Thursday, December 31, 2020

 

Behold,
I send My messenger,
and he will prepare
the way before Me.

          Malachi 3. 1

(By our faithfulness
  in the ordinary
  and in the crisis,
our obedience
  even when we
  don't understand why,
our love for God
      and others,
our words and deeds,
our daily seeking Him
    and marinating
    in His Word,
our selflessness
   when we don't need to,
our forgiveness
   when we do,
our encouraging and
  strengthening others,
loving neighbors,
strangers, sojourners
     and foes,
we prepare
  the way of the LORD
  in the lives of others,
even those we will
             never know,
even those yet unborn.
And God prepares
   our way before Him.)

O LORD,
Help us to realize
that You use us
to point others to You,
even when we
     are most unaware.
We are messengers
   of Your grace and hope
   and love.
That is humbling indeed.
Be fruitful through us,
                O LORD,
even in our bumbling.
Help us to prepare Your way
    in every divine appointment
    and sacred encounter.
May we --
this last day of 2020
and into the years beyond--
pray continually,
live faithfully,
love well,
and practice grace
    over and over again.
We pray beyond
    our daily bread.
We pray for lives
   that bear much fruit,
even that we will
             never yet see.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

 

Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD
     a new song,
His praise
in the assembly
         of the godly.

         Psalm 149. 1

(How different
would our days,
our lives
    and our hearts be,
if we started the day
with praise
and gratefulness
and recognition of God?
To seek Him first in it,
instead of stumbling
   and grumbling through,
to respond to His voice
and to His Word,
instead of reacting to
   circumstances,
to be known as His
and recognized by
  His grace in our hearts
and His praise
        and kindness
        on our lips.
Praise is not just
   something we do,
but profoundly
and unalterably doing
   something to us.
Praising God
expresses our love
for Him
and simultaneously
   changes our hearts
and vision into the day.)

O LORD,
Guide us in our way today,
open our eyes
    to how to serve You,
open our hands
    to restore and build
    and rebuild and love,
empower us to
   leave bitterness behind
   and fill us over the brim
   with compassion,
redeem what we have
   only seen as the
   hard and rough places,
train us in godliness,
renew Your Spirit in us,
help us to walk with You
     right here,
     right now,
     even in this,
above all, O LORD,
align our hearts
            with Yours.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

 

And on that day
there shall be inscribed
on the bells
of the horses,
     "Holy to the LORD."
And the pots
in the house of the LORD
shall be as the bowls
before the altar.

             Zechariah 14. 20

(The patterns of the
 sacred order of things
are inscribed
all around us.
Even the ordinary
            is sacred,
every moment holy,
every word and deed
  devoted to Him,
as it should be,
a means of worship.
Write His name
  at the top of our paper
Who this day belongs to.
Inscribe and engrave
on everything
       in this day,
  "Holy to the LORD."
Not as a reminder
              to Him,
           but to us.
His name changes
my vision
toward this opportunity
and even that irritation.
Nothing
can remain the same,
not even my attitude
           in it.)

O LORD,
May we see this day,
just steps away
from the end of this year,
with Your eyes
and our hearts
      aligned with Yours.
May we engrave
   Your holy name
on everything we do
and say
and think
and pray,
how we see what is
        around us
and how we love
    who is around us.
Help us to bring
   Your name to this place
and situation
and relationship.
For the well-being
            of others.
For Your glory
    in every dimension.
For the flourishing
      of Your kingdom.


Monday, December 28, 2020

 

...the LORD,
who stretched out the
            heavens
and founded the earth
and formed the spirit
of man within him.

      Zechariah 12. 1

(When we embrace
the reality of God
and acknowledge Him
     by our lives,
we see ourselves,
others,
and circumstances
            differently.
Every person,
every incident,
every minute detail,
every word,
every kindness,
are profoundly significant
       in God's eyes.
All are opportunities
      to worship Him
and spread the knowledge
       of the Almighty
throughout all the earth.)

O LORD,
You are our Creator
and not we ourselves.
Help us to listen,
linger,
and seek You
wherever You have placed us
in time and space today.
Align our hearts with Yours.
Don't just guide us, O LORD,
but be our vision
that we would know You
and make You known.

 


Sunday, December 27, 2020

 

Ask rain from the LORD
in the season
of the 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

(Do we think provision
       just happens?
Do we take for granted
      the growth and
      the fruitfulness,
      and well-being?
Do we take credit?
Do we even ask,
or seek God about it
or talk to the LORD
    about our need
    and response
    and what to do?
"Have you asked Me
            about it?"
      says the LORD.)

O LORD,
We come before You
not just with our need,
but in gratefulness
      for Your provision
in so many dimensions.
Every need,
every seed,
every encounter
--no matter how huge
     or how small--
is profoundly significant
in our intimacy with You.
May our needs
   draw us closer to You.
Help us to realize
that our vision and provision
is exceedingly different
because we know You,
because we love You.
We have the capacity
      to love others
because You first loved us.



Saturday, December 26, 2020

 

The LORD is
gracious and merciful,
slow to anger
and abounding in
      steadfast love.
The LORD is good
               to all,
and His mercy is over
all that He has made.
...The LORD is
faithful in all His words
and kind in all His works.
...The LORD is
righteous in all His ways
and kind in all His works.

