Friday, March 31, 2017

...at the place
which the LORD will choose,
to make His name 
                dwell there.

          Deuteronomy 16. 2

(Why do we always assume
     that is someplace else
     where the LORD is leading,
and not where He has led me
       right where I am today?)

Thursday, March 30, 2017

And before the LORD your God,
in the place where 
                He will choose,
to make His name dwell there...

                    Deuteronomy 14. 23

(Wherever He leads me today
    -- even in unexpected places
and among impossible people--
I am there
    to bear His name
and fulfill His purposes.)

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Be careful to heed
all these words
which I command you,
that it may go well with you
and your children after you
                                for ever,
when you do what is
          good and right 
in the sight of the LORD your God.

                      Deuteronomy 12. 28

(Be careful to hear
                and heed.
There is profound purpose 
           in faithfulness to God.
God will sustain you,
strategically appoint you,
transform the trajectory of your life,
and directly impact
  those all around you
  and those who come after you,
people you will never know
               on this side of life.)

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

And as for the good soil,
they are those who,
hearing the Word,
           hold it fast
in an honest and a good heart,
and bring forth fruit
with patience.

                      Luke 8. 15

(Hear the Word,
               hold it fast.
Whatever I am holding on tight
   changes the course
   of my day
 and the trajectory of my life.)

Monday, March 27, 2017

O God,
You know me fully,
the wrongs I have done
   are not hidden from You.
Let not those who hope in You
   be put to shame through me,
       O LORD God of hosts,
let not those who seek You
    be brought to dishonor
    through me,
          O God of Israel.
           
                  Psalm 69. 5-6

(Let what I do
      point others to You,
not away from You.
May I always be mindful
               of You,
of doing what is right,
or choosing what is wrong.
Others are always watching
      and impacted by it.)

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Rebuke the beasts
    that dwell among the reeds.

                    Psalm 68. 30

(Do not let what might be
overshadow what you do know.
What is unknown to me
   not unknown to God.
God is victorious 
      over beasts,
      over phantoms,
over foes both real
                and imagined.
He is my strength. )

Saturday, March 25, 2017

...even among the rebellious,
that the LORD God
        may dwell there.

             Psalm 68. 18

(Even here.  Even now.
     Yes, even among 
     the people around you.
See them differently.
Love them differently.
The rebellious are only those
     who are desperate for God.
May we be faithful
          wherever
          He strategically places us.
Why am I here?
Bring the love of Jesus there.)

Friday, March 24, 2017

For the LORD your God
has blessed you
in all the work of your hands.
He knows
    your going through
    this great wilderness;
these forty years
the LORD has been with you;
you have lacked nothing.

                 Deuteronomy 2. 7

(God knows exactly
    what you are going through.
There is not just a plan in it,
but purposes embedded
in every step of the journey,
     not just the outcome for you,
but even generations after you.
God is faithful.
He is not about 
     to abandon you now.
God never promised
          life would be easy,
but "I am with you."
Watch for His fingerprints.)

Thursday, March 23, 2017

...You let men ride over our heads,
we went through fire
       and through water,
yet
   You have brought us forth
         to a spacious place.

                  Psalm 66. 12

(Sometimes God's deliverance
   is right through the impossible.
"Yet" is trusting Him in it,
     that which we cannot see from here.
"Yet" makes a path of dry ground
             in the midst of an angry sea
     and even with an army close behind.
"Yet" is a chronicle
          of God's faithfulness.
Things are not going to be ok;
        God is doing something extraordinary.)

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

And he left everything,
     and rose
and followed Him.

              Luke 5. 28

(What is Jesus 
     calling me into?
Not always to go,
but sometimes to stay
      right where I am.
Not always what to do,
but always
              who to be.)

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

And when He had ceased speaking,
he said to Simon,
"Put out into the deep
and let down you nets
               for a catch."
And Simon answered,
"Master, we toiled all night
          and took nothing!
But at Your word
I will let down the nets."
And when they had done this,
they enclosed 
           a great shoal of fish;
and as their nets were breaking,
they beckoned to their partners
in the other boat to come
                   and help them.
And they came
         and filled both boats,
so that they began to sink.

                         Luke 5. 4-7

(Our responding to God
     impacts everyone around us.
What impossible thing
         is God nudging you to do?
Even in what seems to
    make no sense at all.
Put out into the deep
    and let down your nets.
God always redeems 
         wholly following Him,
even in ways we may never see,
and sometimes in ways
               that break our nets.)

Monday, March 20, 2017

And Jesus answered him,
"It is written,
'You shall worship
     the Lord your God,
and Him only
                shall you worship."

                        Luke 4. 8

(Everyone worships something.
We are wired that way.
If you do not serve the LORD,
a lesser god will take
               His rightful place.
What or whom I worship
    changes the trajectory
              of my life
and impacts everyone 
                      around me.)

Sunday, March 19, 2017

...the son of Maath,
the son of Mattathias,
the son of Semein,
the son of Josech,
the son of Joda...

             Luke 3. 26

(All men and sons
I have never heard of,
but all who were
       faithful to God,
generation
           upon generation,
a lineage of faithfulness.
And too,
our personal relationship
                 with God
and choosing to be
       faithful to Him
profoundly impacts children
      to the furthest generation.
There are
    no small obediences,
no trivial decisions,
no insignificant faithfulness.)

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Bear fruits
that befit repentance.

