Category Archives: Devo Drops

Thoughts on daily devotional scripture readings

Pandas

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For someone in my position (Christian Education Director at a church), there are two major defining moments each year: the Christmas Program and Vacation Bible School.  Over the past six years that I’ve been doing this, we’ve had some pretty memorable performances in December.  The kids work hard and start memorizing songs and lines in October.  We do it up big with staging and lights and costumes.  On the day of the program, the place is packed with parents and grandparents.  The kids inevitably rise to the occasion and the congregation always gives them a standing ovation.  It’s a glorious feeling of accomplishment for the young folks.  (See December 20, 2010 post)

VBS, however, is a whole different thing.  For this event, adults are the ones who work for months to pull off a big 4 day party for the kids.  In January, we begin scouring thrift stores and sale racks for decor that fits the theme.  We put out a call to start collecting whatever the craft person is going to need in abundance, whether it’s toilet paper cardboard tubes or empty tin soup cans.  We go all out to make sure the kids who come through our doors have a blast at church.  (See June 29, 2010 post)

This year’s theme is “Pandamania: Where God Is Wild About You”. We will be creating an Asian bamboo jungle, with lots of panda bears.  At first I thought this was going to be tough.  I have no stuffed pandas in the storage closet and no bamboo growing in my backyard. 

But it’s amazing what happens when you begin looking with an eye for something specific.  At the Dollar Store, lo and behold: a whole crate full of little panda puppets and stacks of Chinese lanterns.  At Goodwill, whadya know: a pile of 6 foot tall fake bamboo.  In my own sewing cabinet, voila: fabric that will make a great waterfall.  Suddenly, I am seeing this stuff everywhere!  It’s like my mind is directing my eyes to see what I normally would overlook. 

I think the same thing happens with God.  Going through my day without an awareness of God, or “an eye” for Him,  I am more likely to be oblivious to His wondrous activity all around me.  When my focus is on pandas, they seem to show up everywhere.  When my focus is on God, He does, too.

Listening In

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I used to get a kick out of listening in on my kids’ conversations when they were little. (“You be the mommy and I’ll be the daddy.”  “Why can’t I be the daddy?”  “Because you have longer eyelashes.”)   As they grew older I perked up less for the entertainment value, and more for the information I was hoping to glean.   (“Don’t tell mom and dad, but you know that girl in my class with the long eyelashes…?”)

Reading the gospels is kind of like listening in on Jesus’ conversations with people.  And I’ve noticed something recently.  Jesus didn’t talk the same way to everyone.  He figured out where people were coming from first and then geared the discussion around their frame of reference.  For instance, when he talked to the woman at the well he used words like water, thirst, drink, spring.  But when Jesus faced the teachers of the law, he chose different words: valid testimony, execute judgement, witness, evidence, investigate, proof.  In John 5:24 he said, “I tell you the truth,” or “Verily, verily, I say unto you.”   Translation: “I’m telling you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me….Me.”  Then He went on to present three witnesses to validate His claims,  as required by the court of law (v. 31-37).  After giving the testimony of the witnesses, Jesus shifted from being the defense attorney to the prosecuting attorney and rung them up on charges (v.38-42) before wrapping up with His closing argument (v.43-47).  The carpenter from Nazareth finished with an incriminating question to which there was no reply.  Silence.  He schooled the big-shot lawyers.  Bam.  I rest my case.

The Master didn’t talk about living water to the lawyers; He didn’t use legal jargon with the woman at the well.  Many times He answered people when nothing had been asked.  And sometimes He didn’t answer a straight-forward question with a clear answer, but told a story instead.  Quite often He answered a question with another question.  No formulas; no tracts; no step-by-step programs.  The best thing for us to do is listen in and learn from a real Master.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Inheritance

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You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus…If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.  Galatians 3:26, 29

Back in February, I started listening to an online Bible study series taught by Beth Moore called “The Inheritance”.  I took ten pages of notes and highlighted the key verses.  I was familiar with most of the scriptures; I knew most of this stuff.  I planned to put my notes in a file labeled “Inheritance” and move on to the next study.  But something happened on my way to the file cabinet.

I found myself sitting in a lawyer’s office reading my dad’s Last Will and Testament.

Suddenly, those ten pages of study notes jumped off the paper and into my heart.  My dad left me something, even though I did nothing to earn it or deserve it.  Just because I was his daughter.  I contributed nothing to the family business; in fact, I went and married a preacher!  I didn’t call or visit dad as much as I should have; I didn’t take time to get to know his deepest joys and fears.  But no matter.  A portion of what he worked for his whole life was left to me.  I walked out of that lawyer’s office with tears streaming down my face.  I began to comprehend the significance of those Bible study notes.

So, it has made me wonder: Why don’t I wake up every morning and weep with joy over the stunning realization that I am a real live heir of God and co-heir with Jesus Christ?  Why am I not overwhelmed by the incomparable, unsearchable, immeasurable riches of God that are mine simply because I am His daughter?  Why do I not stand in utter awe at the portion allotted to me, my delightful inheritance in Christ?

