Category Archives: Devo Drops

Thoughts on daily devotional scripture readings

Borrowing Prayers from John Baillie

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John Baillie was a professor of divinity at Edinburgh University in Scotland from 1934-1956 and wrote over 15 books on theology. I bought one at a garage sale for 50 cents. It has changed my life.

Unlike his other deeply intellectual volumes, this little book is plain and simple. It’s called “A Diary of Private Prayer”. I’ve always liked reading other people’s diaries. Getting in on someone’s private thoughts might seem nosey, and I guess it is. However, being allowed into a godly man’s private prayer closet feels like hushed and holy ground. It’s a real privilege.

For thirty-one days, Professor Baillie wrote a prayer for each morning and each evening. They sound like prayers you could imagine your grandfather saying, with all the “thees” and “thou arts”, “dosts” and “hasts”. People don’t talk like that anymore, but there is something beautiful about the language that seems sacred and hallowed. I admit, those ancient words trip me up occasionally and I find myself interpreting them to my 21st century mind. Even then, these prayers ring true and touch a deep place somewhere in me. I couldn’t in a million years come up with prayers like this on my own, but I sure like to pray like this sometimes. So I borrow John’s prayers when I need to inject some oomph into my paltry parlance. For instance:

“First Day, Morning – Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of Thee, let my first impulse be to worship Thee, let my first speech be Thy name, let my first action be to kneel before Thee in prayer…  Let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of Thee. Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day…”

Translation: “Dear Lord, this morning let the first thought that enters my mind be of You, let my first impulse propel me to worship You, let the first word out of my mouth be Your Name, let my first act be to get on my knees in prayer. And when I walk away from this quiet time, don’t let me get away with thinking I’m done worshiping and forget You the rest of the day. Instead, let these quiet moments infuse light and joy and power into every hour ahead of me.”

Amen, brother John. Thanks for lending me your prayers.

Be Still

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It’s been quiet on here for a couple weeks. I’ve been taking a crash course on “being still”. Actually, the first week was the opposite of still: hurried, harried, anxious, overwhelmed, unbalanced, uneasy. Then came the lesson: be still.

The word “still” in Hebrew means to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, let go. This is reflected in how different versions interpret the phrase.

“Cease striving.” (NAS)

“Let be and be still.” (AMP)

“Calm down.” (CEV)

“Let go of your concerns.” (GWT)

“Desist.” (YLT)

“Step out of the traffic.” (Message)

“Sit down and shut up awhile.” (DPR) (See previous post)

Here’s what I am learning.

Be – not “do” still. I can do still. I can make myself sit down, take a breath and appear to be calm. But be still? That means the stillness is in my very being and what appears on the outside is a true reflection of the calmness on the inside.

Still – quiet and motionless; a time-out from noise, media, frenzied activity.

And – The Psalmist doesn’t just say “Be still” period. There’s a reason and a purpose for the stillness.

Know – The stillness allows for a knowing. I need clarity, understanding, divine revelation. That’s just not attainable outside of some stillness.

That – There’s something specific that I really need to know…

I – That’s God speaking.  He’s saying, “I, not you, I…”

Am – Not was, not will be, but I AM presently…

God – Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Provider, Healer, and on and on. (One website lists 625 names for God.) I get the point – there is nothing outside the realm of His reign. I need to know that. I need to slow down enough and quiet down enough to receive that truth.

Be still, and know that I am God. Be still, and know that I am God.

Be still, and listen for His voice.

Be still.

When You speak I want to hear, when You whisper in my ear,

Lord, help me to draw near and be still.

Rewriting the Psalms

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I love the book of Psalms. It’s the first place I turn when I am sad, burdened and in need of comfort. Sometimes I go to familiar verses, the ones I can count on time after time to express exactly how I am feeling. Sometimes I am surprised by a new thought that never occurred to me in a new verse I’d never noticed before.

In an effort to really understand the depth of these beautiful writings, I decided to rewrite the Psalms. The Book of Psalms According to Dinah. Phrase by phrase, I had to think about each word and how I would express the same thought. For instance, Psalm 30:1-5 says,

“I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” NIV

Now the DPR version (Dinah’s Personal Rendition): “Because You lifted me up out of the hole I was in and kept others from kicking me when I was down, I will now hold You up for all to see. Here’s how it happened: I cried ‘help’ and You made it all better. Honestly, Lord, it’s like being buried alive and having someone dig you up just in time. This calls for some singing and praising, everybody! God may show a flash of anger from time to time, but what rules the day is His loving acceptance. I can cry a river at night, but as sure as the sunrise, things will look better in the morning.”

I hope David doesn’t mind me putting my own twist on his poems. I’m not attempting to change them, just relate on a deeper level. Just trying to get into the psalm writer’s head and get the ancient words into my heart.

Shoes

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Our church is doing a shoe drive this fall.  People are encouraged to go through their closets and bring in the shoes they no longer wear.  They will be donated to an organization that distributes the shoes to people all over the world who have none.  It’s a fairly easy thing to do; it doesn’t take much time and doesn’t cost any money.  But to be honest, the process made me a little sick, and it wasn’t  from the smell of my son’s pile of cast-off athletic footwear.  Just look at that – nine pairs of shoes.  (There were ten pairs, but my husband nabbed one.  Now we have to go through his closet.)

