Category Archives: Devo Drops

Thoughts on daily devotional scripture readings

Pickled

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PB loves pickles—sweet and dill, slices and spears, processed and refrigerated—so he is always on the lookout for a new pickle recipe. I found a good one for him.

The recipe comes from a guy named Nicander, a Greek poet, who jotted down his method for making pickles in 200 B.C.

“The vegetable should first be dipped in water and then baptized in vinegar.
The first step is temporary, the second produces a permanent change.”

Nicander used two different Greek words to differentiate between the two different steps.

“Bapto” = dip
“Baptizo” = immerse

“Bapto” a cucumber in water and what do you have?
A clean cucumber.
“Baptizo” a cucumber in vinegar and what do you have?
A transformed cucumber.
A pickle.

Thanks to a Greek poet who lived 200 years before Christ, we have a compelling picture of what being a Christian really means.

It’s not enough to dip our toes into belief, hanging onto our old identity, but cleaning up our act from time to time.

God wants us to soak in Him, be immersed in His love and mercy until, over time, it begins to produce a permanent change—transformation.

“For John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:5

John the Baptizer dipped people in the Jordan River for the forgiveness of their sins. Sooner or later, those people would have to come back, re-confess, and get re-dipped. The Holy Spirit works from the inside, “pickling” us, creating something new.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come.”
1 Cor. 5:17

A wise man once said:
“Once you’re a pickle,
you can’t go back to being a cucumber.”

I think there are more analogies hiding in here.
Let your thoughts steep a while and then share, please!

All the Books

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I’m a book girl. When I was in elementary school, I was taught “readin’, ‘ritin’, and ‘rithmetic.” As time went on, I majored in reading, liked writing, and got by in math. I can balance my checkbook and I can figure out which box of cereal is the best deal per ounce. But algebraic equations and geometry proofs were never my strong suit.

Reading is my jam.
I love going to libraries as much as PB likes going to Menards.
And that’s saying something.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library boasting a collection of more than 34.5 million books among 838 miles of shelves.* Amazon’s online store contains over 32.8 million published titles, with 7,500 new Kindle books published daily.**

So many books, so little time.
Sigh.

John, the beloved disciple, ended his masterpiece gospel with this thought:
“Jesus did many other things as well.
If every one of them were written down,
I suppose that even the whole world would not have room
for all the books that would be written.” John 21:25

34.5 million books? Small potatoes.
838 miles of shelves? A drop in the bucket.

Just think of all the things Jesus did that aren’t recorded in the gospels. What was life like for Jesus and His parents in Egypt during those years of hiding from King Herod? Was there any sibling rivalry between Jesus and His brothers? When He turned water into wine, what kind of wine was it? What did Jesus talk about with Moses and Elijah on the mountain of transfiguration? Did Jesus laugh out loud and do a dance when He rose from the dead?

So many questions. So much time.
👏👏👏👏

The whole world may not have room
for all the books that could be written about Jesus,
but the new heavens and new earth will.

You will find me in the heavenly library someday,
with all the time in the world to read all the books in the world.

*Statistic from http://www.loc.gov
** Statistic from http://www.wordsrated.com

Walking Away From God

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Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 
Luke 24:13-18

In his Easter sermon, Pastor John Tyson (Church of the City) asked two questions about the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Q: Where are these people walking?
A: They are walking away from God.
Q: And where is God?
A: He is walking with them as they walk away from Him.

Have you ever felt like walking away?
Maybe not from God, but from His people, His mission, His calling?
Maybe not for forever, but for a while?
Maybe not from belief, but from hope?

If you’re feeling like that today, take heart my friend.
Jesus sees you.
Jesus hears you.
Jesus is walking right beside you.
Invite Him into the conversation.

“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road?”
Luke 24:32

Photosynthesis

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Without trees, you’d be dead.
Within minutes of your first breath,
you’d get dizzy and nauseated and lose consciousness.
Poisonous gas would overtake you and kill you.
The whole human race would be extinct if it weren’t for trees.

Aren’t you thankful for them?

I love trees.
They have always been my favorite part of the natural world.
Now I know why.
They keep me alive.

In early elementary grades, the scientific process of photosynthesis is introduced.

The concept is expanded in advanced science classes,
but this is all you really need to know.
Tree leaves suck up the lethal carbon dioxide that humans exhale.
Sunlight turns the poison into life-giving oxygen that humans inhale.

Brilliant!

“The average human exhales about 2.3 pounds of carbon dioxide on an average day. Take this number and multiply by a population of 7 billion people, breathing away for 365.25 days per year, and you get an annual CO2 output of 2.94 billion tons.”*

Trees are hard workers.
They carry out their God-given purpose with no problem.
God bless them.

But beyond their scientific, ecological and atmospheric value,
trees do something else—they preach the gospel.

Jesus
hung on a tree,
soaked up my deadly sin,
poured out His light,
and transferred
His breath of life
into me.

I call this
photo-sin-thesis.

CO2 —> O2
Death —> Life
It’s the great exchange.
As we approach Holy Week,
let’s take our stand beneath the cross of Jesus
and breathe deep of the wonders of His redeeming love.

“Jesus offered Himself in exchange
for everyone held captive by sin,
to set them all free.”
1 Timothy 2:4-5

*Statistic from nrdc.org

On the Dotted Line

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Recently I read that people have, on average, about 4000 weeks to live. I’m hoping for a few more than that, as 4000 weeks only gets me to about 77 years. I’m aiming for 4,680 weeks. You can do the math.

