Sunday, December 31, 2023

Ringing In The New

 

He will dwell with them,
and they will be His people,
and God Himself
          will be with them
          as their God.
He will wipe away
 every tear from their eyes,
and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be
   mourning, nor crying,
   nor pain anymore,
for the former things
              have passed away.
And He who is seated
on the throne said,
"Behold I am making
          all things new."

          Revelation 21. 3-5

(Hope is not wishful thinking,
nor delusion, nor conjuring up 
    the world's convenient fictions.
But hope in God is knowing
that there is something more.
This life is not all there is.
Hope in God
   is on what and on Whom
   we can stake our lives.
God does not just
  make the best He can
  from leftover broken pieces
              patched together.
God makes all things new.
                God redeems.
No more tears, nor death,
   nor sorrow, pain or nightmares.
That which every one desires.
God turns the world
               right side up,
the way He always intended.)

O LORD,
You do not just give us a new year,
    but a new life, fresh every day.
You make all things new.
Help us to follow You
           with faithfulness
and bring Your goodness
   every way we can
   to every wounded soul.
Please show us
   how to bring Your holy name
   into our circumstances,
   and to all those around us,
in word and deed and attitude.
May we not set goals this new year,
    but enlarge our lives
    by setting our hearts
                          on You.

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Written All Over

 

Friday, December 29, 2023

Known By What We Wear

 

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Help and Hope

 

Blessed is he
    whose help is
    the God of Jacob,
whose hope is
     in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them...

                    Psalm 146. 5-6

(Our help and our hope is
   in the Creator of the universe.
Doesn't get better than that.
This difficult place we face
    is not too hard for Him.
Our help and our hope
   are intricately and
   seamlessly woven together,
 rooted in God Himself.
    We are no longer dependent
    on wavering circumstances,
but strengthened
      and able to respond to them,
because of His abiding in us.
God does not promise an easy life,
  but that we need not fear,
or let fear sap our limited energy,
because He is with us
                       to help us.
God will not just see us through
         to the other side,
but walk with us every step,
   strengthening, healing,
   and helping.)

O LORD,
We are so blessed
     by Your Presence,
Your provision and protection
   of which we sometimes are 
                    not even aware.
Sing Your help and hope
   over our brokenness
   and our hard stuff.
May we be a witness to others
   of Your steadfast love
as You write Your name
         all over this situation.
You provide.
You nourish.
You redeem.
We are not alone.




Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Reflections in the Dark

 

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Stop, Look and Listen

 

And this shall come to pass,
if you will diligently obey
  the voice
     of the LORD your God...

          Zechariah 6. 15

(When we listen, if we listen,
everything does not just
     look different.
     Everything IS different.
God changes our hearts.
The wilderness is a wonder,
    not just a wasteland.
We have no idea
    the incredible goodness
that the Almighty is unfolding,
   when we listen,
   respond,
   and follow Him.
Diligently means not just
          with intention
   but a careful pursuit.
Diligent is based on the word
            diligere which means
   "to love and take delight in."
Do we delight in responding
              to His voice?
The result is
   what God brings to this situation,
what He unfolds,
what will take place,
    and how He completes it.)

O LORD,
May we this day
       not just hear Your voice,
   but listen and respond
with faithfulness, kindness,
      mercy and grace,
   every which way we are able.
Please help us to not just
        see Your way through
        these circumstances,
  but to know You more.
Help us to listen carefully to You
     and run to You.
And to be a witness to others
      by Your abiding in us.
Others are watching us,
   not to see if we are perfect,
but to see if You are real.


Monday, December 25, 2023

The Way God Intended

 

And the streets of the city
shall be full of boys and girls
     playing in the streets.

            Zechariah 8. 5

(That image shows
   what God intended all along.
       Peace on earth.
That's why Jesus came:
   to save us from our sin
 and to show that life
   can be so very different.
Merry Christmas!)

