Bring the full tithe
     into the storehouse,
that there may be food
          in My house.
And thereby
put Me to the test,
    says the LORD of hosts,
if I will not open
the windows of heaven for you
and pour down for you
a blessing
until there is no more need.

                Malachi 3. 10

(Watch what the LORD does
with a heart
surrendered to Him.
Not putting Him
          to the test,
but putting us to the test
   of taking His word as truth.
Not a financial issue
   but a heart condition,
not just about us,
but God blessing the world.
“You can’t trust Me too much.”
         —Andrew Murray
             Absolute Surrender
             1895)

Great is the LORD

beyond the border of Israel.

                Malachi 1. 5

(The LORD has no limitations,

no one beyond His grace

           and redemption.

God grants you ministry

outside the camp

    to point others to Him.

Even today,

even in this,

God has placed you strategically

      for His kingdom,

      for His name's sake.)

Let them praise

    the name of the LORD,

for His name alone is exalted.

His majesty

    is above earth and heaven.

                  Psalm 148. 13

(Did it even occur to me

to praise the LORD

           in this?

To claim His name over this,

to know that He reigns

       and not circumstances?

In praising the LORD

 -- putting my awe and reverence

and worship into words

and actions and attitudes --

everything I face today

    does not just look different.

                     It is different.

I know Him in

        yet another dimension.

Praising the LORD

changes us in tangible ways.

Bringing Him glory

        changes the world.)

...so that the feeblest among them

on that day

    shall be like David...

                 Zechariah 12. 8

(God uses the most unlikely people

                  for His purposes,

those who know

       in Whom is their strength,

who seek His glory

              and not their own.)

Ask rain from the LORD

    in the season of spring rain,

from the LORD

       who makes the storm clouds,

and He will give them

              showers of rain,

to everyone

    the vegetation in the field.

                  Zechariah 10. 1

(Did it even occur to me

     to ask God about that?

To ask from Him

    His way in this,

    His provision,

    that which only He can do?

The LORD provides rain

   in unexpected ways

and in the most unlikely places.

God brings forth fruit in its time.

Our prayers and His provision

   impact more than we can count,

   even those we do not yet know

and those who do not yet know Him.

Ask rain from the LORD.)

One generation shall commend

         Your works to another

and shall declare

         Your mighty acts.

                  Psalm 145. 4

(Do my children

and my grandchildren,

even those with whom

    I interact every day,

know the chronicle

  of His faithfulness

             in my life?

Do they know the details

    of His story in me?

One generation

               to the next,

point others to Jesus.)

Merry Christmas!

For unto us a Child is born,

    for unto us

             a Son is given.

            Isaiah 9. 6

(written 800 years

   before the birth of Christ)

For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only Son,

that whoever believes in Him

should not perish

        but have eternal life.

For God did not send His Son

into the world to condemn the world,

but in order that

   the world might be saved

                        through Him.

                    John 3. 16-17

(God's gift of grace

and love

and forgiveness

and salvation

    to the world.

Jesus Christ has come.

A weary world rejoices.)

And in the same region

there were shepherds out in the field,

keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord

                appeared to them,

and the glory of the Lord

               shone around them,

and they were filled with fear.

And the angel said to them,

"Fear not,

for behold, I bring you

      good news of great joy

that will be for all the people.

For unto you is born this day

                in the city of David

a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you:

you will find a baby

      wrapped in swaddling cloths

and lying in a manger."

                  Luke 2. 8-12

(And the world

         has never been the same.

For unto you,

           Jesus has come.

The Christmas story

is not just another story,

  but that which is real

and changes everything.

             Even us.)

Not by might,

not by power,

    but by My Spirit,

says the LORD of hosts.

Who are you,

         O great mountain?

Before Zerubbabel

   you shall become a plain.

And he shall bring forward

the top stone

amid shouts of

      "Grace, grace to it!"

                 Zechariah 4. 6-7

("I can't do this"

is exactly where God wants me to be.

         Because He can do even more.

Not on my strength,

                   or performance,

           or hindered by imperfection,

     but "by My Spirit."

How do I approach

            these impossible people

        and this volatile place?

How do I live out

my faithfulness to God?

      "Bring grace,

       bring grace to it.")

Here is a call

   for the endurance

and the faith of the saints.

            Revelation 13. 10

(You have been

        strategically placed.

