Category Archives: Devo Drops

Thoughts on daily devotional scripture readings

Hands Up

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In the church I attended as a little girl with my family, we did not clap our hands, raise our hands or extend the hand of friendship during services. We were good midwestern farm folks who loved God, loved our neighbors, and loved the land.

I heard there were some places of worship where people shouted and danced and rolled in the aisles. My young mind couldn’t imagine that God approved of such behavior in church.

Most of my worship as an adult has been spent at a keyboard, playing hymns and worship songs. In this new season of life, I suddenly find my hands free and I don’t know what to do with them.

Sometimes I get the urge to clap. Once in a while, I feel compelled to open my palms and raise them up, just a little bit.

Then I read this:

“Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.”
Psalm 134:2

“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”
Psalm 47:1

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10

It seems God not only approves, but heartily encourages—even commands—me to do something with my hands. So, I’m learning (albeit a bit self-consciously) how to lift up my hands…

…like a child reaching up to be embraced by my Heavenly Father—

…like a football fan cheering on my team—

…like a friendly wave to my next door neighbor—

… I will seek to be held by the Father,
… I will cheer on the move of the Spirit,
… I will welcome the presence of the Savior.
I will lift up my hands.

“I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.“
Psalm 63:4

The Voices Behind Me

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PB and I sit in the second row from the front most Sundays. Our church is out-growing its small meeting space, so we go early to get our seats. And have coffee. And mingle with people.

The worship team always brings its best. We’ve come to expect top-notch musicianship, outstanding vocals, and deeply meaningful worship. They are incredible.

But it’s not the voices singing from the front of the church that move me.

It’s the voices behind me.

Some weeks I come to worship full of joy—
eager and ready to praise.

Some weeks I drag myself in—
bedraggled and beaten down by the world.

Then we start to sing.

The pros in front nail it, but it’s the untrained, slightly off-key notes wafting up from the back rows that stir my soul. Some other people have had a hard week, too. Some are dealing with bad news. Some are grieving loss. Some are questioning their faith. Some are carrying disappointments.

But they sing.

So I sing, too.

God bless
all the voices behind me.

Through Jesus, therefore,
let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—
the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
Hebrews 13:15

Hummers

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PB put a hummingbird feeder on the kitchen window. The little hummers buzz around like dive-bombers in the back yard, but I wanted a little action in the front window.

I’ve been watching out the window to see what lessons I can learn from these avian wonders.

This little fella was my first sighting.

He didn’t know Who was providing the nectar or how it got there.
He didn’t know his Benefactor was waiting and watching his every move.
He didn’t know how much joy he was bringing to The One on the other side of the glass.

He knew there was nourishment there, free for the taking.
He knew that in order to receive it, he had to stop his constant movement.
He knew something instinctual was beckoning him toward the beautiful, good and true.

“Come all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!”
Isaiah 55:1

“Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?”
Matthew 6:26

Far and Away

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Do you know how far it is from the north pole to the south pole?

I’ll tell you how far it is from the north pole to the south pole—
approximately 12,430 miles.

A group of explorers actually made the trip.*
It took them through 42 countries and several oceans over a span of 475 days.

What about the distance from east to west?

That’s harder to calculate.
In fact, it cannot be measured.
There is no east pole or west pole.
The distance from east to west is immeasurable.
And I’m so glad.

David the psalmist wrote, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Ps. 103:11-12

Even though David had incomplete knowledge of how vast the earth is, the inspired words are completely accurate. If he had written, “as far as the north is from the south, so far does he remove our transgressions from us,” we would be measuring and calculating our standing with God.  

But east from west—that is boundless, bottomless, limitless, measureless.
A forgiven sin is removed far away, beyond our reach.
Which is far and away the best news. 

Now, how high are the heavens above the earth?

*For more about the expedition, see transglobalcar.com

Old Faithful

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I have been faithful to PB for over 45 years.

I faithfully fed four children three meals a day over a 20 year span.

I have led women’s Bible studies, helped pull off Vacation Bible Schools and Christmas programs, provided music for funerals and weddings, and made oodles of Tater Tot hotdishes for church potlucks.

I have led a faithful life.
I have loved living a faithful life.

As I get older, I’m finding there is less on my plate,
and that’s a wonderful thing.
PB is perfectly content with scrambled eggs and toast for supper.
I can get a week’s worth of laundry done in an afternoon.
No one is depending on me to organize an event.
It’s a wonderful thing.

But I still want to live a faithful life.

So, here’s the truth:
I don’t post these little reflections every Thursday morning because I think I have anything brilliant to say. I don’t expect my words to go viral or even get noticed. There’s one reason I show up here week after week—it’s an exercise in faithfulness.

Some weeks I spend hours pondering a thought, shaping those thoughts into words, and then revising them over and over. Some weeks I throw it together just before hitting “Publish.”

This self-imposed assignment keeps me thinking, learning, growing. The fact that anybody actually reads it— that’s icing on the cake.

I don’t want to get older and fizzle out.
I want to grow old and be found faithful.
As faithful as Old Faithful.
It’s a wonderful thing.

“When the Son of Man comes,
will He find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:8


Distracted

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The other evening I was playing Wordle on my phone,
while working on a blog post on my laptop,
while watching the Brewer game on TV.

Was I being “distracted from distraction by distraction”?
(T. S. Eliot, “The Four Quartets”)
Sure I was.

The only time the word “distracted” shows up in the Bible is in Luke 10:40. “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” In Greek, the word means “to be driven about or dragged all around.”

I wanted to know more.

So I put down my Wordle game and looked away from the ballgame so I could open up another tab on my laptop and look up the history of the word “distraction.”