 Psalm 145. 8-9, 13, 17

(This is not just
what God does.
This is who God is.
May we reflect Christ
abiding in our hearts --
gracious, merciful,
seeking peace,
abounding in love,
good to all,
faithful and kind.
These are not things
   to bring with us
but reflect our hearts,
     aligned with His.
How do we approach
this situation,
respond to difficult people,
navigate this rocky path,
if this is our identity in Him?
May we bear the marks
                  of Jesus.)

O LORD,
Help us not just to be
mindful of You,
but faithful and responsive
       to Your heart in this.
Help us to approach
each day,
each opportunity,
each task,
even each struggle
in worship to You.
And help us to
reflect You
wherever we are.

Friday, December 25, 2020

 

Old men and old women
shall again
sit in the streets
         of Jerusalem,
each with staff in hand
because of great age.
And the streets of the city
shall be full of
boys and girls
playing in its streets.

            Zechariah 8. 4-5

(This is a compelling picture of
God's redeeming
      and restoration.
It is what faithfulness does
and what restoration
                   looks like,
laughter,
peace,
love,
grace
for the most vulnerable.
In the midst of our
      greatly broken world,
we cry, "O God, do something!"
And He replies,
"That's why I put you there.")

O LORD,
Help us to realize
that even our dismay
over this broken world
is your call for faithfulness
and compassion
and Your love
   echoing in our hearts.
Fill us
that Your love
    would spill over
into the restoration
           of this world
and work in the redeeming
     of lives around us.
You have gifted
        each one of us
to bring Your name
and Your glory
wherever You place us.
Even today.
You offer us windows,
doors,
cracks,
and empty places
to be a blessing to others
      and to bless You,
to love others
     and to love You.
Help us to know how
  to respond to Your leading.
Thank You this Christmas
for sending Your Son
that we would know
how beloved we are
             by You.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

 

And they sing
the song of Moses,
the servant of God,
and the song of the Lamb,
singing,
"Great and amazing
    are Your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true
    are Your ways,
O King of the nations!
Who will not fear,
O Lord,
and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
All nations will come
        and worship You
for Your righteous acts
   have been revealed."

          Revelation 15. 3-4

(This song does not appear
on our Christmas playlists.
But it puts to words and tune
    the story of Christmas.
It is the song of the Lamb
who came to us
to save us by His grace.
God works out of
    tremendous love
    and grace
    and holiness
to restore this world
and redeem our lives.
Judgment means
  making things
  right again.
God's love means
   making things
   right again.
That is why He sent
         His Son.
That is why we have
      Christmas.
What song are we singing?)

O LORD,
We come before You
singing worship songs
around Your throne.
May Your light and love
and grace and glory
radiate through us
on this Christmas Eve.
For You alone
           are holy.
O come let us adore You,
every which way we can.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

 

Not by might,
nor 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

(And to those things
so overwhelming,
do we shout
       "Grace?"
Or come before them
   with shouts of worry,
and stress
and boatloads of anxiety?
It is not in us
to overcome by ourselves,
but by His Spirit.
May we call on the LORD
to cover and saturate,
to heal and strengthen,
to seek Him
to infiltrate by His grace.
All of us have
unscalable mountains
of one sort or another.
And God says to each,
"My grace is sufficient.")

O LORD,
When we are weary,
            You know.
When we are overwhelmed,
   You lead us
through the impossible.
When we seek and shout
         "Grace to it!"
we see the situation
              differently,
because we see You
             differently.
You have been here
all along,
and we did not know it.
Even in this.
Help us not to sense
Your Presence with us,
but to stake our lives
                  on it.
You answer us
in our days of distress
and are already with us
wherever we go.
Even in whatever
we will face today.


Tuesday, December 22, 2020

 

Here is a call
for the endurance and faith
of the saints.

          Revelation 13. 10

(That pretty much
sums up 2020,
a year
no one ever expected.
But it is also a year
to which we are called
in the midst of hardship,
despair
and crisis,
to that which we are
called every day
to be faithful to God.
Others are continually,
desperately watching
to see if God is real,
how we respond to crisis,
and how we love them.
Does anyone see
any difference in us?)

O LORD,
For Your strength
we pray,
for Your wisdom
we call to You,
for You
      we seek.
Please grant to us
the endurance
and faith that we need
and to which
       we are called,
right where You have
strategically placed us
in time and place,
in hard situations,
and in a broken world.
Even in this,
bring Your glory to it.
We may not understand,
but we can know You.
There is always
something far deeper
going on.
May others see
Your love and grace
in us today,
our hope in You
on which we
   stake our lives.


Monday, December 21, 2020

 

...and fled into the wilderness,
where she has a place
prepared by God,
in which she is
       to be nourished
for 1260 days.

          Revelation 12.6

(We all
at one time or another
find ourselves
     in wilderness places.
The wilderness
  is not a scary
  barren place,
but a refuge
    from the ordinary
    or the overwhelming,
a place not to hide
  but of safety and
  strengthening
from which to go forth.
What is unknown to us
is known
and secured by God,
filled with wonder
  when we walk
with Him in it,
and discover dimensions
of God's Presence
we have not known before.)