You were made for this.

This impossible situation

       you are in its midst,

be faithful to God in all things.

Stand firm,

wear the full armor,

and bring the name of Jesus.

That is exactly

           why you are there.

Not for your entertainment or ease,

    but to bear witness

                      and be faithful.

Who stands forth

when it comes down to the hard stuff?

Those who have been redeemed.)

...the wilderness,

where she has a place

         prepared by God,

in which she is

    to be nourished...

             Revelation 12. 6

(The wilderness is

often a place where we ask,

"What in the world am I

               doing here?

     Did I make a wrong turn?"

         into a place of loneliness,

              into a place of isolation,

        where I don't want to be.

But in Scripture and in God's eyes,

the wilderness is

              a place of wonder and awe,

      and never a barren spot,

but a trail of tremendous growth

             and God's revealing.

The circumstances

    nor the landscape may not change,

but God transforms me in it.

Do not fear the wilderness,

              but embrace God in it.

You are not alone.  Never alone.

   Never without profound purpose.

God Himself

     walks with you in the woods.)

Be strong,

all you people of the land,

          declares the LORD.

Work,

       for I am with you,

       declares the LORD of hosts.

...My Spirit remains in your midst.

               Fear not.

                Haggai 2. 4

(In modern English

           or ancient Hebrew,

"fear not"

     means amazingly "fear not."

How many more times

            does God have to say it?

What scary situation

                or impossible people

has God placed before me

            in my work or on my path?

What if there was nothing to fear?

How would I approach this

                 with different vision

       and a huge helping of grace?

Spend my limited time and energy

                     on work,

    not wasted on worry.)

The LORD your God

    is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

He will rejoice over you

            with gladness;

He will quiet you

             by His love;

He will exult over you

             with loud singing.

             Zephaniah 3. 17

(The LORD your God

       is in your midst.

Even now,

even here,

even when I can't see

           through the fog,

God is fulfilling His purposes

                   for me.

That is all I need to know.

"Seek Me in this,

     seek Me through this.")

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

    and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

    and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet

   I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy

       in the God of my salvation.

God, the Lord,

             is my strength;

He makes my feet like the deer's;

He makes me tread

             on my high places.

               Habakkuk 3. 17-19

(My favorite words in the Bible:

              Yet God.

No. Matter. What.

Even when it looks like

     this is not going to end well,

even when I am overwhelmed,

even on the scariest precipices,

             nothing to hold onto,

         my feet can't touch bottom,

yet God.

    I stake my life

                 on His steadfast love.)

And now

I will break his yoke from off you

and will burst your bonds apart.

                   Nahum 1. 13

(When we seek Him

           and walk with Him,

the LORD releases us

   from whatever we fear,

even right in the midst

               of where we are,

from whatever binds us,

   both real and imagined,

that we would bring Him glory

    in impossible places

              if not for Him.

I can't do this by myself.

"Exactly. Walk with Me.")

With what shall I come

    before the LORD,

and bow myself

    before God on high?

...He has told you, O man,

what is good;

and what does the LORD

              require of you

but to do justice

and love kindness,

and to walk humbly

         with your God?

             Micah 6. 6-8

(Bottom line:

    Love God

    and love others well.

Every which way you can.

Even in this.)

...and they shall beat

their swords into plowshares,

and their spears

       into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up

             sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war

                         anymore,

but they shall sit

   every man under his vine

   and under his fig tree,

and no one shall

               make them afraid.

                  Micah 4. 3-4

(God's way in volatile situations

   or impossible relationships

is always

peace, reconciliation, grace,

     forgiveness and love.

Be the first

to lay down weapons,

    cast away ammunition,

and to turn what destroys

      into what builds and plants.

Be the first to forgive

           and to ask forgiveness,

the first to extend your hand,

and the first to make that call

       to break the awful silence.

"Love them to Me.")

          

         

And the people of Nineveh

                  believed God.

                   Jonah 3. 5

(That is the greatest miracle

      in this story of a whale.

Faithfulness always

             produces fruitfulness

in unexpected dimensions

      and many layers

and beyond the boundaries

                 of time.

God has

strategically positioned you

         to point others to Him.)

After this I looked,

and behold,

a door standing open

            in heaven!

          Revelation 4. 1

(What kind of door

       am I looking for?

