Saturday, March 31, 2018

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

                   Deuteronomy 16. 2

(Wherever I am today.
Even here.
Even in this.
Nothing is insignificant).

Friday, March 30, 2018

...for you are a people 
holy to the LORD your God.

                  Deuteronomy 14.21

(Seeing and living differently 
       because you know Him).

Thursday, March 29, 2018

But you shall seek the place
which the LORD your God will choose
out of all your tribes
to put His name 
   and make His habitation there;
thither shall you go...
and you shall rejoice,
you and your households,
    in all that you undertake.

                      Deuteronomy 12. 5, 7

(God always blesses faithfulness,
where you are
        and where He leads.
God redeems the impossible 
     with the unexplainable.
Bring the love of Jesus there.
The wilderness is not a wasteland,
    but just that which has not yet
    been planted).
But you shall seek the place
which the LORD your God will choose
out of all your tribes
to put His name 
   and make His habitation there;
thither shall you go...
and you shall rejoice,
you and your households,
    in all that you undertake.

                      Deuteronomy 12. 5, 7

(God always blesses faithfulness,
where you are
        and where He leads.
God redeems the impossible 
     with the unexplainable.
Bring the love of Jesus there.
The wilderness is not a wasteland,
    but just that which has not yet
    been planted).

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

"Who can stand
    before the sons of Anak?"
Know therefore this day
that He who goes over before you
as a devouring fire
is the LORD your God...

                     Deuteronomy 9. 2-3

(We all have giants in our lives
         of whom we fear.
God does not just show up.
     He goes before us.
We are not alone).
    
      

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

You shall not be in dread of them,
for the LORD your God
    is in the midst of you,
            a great and awesome God.
The LORD your God
will clear away 
these nations before you
               little by little;
you may not make 
       an end of them at once,
lest the wild beasts 
   grow too numerous for you.

                     Deuteronomy 7. 21-22

(Whatever I fear,
His incredible timing,
His perfect provision,
His shield
   even in what I don't understand.
Just watch to see
what only God Almighty can do.
Nothing is impossible,
   just unexplainable 
               if not for God).

Monday, March 26, 2018

Rebuke the beasts 
   that dwell among the reeds.

                   Psalm 68. 30

(Anything you fear,
      both real and imagined.
No matter how big the shadows,
       no matter how loud they growl,
the LORD is your shield.
     They cannot touch you).

Sunday, March 25, 2018

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

                   Psalm 68. 18

(What am I doing in this hard place?
Faithful to God.
Even here.
Bring the name of Jesus there).

Saturday, March 24, 2018

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 your God
        has been with you;
you have lacked nothing.

                 Deuteronomy 2. 7

(Not a wilderness at all
but a deeper dimension of knowing Him.
God is faithful.
He is not about to leave you
     stranded now.
The only thing we have lacked
        is trusting Him).

Friday, March 23, 2018

...we went through fire
         and through water,
yet
  You have brought us forth
      to a spacious place.

                 Psalm 66. 12

("Yet" is one of my favorite words
       in God's Word.
God is working profoundly
    even in what we do not see.
No matter how He leads,
    yet there is something more).

Thursday, March 22, 2018

...cities of refuge...

              Numbers 35. 6

(God is revealed to others
     by the unexpected 
     places of grace in our midst).

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

...He said to Simon,
"Put out into the deep
and let down your nets for a catch."
And Simon answered,
"Master, we toiled all night 
        and caught 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 help them.
And they came and filled both boats,
    so that they began to sink.

                      Luke 5. 4-7

(We have no idea the impact
of a single step of obedience.
Obedience changes our course,
deepens our relationship with God,
and radically transforms
          everyone around us,
even in what appears insignificant.
God specializes in 
               impossible situations.
Let down your nets).

Tuesday, March 20, 2018


...I think of You
upon my bed,
and meditate on You
in the watches of the night,
for You have been my help
and in the shadow of Your wings
        I sing for joy. 

                 Psalm 63. 6-7

(God is not about to
   abandon me now
   on the side of the road.
I waste a lot of time and sleep,
fearful of what I don't know 
                                  yet.
Worrying blocks out the light.
Trusting God
     navigates me through).

Monday, March 19, 2018

...so he called its name
                   Rehoboth,
saying, 
"For now the LORD 
         has made room for us,
and we shall be fruitful 
                   in the land."

                    Genesis 26. 22

(God is at work,
     even in the narrow squeaks,
     even in what only appears
                   as wilderness,
        His fruitfulness.
God specializes in the unexpected.
Impossible to us
                is His glory).

    

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Bear fruits that befit repentance.
                 Luke 3. 8
(How differently do I approach
this situation,
this difficulty,
this relationship,
this favor,
because I am a believer?
A forgiven soul
        takes a different route.)

Saturday, March 17, 2018

And coming up at that very hour...

                         Luke 2. 38

(And that is what 
responding to the LORD looks like,
not if we only knew,
       but if we only trusted Him.
God's timing is always perfect,
            more perfect than we think,
His purposes far more profound 
     than we can grasp.
Imagine that).