One of the meanings of the word comes from a French term related to a cruel form of torture in the Middle Ages, reserved for the very worst of criminals. The offender’s four limbs were tied to four horses……and……well……they got dis-tracted.

The world tries to pull us in different directions
until we feel stretched and about to snap.

Jesus offers something different.
“In him all things hold together…
So that in everything He might have supremacy.”
Colossians 1:17-18

Lord, I invite You to rule and reign over my time today. Teach me to set aside worthless idols and be drawn to Your beauty, truth and goodness. Distract me away from distractions with Your loving-kindness. Help me keep my eyes on You.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Up, Up and Away

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I missed it.
I always miss it.
I didn’t even know I was missing it.
Did you miss it, too?
Probably.

Last Thursday was Ascension Day.
Until recently, I wasn’t aware there was such a thing.
It’s a big thing.

Ascension Day is celebrated 40 days after Easter Sunday and commemorates the moment Jesus ascended into heaven and took His rightful place on the throne as ruler of the universe.

That’s a really big thing.

Eugene Peterson said, “Ascension Day may be one of the the most under-celebrated events in the church’s life. Part of the reason is that Ascension Day always falls on Thursday, never on a Sunday, and so no sermon is required.”*

There are no presents to buy, no cards to send, no baskets to hide.
Mail gets delivered, banks are open and nobody gets the day off.

“When Luke set out in Acts to tell us the story of the church, he began with Jesus’ Ascension. It’s the opening scene that establishes the context for everything that follows: Jesus installed in a position of absolute rule—Christ our King.”*

So, why should we celebrate Ascension Day?

  • It’s the day Jesus entrusted us to take His message to the world
  • It ushered in the coming of the Holy Spirit ten days later
  • It gives believers hope for a future resurrection
  • Jesus, the divine, went up without abandoning His humanity
  • The ascension gives us a picture of what His return will be like
  • It shows Jesus’ triumphant victory over death
  • This day crowns Him King over the universe in glory
  • It begins Jesus’ role as intercessor for us in heaven

Celebration is in order, my friends.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 14, 2026!

He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1: 9, 11

God has gone up with a shout!
Sing praises to our King.
He is king over all the earth;
He sits on his holy throne.
Psalm 47:5-7


*Eugene Peterson, Practice Resurrection, p. 43

Liquid Prayers

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Is there a wrong way to pray?
It seems to me we’re invited to pray in all kinds of ways.

Pray in the Spirit  in every situation.
Use every kind of prayer and request there is.
Ephesians 6:18

We can pray spontaneously from the heart or speak words that the saints have used for centuries.

Our prayers can be praise and thanksgiving or confession and repentance.

We can pray on our knees or stand with our hands raised high.

We can pray at set times or anytime.

We can sing for joy or lament in sorrow.

We can use lots of words or no words at all.

When we don’t know what to pray, “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26) Groans can be prayers.

When all we have is tears, that’s enough.

“Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers.”
(Charles Spurgeon)

Perhaps tears are the most precious prayers.

You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
Psalm 56:8

So whether you’re coming to God today
with shouts of praise or groans and tears,
know that He hears all kinds of prayers.
There’s not a wrong way to pray.
Just come.

Impatient Impatiens

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This time of year, greenhouses are brimming with impatiens.
They are my go-to flowers for our shady front porch.
Every year.
Four big pots are filled with the red variety
with some white ones planted in the middle of each one.
Every single year.

The word “impatiens” is Latin for “impatient,” named thus because of the way their seed pods explosively release seeds at the slightest touch. In other words, impatiens are touchy and tend to blow up at the smallest disturbance.

As I carried out my yearly ritual of planting red and white impatiens, I was reminded that this is year #4 in my nine-year study on the Fruit of the Spirit, as found in Galatians 5:22.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
(Kinda glad self-control is at the end.)

Love, joy, peace….patience.
Oh boy.
This could be a long year.

Years ago, I tried to teach my young children the concept of patience
and found this definition:

“Patience is waiting with a happy spirit.”

I can grit my teeth and wait when I have to—
it’s the happy spirit that needs some work.
Less touchiness, no blowing up.

Hopefully, this summer as my impatiens grow on the front porch,
the Holy Spirit will help the fruit of patience to grow in me.

Super-Duper

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I am an unashamed word nerd.
I have a list on my Notes app titled “Whizz-Bang Words.”
Doesn’t everyone?

Sometimes they are words that are just fun to say: rollicking and flapdoodle.
I’d rather be described as the former (carefree and joyous) than the later (fool).

Sometimes they are words that go well together: linger and longer.
Surely they belong in a poem somewhere.

Maybe that’s why the Apostle Paul is my Bible Buddy. He was a master wordsmith. Finding the right words was so important to Paul that sometimes the Greek language just wasn’t big enough to express what he wanted to say. So Paul invented brand new words, usually by mashing together two smaller words and creating an expression that was revolutionary.

Perhaps he tossed in these unique expressions for some shock value. It made people perk up their ears. “What did he say? Come again?”

To prove the level of my nerdiness, I have made it my goal in life to find every one of Paul’s mashed-up, made-up words. Using some online resources, it’s not that hard to dig up these invented idioms that are found only one time in the scriptures.

One example is in Romans 8:37, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” More than conquerors is one word in Greek: hypernikaō‘ (pronounced hoop-er-nik-ah-o). Nikaō‘ means conquerors, but putting the hyper in front creates a whole new expression: we might say “super-duper conquerors.”

To be a conqueror implies complete, overwhelming victory,
but Paul wanted to add some punch
so he made up a new word:
hypernikaō‘—more than conquerors. 

Paul was a super-duper-hooper kind of guy
because
he served a super-duper-hooper kind of God.
May we learn to live in the
“more than”
“the overwhelming”
“the super-duper”
love of God.