Friday, June 30, 2017

But I do not account
my life of any value
nor as precious to myself,
if only
I may accomplish my course
and the ministry 
   which I received
   from the Lord Jesus,
to testify to the gospel
        of the grace of God.

                     Acts 20. 24

(Faithful to God
in His course for me,
     His ministry through me.
That which is most significant 
      for His kingdom
I will least suspect).

Thursday, June 29, 2017

...and the name of the Lord Jesus
       was extolled.

                 Acts 19. 17

(And on the bottom line,
that is what counts
       most of all
in whatever I do today.
Even in this,
       His name,
       His glory.
There is nothing insignificant 
    in God's economy).

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Then Jehoahaz 
   besought the LORD,
and the LORD
   hearkened to him.

          2 Kings 13. 4

(Inquire,
listen,
and heed.
It is not that the LORD
  doesn't hearken to us,
but it is we who don't 
     hearken to Him.
God will change
  the course of your day.
God will change
  the course of your life.)

Tuesday, June 27, 2017


And the LORD said to Paul
one night in a vision,
"Do not be afraid,
but speak
and do not be silent,
   for I am with you,
and no man shall attack you
to harm you,
for I have many people
                in this city."

                Acts 18. 10

(Do not be silent in this.
You are there for a deep purpose,
    surrounded 
         by God's anointed people,
even those you do not know
         in impossible places.
Seek them out.)


Monday, June 26, 2017

And some of them
   were persuaded...

           Acts 17. 4

(Share the gospel,
live it out before
everyone around you,
yes, even verbally.
You will be astounded 
by those who respond 
to God's calling
       on their lives.)


Sunday, June 25, 2017

But about midnight,
Paul and Silas were praying 
and singing hymns to God,
and the prisoners were
     listening to them.
...and immediately 
all the doors were opened 
and every one's fetters
     were unfastened.

                Acts 16. 25-26

(Fervent praying and praise
to God cannot help
but change everything 
and everyone around you.
Worship in the midst,
     even in the ordinary,
is a catalyst for
     the monumental.
God releases you
even in the impossible 
     to bring Him glory
in words and actions and attitudes.
Even now. Even in this place.)

Saturday, June 24, 2017

(One of my favorite passages)

When the servant of the man of God
rose early in the morning
and went out, behold,
an army with horses and chariots
was round about the city.
And the servant said,
"Alas, my master!
      What shall we do?"
Elisha said, "Fear not,
   for those who are with us
   are more than those
   who are with them."
Then Elisha prayed, and said,
"O LORD, I pray to You,
open his eyes
      that he may see."
So the LORD opened the eyes
   of the young man, and he saw,
and behold, the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire
round about Elisha.

                   2 Kings 6. 15-17

(Feeling that kind of
           overwhelmed?
"Then Elisha prayed..."
It is not that
    "God will show up,"
but He opens our eyes
to see He is already here.
The LORD is my strength.
Even in this.)

Friday, June 23, 2017

And then he said,
   "What then
     is to be done for her?"

             2 Kings 4. 14

(Who has God
     put on my path?
What need stands
     right before me?
I can't do everything,
but I can do something.
God's faithful people
are strategically placed
for profound purposes
        and His glory in it.
Never minimize 
  where God is using you.
No act of faithfulness 
    is ever insignificant.)

Thursday, June 22, 2017

A cheerful heart
     is a good medicine,
but a downcast spirit
        dries up the bones.

               Proverbs 17. 22

(I may not be able
to change my circumstances,
but God can change 
             my heart in this
and I can choose
     a day-changing attitude.
It impacts me
      and everyone around me.
It is not making the best of it,
     but seeking Him in it,
and bringing the reality of Jesus
                  into it.
O LORD,
    give me a different heart
through this miry bog.)



Wednesday, June 21, 2017

...that you may bring salvation 
  to the uttermost parts
                 of the earth.

                     Acts 13. 47

(And that includes your zip code.
Bring the name of Jesus with you,
      the gospel in real time.
Even there,
  where God has 
         strategically placed you
and to whom God has put
       on your path
       and on your heart.
The uttermost parts of the earth
    may be right under your feet.)

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

And Jehoshaphat said
           to the king of Israel,
"Inquire first
   for the word of the LORD."

                 1 Kings 22. 5

(What does God have to do
                  with this?
     Everything.
I don't want to miss out 
     on His way in this,
even in those things
    I will never comprehend.
God is not just 
     part of the outcome
        or a variable in the solution,
but God is the reality
   of the equation before me.
Inquiring first of the LORD
   avoids a lot of panic later.)

Monday, June 19, 2017

...the people of Israel 
encamped before them
like two little flocks of goats,
but the Syrians
         filled the country.

                1 Kings 20. 27

(Ever feel overwhelmed like that?
God is never limited
        by the odds against Him.
Indeed,
impossible situations 
       are His specialty.
What am I trusting Him for
    that only He can do?
God will show the way
    where there only seems 
                     to be no way.
He always has deeper purposes
       woven in the fabric.)

Sunday, June 18, 2017

So Peter was kept in prison,
but earnest prayer fir him
    was made to God
by the church.

