Tuesday, January 31, 2017

It shall be 
as a mark on your hand
or frontlets between your eyes;
for by a strong hand
     the LORD brought us
     out of Egypt.

                    Exodus 13. 16

(God makes it that obvious
       His strong hand in this,
and His change in us.
Do not miss
the significance
         of what God is doing,
even in what
we cannot fully understand.
May Your Presence 
  O LORD,
be tangibly evident to everyone.)
   

Monday, January 30, 2017

...and we do not know
with what
we must serve the LORD.

                   Exodus 10. 26

(You will be surprised
at what God will use
      and how He is using you.
How can I serve the LORD
        in this situation?
With a humble heart.)

Sunday, January 29, 2017

...but for this purpose
have I let you live,
to show you My power,
so that
   My name may be declared
throughout all the earth.

                Exodus 9. 16

(Not anything that can be
       explained away.
What does it take to recognize
    God's love for you,
to realize His power in your life?
The plagues were not
          all about convincing Pharoah.
Moses needed to know
     beyond a shadow of a doubt
that "I am the LORD,"
for all that he was
          about to experience.)

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Even though
    I walk through
the valley of deep darkness,
I fear no evil,
    for You are with me.
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
 in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil,
                my cup overflows.

                       Psalm 23. 4-5

(In the places of
       my greatest fear,
I am not alone.
The LORD leads,
the LORD heals,
the LORD redeems.
Even in this.)

Friday, January 27, 2017

"Now therefore go,
and I will be with your mouth
and teach you
   what you shall speak."
But Moses said,
"Oh my Lord,
 send, I pray,
      some other person."

              Exodus 4. 12-13

(And little do I realize
      that I was made for this,
that I would know Him more,
and that through this I would know
          that God is real.
It is not in my strengths
   but in my inabilities
that the power of God is revealed.
Not in me,
        but God.
Am I listening to Him
    or making excuses?
And God replies as He did to Moses,
       "No, but I want you.")
         

Thursday, January 26, 2017

"Come,
I will send you to Pharoah
that you may bring forth
My people, the sons of Israel,
          out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God,
    "Who am I 
    that I should go to Pharoah,
and bring the sons of Israel
out of Egypt?"
He said,
   "But I will be with you."

               Exodus 3. 10-12

("You want me to do WHAT?"
There is always an excuse
        not to follow God.
But where God leads,
     there is always 
          His way through it,
          His deeper purposes in it.
Where God guides,
                   God provides,
that we would know it is not in us,
        but God Almighty who did this,
that we will know 
             that He is the LORD.)

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

As for you,
you meant evil against me,
but God
      meant it for good,
to bring it about
that many people should be
         kept alive,
as they are today.

                Genesis 50. 20

(God is at work in you,
God is using you
   far beyond what you can know,
   far beyond what you can
             ever imagine.
God's purposes are never singular.
Your faithfulness to God
          is always multiplied
    in ways you will never see.)

Monday, January 23, 2017

Let the words of my mouth
and the meditations 
            of my heart
be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD,
my rock and my redeemer.
 
                      Psalm 19. 14

(That is the most significant
            of all things today,
because it impacts everything else,
all I do,
what I see,
on what I dwell
and touches everyone around me.
Even in the hard places,
even in pain,
even among strangers
                   and foes,
God is at work
   profoundly through you.)

Sunday, January 22, 2017

So it was not you
         who sent me here,
but God.

                 Genesis 45. 8

(But God
is what changes
even the most hopeless situation.
But God
     is the reality we live in.
There is always
something more,
something far profound
   in His divine placement.
Even here.
Even now.
God is never limited
       by dire circumstances,
even when we cannot yet see
the greater goodness
     He is multiplying in it.
But God
is not a variable in the equation.
        He is the reality.)


Saturday, January 21, 2017

And He didn't do
      many mighty works there,
because of their unbelief.

                    Matthew 13. 58

(...and what if
      I trusted Him in this?
A radically different journey,
a completely different outcome,
a different heart.)

Friday, January 20, 2017

There was famine in all lands,
but in all the land of Egypt
          there was bread.

                    Genesis 41. 34

(Because of
   one man's faithfulness to God.
My own obedience to God
     profoundly impacts others,
even today,
even in this,
even when it doesn't
         appear to make sense,
even in what I may never see
                  the outcome.
Faithfulness to God
        always matters.)
   


Thursday, January 19, 2017

Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt...

                           Genesis 39. 1

(Beyond his understanding,
but strategically 
      for God's deeper purposes.
Against his will,
      but clearly within God's will.
The LORD is able
to bear something incredible
through this.
What has God placed before me
today?
Be faithful to Him in it.)

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

I bless the LORD 
      who gives me counsel;
in the night also
      my heart instructs me.
I keep the LORD 
             always before me;
because He is at my right hand,
        I shall not be moved.

                    Psalm 16. 7-8

(Seek the LORD in this.
First response,
        not last resort.
You are not alone.
Set your mind.
Align your heart to His.
The LORD is guiding you,
no better place to be). 

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Do not be afraid of sudden panic,
or of the storm of the wicked,
             when it comes,
for the LORD will be
             Your confidence
and will keep your foot
    from being caught.

                   Proverbs 3. 25-26

(On what do I count on,
    or in Whom do I dwell?
My strength is not dependent
                 on circumstances,
but in the LORD.
Knowing that "I am with you,"
I can be responsive to my situation,
      not paralyzed by fear.
Fear is too heavy to carry,
and worry blocks out the light.)

