by the boatload.)

Friday, May 13, 2016

And they said,
"Do whatever seems good to you."
But the priest said,
    "Let us draw hither to God."

                   1 Samuel 14. 36

(Seek first God's counsel,
and consider,
"What is God's way in this?")

Thursday, May 12, 2016

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

                     Psalm 108. 13

(The key words here are
         "with God."
Trust God for the outcome.
Trust Him for the victory
over anything we fear,
      both real and imagined.
Nothing stands outside His realm.)
            

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

For He shatters
       the doors of bronze,
and cuts in two
       the bars of iron.

                 Psalm 107. 16

(God specializes 
    in impossible situations,
that which only He can do.)

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Then they said to Him,
"What must we do,
to be doing
        the works of God?"
Jesus answered them,
"This is the work of God,
that you believe in Him
whom He has sent."

                      John 6. 28-29

(Be found in Christ.)

Monday, May 9, 2016

Then Samuel said
       to all the house of Israel,
"If you are returning to the LORD
                  with all your heart,
then put away the foreign gods
and the Ashtaroth from among you,
and direct your heart to the LORD
            and serve Him only,
and He will deliver you
out of the hand of the Philistines.

                             1 Samuel 7. 3

(Following the LORD
     sets me on another path,
     a new story,
     a different outcome,
even right where I am.
If things are going to be different,
       something has to change.
And that would be my heart in this.)

Sunday, May 8, 2016

...for those who honor Me,
          I will honor.

                     1 Samuel 2. 30

(How do I navigate this situation?
Seek to honor Him
                even in this,
    and He will guide me through.)

Saturday, May 7, 2016

So it went on,
      year by year...

              1 Samuel 1. 7

(And all this time,
   God is at work mightily,
preparing her heart
        for just the right moment.
Count on it,
even when you cannot
       yet see the outcome.)

Friday, May 6, 2016

...and she happened to come
to the part of the field
          belonging to Boaz...

                       Ruth 2. 3

(God's sovereign and strategic design
     unfolds in what only appears
     as the most ordinary of days.
Ruth never knew how significantly 
   God would bear fruit 
   through her faithfulness to Him.
Ruth became David's great grandmother.

There are no ordinary days
       in the eyes of the LORD.)

Thursday, May 5, 2016

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

                           Psalm 105. 4

(God will guide you through this.
God is still God
          when times are hard.
His story for you is not yet done
       and not yet fully redeemed.)

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

...he who receives His testimony
      sets his seal to this,
that God is true.

                       John 3. 33

(Others are watching
not to see if you are perfect,
but to know that God is real.)

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

But he who does what is true
comes to the light,
that it may be clearly seen
that his deeds have been
          wrought in God.

                     John 3. 21

(May Your hand be that obvious
       in all that I do today,
not what I do,
but You, O God,
                    at work.
   There is no higher calling
          than to be used by Him.)

Monday, May 2, 2016

...and the Spirit of the LORD
   came mightily upon him.
...and his bonds melted off his hands.

                          Judges 15. 14

(Call upon the LORD.
He releases from whatever enslaves
and provides His strength
               in impossible places.
God is with us.
Don't live as if He is not.)

Sunday, May 1, 2016

He brought him to Jesus.

                        John 1. 42

(And God takes it from there.)