Friday, March 16, 2018

And in that region 
there were shepherds 
   keeping watch 
over their flock by night.

                  Luke 2. 8

(The faithful 
are strategically positioned 
as the most unlikely candidates 
     in unexpected places
to be witnesses of His glory
and bring 
       the name of Jesus there.
Even you.
Even in this.)

Thursday, March 15, 2018

And they were saying to one another,
"Who will roll away
the stone for us
     from the door of the tomb?"
And looking up,
they saw that 
      the stone was rolled back
--it was very large.

                     Mark 16. 4

(But not too big for God.
What is your big rock?
Respond to the LORD's leading.
It is not that a door will suddenly open
     or a barrier moved.
      Not that God needs to show up,
      but us.
             He is already there.
Where God guides,
God provides the impossible).

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

...for He who is mighty
     has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.

                      Luke 1. 49

(And that is only what
       we can see.
God fulfills His purposes,
           God redeems,
beyond what we can comprehend.
He who is mighty,
          even in this).



Tuesday, March 13, 2018

...to make ready for the Lord
         a people prepared.

                    Luke 1. 17

(Every relationship 
     is a divine appointment 
to point others to Him.
God is using you strategically,
     His love and grace in you,
even here,
even in this.
Encounters are never random,
         only profoundly eternal
   and intricately designed by Him).

Monday, March 12, 2018

...and behold 
the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi
had sprouted
       and put forth buds,
and produced blossoms,
and it bore ripe almonds.

                   Numbers 17. 8

(God's anointing,
God's appointing,
and the astonishing fruit He brings with it.
That's what obedience looks like.
You've seen nothing yet
    in what only God can do.)

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Behold,
God is my helper;
the LORD is
   the upholder of my life.

                   Psalm 54. 4

(Ingrained in the every days,
    evident in the crisis.
"Fear not, I am with you.")

Saturday, March 10, 2018

If the LORD delights in us,
   He will bring us into this land
   and give it to us,
a land flowing with milk and honey.
Only, do not rebel against the LORD,
and do not fear
        the people of the land,
for they are bread for us;
their protection is removed from them,
    and the LORD is with us;
do not fear them.

                     Numbers 14. 8-9

(There is alway a lot more at stake
than what appears on the surface.
"Trust Me in this. Trust Me with this."
Faithfulness always bears
       not just a different outcome,
       but a deeper relationship with Him.)

Friday, March 9, 2018

Now the man Moses was very meek,
more than all men
who were on the face of the earth.

                        Numbers 12. 3

(God always chooses and uses 
                         the unlikely,
those who could never do this thing
        on their own strength
                           but on His.
You want me to do what?
"But I am with you."
Obedience to God
 never unfolds in a vacuum.
Even in what appears insignificant,
           God reverberates 
           in the lives of others,
in His strength
  and for His glory.)

Thursday, March 8, 2018

...and the tabernacle was set up
       before their arrival.

                       Numbers 10. 21

(It's not that God shows up,
   but we are suddenly aware
          He is already here.)

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

...that it may be theirs
to do the service of the LORD.

                       Numbers 8. 11

(That this strange occurrence,
this unexpected situation,
this difficulty 
    or annoying relationship 
may be exactly ours
     to serve the LORD 
     and bring Him glory
in the most unlikely places.)
Even this
    is service to the LORD.)

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

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

                         Numbers 6. 24-26

(Even in this unlikely situation,
     even in this impossible place,
the reality of God's presence.
I love how these three distinct phrases
are not separated by semi-colons
               but connected by colons,
not attached truth,
      but blessing layered upon layer.
His blessing is always deeper
              than we can comprehend,
but sometimes appears
             as hope in tangible pieces.)

Monday, March 5, 2018

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 every dimension you can about God,
live it out and pass it on,
that the children yet unborn
      should set their hope in God.
This is not just something I believe,
               but stake my life on.
My relationship with God directly impacts
    the children to the furthest generation.)

Sunday, March 4, 2018

...they shall encamp
facing the tent of meeting 
on every side.

                   Numbers 2. 2

(Everyone encamps.
The significant difference
       is around what.
When God is at my core,
  He transforms the trajectory of my life
and points others to Him.
When I desire God,
everything does not just fall into place.
       Everything fits together.)

Saturday, March 3, 2018

If any one says to you,
"Why are you doing this?"
say, "The Lord has need of it..."

                    Mark 11. 3

(Live in such a way
that others are compelled
              to ask why,
in such a way 
that would not make sense
        if not for God.
The tiniest details
are never insignificant to Him.)

Friday, March 2, 2018

And Jesus said to him, 
“What do you want Me
             to do for you?”

                      Mark 10. 51

(He asks the same of us,
        one by one,
   in intimate conversation.
And how do I answer?
Do I even ask?)

Thursday, March 1, 2018

....before the LORD continually.

                      Leviticus 24. 3

(Not my stuff,
not my accomplishments,
nor my failures,
                 but my heart.)