The door which brings me

into a more intimate

       relationship with Christ

is always open,

unlocked,

and the porch light on.)

        

Behold,

I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears My voice

      and opens the door,

I will come in to him

             and eat with him,

and he with Me.

              Revelation 3. 20

(Not a matter of looking

           for open doors,

but opening our hearts

                  to Him.)

Seek good,

    and not evil,

that you may live;

and so the LORD,

              the God of hosts,

will be with you.

                Amos 5. 14

(Whose way do I seek?

    My way, or His in this?

Seek good.

Good does not just 

        arrive on the doorstep,

and rarely the easiest,

quickest,

most scenic route,

           but He is with you,

through treacherous places.

He will not just reveal

               His passage through,

but His Presence all around you,

      right in the midst of the mess.

For His glory.)

Be faithful unto death,

and I will give you

     the crown of life.

           Revelation 2. 10

(And I am afraid,

uncomfortable,

reluctant,

to be faithful to God

in this awkward

   or inconvenient situation?

Faithfulness to God

     and intimacy with Him

grows ever deeper

in my everyday choices

to bring the name of Jesus

     even right where I am.)

"Yet, even now,"

    declares the LORD,

"return to Me 

          with all your heart..."

               Joel 2. 12

(There is one certainty in life:

       we all mess up.

But our relationship with God

is not based on perfection,

nor success,

nor achievement,

nor performance,

but on His unending love and grace.

His door is always open,

the light is always on,

a place right next to Him

      waiting at the table.

He lives here,

      He dwells with us.

It is not God who comes back,

                but us to Him.

Yet, even now,

        His grace never falls short.)

   

Sow for yourselves righteousness;

         reap steadfast love;

break up your fallow ground,

for it is the time

         to seek the LORD,

that He may come

and rain righteousness

                     upon you.

               Hosea 10. 12

(What am I planting in this?

God always in time

         and a bizillion ways

bears fruitfulness

    through faithfulness to Him,

beyond our vision

and even beyond the boundaries

         of our lives on earth.

Faithfulness is not bound by time.

On the Other Side,

we will stand amazed

         at what God has done.)

Let us know;

let us press on

        to know the LORD;

His going out

    is sure as the dawn;

He will come to us

             as the showers,

the spring rains

       that water the earth.

                 Hosea 6. 3

(Not just knowing about Him,

      but knowing Him.

It doesn't just happen,

   like a package suddenly

                 on the doorstep,

but a deepening relationship.

Press on, seek, pursue daily,

         to know Him more.)

...not as though I were writing you

a new commandment,

but the one we have had

               from the beginning --

that we love one another.

                   2 John 4. 5

(Every which way we can.

The most meaningful ways

       are the most unexpected,

not in stuff,

but a different tune,

           and a new heart.

Not I,

      but Christ in me.)

And there

    I will give her her vineyards,

and make the Valley of Achor,

                           a door of hope.

                         Hosea 2. 15

(Achor means trouble.

And so God transforms

    our Valley of Trouble,

that impossible barren place,

and reveals His way

  not just through it,

                    but in it.

We look for exits

             and new opportunities,

but even in the toughest places,

    God always keeps

    an open door of hope.

"Trust Me, even in this.")

But go your way till the end.

And you shall rest

and shall stand

   in your allotted place

at the end of the days.

                Daniel 12. 13

(God does not call us

    to be successful

    or famous

    or perfect,

just to be faithful to Him

               in all things

for His glory.)

...but the people

    who know their God

shall stand firm

and take action.

                 Daniel 11. 32

(Ready,

willing and able,

because of daily choices

to follow God

           and stand strong,

despite the prevailing winds.

The equipping does not arrive

on the doorstep out of the blue,

but takes place

          on every ordinary day

by praying,

reading His Word,

and following faithfully,

               even in this.

There is no small stuff

when it comes to

        responding to God.)

But you have been

     anointed by the Holy One...

                   1 John 2. 20

(Anointed and appointed.

And that should change

the way we look

       and how we respond.)

...because you are strong,

and the Word of God

                abides in you,

and you have

       overcome the evil one.

                 1 John 2. 14

(Our confidence and strength

     are ours by the Presence of God

     and the power of His Word

                       in our lives.

Don't be distracted.

We live in enemy territory,

but the adversary has

              power over you.

You belong to Jesus.)