O LORD,
In so many different ways,
we face what appears
as the impenetrable forest,
a wall of brambles,
a stretch of foreign land,
the sounds of beasts
    hiding in the reeds,
and no obvious trail.
But You know where
             You lead us.
You have prepared
   a place for us there,
where we can
come to know You more.
Open our eyes
to Your wonders
       all around us,
grant us the strength
       to go forth
       with You.
We are not alone.
We need not be afraid.
You are with us.
And that changes
          everything.
Worry just trips us up,
and fear blocks out
              the light.

Sunday, December 20, 2020

 

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. 4-5

(I can't do this.
"Indeed," says the LORD,
"because you are carrying
    what you were
    never intended to carry,
and you are trying to do it
                without Me."
Fear binds up our feet
  and trip us up
                every time
and insists on bringing
unnecessary baggage.
What would we do
and what would we do
                differently
if we grasped His Presence,
and knew God is with us
                     in this
and we had no fear about it?)

O LORD,
Help us to respond
            to Your nudges
and to Your vision
  unclouded by our doubts.
Help us to be strong,
courageous
and get going
  for Your work before us.
Even here,
   right where we are,
watching for You,
following You,
responding to what
    You are doing
and getting to work.
In everything,
    bringing You glory.
Nothing insignificant
      in Your Kingdom.



Saturday, December 19, 2020

 

But I will leave
         in your midst
a people humble
             and lowly.
They shall seek refuge
  in the name of the LORD,
those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no injustice
and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found
in their mouths
       a deceitful tongue.
For they shall graze
             and lie down,
and none shall
    make them afraid.

          Zephaniah 3. 12-13

(The marks of arrogance
are injustice, deceit and fear.
But trusting in God
produces what is humble,
just, and seeking His way
     in desperate situations
     and on ordinary days.
God always prevails over
          circumstances,
    when we seek Him.
God is in our midst.
How then shall we live?
   In His Presence
   and as those beloved
                by Him.
And that will look
  ridiculously gracious and
  unexpected in this world.
When we abide in Him,
   we need not be afraid.)

O LORD,
Lead us through the brambles
  and on a different path,
keeping our eyes on You
    and not on ourselves
    or fearful of others.
Fill us with Your grace
  that it will spill out
  and overflow
    into the lives of others.
Help us to push back
             the darkness,
             bitterness
             and fear
with compassion
and grace
and the power of Your love.
Use us to help
       those all around us
  by coming alongside them
and love them
       right into Your kingdom.

Friday, December 18, 2020

 

Though the fig tree
  should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vine,
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

(Yet.
Even still.
Besides.
In addition.
Nevertheless.
On top of everything else.
Yet is a statement of hope,
   not looking into the future,
   but rooted fully in the past.
Yet is what God's faithfulness
                    looks like.
This scripture should be
   the bedrock verse
               of 2020.
Not just get us through,
but bearing fruit
   even in the unexpected.
Not just surviving
        but thriving,
 no matter the circumstances.
Not a narrow squeak
        but His Almighty hand.
Not "oh you were lucky,"
  but wow, we are so blessed,
             even in this.)

O LORD,
May we worship you,
even in the unusual
         and unexpected
and the mysteries of life.
We can know You.
We can trust You.
We can sing Your song
   in all that we do,
even in unusual situations.
Help us to bring Your name
       to what is before us.
And to seek You in this,
             not just an answer.
Pour over us Your joy,
               O LORD.



Thursday, December 17, 2020

 

The LORD is good,
a stronghold
   in the day of trouble;
He knows those
  who take refuge
                 in Him.

             Nahum 1. 7

(To what do we turn
    not if
    on the day of trouble,
               but when
   the struggles come?
Who or what
        is our stronghold 
   directs the course
   of our lives.
Our grip is weak,
but the LORD has
   a strong hold on us.
In Him, a refuge is not a place
      of defeat or hiding,
but of strengthening,
    from which to go forth.
A refuge is a dwelling
  in the midst of circumstances
  where God's victory resides.
Nothing random,
nothing He cannot redeem,
all eternal,
all loving,
even when
        we don't understand,
and perhaps
  even more powerful
  when it is
  beyond our vision.)

O LORD,
You are good.
You do good,
  even in the mysteries
  of this life,
even on what appears
         as the edges.
You did not promise
that life would be easy
     in this broken world,
but all through Your Word,
You have underlined
     "Do not be afraid.
      I am with you."
Help us to rest
           in Your goodness,
hold tight to You,
and engrave Your words
in our vocabulary,
in our hearts
      and in our lives:
"for You are good,
for Your steadfast love,
          endures forever."
On You, O Almighty One,
   we can stake our lives.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

 

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 to love kindness,
and to walk humbly
    with your God.

             Micah6. 6,8

(With what do I worship
     the LORD Almighty?
With what do I approach
     people in my life,
     this difficult situation,
     the cavernous potholes,
this I-have-no-idea-
          what-to-do?
Do that which is good,
right, loving, gracious,
  and totally unexpected.
It is not just what
               we are doing,
but what it is doing
       to our own hearts.
Grace gets indelibly over
          everyone.)