Sometimes it’s a long way from the head to the heart.  But when the truth strikes, it is absolutely breathtaking.

Pick Up!

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I’ve been camping out in John 5 (see April 19 post: “Get Up!”).  It just thrills my soul to know Jesus told the man, “Pick up your mat”.  How many times have I quoted that very scripture (with variations)?  You know: pick up your shoes, pick up your room, pick up your sweaty, smelly  jersey, pick up your cereal bowl with the milk that has curdled and stinks to high heaven…..well, you get the picture.  During all those years of raising four kids, I didn’t realize how spiritual I was sounding.  (Neither did the kids, I’m sure.)

Jesus told a lot of people to “get up”, but He was also big on “pick up”.  The paralytic in Mark 2 didn’t get to waltz out of that house with his new legs.  Oh, no.  Come right back here, buddy, and pick up that sorry old bedroll before you leave.  And the disciples were told to pick up the leftovers after every one of those crowd-sized meals.  Five thousand people could probably leave quite a pile of fish bones and bread crusts.

Jesus didn’t ask anyone to do what he wouldn’t do, however.  This Easter I was reminded once again of my favorite “pick up” story in the Holy Book.  The risen Savior was in the tomb, about ready to bust out of there, when He stopped, picked up His face cloth and folded it neatly, leaving it on the slab of rock. (John 20:7)  What a Man!

The only thing that amazes me more is that He also picked me up.  As the Psalmist wrote, “He picks up the poor from out of the dirt.”  (Psalm 115:4 Message) 

Get Up!

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Then Jesus said to him, “Get up!  Pick up your mat and walk.”  John 5:8

Sometimes we need to be told to get up off our rears, clean up our messes and take a step in a new direction.  Jesus told people to “get up” all the time.  For instance, He said these words to a paralyzed man (Matt. 9:6), a dead 12-year-old girl (Mark 5:41), a boy in a coffin (Luke 7:14), and a man who had been crippled for 38 years (John 5:8), just to name a few.  How in the world were these people supposed to “get up”? 

It’s a good question for those of us who get stuck on our mats from time to time.  Like the man in John 5, I can get paralyzed by circumstances and lie around hoping for someone to come along who will lift me up into a place of healing.  It can be a long wait.  If I’m not careful, I can begin to get comfortable on my mat. 

I’ve been there the past two weeks.  Partly from the recent death of my dad, partly from reliving the loss of my mom (I was 13 when she died of cancer), partly because I’ve had a miserable head cold, and partly because it’s April and it’s snowing.  But this morning I heard a voice say, “Get up” and it didn’t matter if I felt paralyzed, crippled or even dead, there was enough power in the words themselves to get me on my feet and moving.

It helps knowing that the man who spoke to the cripple (and to me) is the same One who got Himself up out of the tomb.  As Keith Green wrote,

“Jesus rose from the dead. 

Come on, get out of your bed.”

“…so that you may know his incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead.” Ephesians 1:19-20

Craving Honey Nut Cheerios

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“They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.”  Psalm 78:18

When I was pregnant with our first child, I remember sending PB out in the middle of the night for Honey Nut Cheerios.  There was to be no peace, no sleep, no satisfaction until that bowl of sweet, crunchy goodness was in my hands and in my tummy.  I just had to have some.  

Occasionally, I still get a hankering for something sweet and find an excuse to drive down to the gas station for some licorice.  We live in a world where it’s fairly easy to satisfy our cravings.  In or out of season, we have an array of fruit and vegetables in our stores all year round.  Restaurants show off their revolving dessert cases and we are bombarded with tv ads that create an appetite for thick, gooey, cheesy pizza that’s just a phone call and 15 minutes away from our salivating mouths.

After almost a year of a steady diet of manna (that heavenly food that showed up outside their tents every morning) the Israelites out in the desert began to complain.  Again.  Only this time they took it up a notch.  “Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent.”  (Numbers 11:10)  The folks were wailing, and why?  Their mouths were watering for a taste of home: “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost – also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.” (Numbers 11:5)

They seemed to be forgetting that along with those yummy leeks and onions came slavery, bitter hardship and beatings from the hands of ruthless slave masters.  It’s odd what we remember when looking back at the “good old days”.  The Bible says that God caused the people to hunger and then fed them bread from heaven.  He had to drive out the old cravings in order for the people to develop a taste for divine food.  I think God’s still in the business of training our taste buds.  My desires for security and significance can only be satisfied by Him, not a person, or a career, or a new toy.  Or Honey Nut Cheerios.

Bad Dog

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A few months ago I wrote about Bo, our Boggle (Boston Terrier/Beagle mix). (See July 20, 2010 post)  But there’s something I didn’t tell you about Bo.  As Sam observed this week, Bo is a really good pet, but she’s a really bad dog.

It’s like this: Bo is always sweet around us, her family.  She likes to play and fetch and curl up next to whoever is lying on the couch.  She sits and shakes paws and greets us at the door with tail wags.  She rarely barks and a doo-doo mistake in the house is highly unlikely.  Bo has never bitten anyone and only showed me her teeth once, when I tried to take away her food.  Understandable.  She’s a really good pet.

