Category Archives: Devo Drops

Thoughts on daily devotional scripture readings

More Treasure

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Remember Hushai the Arkite? (See my last post if you have no idea who Hushai the Arkite is.) It seems that Hushai was not one of those obscure biblical names that gets mentioned once and is never to be heard of again. Although I’ve never heard a sermon on Hushai, and he wasn’t in the Sunday school material, and I doubt if he’s on the list of great men of the Bible, Hushai actually plays pretty big in the saga of King David. (Read the biblical account for yourself in 2 Samuel 15-17.)

When David’s son Absalom attempted to usurp his father’s throne, David decided to leave Jerusalem rather than go to battle against his son. It was a tearful departure from the royal city and “the whole countryside wept aloud” as David and his entourage march out. “David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went.” “When David arrived at the summit…..Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him.”

I love Hushai for that. He was there in the glory days of David’s reign when it was an honor to be on the king’s list of insiders. And he was a faithful companion in David’s saddest, darkest days. I imagine David was comforted to see his friend’s face up on that Mount. There are friends you can call on in times of need, but then there are friends who just know when to show up at your door.

Hushai went on to enter the service of Absalom in order to be a spy for David and he played a key role in undermining Absalom’s plans to attack David. The name Hushai pops up one other time. David’s son Solomon followed his father as king and he appointed twelve district governors, one of which was Baana, son of Hushai. (1 Kings 4:16) It seems that while their fathers were at work in the palace, Solomon and Baana were forging their own friendship.

Friendship is a true treasure. Thank you for being a friend.

 

Treasure

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My reading this week took me through four solid chapters in 1 Chronicles that consisted of lists of names like Meshelemiah and Zabdiel and Joshbekashah and Happizzez (I kinda like that one). There were lists upon lists of priests, singers, gatekeepers, treasurers, officers and overseers. I thought, “Come on. Really? What’s the point of pages of kooky names from 450 B.C.?”

Perhaps as a reward for muddling through those boring chapters, God saved a treasure for the end of the lists. After naming all the “officials in charge of King David’s property” and recording all the individuals in “the book of the the annals of the King”, there is a pause at the end of chapter 27.

The final list is short – only five people. These men weren’t in charge of the temple or the music; they didn’t stand watch at the gate or do an inventory of the temple treasury; they didn’t lead a division of soldiers or tend the vineyards. These men took care of the King.  They were:

1) Jonathan – (a sensible name) David’s uncle, “a man of insight and a scribe”. David needed an older family member, someone who had known the King when he was just a wee boy and young shepherd. David relied on this man, who had wisdom and knew the scriptures.

2) Jehiel – “took care of the king’s sons”. Not an easy job, as there were at least 19 sons, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 3. Jehiel must have been quite a man to be put in charge of that rowdy crew.

3) Ahithophel – “was the king’s counselor”. We all need counseling.

4) Joab – “the commander of the royal army”. David’s right hand man and confidante.

Here’s the best part:

5) Hushai – “Hushai the Arkite was the king’s friend.”

Herein lies the treasure. Even kings need friends.

Scrabble Attitude

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We play Scrabble at our house. Some of us like it, some of us do not. Those who like to play usually talk the others into joining in for the sake of family harmony. It never ends good, though. The wordsmiths among us can’t seem to let up enough to let the others actually have fun and finish the game with a measure of self-esteem.

So imagine my joy yesterday when I found an old Scrabble game at Vinnie’s and inside the box was a paper entitled, “10 Ways to Become an Instant Scrabble Game Expert”. At last, dominance on the Scrabble board! Besides, I’m always a sucker for 10 Ways to Becoming anything, especially if it promises expertise (or a way to prevail over my children in board games).

The first nine tips were strategic ways to “rule the board”, but the 10th one really got my attention. Here’s what it said:  “ATTITUDE: Keep in mind that anyone can beat anyone else with a certain amount of luck. Also remember that everyone draws poor combinations of tiles at times, so when you do, take pleasure in making the best play you can. Finally, don’t dwell on your mistakes. Everyone makes them, so go easy on yourself and just enjoy playing!”

Now there’s a philosophy on life for you! Following the “Shampoo Bottle Prayer” idea (July 9th post), let’s pray. Dear Lord, help me to remember that this day is not about winning or coming out ahead or being lucky. I might have a great combination of events and relationships today. Or I may not be able to make any sense out of the things that come my way. Help me to take pleasure in just doing the best I can. Give me the ability to let my past mistakes go and stop beating myself up for them. Help me play this day out with joy. Amen.

“Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” Ephesians 4:23

Shampoo Bottle Prayer

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As I was standing in my shower trying to memorize my laminated Bible verses (see Showers of Blessing, June 26th) I discovered a wonderful prayer on the back of my shampoo bottle. It was right there on my bottle of Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo. Here’s what it said:

Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo deep cleans and clarifies hair – for less than the more expensive brands. Penetrating lather completely removes the dulling build-up of hair sprays, mousses, gels, and over-conditioning, leaving hair refreshed and full of body. Deep cleaners eliminate the residue that can make hair dull and lifeless. Ph balanced formula is gentle enough for everyday use.

Here’s my version: Dear Lord, I ask You to daily deep-clean my heart and clarify Your purpose for me this day. Penetrate completely into my inmost parts and remove the dulling build-up of sinful thoughts and desires. Leave me refreshed and full of joy. Let Your Holy Spirit clean deep and eliminate the residue of this world that makes me dull and lifeless. Thank You for Your gentleness as You deal with me daily. Keep me balanced. Amen.

Right there on my shampoo bottle. Who knew? I wonder if there are other labels out there that contain spiritual truths. It might be fun to look. She who has eyes to see, let her see.

 

VBS Week

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Remember Camp Week?  (June 21 post)  Well, now it’s VBS (Vacation Bible School) Week and the rules all change.  No more no-laundry-no-cooking-sit-on-the-deck-reading-magazines nonsense.  This is my week to throw an all-out party for 60 kiddos for four straight nights.  So the rules are:

1) Don’t even think about blogging.

2) Remember why I am doing the VBS thing:  One day, when one of our little 1st graders is sitting in her college dorm room and her roommate brings up the topic of religion and how boring and stupid church is, I want our little 1st grader to say someday, “MY church wasn’t boring at all!  I had great times growing up in my church.  Our church loved kids and had a huge impact on my faith.”

Amen sister.  Back to the party.

Showers of Blessings

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My son (daughter), pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart. Proverbs 4:20-21

So, we can pretty much agree that keeping the Word in our hearts means putting those words to memory, right? But I’m realizing my memory isn’t what it used to be. There was a day when I was able to memorize pages of notes the night before a test, using all manner of tips and tricks to stuff the data into my brain. I would walk into the classroom the next day, spew out every bit of information on the exam, walk out the classroom and forget everything. I got a lot of A’s that way, but didn’t retain any bit of real knowledge.

I’ve tried lots of techniques for scripture memory as well, but heard a good one recently that’s worth a try. Type up a verse or short passage, laminate it (or put it in a ziploc bag), and hang it up in the shower. That’s at least five minutes of every day that won’t be  interrupted with a phone call, media and social network bombardment, or a kid looking for a pair of socks. It would actually be refreshing to have something else to think about in the shower other than the soap scum that needs scrubbing or the waistline that needs slimming.

I admit that there would be a strong temptation to post a few verses in the shower stall aimed directly at the heart of other family members. Something like, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord,” or “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” But I am gently reminded that scripture is to be used to fight against the enemy of our soul, not the people we love and live with.

Are you willing to soak up the Living Water while soaping it up in the shower? What verse will you be memorizing?

“Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7

Overflow

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“Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Luke 6:45

 

There’s a flow about our lives. Most of the time we don’t even realize the circuit that courses in and out of us. Until the overflow.

When I was a senior in high school, there was a group of four or five sophomore boys who liked hanging around me. They probably all had a secret crush, but figured I’d never actually date any of them, so they settled for adopting me as their big sister. I liked hanging around them because they gave me a break from the inevitable high school drama surrounding girls’ friendships. Plus, they were fun. But they had a problem with their mouths so I took it upon myself to clean up their salty language, as any big sister would. Every time an offensive expression was heard, I responded with “Watch your mouth.” I was certain my influence would have a lasting effect on those punks and that I was doing the world and God a favor. It didn’t help much. But I did get a cool t-shirt for a graduation present from my little gang of guys. Printed on the front of the shirt were the words “Watch your mouth.”

What I didn’t understand then, and regularly need to be reminded now, is that when the mouth has a problem it’s not really a mouth problem. It’s a heart problem. I should have paid more attention to the condition of the hearts of those silly sophomore boys. In an effort to teach his own boy, Solomon said, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 In other words, what’s in my heart is going to come leaking out of my mouth.

There’s a flow about our lives. It begins with what we see and hear, travels to our thoughts, turns into desires and sets awhile in our hearts. Then one day, the cup runneth over. Good or bad, our words reveal the state of our hearts.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Take a Deep Breath

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I wonder how many of you actually just took a deep breath! We need to do that more often, you know. Most of us don’t breathe right most of the time. Quick, shallow breaths don’t feed our brains like long deep ones. In that case, I’d better take a few big ones right now before I go any further.