                   Acts 12. 5

(And that is when
     things begin to happen.
Prayer does not change things.
God changes things.
God answers in incredible,
impossible 
and unexpected ways.
Praying acknowledges that
and brings us deeper in Him.)

Saturday, June 17, 2017

...and with the stones,
he built an altar
in the name of the LORD.

                1 Kings 18. 32

(Take these difficulties,
that impossible situation,
the big rocks on your path,
        and let the LORD redeem.
Build an altar to the LORD
            with them.
Worship Him through it.)

Friday, June 16, 2017

For thus says the LORD
           the God of Israel,
"The jar of meal
      shall not be spent,
and the cruse of oil
      shall not fail..."

                1 Kings 17. 14

(God is faithful.
Where God guides,
             He provides.
Do not fear.
God will sustain you.
God makes it enough.
Watch for how
     He brings it about.
"Trust Me in this.")

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

...for this thing
               is from Me.

                1 Kings 12. 24

(What in the world is this?
Watch, listen, follow, obey,
   even in what I do not understand.
What is God's way in this?
God always has deeper purposes 
    beyond my comprehension.
"Trust Me.")

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

But Saul,
still breathing threats and murder
against the disciples
                   of the Lord....

                  Acts 9. 1

(No one stands 
        beyond redemption,
nor beyond the grace of God.
Never stop praying for them.
Be bold in who you pray for.
You can never know
how God will use
    the most unlikely person
    for His glory.)

Monday, June 12, 2017

But an angel of the Lord
said to Philip,
"Rise and go
toward the south to the road
that goes down
from Jerusalem to Gaza."
This is a desert road.
And he rose and went.

              Acts 8. 26-27

(Immediate obedience
even when it does not
        seem to make sense.
God always has deeper purposes
       than we can see.
Forgive me, O LORD,
   for what I have missed out,
because I didn't follow You
                     into it.)

Sunday, June 11, 2017

...that My name 
       might be there...

          1 Kings 8. 16

(Why am I here in this place?
No higher purpose,
   the sowing of the Gospel
wherever He takes you.)

Saturday, June 10, 2017

And the LORD said to him,
"Take off the shoes
           from your feet,
for the place where
you are standing
           is holy ground."

                 Acts 7. 33

(Everywhere and anywhere
     God strategically brings us,
is the place of His abiding,
the reality of His Presence.
Even this impossible situation 
    is being used
    for His sacred purposes.
Even in what appears as wilderness,
        worship Him in it.
The LORD is here too.
Willing to follow Him barefoot
     is how He brings us through.)

Friday, June 9, 2017

...if you walk in My statutes
and obey My ordinances 
and keep all My commandments,
      and walk in them,
then I will establish 
            My Word with you...

                      1 Kings 6. 12

(It is not a set of beliefs,
but a life-changing relationship 
with the Creator of the universe.
Walk with Him.
He will lead you
    into a incredible life.)

Thursday, June 8, 2017

But we will devote ourselves 
to prayer
and to the ministry of the Word.

                       Acts 6. 4

(First things first.
Everything else
from the biggest vision
   to the tiniest detail
emerges from that,
beyond our wildest imagination,
the bearing of God's purposes.
Even in this.)

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

...but if it is from God...

               Acts 5. 39

(God has something
 so much more profound
       designed in this.
Follow Him into it,
even that you cannot possibly
        understand.)

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

As the LORD lives,
Who has redeemed my soul
   out of every adversity...

                      1 Kings 1. 29

(God redeems
even what appears impossible,
even in what IS impossible.
God never promised 
    that life would be easy,
but "I am with you"
           every step of the way.
Our stories 
are a chronicle of His faithfulness,
a revealing that
our help is 
    in the name of the LORD.)

Monday, June 5, 2017

...pleasant speech
      increases persuasiveness.

                      Proverbs 16. 21

(In every difficult situation,
in every impossible relationship.
What is a different way
         of approaching this?
Bring the grace of Jesus
                        to it.)

Sunday, June 4, 2017

The LORD lives.

            2 Samuel 22. 47

(And that changes everything)

Saturday, June 3, 2017

...and you shall be
My witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea
and Samaria 
and to the end of the earth.

                 Acts 1. 8

(No exclusions.
Even here?
Especially even here,
   strategically placed,
   divinely appointed.
Being a witness
     underlies whatever we do,
     influences whatever I do,
     changes who I am.
The concentric circles of witness
        have no boundaries
and run farther
          and profoundly deeper
than we can ever know.
What does that look like
     where I am today?
Yes,
        even me.)

Friday, June 2, 2017

Jesus said to them,
"Children, have you any fish?"
They answered Him, "No."
He said to them,
"Cast the net
on the right side of the boat,
and you will find some."
So they cast it,
and now they were not able
to haul it in,
for the quantity of fish.

                    John 21. 5-6

(That is what
following God's way into it
              does in our lives,
even when it does not seem
to make sense at the time.
The fish are there,
    more than I can know.
Am I willing to respond
to His voice in this,
His vision in this?)

   

Thursday, June 1, 2017

...Jesus came
       and stood among them
and said to them,
"Peace be with you."

              John 20. 19

(Jesus meets us
right in the place
of our deepest fear and need.
The peace of Jesus
is not the absence of conflict,
but His shalom
      --His wholeness--
right in the midst of it.)