O LORD,
Thank You so much
    for coming to earth
to reveal Your love for us.
Thank You for Jesus.
May we be bold in
   showing Your love and grace
   to others
and by our lives and words
          point others to You.
Your gospel changes
                  everything.
You bring peace
    to this broken world.
You bring peace
    to our hearts.
Help us to be a blessing
    to others today
and to bless Your holy name.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Even Humming Alone

 

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Never A Day of Small Things

 

Friday, December 22, 2023

Wonders In The Wilderness

 

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Gets All Over Everything

 

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

The Song That Never Ends

 

Fear not, O Zion,
   let not your hands
   grow weak.
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. 16-17

(How differently would we
    face this task before us
    if we knew
       God was not just in it,
   but God is with us,
   right here in our midst?
We desire circumstances
                     to change.
God desires to
               strengthen us
   by knowing Him more,
   right in middle
                of the hard stuff,
the impossible places where
    God's Presence and hand
    cannot be explained away.
For us not to run away or escape,
   but respond
           by trusting Him into it.
God is here with us,
   even in the hard stuff.
What does it take for us
   to realize that?
He sings over us,
"Fear not. 
 Right here with you.
 Keep working faithfully.
 I'll not just bring you through,
   but I'll bring the strength.")

O LORD,
Help us to trust You
        in the ordinary,
     to turn to You
        even in the familiar,
that we would know You
   even in the extraordinary.
Your fulfillment always
   encompasses the unexpected,
   but without fail,
         Your steadfast love
      woven seamlessly into it.
Go forth before us, O LORD,
         into Your day for us.
Sing Your name over us.
Sing Your Presence into it
       no matter the clamor,
that we may hear
and hum along
  Your song that never ends.
      


Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Way Beyond Belief

 

Monday, December 18, 2023

Unexpected Places of Refuge

 

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Peace in Impossible Places

 

And He shall be their peace.

                 Micah 5. 5

(Peace,
not based in favorable circumstances,
not in the absence of conflict,
but His peace
   right in the midst of the unlikely.
Learn to seek His peace
          in the every days,
  that we may know how to bring it
  into troubled places
        and volatile situations,
not just for our own comfort,
   but for the goodness
   of many people.
Be the faithful witness here,
   even if no one else is.
Seek His peace
            and pursue it.)

O LORD,
We can live differently
    because we know You.
You are our peace,
   even in impossible places.
Let Your peace reign in our hearts
    that we will know how to
    approach, navigate and
        respond differently.
You change us at our core,
   our actions, our being,
           even our vocabulary.
Whatever we face today,
  may Your peace reign
                   in our hearts
  and get all over everything.

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Resetting Our Navigation

 

Come,
let us go up
   to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of
   the God of Jacob,
that He may teach us His ways
and that we may
           walk in His paths.

                   Micah 4. 2

(Worship changes us,
       how we approach
   even the same circumstances,
          navigate the hard places,
          and how we walk.
God's ways and His paths
   look very different,
   even in the same landscape.
By worshiping Him,
  we bring Him glory
      in unexpected ways
      and among the unlikely.
Worship infiltrates
         everything we do.)

O LORD,
Help us to make worship
   not just a priority,
   but preeminent in all we
         do and say and are.
May Your Spirit infect us,
   not only to be mindful of You,
   but to have the mind of Christ.
May worshiping You
   change us to our very core,
   making fresh choices in
           how we walk,
           how we love,
           how we respond,
   and how we see You.
Reveal Your paths
             for us today.
Appoint our steps.
Order our affections.
And draw our attention
            to You.


Friday, December 15, 2023

More Precious Than We Imagine

 

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

              Revelation 5. 8

(God does not just hear us.
He treasures every word.
He keeps our prayers active
         before Him,
   continually responding to us,
   in reverberations across time
       and place and circumstance.
Every prayer to the Almighty is
    not hidden away in a drawer
           like a memory,
but stored in golden bowls
      --beautiful in God's sight--
  our requests, our thoughts,
  our pleas for help and mercy,
  our conversations,
  our praises and thanks,
  our time walking with Him.
Precious to Him.)