O LORD,
When we trudge
    through the miry bogs,
when we fall
    on uneven pavement,
when we sit in darkness,
You are our light,
You lift us up,
You heal our wounds,
You show us not just
     the way through,
but into a closer
      intimacy with You.
Help us to walk with You,
to run with You,
to rejoice even on the ascents.
Be glorified, O LORD,
     in our very steps.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

 

...and they shall
beat their swords
  into plowshares,
and their spears
  into pruning hooks;
nations shall not lift up
  sword against nation,
neither shall they
  learn war anymore...

              Micah 4. 3

(Making a daily choice
  to follow God's ways
and walk with Him
  through the volatile
with a heart
   transformed by
   the love of Jesus.
Violence always feeds
on fear and selfishness.
The peace of God
 disarms the confrontation
and changes the course
      into a conversation.
How am I approaching
   this difficult situation
            differently
because I am a believer?)

O LORD,
Teach us Your ways
that we may walk in them
  and walk with You,
despite landmines
and avalanches
and ambushes
          along the way.
Help us to walk
  in Your name
for Your glory in this.
Fill our hearts
      with Your peace
and our pockets
bulging with Your grace.
Help us to be
       known as Yours.

Monday, December 14, 2020

...and golden bowls
      full of incense,
which are the
   prayers of the saints.

        Revelation 5. 8

(Does it matter if
           we pray?
Each and every one
    of our prayers to God
matter more than
   we can ever know.
Our prayers are
so precious to God
that He keeps
      and treasures
every one of them
in bowls of beauty
    and great value.
The very act of praying
may or may not
change the circumstances,
but God always
changes our hearts
   through them.
We see God differently,
we see the situation
 with a new heart and eyes,
we see His Presence
    in impossible places.
In our struggles,
do we realize
"you mean I could have
     prayed about this?"
To seek God
   and not just an answer.)

O LORD,
Please
we ask in Your mercy
to order our days,
guide our steps,
direct our thoughts,
establish our work,
abide with us,
bear much fruit,
weave Your grace,
 and align our hearts
         with Yours.
You are the Almighty,
    even in this.


 

Sunday, December 13, 2020

 

The fear of man
    lays a snare,
but whoever
  trusts in the LORD
            is safe.

         Proverbs 29. 25

(Trusting in God
     will always
take us on a different route,
a different journey,
a different destination.
Trusting in the LORD
   never leads to
   a singular outcome.
The path of the faithful
  is always an adventure.
And it impacts generations,
    far beyond our lifetimes.
What we choose to do--
trusting God
    or enslaved by fear--
does something to us
       and through us.
Are we tripped up
  by the fear of the unknown,
or strengthened
           by the Known?
Fear paralyzes us.
Trusting God energizes.)

O LORD,
Help us to trust You
in the every days
that we will know
how to trust You
when the crises come.
May trusting You
     become our default,
driven by prayer
   and not by panic.
As we are surrounded
    by the marauding hordes,
not knowing what to do,
may we first turn to You
              and ask,
"What if
    I trusted You in this?"

Saturday, December 12, 2020

 

I was no prophet,
nor a prophet's son,
but I was a herdsman
  and a dresser
  of sycamore figs.
But the LORD took me
from following the flock,
and the LORD said to me,
"Go prophesy
   to My people Israel."

            Amos 7. 14

(Nothing speaks
more convincingly
to an unbelieving people
than faithfulness to God
  wherever He
  strategically sets us,
in the most unlikely
             situations,
in the most unexpected
             places,
in how we work,
in what we do,
in how we respond.
Faithfulness to God
  is never insignificant,
no matter what form
       it may take,
nothing He cannot use
    for His glory,
    for our good,
for the restoration
   of this broken world.
There are no lowly jobs
   in His Kingdom,
but essential and eternal.
It is not just what
       faithfulness does,
but what faithfulness
    does in us.
Not marching orders,
    but "walking with Me.")

O LORD,
Assure, affirm, encourage
each one of us today,
wherever You have
   placed us for Your glory.
You are working
          powerfully,
even in what we
  cannot yet see.
Help us to be faithful
      to You
in whatever we do today,
even in our attitudes.

Friday, December 11, 2020

 

But let justice
roll down like waters
and righteousness
like an everflowing stream.

            Amos 5. 24

(Selfishness and
     self-righteousness
 dry up the rivers
   that bring life
and hope and goodness.
Doing what is good and right
   and loving in the sight of God
is always the
          right thing to do.
God nurtures.
God redeems.
God brings life
  when we seek the welfare
  of those we know
           and don't know.
It is not that we
       allow God to work,
but God works through us,
even in unexpected places
   and bears fruit
   in drought or desert.
We have no idea
the power of God's grace
  through our choices
                   and deeds,
no matter how insignificant
                 they appear to us.
We can't do everything,
   but we can do something.
We see a trickle of water.
God sees a mighty river.)