As a follow-up to Dry Bones, here are some thoughts on breathing.

Breathing is life. In the valley of dry bones, the bodies were reassembled, but remained nothing more than a pile of corpses until God’s breath entered them and they came to life. Just as when God made man in the beginning, Adam was a lifeless body until the breath of life shot into his nostrils and he became a living being. Isn’t that what we long for when we look at the body of a loved one lying in a casket – the breath of life? (I just looked in my thesaurus under breath and it says, “see LIFE”.)

The Hebrew word for breath, ruwach, also means wind and Spirit. Sounds like the lingo Jesus used with Nicodemus in John 3.  Spirit=breathe=life. I’m sure there are layers and nuances of meaning that go deep and wide here. I’d need lots of deep breathing to send my brain there.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he said “all scripture is God-breathed”. So, for me, reading the living and active Word of God is like being hooked up to an oxygen tank after inhaling pollution all day. It purifies, cleanses, brings health.

One last thought: don’t forget to exhale. Breathing isn’t just taking in air, but also letting it go in a natural rhythm. After six days of creating things, God designed something different: rest. The Hebrew Bible says that on the seventh day God rested and was refreshed. The word literally means God exhaled. I like to think of the Sabbath as the great exhale after sucking air for six days.

One more last thought: Here’s my favorite sermon illustration on breathing.

A young man asked a wise elderly teacher how he could find God. The gentleman asked the young man to come with him to the river. The young man expected to receive some wise words along the riverbank. But when they arrived, the old man walked out into the water, so the young man followed. Suddenly, the teacher grabbed the young man and forced him under. The seconds ticked by and the young man began to fight against the firm grip holding him down. Right before everything went black, the hand released him and he blasted out of the water, gasping for air. As he gagged and choked, he shouted, “What were you doing? Trying to kill me?” The teacher said, “When you want God as much as you wanted that breath of air, you will find Him.”

Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly thine;

Till all this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine.

Dry Bones

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I’ve been gutting my way through the book of Ezekiel. It’s not an easy read, but then it wasn’t easy being a prophet, either. Ezekiel, the poor guy, had to pronounce judgement on place after place: Egypt, Sidon, Moab, Tyre, Edom, Babylon, Jerusalem, Ammon, Philistia, Gog. He had to relay searing messages from God to Israel’s leaders and priests, to false prophets and idolaters, to those in his own hometown. Whew! That’s a lot of bad news.

Finally, this morning, the words flew off the page right to my heart. As I read in chapter 37, God gave Ezekiel a break from broadcasting words of woe and took him on a field trip to the bottom of a valley filled with very dry bones. God asked the prophet, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no, either. He gave the best answer possible, “Lord, only You can answer that.”

I don’t know about you, but there have been times when I’ve felt like a pile of dried up old bones laying on a valley floor. My prayers are dry, my devotions are dry — it’s that sense of being shriveled and empty and lifeless. Usually, something eventually breaks through and brings me back to life, although I once spent a two year stint in the desert of dryness. No fun.

God told Ezekiel what to say to that ditch full of skeletons and before the prophet got all the words out of his mouth, a rattling sound echoed from one end of the valley to the other. The bones came together (the foot bone connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone connected to the shin bone…) and then tendons and flesh appeared (can you imagine seeing that?) and then God breathed His breath into the bodies and they all stood up (what a riveting picture!). “I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.” Ezekiel 37:6

During that long dry season I experienced, the words to a song by Michael W. Smith became my anthem:

“So breath in me, I need You now; I’ve never felt so dead within.

So breath in me, maybe somehow, You can breath new life in me again.”

So Ezekiel, can these dry bones live? Yes, indeed, they can.

25 Cents Worth, Please

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I read something this morning that hit me as being so profound, I just have to share it. I came across this while doing some study on the verse, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Credit for this quote goes to someone named Dr. Fred Craddock. I googled him (of course) and found he is a professor of theology at Emory University. After all the credentials were listed, the article said, “Often characterized as preaching with a style that is ‘folksy’, Craddock is a strong supporter of using humor in sermons.” I knew I liked this guy. Here’s what my friend Fred had to say to me this morning:

“We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table – ‘Here’s my life, Lord, I’m giving it all.’  But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ‘Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home.

“Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.”

So, denying myself may mean intentionally NOT making the big thousand dollar-type sacrifice, but faithfully unloading twenty-five-centers when no one is paying any attention. So, what does that look like played out in everyday life? How do we deny ourselves?