But I do not account my life

of any value

   not 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

(Bottom line:

          glorify God,

          even in this.

Bring the name of Jesus there.

His grace

      gets all over everything).

And he did what was right

   in the eyes of the LORD...

              2 Kings 15. 3

(What, O LORD,

    is right in Your eyes?

Not just the right thing to do,

    but a right heart in this,

that in which is Your delight,

that which brings You glory,

                               not me).

The LORD's arrow of victory...

                2 Kings 13. 17

(What am I forgetting?

That which makes

all the difference in the world.

Seek His way in this,

     follow His heart through this.

God may not change circumstances,

   but He will bring us through.

When we seek the LORD,

something always changes,

        and that would be my heart).

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. 9-10

(Wherever you are,

live out the gospel,

speak boldly,

and other believers

will make themselves known to you).

He who restrains his words

            has knowledge,

and he who has a cool spirit

   is a man of understanding.

                    Proverbs 17. 27

(Navigational skills

    in any kind of storm).

...he put them into the inner prison

and fastened their feet

                 in the stocks.

But about midnight,

   Paul and Silas were praying

   and singing hymns to God,

and all the prisoners were

              listening to them...

                Acts 16. 24-25

(People are always watching

how you respond

to goodness or calamity

     to know if the Lord is God.

Even through what appears

       as the tiniest step of obedience,

God radically impacts more lives

       than you will ever know,

       more than you can ever count.

Bring the name of Jesus there.

Even in this).

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?"

He 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

(O LORD, enlarge my heart

       and my vision

  about what is before me.

Help me to know Your way in this,

      Your way through this,

      Your heart about this.

I am surrounded by Your Presence,

    even when I am unaware).

She said,

   "It will be well."

              2 Kings 4. 23

(Faith rises above circumstances.

Fear just blocks out the light.

God multiplies.

God redeems.

God blesses

  in ways deeper than I can know.

And it may not be about me).

And Elisha said to her,

"What shall I do for you?

Tell me;

   what have you

               in the house?"

               2 Kings 4. 2

(Either focus on what I don't have,

        or what I do.

God grants deeper vision

   to see differently

what I have,

what is before me,

      right where I am.

Every square inch).

Is it because

    there is no God in Israel

to inquire of His Word?

           2 Kings 1. 16

(Don't live as if He doesn't.

Have I even talked to Him

          about this?

Not telling Him what to do,

and how to do it,

                  and when,

not "why, O LORD,"

            but what.

God makes a way

where there only appears

               to be no way.

He has a lot bigger vision in this,

     and He is bringing you through).

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel,

"Inquire first

   for the word of the LORD."

                        1 Kings 22. 5

(First response,

       not last resort.

"It didn't even occur to me

     to ask the LORD about this."

Even in this,

His purposes are

             deeply embedded,

that which would astonish us,

   His extraordinary

   on the most ordinary of days.

Mundane is never in God's dictionary).

How shall we sing

          the Lord's song

in a foreign land?

           Psalm 137. 4

(Wherever strategically

           He places me today,

every which way I can,

in word and deed and

             attitude,

grace and gentleness

     where they are not known,

to bring the name of Jesus.

Even here.

Even in this).

And behold,

the LORD passed by,

and a great and strong wind

     rent the mountains,

and broke in pieces the rocks

                before the LORD,

but the LORD was not in the wind;

and after the wind an earthquake,

but the LORD was not in the earthquake;

and after the earthquake a fire,

  but the LORD was not in the fire;

and after the fire,

                        a still small voice.

                         1 Kings 19. 11-12

(Seek the LORD,

         not just an answer.

He will reveal Himself to you

  in incredible, unexpected,

             unexplainable ways.

Sometimes just a whisper,

        "Follow Me in this.")

And he said to his servant,

"Go up now,

       look toward the sea."

And he went up and looked, and said,

            "There is nothing."

And he said,

     "Go again seven times."

And the seventh time he said,

  "Behold, a little cloud

   like a man's hand

             is rising out of the sea."

                  1 Kings 18. 43-44

(Pray expectantly.

Not if God answers,

                  but how.

God always responds,

      in His way

   and in His incredibly perfect timing).

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 specializes 

   in impossible situations.

This is not a hard place,

but how His faithfulness 

         is revealed.

God is in this

        for His glory

in more dimensions 

than you will ever know.

"Trust Me in this.")

So he went in and out

   among them in Jerusalem,

preaching boldly

 in the name of the Lord.