O LORD,
The world is broken and suffers
    from injustice and wrongdoing.
Help us to hold fast to You
  and Your ways,
even when it seems like
              treading water,
       or going upstream
  against the prevailing current
  of complacence
             and evil around us
     and in our own hearts.
Help us to seek You in this day
focusing and faithful to You,
and thereby,
choosing to be
      responsive to circumstances
  and not distracted
       or defeated by them.
Help us to know
   that being faithful to You,
to bringing the
         name of Jesus there,
may be what does not just
not just keep our own heads
             above the waters
 but keeps someone else afloat.
  

Thursday, December 10, 2020

 

Do not fear
what you are
            about to suffer.
...Be faithful unto death,
and I will give you
   the crown of life.

           Revelation 2. 10

(No one likes to talk
            about suffering.
But because we live
     in a broken world,
we should not
         be surprised by it.
But even in suffering,
       God is with us.
Even the hard stuff,
     God redeems.
God is holding us fast
     in it and through it.
We are not alone.
             God is with us.
Practicing the reality
          of His Presence,
     trusting Him even on
     the most ordinary days,
strengthens us for the now
            and for the next.
Fear not.
"Surely the LORD is in this,    
     and I did not know it."
             Genesis 28. 16)

O LORD,
Even in mystery,
    help us to trust You.
Even in what we
     do not understand,
guide us
       into Your design.
Even in the sufferings,
   grant us Your strength.
There is hope in You,
            O Almighty One,
that on which
    we can stake our lives,
not just for an end to hardship,
but there is You
       right in the midst.
 We need not fear.
You are right here with us,
for Your glory,
for Your Kingdom,
for Your name's sake,
and firmly in Your hands.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

 

I will restore to you
the years that
the swarming locust
         has eaten...
You shall know
that I am in the
       midst of Israel,
and that I am
  the LORD your God
and there is none else.

                  Joel 2. 25, 27

(Our hope is not just
that there is an end
     to this hardship,
no matter
      what it is
      or how long it lasts,
but there is
   redeeming and restoration,
even in the midst of difficulty.
God is with us even now
that we may know Him,
   and not just believe,
entirely new dimensions
of who God is
and His unbounded grace.)

O LORD,
You have appointed us
to bear witness
          to Your Word
and to the testimony
     of Jesus.
Help us to be a blessing
   to all around us,
sensitive to needs,
and a strengthening
  to those who are
  suffering so much,
even in that
       we are not aware.

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Sow for yourselves
          righteousness,
reap steadfast love,
break up
     your fallow ground,
for it is time
  to seek the LORD
that He may come
and rain righteousness
                upon you.

             Hosea 10. 12

(What is before me
               in this day?
What am I seeking to sow,
what am I hoping to reap?
Have I considered
      God's way in this
or the abundance of land
   around me left untouched,
   abandoned to weeds,
even this impenetrable clay,
       riddled with rocks?
May we sow, reap,
   and seek rightness,
justice, virtue,
deliverance, redemption,
and the welfare and blessing of
  those God places on our path.
And to bring the name
     and grace of Jesus there.
We see just dirt,
    but God alters
            the landscape.)

O LORD,
Please align our vision to Yours
that we would grasp ministry
in the yet untilled ground
            around us,
that which only appears
   as ordinary or difficult.
It is not so much
the landscape that needs altering
     as much as our hearts.
Compel us to join You
   in sowing, cultivating
   and preparing Your way
                 even in this.

 

Monday, December 7, 2020

 

I had much to write to you,
but I would rather
    not write with pen and ink.
I hope to see you soon,
and we will talk
               face to face.

             3 John 1. 13-14

(And if John did not
   have to resort to writing
   due to separation, exile
          and afflictions,
we would not have
   his letters and books.
Little did he know
how God would use
     this inconvenience
            of being apart.
Little do we know
  how God is impacting others
through what we only see
as the hardship and
        isolation of pandemic.
God is with us.
Our circumstances
              are never random,
   never beyond what God
                      can use.
Our vision is always
              way too short.)

O LORD,
Keep us faithful
in sowing Your Word,
Your grace and love
                and mercy,
despite difficulty
               and dismay.
It is not that You will use this,
    but You are already working
in more dimensions
   that we can ever know.
Bear through us
         all kinds of fruit,
that which will come after us,
that which sustain others,
that which we can see
         to encourage us.
Bear Your imprint
                through us
by helping us to approach
   this day differently
because we know You.
Nothing but nothing
goes to waste
           for Your glory.


Sunday, December 6, 2020

 

As the mountains
     surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD
     surrounds His people,
from this time forth
         and forever more.

              Psalm 125. 2

(God's Word is full
of visual images,
stories,
parables,
to make the reality of God
    understandable.
No matter where we are,
   lift up our heads
                 and look.
Not here's God
   or there's God,
   but God is,
     and He has spoken.
He has not changed,
He is not limited
         by dire circumstances,
     or threatening forecasts,
     or public opinion.
He is right here all along.
If we cannot see Him,
that is because
    we are surrounded
         by His Presence.
God is with us.)

O LORD,
You are here.
You are with us.
May we live in the reality
      of Who You are,
may we live in the reality
      of Whose we are,
not just accountable to You,
        but loving You back.
May we lead a life
              worthy of You,
fully pleasing to You,
bearing fruit
          in every good work,
increasing in knowing You,
              (Colossians 1. 10)
and bringing
   the name of Jesus here.


