Category Archives: Devo Drops

Thoughts on daily devotional scripture readings

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?

Undignified Worship

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2 Samuel 6:14 “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might.”

David danced. He danced before the Lord with all his might. Wearing a linen ephod. Some Bible scholars think that means David threw off his royal robe and associated himself with all the other lowly priests and servants. Others believe that David danced in his undies. It’s hard to kick up your heels in a long dress. Mrs. David despised her husband for such an indiscretion, especially in front of the other girls. Understandable. I wouldn’t want my husband waltzing down the aisle on Sunday morning in his Fruit of the Looms.

But David was dancing before the Lord — giving full expression of his deep love for God. He was dancing with all his might,  holding nothing back. After a long, emotional day of ministry, David went home to bless his own household. The Mrs. met him at the door with criticism on her tongue, calling her husband a “vulgar fellow”. David defended his dance by saying it was before the Lord in celebration. Then that great line – “I will become even more undignified than this.” 2 Samuel 6:22

How does it happen? Two extremely different interpretations: 1) an all-out offering of worship, 2) an embarrassment.

Funny, God never reprimanded David. Perhaps God liked David’s dance; maybe God loved the wild and uninhibited expression of worship. Clearly, God was not repulsed by David’s lack of clothes or lack of dignity, but instead reveled in David’s abundant, joyful, all-his-might worship.

What does my worship look like to God? Am I too dignified? Have I ever worshiped in such a heart-felt manner that others were a little embarrassed? Am I willing to praise Him with all my might?

Chewing on Figs

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Okay, I’ve been chewing long enough. Three posts have been written and deleted so this is my last ditch effort to make sense of this parable. Another good way to gain understanding when studying Bible passages is to look at the story from the different characters’ point of view. So, here goes.

The owner of the vineyard: God owns the vineyard and He can plant whatever He wants on His property. In fact, He appreciates a little variety and makes room in His field for a totally different plant. He provides all that’s necessary to promote growth and maturity. He checks in regularly to see how it’s going. He watches and waits for fruit, but is patient and willing to give it a reasonable amount of time. When no fruit appears, He allows the vinedresser to give the tree extra attention. But the warning is given: it there’s no fruit, cut it down.

The vinedresser: He is the keeper of the vineyard, not an orchard specialist. Even so, he bargains for time with the owner in hopes of bringing about a harvest. The vinedresser may be a pastor, teacher or spiritual leader. He is willing to put in overtime to tend to this beautiful but barren member. He pleads for the life of the plant before the Owner. His plan is to fertilize by offering another Bible study, planning another retreat, praying harder for another year. Although it is frustrating to let this tree absorb all the nutrients out of the soil, he continues working to get the desired result.

The grape vines: It’s a stretch to consider the vines as “characters”, but humor me. The vines are the producers, the ones actually accomplishing what they were meant to do; the ones you can count on year after year, the faithful bearers. They are probably not happy that a tree is leeching all the nutrients out of the ground, soaking up all their minerals. However, they refuse to produce sour grapes because they desire to please the Owner. Even though their vines are scraggly compared to the tree trunk and their leaves are not as profuse and lush as the tree, they are content to know the will of the Owner and fulfill His purpose for them.

The fig tree: From its earliest days as a sapling, the tree has been given the very best of everything. It has gown up in a safe environment with all the opportunities a fig tree could want. All its needs have been generously met and it has had a good life in the vineyard. From a distance, the tree looks to be healthy and strong.  However, when the Owner looks deeply into its showy leaves and sees there is no fruit, he is deeply disappointed. A stay of execution is given, but at some point, if the tree remains fruitless, it will become firewood.

The man with the baseball bat: (not in the Bible story, but in the diy.com video)  Sometimes the conditions are just too good for a tree’s own good. Hopefully, the man with the bat will come alongside this tree and give it six to eight good whacks to get it thinking. It usually works for me.

Fruit is the point. Fruit is the purpose. And that’s all I have to say about fig trees.

Camping Under a Fig Tree

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There are many ways to create interest and inject life into daily Bible reading. Here are two of my favorites: asking questions of the text, and googling.

Parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'” Luke 13:6-9

First question: Why did the man plant a fig tree in his vineyard? A vineyard is a place for growing grapes, not figs. A tree takes up lots of room. I googled “How to Grow a Fig Tree”, and a gardening site said a fig tree needs 10 feet on all sides cleared. That’s a lot of grape vines. The man must have really wanted some figs.

Second question: Were the man’s expectations realistic? He’d been waiting three years to eat a fig. I googled “Fig Production”, and a fruit tree site said typically a fig tree produces fruit in two years, so it seems reasonable to be looking for something to sink his teeth into by this time.

Third question: Why wasn’t the tree producing any fruit? A vineyard is a carefully cultivated and fertile spot, enriched with all the nutrients it needs to bear a crop. Here’s where it gets good. I googled “How to Make a Tree Bear Fruit” and a diy.com video held the secret. According to the expert, trees that don’t produce fruit  just require some stimulation to get in reproductive mode. “What the tree needs is to feel threatened,” said the expert, (I’m not kidding) “and the tree will think, ‘Uh oh, I’m going to die, so I’d better produce some fruit.'” At this point in the video, the expert picks up a baseball bat and instructs us to “whack it upside the trunk a few times, six or eight times.” After the whacking is demonstrated he assures us that “now the tree knows it is under attack and that’s ok because that will stimulate the production of flowers and fruit next year.”

The man with the baseball bat set me to thinking…

What is the lesson here? Chew on it awhile. What do you think?

Dandelions

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This time of year is full of God-breathed lessons of new birth and fresh starts. I think God is trying to teach me something through dandelions this year. Ah, those pesky, populous, perpetually persistent puffballs. Our lawn is full of them. No matter that we mow them down a couple times a week. They just keep popping back up. Even the act of chopping off those stems seems to spread their cottony seeds and create more havoc in our yard. You just can’t deal with dandelions at the surface level. You’ve got to go deep and get at the root.

Now I don’t plan to go out in the front yard and dig up all my dandelions. But I have heard there is such a thing as weed killer that actually seeps down below the surface and kills the taproot without harming the grass. Cool. Maybe we’ll try that. Next year.

I like to think of God’s Word as that powerful force that seeps down into the root of my being. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is living and active (potent stuff), sharper than any double-edged sword (or garden trowel), it penetrates (goes deep) even to dividing joints and marrow (gets the bad stuff, leaves the good stuff).

It’s always a struggle to stay intentional about being in the Word. I’ve tried many, many devotionals, Bible reading plans and memory verse techniques. Finding that it doesn’t really matter what I do, as long as I do something, I change it up every so often. I’ve also found that if there is no plan, there’s not much motivation. So putting my open Bible out on the couch before I go to bed at night seems to make me feel that Someone is out there waiting for me in the morning, so I’d better get out of bed.  As my “roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love” (Eph. 4:17) the weeds will have a tougher time surviving.

How about you? How do you keep it fresh?