...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?)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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. )

...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.)

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.)

...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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

...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.)

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.)

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.)

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?)

            

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.")

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.")

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.)

But God ....

    

       Psalm 52. 5

(His Presence 

   changes everything.

Remember that God

   is in this equation.)

And the people 

      complained ...

           Numbers 11. 1

(Grumbling makes us

look right past

God's goodness.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

...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.)