Saturday, December 5, 2020

 

And there
I will give her
   her vineyards
and make the
        Valley of Achor
a door of hope.

             Hosea 2. 15

(The Hebrew word achor
   literally means
        the valley of trouble.
In the most unlikely places,
even in the midst of
difficulty, mystery,
            and despair,
trusting God
--and responding to Him--
      opens our eyes
to something different in this,
to the doors,
the paths,
the strength
He has already placed there.
Even here in this valley.
Even in this
    impenetrable forest.
With God,
we always have hope
on which we can
         stake our lives.
Not on a particular outcome,
or answer of our own making
but in the Presence of God
and His steadfast love
  which has no expiration.)


www.nightlytea.blogspot.com

Friday, December 4, 2020

But at that time
your people shall be delivered,
everyone
  whose name shall be found
  written in the book.

            Daniel 12. 1

(A. W. Tozer once wrote,
"What comes into our minds
when we think about God
is the most important thing
                 about us."
That which most impacts
       the course of our lives
  is our relationship with God.
Those whose names
  are written in His book of life,
are not those who
           deserve to be there,
or who have earned that right,
but those who desire
   to be written in His story.
It is not our names
           inscribed there,
but Christ's written over ours.
That is why
              Jesus came.)
 
O LORD,
Turn our eyes to You,
                Almighty One.
We walk with You,
we abide in You,
and nothing can be the same.
May we desire to know You
    and to be known as Yours,
lights in the darkness
    to point others to You,
to love others right to You.
We know love
    and what it looks like,
and how to respond,
    because You first loved us.
Infiltrate every thought today,
every action,
every attitude with Your Spirit
 that we would know You more.

 

Thursday, December 3, 2020

...but the people
  who know their God
shall stand firm
     and take action.

         Daniel 11. 32

(Nothing new.
Business as always.
What we know,
what we are already
         practicing,
how we love,
how we respond.
Seeking God,
marinating in His Word,
walking with Him,
building fellowship
     with God's people,
praying continually,
serving the welfare
     of our cities,
equips us to stand firm
             and take action,
not just in crisis
    but in the every days.
It is not just what we do,
   but what it is doing to us,
aligning our hearts
                 with His.)

O LORD,
Equip us and prepare us
not just for what is to come,
       but for what is now.
Help us to not be
     defeated by circumstances
     or impervious to them,
but responsive.
You have strategically
              placed each of us
    for Your glory,
right here for Your sake
to stand firm
          and take action
and bring the name of Jesus
                       here.


 

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

...touched me
   and strengthened me.

          Daniel 10. 18

(The faithful ones
           in the Bible
are not just somehow
  people with special abilities,
          different from us,
but those who have
         sought the LORD
         and His strength.
It is not a
    change of circumstances
    that we need most,
but a change of heart,
a new strength from God
        to carry us through,
not just to lead us to a place
 where someday He can use us
but how He is using us now,
         along the way.
God is changing our vision
  that we endure not an uphill battle,
but walk, climb, run with Him
    with songs of ascent.)

O LORD,
Touch us
and strengthen us
     in this day ahead
that You will be glorified in it,
that we would know You more,
that we would set our hearts
                      on You
   and not on circumstances.
Help us not to forget
   Your Presence with us,
and to not overlook
that our help comes from You,
who made heaven and earth.
Leave Your imprint
             on whatever we do
and on who we are.




 

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

 

In my distress
   I called to the LORD,
and He answered me.

            Psalm 120. 1

(First response,
     not last resort.
How much time and energy
   we waste
   because we are trying
   to find our way out
              on our own?
When we call on Him,
    God always answers,
often in unexpected ways,
never in singular purposes,
sometimes a rescue helicopter
 to pluck us out of the miry bog,
sometimes His strength
  to walk through to the
           other side of this,
sometimes He sends
     one who is faithful
     to come alongside.
Don't attempt it without Him.
When we trust God in His designs,
   He always brings us
   to a deeper intimacy with Him,
   to know Him more,
      and reveal Him to others.
How are we able to do that?
    Not on our own,
             but in Him.)

O LORD,
We struggle.
We all struggle with something.
But in our distress,
    we are drawn closer to You.
We know that we
           are not in control,
but in our dismay,
     we realize that You are.
Draw our eyes and hearts
   not to our weakness,
but to Your strength.
Your purposes are deeper
   than we can possibly know.
Dismay is only thinking
  that You can't use this.
We don't have to understand
         Your purposes in this
  to be faithful to You in them.
You give me strength
  even just to know
            You are in this.


Monday, November 30, 2020

 

But the saints of the Most High
shall receive the kingdom
and possess the kingdom
          forever,
          forever and ever.

               Daniel 7. 18

(God's Kingdom is
not just that which is
            yet to come,
but what is now,
the flourishing
       of the Gospel
in what we hear,
we see with our eyes,
we look upon
           day after day,
and touch with our hands.
His Kingdom is not just next,
           but now.
What are we looking toward,
praying toward,
working toward,
loving others toward,
pointing,
seeking,
and nurturing in our lives
  and the lives of others?
The Kingdom is
    being planted by His Word
and tiny seeds of His grace
  wherever we can sow.
The Gospel is made manifest
              in our lives,
not as a statement of beliefs
              or worldview,
but through
  our own personal story
  woven into His,
and with the name of Jesus
  written all over it.)

