Friday, September 30, 2016

Have this mind among yourselves,
     which is yours in Christ Jesus...

                         Philippians 2. 5

(Not just mindful of Him,
but bearing the mind of Christ,
               even in this.)
  

Thursday, September 29, 2016

...I am put here
    for the defense of the gospel.

                 Philippians 1. 16

(Strategically placed.
Even here,
    even in this.
God works through us,
   even in what appears
   the most barren place.
Stand at your post).

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

For My thoughts 
    are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways
    My ways, says the LORD.
For as the heavens
  are higher than the earth,
so are My ways
        higher than your ways,
and My thoughts 
        than your thoughts.

                 Isaiah 55. 8-9

(God is working
     beyond my comprehension.
God is working powerfully
even when I don't understand.
Follow His scarlet thread
       through it.
"Trust Me in this.")

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Was it not You
     Who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
that made the depths of the sea
        a way for the redeemed
        to pass over?

                     Isaiah 51. 10

(God transforms
     and redeems the most impossible
     places in your life.
Even here.
Even in this.
You are here in this hard place
     for His purposes beyond measure).

Monday, September 26, 2016

I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you 
    in the way you should go.

                 Isaiah 48. 17

(God will guide you
     to a fruitful life.
He will complete His purposes.
Follow the LORD
        in His steps before you,
and He will enlarge your ministry,
His bigger vision,
                even in this).

Sunday, September 25, 2016

I am the LORD,
     there is no other.
I did not speak in secret
   in a land of darkness,
I did not say 
          to the offspring of Jacob,
         "Seek Me in chaos,"
I the LORD speak the truth,
I declare what is right.

                     Isaiah 45. 11

(God is,
      and He has spoken.
Seek and you will find
    He is already there,
                  all along,        
drawing you to Him.)

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing,
now it springs forth,
   do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
         and rivers in the desert.

                     Isaiah 43. 18-19

(Something old,
          something very new.
May I be faithful
                 and not afraid.
God will make His way
      through it
that I will know Him more).

Friday, September 23, 2016

Fear not,
     for I have redeemed you,
I have called you by name,
            You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters
       I will be with you,
and through the rivers,
   they shall not overwhelm you,
when you walk through fire
       you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God,
   the Holy One of Israel,
                  your Savior.

                   Isaiah 43. 1-3

(No matter what,
no matter where,
not if
      but when,
no matter how impossible
               the situation,
the LORD will bring you through).

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Fear not,
   for I am with you,
be not dismayed,
   for I am your God;
I will strengthen you,
I will help you,
I will uphold you
 with my victorious right hand.

                 Isaiah 41. 10

(God specializes
    in impossible situations.
There is nothing
   that He cannot use
        for His glory.
Even this.
I am not alone.
       He's got this.
       He's got me).

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

And let us
  not grow weary in well-doing,
for in due season
             we shall reap,
if we do not lose heart.
So then,
as we have opportunity,
let us do good to all men,
and especially to those
who are of the household of faith.

                    Galatians 6. 9-10

(Who has the LORD
      put on your path today?
Whatever,
wherever,
among whomever,
     even in that,
     even for her or him.
God is doing
  a profound work).

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

For waters shall break forth
          in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

                      Isaiah 35. 6

(I see a barren landscape.
God sees a forest.
God is working
     beyond what I can yet see.
When I am faithful,
          God is fruitful.
Even in impossible places,
            even in this.
Not "What am I doing here?"
   But "What does God have
                  up His sleeve?")

Monday, September 19, 2016

Happy are you
    who sow beside all waters...

                     Isaiah 32. 20

(No matter where God places me,
no matter among whom,
God bears the fruit,
God raises up a forest
     in what appears a desolate place.
Even now,
even here,
even in this).

Sunday, September 18, 2016

For God alone
   my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from Him.

                    Psalm 62. 5

(Silence
is not indicative of His absence,
but of His deepening Presence.
"Follow Me deeper."
Am I seeking God in this?
     Or just a solution?)

Saturday, September 17, 2016

...You have enlarged
all the borders of the land.

                 Isaiah 26. 15

(Be Thou my vision, O LORD.
Help me to see this place,
this situation,
this relationship
          with Your eyes.
Help me to cultivate the land
   where you have placed me,
          even this square inch,
          even as far as the horizon.
May I not limit by my myopic unbelief
   the incredible things 
            You are already doing).
    

Friday, September 16, 2016

And I will fasten him
like a peg in a sure place...

               Isaiah 22. 23

(God has positioned you
              strategically
to be faithful to Him,
sometimes
     in the most unlikely places).