But when Bo gets anywhere near another dog, she turns into a bloodthirsty maniac.  The hair along her spine rises up and she begins to schnuffle (a barking/snorting thing).  Bo must give off some kind of offensive aura because other dogs also turn into bloodthirsty maniacs in her presence.  In our one attempt to go to the city’s dog park, we cleared it out in a matter of minutes.  Nobody likes to play with Bo.

When we go out for walks, she prances right beside me and smiles up at me….until another dog approaches.  Then she goes into attack mode and I can barely control the ferocious beast.  Quite often, I will turn around and go the other way when I see a probable confrontation converging.  Her reputation in the neighborhood isn’t good.  Nobody knows she’s really a sweet thing, except those of us who live in the house with her.

 Bo looking out the window.

      Bo looking out the window as a dog walks by.

Is this behavior limited to canines?  Do human beings have similar issues?  I mean, do people sometimes act sweet and loving in the house of God and then snarl and schnuffle at others on the street?  Are there some folks who just give off bad vibes and seem to bring out the worst in others?  I’m not pointing any fingers; I’m just asking: are there some really good church-goers who turn into something else outside those walls?

If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.  1 John 4:20-21  (Message)

Casual Worship

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“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  John 4:23

Yesterday I heard someone say, “There’s no such thing as ‘casual worship.'”  I can’t stop thinking about those two words.  What is casual worship?  Is it more than wearing holey jeans and an old tee to church?  Let’s dig into it.

I always start my digs by going to Mr. Webster.  Casual: 1) without definite or serious intention; careless or offhanded.  2) seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic.  3) irregular, occasional.

Next, I turn to Mr. Roget.  Casual: nonchalant, relaxed, blase, easygoing, lackadaisical, perfunctory, purposeless.

Usually, my next stop is at biblegateway.com to see where the word pops up in the Bible and then take that word and look it up in the original language (Hebrew or Greek).  However, the word “casual” isn’t in the Bible.  Huh.  I follow up by going to all my favorite Bible study and commentary sites and come up with nothing.  Hmm.

It seems that being nonchalant, lackadaisical and occasional doesn’t have a place in true worship.  Or anything else pertaining to an intentional walk with Jesus.  Speaking of Jesus, I can’t think of one time he was indifferent, offhanded or purposeless.  In fact, in light of the extreme measures He went to in order to save our souls, how can we even dare to offer a half-hearted, perfunctory (def: superficial, unenthusiastic) type of worship?

Let’s do the opposite!  Look up the antonyms!  May our worship this week be deliberate, intentional, motivated, purposeful, careful, passionate, fervent and full of spirit!  These are the kind of worshipers the Father is looking for!  May He find it in us!

Tests

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Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart.  Deuteronomy 8:2

When I was in school, tests were given in order to know what was in my head.  I was pretty good at memorizing lists of information the night before a biology exam.  Making up acronyms to help recall facts was kind of fun and I would pace back and forth across the living room reciting my secret codes until I had them all down.  (For instance, Fly Away Right Before Midnight = the vertebrates in the animal kingdom: Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, Mammals.  Oh!   And ToMMY was a real fun guy – fungi – get it?  Toadstools, Mold, Mushrooms and Yeast. Hey, it worked for me – I remembered that one after 30-some years!)

The next morning I could walk into the classroom and regurgitate the data onto each correct blank; by afternoon, however, most of it was forgotten.  The system got me through high school with pretty good grades, but, unfortunately, not much real knowledge.

God’s tests are run a little differently.  He’s not as interested in what’s in our heads as much as what’s in our hearts.  And the only way to find that out is to spend some time wandering around in a hot, dry desert without food and water.  When we are in a position where we can’t make it on our own and our only hope of survival is complete dependence on God, it won’t be long before whatever is in our hearts comes leaking out: either grumbling and defiance or surrender and obedience.  It’s true: when you are being squeezed, whatever is inside will come out.

The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and all your soul.  Deuteronomy 13:3

Rebellion

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“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people.”  Exodus 32:9

Our women’s Bible study continues trekking through Exodus with Moses and all those “stiff-necked” Israelites.  That’s a term we don’t hear much anymore.  It means rebellious, stubborn, haughty, unbending, difficult, pig-headed.  The image of an ox unwilling to yield and refusing to put its head through a yoke by stiffening its neck captures the meaning of this word.  I happen to know a few “stiff-necked” people; in fact, I know one really well: me.

But what if I put that rebellious streak to good use?  Instead of rebelling against God and His great goodness, what if I rebelled against evil and sin and all the bad stuff in this world?  What if, when I’m tempted to give in to my flesh, I say, “You can’t make me”?  What if, when I want to fly off the handle and let some hurtful words fly, I say, “Self, I refuse to give in to you”?  What if we were pig-headed and became intensely difficult people for Satan to deal with?  What if our Enemy just got sick of us because of our rebellion against him?  Can you and I be stubbornly committed to following Christ and put that stiff neck to good use? 

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:29-30