O LORD,
Help us to tend
to our little corner of
   Your kingdom
where You have placed us.
Even in barren soil,
  You alter the landscape.
Even in the wilderness,
  You bring Your glory.
Even in gloomy days
    of great hardship,
  or filled with what
  we see as just ordinary,
You are already working
mightily before us.
Align our hearts to Yours,
               O LORD.
Be our vision
            into this day.

Sunday, November 29, 2020

When Daniel knew that
the document had been signed,
he went to his house
   where he had windows
   in his upper chamber
   open toward Jerusalem.
He got down on his knees
  three times a day
and prayed
and gave thanks before His God,
   as he had done previously.

                   Daniel 6. 10

(Not out of defiance
           but faithfulness,
not just a habit
  but the course of his life,
not out of fear
         but his strength.
It was not just what we do,
  but what it does to us,
not impervious to circumstances,
   but responsive to God.
Trusting God
   is not just a reaction to crisis,
but a way of life.
Trusting God always leads
to a far different outcome
and impacts generations
                 yet unborn.)

O LORD,
Thank You for Daniel's story
     of faithfulness
   that impacts our very lives
thousands of years later.
Help us to be
     not fearful of circumstances
     but faithful to You
    even in the every days,
that we would already know
   You walk with us
            in the crisis.
You who saved Daniel
      out of the den of lions,
You are the same God
     who loves us too
     and abides in us.
Help us to know
what trusting You looks like
  in this situation,
in these relationships,
in how we work,
in what we do,
and in how
   we practice grace and love.
May our love for You
     distinguish us.
You are the God who is near,
   and nothing but nothing
   changes that.




 

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Whoever works his land
will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows
        worthless pursuits
will have plenty of poverty.
A faithful man
  will abound with blessings...

           Proverbs 28. 19-20

(What is a worthless pursuit
                         today?
What is an act of faithfulness?
Am I working the land
   that God has given me
to bear fruit
   in nourishing others now
and even more
         beyond my lifetime?
God always bears fruit
       through faithfulness,
even if we never see
          or understand.
God redeems
         in countless ways
   of which we are unaware.)

O LORD,
You have given each one of us
      a corner of Your Kingdom
to plant and cultivate
             and nourish.
Help us to be faithful to You
       in this day
even when it appears
           nothing is happening.
Because You, Almighty One,
   are already working
      Your glory into this.
There are no mundane tasks
       or ordinary days,
only Your divine,
   deeply rooted purposes,
most of which are far beyond
                our grasp.

 

Thursday, November 26, 2020

O give thanks to the LORD,
      for He is good;
for His steadfast love
             endures forever!

          Psalm 118. 1

(This is the most repeated
   refrain in the Psalms.
Recite,
repeat,
repeat again and again,
engraving these truths
   into our hearts.
It is truly the song
      that never ends.
We are thankful,
but are we thankful to God?
Are we thankful for God?
God does not just do good.
      God is good.
His steadfast love
            endures forever,
even in what
    we don't yet understand.)

Happy Thanksgiving,
    even in this strange season,
God is good.

O LORD,
You are good.
You are so good to us.
May even our thanks
    and praises we sing
point our hearts ever
                  to You.
We can stake our lives
    on Your steadfast love.
May we bear Your love
    and bring Your Name
into impossible places,
that we would know You more
  and be distinguished
  by Your love through us.


 

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Have no fear of them,
nor be troubled,
but in your hearts
  honor Christ the Lord
              as holy,
always be prepared
to make a defense
to anyone who asks you
for a reason
for the hope that is in you;
yet do it with
   gentleness and respect.

           1 Peter 3. 14-15

(When we set our hearts
      to honor Christ,
even in places
  latent with fear and trouble,
a hope that cannot be
           explained away
will be tangibly obvious
in the most unexpected ways
   --in how we respond,
         our attitudes,
   and even on our faces.
Always be prepared
to make a defense,
   not by memorizing
   scripted answers,
but by practicing grace.
How do I approach this
       --or them--
differently because
        I am a believer?
Hope in Christ,
  is not wishful thinking
but that on which
      we can stake our lives.)

O LORD,
May Your Presence
   be evident
by our actions
      and reactions,
a deep love for You
    and by love of neighbor,
stranger,
even those who
        have wronged us
    or who don't know You.
Help us to pray continually,
live faithfully,
love well,
and practice grace
            over and over.
Help us to bear daily witness
    to Your glory.
Help us to be aware of that.



 

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Their leaves will not wither,
nor their fruit fail,
but they will
bear fresh fruit every month,
because the water for them
flows from the sanctuary.
Their fruit will be for food,
and their leaves
              for healing.