O LORD,
We come before You
  with so much on our minds
             and hearts.
We praise You
  because You listen and respond.
We are in awe
  because You love us so much.
Thank You that we can pray,
   and spend time with You,
   wherever we are,
   unbounded by time or place
            or request.
Walk with us into this day.
Help us not just to pray,
    but to listen.
And know that You already do.



Thursday, December 14, 2023

No Fear In That

 

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

                  Proverbs 29. 25

(One guarantee in this life is that
       fear will always trip us up,
       always take us
              down a dead end road,
       and always deflate our tires.
That is why God says
             over and over in Scripture,
    "Do not fear.
     I am with you."
When we trust God instead,
we live differently
   because we see differently.
Circumstances do not define us,
        nor distract, nor defeat,
but we can navigate with assurance
            whatever unfolds,
    because God has His hand on us.
We grasp the promise of Emmanuel:
                God with us.
Fear threatens and screams,
    but only God can bring us through.
There will be cliffs and potholes,
but we walk with the Almighty.
     He is with us even then.)

O LORD,
We take you up on Your promise
    that You are with us.
And that changes everything.
Help us to not just face circumstances,
        or difficult people,
        or overwhelming odds,
but to respond to those hard things,
     hand in hand with You.
Please help us to respond
   with unexpected grace
and not be ambushed by fear.
This hard situation is
             not the end of the story,
but an integral thread
                      of Your redeeming,
replacing fear with
                  Your glory and honor.


Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Even In The Overwhelming

 

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

What Do We See, What Do We Seek?

 

Monday, December 11, 2023

Sheer Endurance

 

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Even In Ways We Cannot Yet See

 

Saturday, December 9, 2023

Bumper Crop

 

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 am I sowing? What am I seeking?
Life is very different
        --it cannot remain the same--
   when we seek the LORD.
God seeps in and alters our choices,
   what we do, how we respond,
   what we love and how we love,
and ultimately what fruit God bears
        in our lives and through us.
God changes our hearts
                 but not in isolation.
Everyone around us
  and those we don't even know
  are impacted for generations.
The seeds we plant
        keep on producing fruit
        far beyond our lifetimes.)

O LORD,
Please help us
to be aware and responsive
    to the fallow ground around us.
Empower us to break up the hardness,
      nurture the soil of souls,
sow Your Word, love and grace,
and cover those around us
                       with prayer.
Help us to take root downward
  that You, O God, bear fruit upward
        in unexpected ways and lives,
knowing that most fruit
    we will never see this side of life.
But we can trust You
     to bring Your glory to this.


Friday, December 8, 2023

Carry A Big Umbrella

 

Thursday, December 7, 2023

Our Calling Card

 

...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 1. 5

(Repeated over and over
               in Scripture,
in all shapes and forms
   --love one another,
      love your neighbor,
      love the stranger,
      love even our enemies,
those we may not like
         or don't like us.
What does it take?
    The very love of God.
Not something we can
              do on our own,
but in His love and wisdom
         and strength.
How differently this world
                 would look
   if we took God at His Word?)

O LORD,
We seek to do Your will,
and realize that You have told us:
           love one another.
Please show us today
    how to tangibly do that
    in word and deed
                  and attitude.
Help us to
   bring the name and love
   and grace of Jesus here.
May we be known by You
     and known as Yours
because we love
            in unexpected ways
         and in unlikely places.
Reveal to us the opportunities
    and means to do so.


Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Hidden Doors to Something New

 

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Keep Walking

 

Monday, December 4, 2023

How We Stand

 

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Even While We Pray

 

Saturday, December 2, 2023

The Other Side of Trust

 

Friday, December 1, 2023

But Who's Counting?