                   Acts 9. 28-29

(In our comings

          and goings,

wherever we are,

among whomever,

   even her, even him,

boldly in words,

grace, 

deeds

      and attitudes,

bringing the name of

             Jesus there).

...for this thing
           is from Me.

              1 Kings 12. 24

(God is deeply  
               entrenched,
His purposes
     seamlessly woven,
even in what we see as annoying          
           situations
or impossible people,
      an interruption,
          a disruption
      a dead end,
     or overwhelming.
God does not expect me
               to understand,
but to be
 faithful to Him
        knee deep in it).

...by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

                          Acts 9. 22

(Not by argument

or a carefully crafted speech,

not by perfection

    but by faithfulness to God

         and deep grace to all.

There is nothing more powerful

    than a transformed life.

Others are always watching you

not to see if you are perfect,

but to see if this God of yours

                       is real.

Even in this.)

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.

And behold...

                           Acts 8. 26-27

(Obedience and faithfulness

     do not hinge on

knowing the reason why,

just knowing God has

            incredible purpose in it.

Even on a desert road.

Divine appointments

     always arrive unexpected

   and are rooted in the eternal.

And we are surrounded by them.

"And behold...").

Now those who were scattered

went about preaching the Word.

                  Acts 8. 4

(There is deep purpose

           and divine design

where you are right now

   "that My name might be there."

Even in what I cannot understand

   even in what appears as chaos,

        God does not just bring order to it

   but uses you for His glory.

Don't be distracted

           from His divine appointments.

   You are surrounded by them.

Bring the name of Jesus there.

                  In word and deed).

And on the tops of the pillars

          was lily-work.

                  1 Kings 7. 22

(That's what kindness and gentleness

          look like.

Bring beauty to the ordinary,

    grace as a token of our King.

In what our world would deem

       unnecessary and insignificant,

that which is profound 

                           and unexpected).

Unless the LORD

          builds the house,

those who build it

                labor in vain.

Unless the LORD

     watches over the city,

the watchman

          stays awake in vain.

             Psalm 127. 1

(Unless the LORD.....

Do not live as if

            God does not.

Accomplishment is not the point,

  but faithfulness to Him in it.

Even in what appears

   to make no sense at all,

        God's purposes run deep).

And God said to him,

"Because you have asked this,

and have not asked for yourself

long life or riches

   or the life of your enemies,

but have asked for yourself

understanding to discern

              what is right,

behold, I now do

            according to your word.

Behold, I give you

    a wise and discerning mind...

I give you also

         what you have not asked....

                           1 Kings 3. 11-13

(And God says to each one of us today

        "Ask what I shall give you."

Live for His glory).

Mobile du jour:
As the mountains
       surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD
       surrounds His people,
from this time forth
                 and forevermore.

          Psalm 125. 2

(On all sides,
in every dimension,
even in this.
Maybe especially in this).

As the LORD lives,

Who has redeemed my soul

    out of every adversity...

                1 Kings 1. 29

(God is still God.

He is guiding me

          even through this,

   for His glory.

He is not about

       to abandon me now.

My help is in the name of the LORD,

    Who made heaven and earth. (Ps 124.8).

Nothing is too big for Him,

nothing insignificant in His eyes).

But the king said to Araunah,

"No, but I will buy it of you

              for a price.

I will not offer burnt offerings

            to the LORD my God

which cost me nothing."

                      2 Samuel 24. 24

(Kindness is spare change,

grace and forgiveness

  are the most expensive watches

  in the case,

faithfulness to God

   sees something very different

   than the price tag:

          love You more than this).

This God is my strong refuge,

and has made my way safe.

He made my feet like hinds' feet,

and set me secure on the heights.

                     2 Samuel 22. 23-24

(No matter what,

no matter where,        

                 trust Me.

Even here.

Even in this.

"It never occurred to me

      to trust the LORD about this."

The LORD lives.

    Nothing random at all.

And that changes everything).

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

                   Acts 1. 8

(Everywhere,
 to everyone,
 in every thing.
Even here.
Even now.
Even in this most unexpected place.
           Faithfulness to Him).

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. 25

(My way

         or God's way in this.

It matters.

It matters a lot).

 

If you forgive the sins of any,

            they are forgiven;

if you retain the sins of any,

            they are retained.

                   John 20. 23

(Forgiving is not

letting someone getting away

                 with anything,

but releasing you

                       from prison.

My chains are gone

I've been set free).