Thursday, September 15, 2016

...a blessing
      in the midst of the earth...

                     Isaiah 19. 24

(Wherever God places you,
whomever God puts on your path
                 or on your radar,
whatever you do,
no matter what
    is swirling around you,
are you seeking a blessing
                    or to be a blessing?
Let God use you in this,
            even in this.
Move freely among them).

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

He who once persecuted us
is now preaching the faith
he once tried to destroy.

              Galatians 1. 23

(No one stands beyond
     the reach and grace of God.
Never stop praying for them).

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

...for great in your midst
     is the Holy One of Israel.

                   Isaiah 12. 6

(Right here,
       right now,
           even in this.
His Presence is always
         present tense.
God is at work,
     powerful in you,
     mighty through you).
   

Monday, September 12, 2016

And there will be
a highway from Assyria
for the remnant that is left
         of His people,
as there was for Israel 
when they came up 
from the land of Egypt.

               Isaiah 11. 16

(God will make a way
where there seems to be
                  no way,
right through the midst
of the most impossible situation,
quite literally dry ground
       in the midst of the sea.
Trust Him yet another step.
This I know that God is for me.
On that reality I can stake 
not just another step,
             but my life).

Sunday, September 11, 2016

...but He said to me,
"My grace
is sufficient for you,
for My power is made
  perfect in weakness."

       2 Corinthians 12. 9

(God's purposes
are far more profound
and far-reaching
than I can ever know.
His strength is
   deeper than this.
The LORD will
not just bring me through,
but weave His glory in it.
God's strength
          and glory
always go hand in hand).

Saturday, September 10, 2016

If you will not believe,
surely you shall
not be established.

            Isaiah 7. 9

(If we will not believe,
we are the ones
who are missing out
on what the Almighty
               can do.
God does not call us
      to be fearful,
but faithful to Him.
His Presence
is always present tense).

Friday, September 9, 2016

Even if I am
unskilled in speaking...

        2 Corinthians 11. 6

("You want me
      to do WHAT?"
God always uses us
beyond our own abilities.
Every act of obedience
changes the world
beyond our comprehension).

Thursday, September 8, 2016

...to reach
    even to you.

        2 Corinthians 10.13

(The gospel
bears no limitations.
No one
stands beyond
      the grace of God.
Live out the gospel.
Even in this).

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

...rebuild the 
   walls of Jerusalem...

           Psalm 51. 18

(God builds and rebuilds
      His kingdom through us,
one brick of obedience,
      one act of love after another,
one by one,
nothing insignificant,
nothing obscure in His sight.
What does that look like today?)

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

...for we aim
at what is honorable
not only in the LORD's sight
but also in the sight of men.

          2 Corinthians 8. 21

(What is my attitude in this?
Am I focusing 
     only on the situation
or God's way in this?
Not just on what to do
   but bringing Him glory.
Yes,
     even in this).

Monday, September 5, 2016

In the morning
        sow your seed,
and at evening
   withhold not your hand,
for you do not know
         which will prosper,
this or that,
or whether both alike
           will be good.

       Ecclesiastes 11. 6

(God always bears fruit
   through faithfulness to Him.
There is nothing insignificant
          in His eyes.
The LORD is working
   in profound ways
even in what I cannot imagine.
Even in that which appears
      ordinary and invisible).

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Walk about Zion,
go round about her,
number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels,
that you may tell
   the next generation
   that this is God,
our God for ever and ever.
He will be our guide for ever.

                 Psalm 48. 12-14

(Know God in every dimension
                 of your life,
seek to increase in 
         knowing Him more,
that you may be able
   to point others to Him,
that they too should
 set their hope in God,
to know Him
and His faithfulness.
Whatever you are going through,
there is something deeper going on).

Saturday, September 3, 2016

...we were afflicted at every turn
--fighting without
      and fear within.
But God...

         2 Corinthians 7. 5-6

(Don't leave
  the power of God
out of the equation.
"But God..."
    is not wishful thinking
but the reality of His Presence.
God changes everything,
       even my heart).

Friday, September 2, 2016

For everything
    there is a season,
and a time for
every matter under heaven.

            Ecclesiastes 3. 1

(Pour yourself into
what God has placed 
before you today.
This is a season.
This is huge thing,
   this "insignificant" detail
is more profound
    than you can know,
working together in Him.
The LORD is with me,
    even in this).

Thursday, September 1, 2016

I know that 
    You can do all things,
and that no purpose of Yours
           can be thwarted.

                   Job 42. 2

(The LORD is at work in you,
 the LORD is at work 
                  through you.
Am I trusting Him into it?
Following His lead?
Even in this).