 

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Not Just A Habit

 

When Daniel knew
   the document had been signed,
he went to his house
where he had windows
       in his upper chamber
       open to 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

(Prayer was not just a ritual
            nor a habit for Daniel,
but a lifeline of survival,
    every day,
    three times a day,
            not just in crisis.
Daniel knew how to respond
           to circumstances,
because he trusted God,
   over and over again.)

O LORD,
You do not promise us
   that life will be easy,
but to not fear
       because You are with us.
Please help us to
         hold onto You
         with both hands.
Guide us in our thoughts
         and actions
as we stake our lives on You.
You are near, Almighty One.
May we never forget that.

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

God's Strategic Positioning System

 

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Casting Out of Reach

 

... casting all your anxieties
                     on Him
because He cares for you.

                 1 Peter 5. 7

(In Greek, all means
          exactly that:  all.
What favorite anxieties
       are we holding onto?
They do nothing
        but clog up our thoughts
        and trip us up.
God never intended for fear and worry
       to distract us
       or for us to carry.
God has much bigger things
                    for us to do
    than to drag anxiety along.
God gives us His strength,
       and wisdom in exchange.)

O LORD,
May we acknowledge Your love for us
    by being mindful of You in all things.
When we dwell on You,
   You change what we think about,
what we do,
          how we do it,
    and how we respond.
Show us how to live differently today.
May our lives be marked
   by Your strength in us
   and Your Presence with us
      which cannot be explained away..
We are eyewitnesses of Your majesty.


Monday, November 27, 2023

No Exclusions

 

Sunday, November 26, 2023

What We Don't Even Know To Ask

 

He reveals deep and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
       and the light dwells with Him.

                     Daniel 2. 22

(The unknown is
        not unknown to God.
When we seek Him
         and not just an answer,
   God helps us see in the dark.
He does not give us
            the entire picture,
   but the light we need
      for our next step.
When we walk with Him
            and toward Him,
He reveals what we
    don't even know to ask.)

O LORD,
It is so reassuring to
       not just know You
   but to trust You,
even in the shadowlands,
even in what we cannot understand,
even in what is
        way too deep for us.
Embrace us by Your Presence.
Grant to us Your light.
   Help us to seek You
         in the darkness,
knowing You are with us
                        still.

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Fruit of the Month Club

 

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.

                   Ezekiel 47. 12

(The source of our sustenance
                and strength
       is from the LORD.
Wherever we are,
   take root downward,
                 bear fruit upward.
God changes the landscape
          through us
and provides for the welfare
                 of many people.
Worship changes us
     in multiple dimensions.)

O LORD,
May we bear witness to the gospel
    by bringing fresh fruit
             with overflowing bushels
    to hard situations.
Please help us to respond unexpectedly
             even in drought
with goodness, grace,
                  love and mercy.


Friday, November 24, 2023

Step by Step by Step

 

...and I shall walk in a wide place,
for I have sought Your precepts.

                  Psalm 119. 45

(Even in impossible
     and improbable places,
God guides us step by step.
We can trust Him even more.
Not that the trail will be easy,
   but He walks with us.
And that makes all the difference.)

O LORD,
Even in the high and scary places,
even where we can't
         touch the bottom of the pool,
even in what we cannot understand,
    You are with us.
We can trust You in this step
    and then the next.
Fear just blocks out the light,
    and worry trips us up.
But You, O LORD,
     guide us in Your ways.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Do The Math

 

May grace and peace
   be multiplied to you.

              1 Peter 1.2

(God always works
    in higher math.
God does not just add,
   but multiplies
   far beyond our understanding.
We cannot even
          count that high.
And God uses us
   to bring grace and peace
   to the most unlikely places
and among impossible people.)

O LORD,
How differently we would approach
    the situation before us,
if we walked with You through it.
Please bring Your grace and peace
  and multiply Your glory.
Even in this.
Even now.
Help us to realize that there are
     a lot more moving parts
     and variables
and dimensions only You can see.
Help us to be bearers of grace
    and watch You multiply.


Wednesday, November 22, 2023

A Lot More Going On Than We Can See