            Ezekiel 47. 12

(This is how
our lives should be
for the well being and
sustenance of others,
for beauty,
for the bearing of
           fresh fruit
     of every kind,
for healing,
and for His glory
  wherever we are planted.
We are nourished
  and continually filled
  by the flowing of the Spirit,
the living water
         from the sanctuary.
Our lives
  should look very very
                different,
bearing fruit
       even in drought,
even in unexpected places.)

O LORD,
Fill us by Your Spirit,
sustain us by Your Word
     Your Strength,
and Your victory
even in the unexplainable,
even in what
    we cannot yet know.
Help us to bless others
       in some way today
that points them to You.
Help us to bless You
   in whatever we do
   and how we do it.
May You bear fruit
  through our lives.
  

 

Monday, November 23, 2020

 So put away all malice

and all deceit
and hypocrisy 
and envy
and all slander.

         1 Peter 2. 1

(We have the freedom
    to walk away from them,
to live without them,
to live differently,
and practice grace
              even in this.
Set these things
        out on the curb,
no longer wanted,
no longer needed,
     and live forgiven.
Carry instead 
  what makes for peace.
What are we
     bringing to the table?)

O LORD,
Wash over us,
sing over us Your grace,
teach us a new song
     with words of grace
         and healing
      and reconciliation.
Help us to
          not be distracted,
help us to not miss out
  on Your thriving in this
which is not limited 
                to us
but overflow 
    with Your goodness 
    for others.
May we be known
       by our love for You.


Sunday, November 22, 2020

I have chosen
the way of faithfulness,
I set Your rules
              before me,
I cling to
      Your testimonies,
                  O LORD;
      let me not be
             put to shame!
I will run in the way
   of Your commandments
when You
          enlarge my heart.

            Psalm 119. 30-32

(What I choose,
what I set before me,
what I cling to,
all determine
      how I will run
      and what I will love.
Love God.
Love others.
Time with God
     enlarges our hearts.
Time with God
     is never wasted.
"Run with Me.")

O LORD,
Help us to choose Your ways,
to set our minds on You,
to align our hearts
                   with Yours,
to cling to You
  when everything tries
  to distract and
             pull us away.
Help us to not be defeated
        by circumstances
but instead,
             to grow in You.
Enlarge Your vision in us,
enlarge our strength in You,
       even in this difficulty.
Help us to go forth
           in Your name,
           for Your glory,
to run with You,
and love everyone we can
     right into Your Kingdom.



 

Saturday, November 21, 2020

How can a young man
     keep his way pure?
By guarding it
   according to Your Word.
...I have stored up
   Your Word in my heart,
that I might not
             sin against You.
...I will meditate
         on Your precepts
and fix my eyes
         on Your ways.

     Psalm 119. 9, 11, 15

(We don't just
        read God's Word,
  but we are being changed
        in radical ways.
Every time we open His Word,
it changes us
    and everyone around us.
And when we don't,
   we are the ones
          missing out
   on what could have been.
God's Word guards us
     and alters
       the course of our lives
       more than we know.)

O LORD,
Thank You for Your Word
that we can know You
     and know You more.
Help us not just to read it,
    but ponder
    and abide in it.
Rise up in us Your Word
   throughout our day
to fix our eyes upon You
   to respond to circumstances,
   not be defeated by them.
Your Word put us back
     on the path of Your glory
     in this situation before us.
It is not in our reading
  but Your doing through it.
We are being changed
     by what we read,
     by what we now see,
     by how we respond,
     by how we love You
                 even more,
                 ever more.

  

 

Friday, November 20, 2020

He said to me,
"This is the table
   that is before the LORD."

         Ezekiel 41. 22

(This is the break of
            a new day,
  an altar before the LORD.
Did it even occur to me
   to pray over it first
   before I launch into it?
To weave into these hours
         Coram Deo,
  before the face of God?
Our day is not offered to Him
        as a sacrifice,
but received from Him
       as a blessing,
an opportunity to
     both serve and abide,
even in what we
           do not understand.)

O LORD,
We come before You,
not just with
       our self-made plans
and ideas of what
           You should do,
but we hand over our hearts
   that Your Spirit
   would pour over us,
infiltrate,
infect,
marinate away our hardness,
change us from
           the inside out.
Help us to not leave undone
   what would be pleasing
              in Your sight.
May our love for You
  define what we do and say
and how we seek
     to love others today
     in unexpected ways.
Help us to not leave empty
    the table before You,
help us to not leave
     You just standing there.


 

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Look with your eyes
and hear with your ears,
and set your heart upon all
   that I will show you,
for you were brought here
in order that
I might show it to you.

             Ezekiel 40. 4

(God has strategically placed
      each one of us
in space and time
        and experience
that we would know Him more
and in ways that we could not
    realize in any other situation.
God is continually
     revealing Himself to us,
pouring His Spirit over us,
His purposes abiding deeper than
  we can ever grasp.
And He is using us
   for His glory
  in innumerable lives.)

O LORD,
Your fruitfulness in us
is seamlessly woven
with purpose and beauty
    and excellence.
Help us to seek You
    in this particular situation,
to complete Your purposes,
to bring the name of Jesus here,
to work out of love,
and to be faithful to You.
May what we see and hear
and set our hearts upon this day
     bring You honor.
Your steadfast love
       endures forever.
Even in this.