                   Luke 3. 8

(What does  a changed heart 
                 look like?
God changes a natural reaction,
    into a supernatural response.
It is not in me,
                 but You, O LORD.
You produce in me
a different way,
     a new kind of fruit,
faithfulness
even in an unchanging landscape
       and difficult soil.
Not just in what I do,
     but who I am
     and Whose I am.)

Friday, March 17, 2017

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

                    Psalm 60. 12

(Trusting in Him,
God conquers those things you fear,
                 both real and imagined.
God is bringing you 
         through this hard place,
probably in unexpected ways.
There are no small victories
               in God's economy.
But don't go forth alone.
Cling to the first two words:
               With God.)

Thursday, March 16, 2017

But I will sing of Your might;
I will sing aloud
of Your steadfast love
         in the morning.

               Psalm 59. 16

(Music is not just 
          entertainment.
But God gave
   the power of music
                 to worship Him,
to push back the darkness,
to give us strength.
What songs am I singing?
A soundtrack of despair
         or of praise?)
            

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

O God,
break the teeth in their mouths,
tear out the fangs
        of the young lions,
                    O LORD!

                      Psalm 58. 6

(Those things that I fear
      lose their grip on me.
That is what trust,
forgiveness,
and obedience do.)

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

I cry to God Most High,
to God who fulfills 
          His purpose for me.

                     Psalm 57. 2

(God is at work.
God's purposes
   are profoundly deeper
   than I can ever know.
In Him,
all things hold together,
all things redeemed
         -- even this--
even what I cannot see
                or understand,
faithful to Him
      even in what
      is mystery to me.)

Monday, March 13, 2017

When I am afraid,
I put my trust in You.
In God,
   whose word I praise,
in God
   I trust without a fear.
What can flesh do to me?

                     Psalm 56. 3-4

(When I am afraid,
            I have two options:
I can freak out and panic,
or I can trust in God.
Trust and praise
       form a shield around me.
God may not pluck me
     out of danger or difficulty,
but He will protect
and strengthen me through it
              for His glory.)

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Cast your burden on the LORD,
and He will sustain you;
He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.

                      Psalm 55. 22

(Everyone struggles 
               with something.
Commit it to the LORD,
trust in Him,
and watch what only God
     can do with it.
You are not alone.
"I am with you.")

Saturday, March 11, 2017

But if 
the LORD creates 
     something new....

           Numbers 16. 30

(Something impossible,
something new
is God's specialty.
Watch for
God's Presence in this.
Even in this.
That we would 
    know Him more,
a whole new dimension 
               of God.
Not "You can do this?"
but "This is 
       Who You are.")

Friday, March 10, 2017

But my servant Caleb,
because he has
   a different spirit 
and has 
   followed Me fully...

           Numbers 14. 24

(Following God
does not mean adopting 
   a different lifestyle,
but God leading you
to an incredibly new
       trajectory in life.)

Thursday, March 9, 2017

But God ....
    
       Psalm 52. 5

(His Presence 
   changes everything.
Remember that God
   is in this equation.)

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

And the people 
      complained ...

           Numbers 11. 1

(Grumbling makes us
look right past
God's goodness.)

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

At the command of the LORD
                   they encamped,
and at the command of the LORD
                    they set out.

                     Numbers 9. 23

(What my day should look like,
what obedience to God looks like,
not adherence to marching orders,
but walking with Him.
Pray, watch, live expectantly.
There is profound purpose
               in following God in it,
even in what I may never know.)

Monday, March 6, 2017

The LORD bless you
           and keep you.
The LORD make His face
     to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up
  His countenance upon you,
and give you peace.

                 Numbers 6. 24-26

(Go forth today
     in God's Presence and
with His blessing upon you.
Nothing will be the same
   because He changes
           everything about you.)

Sunday, March 5, 2017

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 everything you can about God
and don't keep it to yourself.
Your relationship with God
directly impacts
your children 
      to the farthest generation.)

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Jesus said to them,
"Render to Caesar,
    the things that are Caesar's,
and to God
the things that are God's."

                           Mark 12. 17

(We have a civic duty,
but we also bear
        a sacred calling
   to be faithful to God,
to honor Him in all things.
His image is imprinted
  on who we are
         and Whose we are
and thereby seen
     in all we do.
What things are God's 
                        today?
That would be my life.)

Friday, March 3, 2017

When a man dedicates his house
        to the LORD....

                 Leviticus 27. 14

(Whose name am I writing on it?
My day,
my work, 
my relationships,
my actions,
      my reactions,
what I am struggling with,
and even my attitude toward this.
Nothing can ever be the same.
A change of direction,
      a change of heart.)

Thursday, March 2, 2017

If you walk in My statutes
and observe My commandments
                   and do them,
then I will give you your rains
            in their season,
and the land 
    shall yield its increase,
and the trees of the field
    shall yield their fruit...
And I will walk among you,
and will be your God,
and you shall be My people.

               Leviticus 26. 3-4, 12

(Walking with the LORD,
listening to Him,
loving Him with all your heart,
will change the course of your life.
Guaranteed in writing.
God gives you His Word.)

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

...before the LORD continually...

                 Leviticus 24. 3

(My needs,
my wounds,
my love,
       my praise.
Bring it before Him,
      come before Him.
What can I do about this?
        The place to abide is before Him,
             not in the miry bog.
There is nothing too insignificant 
     nor anything too big
     for God to handle.)