While someone is walking around shoe-less, I am sitting on ten pairs.  It’s a humbling thought…it’s a sobering truth.  It’s not fair.

In light of all this, I had to chuckle when I read about the Israelites’ shoe situation during their 40 years in the desert.  Moses reminded the people: “During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.”   Forty years.  Same pair of shoes.  Forty years.  Same stinkin’ pair of sandals.  Darn things just wouldn’t wear out.  That would be like me still wearing the same PF Flyers I had when I was 10, every day for four decades. 

So it seems God can even put life into an old pair of sandals.  That thought just makes me smile.  May these nine pair of shoes fit the feet of someone, somewhere.  (They will have to be size 15.)  May I be content with a smaller pile in my closet.  May my Nikes last til I’m 90.

Lists

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This is my to-do list for yesterday. I love the look of a to-do list that is all ta-done. There’s a sense of victory in knocking off each item, like a mighty conqueror.

My mind is constantly making lists. The process starts early in the morning and carries me through the day. I like having a plan that keeps me on track. Yesterday, it worked. That doesn’t happen very often, hence the picture of my glorious slip of scribbled paper. Most days are a mix of surprises and interruptions with some mayhem thrown in. Perhaps this penchant for making lists is my way of willing some order into the universe and control over my day.

I’m not the only one who likes lists. The scriptures are full of them. Some are monotonous lists of who begat whom or what tract of land each tribe was given. Some lists are familiar, like the 10 Commandments or the Beatitudes. See?  God likes lists too. One of the best is a pretty short one, and tucked into one of those obscure books that forces one to use the Table of Contents. Micah, speaking for God, said, “What does the Lord require of you? 1) To act justly 2) to love mercy and 3) to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8  

Don’t think I’ll ever be able to cross off that list. It’s hard to act justly when so often life isn’t fair. (“The fair comes to town once a year and for the rest of the year, it’s just not fair.” – famous quote of my aunt.) I love mercy, because I need so much of it. I don’t always love mercy enough to extend it to others, though. I do my best to walk with God, but the “humbly” part, that needs some work.

Maybe I should give more attention to Micah’s to-do list. What would happen if every morning, we all wrote down those three things and carried that list around all day? I’m thinking we’d change the world.

Step It Up

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“Take the time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit.” 1 Timothy 4:7 (Phillips version)  

Last year our insurance company sent out pedometers to everyone covered by their health insurance plan. We were told to wear them every day and then regularly plug them into our computer where the steps would be logged. At the end of the year, depending on how many steps taken, each person would be rewarded. I figured a little motivation couldn’t hurt and it wasn’t a big deal to clip the pedometer on my belt loop every morning. When I realized the reward could potentially be as much as $300, I got serious. Getting paid to walk? Are you kidding? I’m in!

Unfortunately, not everyone in the household was on board. One day I noticed an unused pedometer sitting on  the counter and *cha-ching*, I saw money walking out the door. So I clipped it on next to mine. Not sure that’s ok. I feel slightly guilty, so it’s probably not ok.

Perhaps I’ve lost sight of the real motivation for all this. The money is nice, but exercise and good health is really what this deal is all about. Wearing my hubby’s pedometer might garner me a few bucks, but it will do nothing for his health. When it comes down to it, everyone needs to be responsible for their own steps if they want the true reward.

How Do I Love Thee?

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You’ve probably seen that commercial where a man and woman are at a park sitting on a blanket and the man says, “I love this new Miller Lite aluminum pint.”  “Oh really,” she says. “Why do you love it?”  And he begins to expound on all the reasons why he loves his beer can. He’s articulate and passionate. He doesn’t have to stop and think; the many reasons for his ardor roll off his tongue effortlessly. The annoyed girlfriend then asks the inevitable question, “And why do you love me?” Suddenly tongue-tied, he tries too hard to sound natural, but stutters and stammers some idiotic blather about her hair and teeth. She’s not impressed. In fact, she’s ticked.

In another episode, a young man is obviously falling hard for a beautiful young woman. His voice-over leads us to believe he’s found “the one” for him.  Except “the one” turns out to be a keg of beer in his fridge.

Sometimes I feel like those shallow guys on the beer commercials. I can wax eloquent about a book or movie I just love. I can go on and on about the joys of quilting or the thrill of finding a deal at a flea market. I can even be a fairly convincing sports fan. (I do love enjoy baseball.) But when the still, small voice whispers in my spirit, “And why do you love Me?” I am suddenly speechless. Like the guy in the commercial, I struggle to express anything with depth of meaning. “Gahhh…uhhhhh…’cause You, like, made everything and ….You’re….. you know, really great and … well…….  Thou Art Worthy…”  When I start talking like that, I know I’m trying too hard and not being real. Good gracious.

Instead of trying to come up with some high and lofty sounding words of righteous praise, I need a new approach. Maybe I should just give God a compliment. Something like, “My, You really outdid Yourself this morning with that sunrise.” Or, “Nice job on that flower. Great color and design.” Or, “I really love it when You do that.”

How do I love Thee? Let me make a list.

Funny what beer commercials can teach you.

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