Monday, January 16, 2017

Come to Me,
all who labor
  and are heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you,
and learn from Me;
for I am gentle
      and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest
              for your souls.
For My yoke is easy,
and My burden is light.

                  Matthew 11. 28-30

(Whatever you are carrying,
wherever you are,
Jesus meets you in your
                   deepest need.
He never accuses,
      "you brought this on yourself,"
but speaks in a still small voice,
              "I will give you rest."
His peace is never dependent
                    on circumstances,
             or performance,
but only on His grace.
He never meant for you
          to do life without Him.)

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Jacob went on his way
and the angels of God
               met him,
and when Jacob saw them
he said,
"This is God's army!"

            Genesis 32. 1-2

(God meets you 
     in your deepest need.
You are not alone.
Seek Him
and walk with Him through it.
Do not even try
          to go it alone.)

Saturday, January 14, 2017

...now then,
whatever God has said to you,
                            do.

                   Genesis 31. 16

(Even what is unexpected,
even what may not make
              sense at all,
follow Him into it.
Faith is not 
knowing the destination 
           -- or the outcome --
but knowing Who is leading me.
"I am with you."
It is not that 
God will open doors.
      He has already opened them.
I just don't see them yet.)

Friday, January 13, 2017

Then Jacob awoke
from his sleep 
and said,
"Surely the LORD 
   is in this place,
and I did not know it."

               Genesis 28. 16

(Even here.
Even in this impossible thing.
Even in the most unexpected,
  His fingerprints all over it.
Make us, O LORD,
aware of Your Presence.
You are already with us
   even in what 
   we cannot understand).

Thursday, January 12, 2017

They said,
"We can see plainly
that the LORD
      is with you."

        Genesis 26. 28

(Others are watching you
not to see if
you are successful
         or perfect,
not even to see if
God makes a difference,
but to know
   that God is real.
Walk with Him
       through this).

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

And He said to them,
"Why are you afraid,
       O men of little faith?"
Then He rose
and rebuked the winds and the sea,
       and there was great calm.
And the men marveled, saying,
"What sort of man is this,
that even the winds and sea
                           obey Him?"

                         Matthew 18. 26-27

(Jesus is bigger
      than any storm you face.)

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Trust in the LORD
     with all your heart,
and do not rely 
   on your own insight.
In all your ways
          acknowledge Him,
and He will make straight
                     your paths.

                  Proverbs 3. 5-6

(This is how God works.
All I need to bring before Him
     is a whole heart and willing mind.
Take God up on it.
God works in bigger ways
              than ever expected
  and always against the odds.)

Monday, January 9, 2017

...because you have
        obeyed My voice.

                 Genesis 22. 18

(God brings something very different,
absolutely incredible,
beyond your imagination,
   that which He designed for you.
Don't miss this.
I may not know where I am going,
   or what God is doing in this,
but I can know
      God is leading me
if I seek to follow Him into it.)

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Is anything too hard
        for the LORD?
At the appointed time....

              Genesis 18. 14

(God is at work,
even in those things
      I don't understand,
even in His divine timing,
even in His unexpected ways.
When we seek God
   rather than our narrow
   preconceived idea of
      what should happen,
       what God SHOULD do,
He aligns our hearts
with His created universe
           of possibility.
God's timing is always perfect.
God is never late.)

Saturday, January 7, 2017

... at this season next year.

                      Genesis 17. 21

(And sometimes we must wait.
God's timing is always perfect.
It is not that God is not ready,
          but am I?
The waiting room
        is never a time of sitting around,
but of training 
               not for what "happens,"
but for the divine purposes
       God has already prepared.)

Friday, January 6, 2017

Lift up your eyes,
and look from the place
        where you are...

                     Genesis 13. 14

(Look where you are,
       not where you are not.
God is at work there
   even in ways you cannot see.
Be not so quick or anxious
           to be someplace else
    or the other side of the fence.
You are strategically placed
       for a reason,
       for a season,
for His purposes fulfilled.)

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Now Sarai was barren;
       she had no child.

             Genesis 11. 30

(Despair is not the end of your story,
     but where Jesus
     meets you in your deepest need.
God had greater plans for Sarah
in unexpected ways.
Just as He does for you.)

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

But God....

           Genesis 8. 1

(God enters in
    and changes everything.
The LORD is neither a consideration
nor a distant variable in my day
but the very center of it
     upon which
     all things revolve.
Don't miss what He is doing.)

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Bear fruit
   that befits repentance.

               Matthew 3. 8

(What does "redeemed" look like
             in this?
If I am forgiven,
          everything changes.
All that I do,
all that I choose,
all that I see
and say
and think
and pray.
God changes my heart.)

Monday, January 2, 2017

Blessed 
    are those who take refuge
    in Him.
   
                        Psalm 2. 11

(A place not to hide,
but a place of strengthening
        from which to go forth.
His blessings are far deeper
and more profound
than we can ever comprehend,
because they always impact
others as well
                  for generations
even those we do not know,
even in ways we cannot imagine.)

Sunday, January 1, 2017

In the beginning
God created the heavens
                and the earth.
The earth was without form 
and void,
and darkness was upon
             the face of the deep;
and the Spirit of God
was moving over
the face of the waters.

                       Genesis 1. 1-2

(It is the new year,
standing unknown before me,
so much I cannot see,
I cannot know,
I cannot comprehend.
But God is already moving
    over the face of this deep.
God is already at work.
O LORD, 
help me to be faithful to You,
whether by streams of water
        or living like that,
bearing Your fruit
no matter where You place me.
Wilderness 
   is not a barren place in Your eyes,
only that yet to be explored
and cultivated.)

Happy new year, my friend.