The idea intrigued me. What would 4000 weeks look like? I had to know, so I made a chart with each dot representing one week. Here’s what my life looks like in dots—each color marks a decade.

See those dark pink dots? Those are my 20s. Five hundred and twenty blue dots cover my 30s. My 40s are shown by yellow dots and purple dots represent my 50s. I’m well into my orange-dot-decade.

See that little heart around that green dot? That’s when PB and I got married. We’ve shared a lot of dots since then, and I’m so grateful.

Every Sunday I draw another tiny circle in another tiny square, step back, and take a long look at my life. I say, “Thank You Lord, for Your faithfulness to me over weeks, years, and decades.”

Then I look at the empty spaces yet to be filled in and say, “Lord, help me to be faithful to You until my dots run out.”

It occurred to me this morning that
truly, truly,
my dots will go on forever and ever.

“I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live,
even though he dies;
and whoever lives
and believes in me
wil never die.”
John 11:25

Burn Your Boats

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When I was an elementary school student, I thought time began in 1492.
I surmised that the written record of history began with the ditty,
“Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.”

That’s because every fall, when we cracked open our American Heritage history books, chapter one was all about the discovery of America. I didn’t know what happened before 1492 until I went to high school, and then I still didn’t have a grasp on the sweep of history. It wasn’t until I began teaching my own children that ancient history began to make sense.

Early in our homeschooling days, I made a timeline that wrapped around our dining room and stretched up and down the hallway. Contributions to our homemade timeline were added every year: Katie’s favorite books and authors, Sam’s sports facts, Anna’s musicians and Jacob’s inventors. Ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome took their place as we began to see the span of time come to life before our eyes. I sure learned a lot in our little schoolhouse. That’s why I still get a thrill out of stumbling upon a story plucked out of the annals of time—especially when that historical narrative has eternal overtones. Like this one:

In 1591, Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez landed on the shores of Mexico with 600 men. Legend has it that after landing, Cortez ordered the ships to be burned. As the men saw their way of escape go up in smoke, they understood it was all or nothing. Conquer or die trying.

Maybe that happened. Maybe it didn’t. But it’s a story worth pondering.

I tend to make back-up plans. If I never tell anyone my big dreams, then it doesn’t matter if they never come to fruition. I like to keep an itty-bitty loophole open if things don’t work out the way I hoped. I keep the boat in the harbor in case I want to sail away at the last minute. The problem with back-up plans and loopholes is that they keep me from going all in.

Pastor Mark Batterson wrote, “If Jesus is not Lord of all then Jesus is not Lord at all. It’s all or nothing. It’s now or never. For many years, I thought I was following Jesus. I wasn’t. I had invited Jesus to follow me. I call it inverted Christianity. And it’s a subtle form of selfishness that masquerades as spirituality. That’s when I sold out and bought in. When did we start believing that the gospel is an insurance plan? It’s a daring plan. Jesus did not die just to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous.”

I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back.
No turning back.

Be dangerous.
Burn your boats.

“Any of you who does not
give up everything he has
cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:33
“Whatever you do,
do it with all your heart.”
Colossians 3:23

Job Insecurity

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To be clear, I’m not referring to job (JAWB) insecurity. My position as keeper of the checkbook, CEO of all laundry-related business, and boss of menus and grocery shopping is fairly secure.

No, I’m talking about Job (JOBE) insecurity.

According to my 2024 Bible Reading Plan, I am spending February and March in the book of Job. I thought this weighty and rather somber book would be appropriate during the serious season of Lent. As we approach Passion week and the suffering of Christ, it seems like the right time to sit with Job.

Over the past few years, I’ve managed to read through most of the Bible. Except Job. I left him for last. His book makes me feel a little insecure. Why? Because there are a whole lot of tough questions and not very many answers. It’s not for the faint of heart.

There are 270 questions in the book of Job, to be exact.
Job asks 122 questions.
Job’s friends ask 83 questions.
God asks 65 questions.

It’s a hard book to read.
It’s a hard book to understand.
It’s a hard book to love.

If you are reading along with me and feel the same way, let’s get some help.

The first place I go when starting to read a book of the Bible is straight to The Bible Project guys. They produce short, engaging summaries of each book that are very helpful. For those of us scratching our heads and saying, “What the heck is going on with Job?” check out this 11 minute video.

If you geek out on books about the Bible, like I do, I highly recommend Trusting God in the Darkness: A Guide to Understanding the Book of Job by Christopher Ash. In the Preface, he writes, “If you have never done so (read Job), my prayer is that this short study will help you find a way in. If you have ventured in but got bogged down and confused, I hope this introduction will signpost the main roads.” Ash delivers in this easy-to-read, thoughtful book.

More from Christopher Ash:

Job is a fireball book. It is a staggeringly honest book. It is a book that knows what people actually say and think—and not just what they say publicly in church. It knows what people say behind closed doors and in whispers, and it knows what we say in our tears. It is not merely an academic book. If we listen to it with any care, it will touch, trouble, and unsettle us at a deep level.

I’m not ashamed to say I need help with a fireball book like Job. I’m willing be touched, troubled and unsettled, as long as I’m holding someone’s hand. So I offer you mine as we read, come to understand a little more, and maybe even grow to love this unique part of God’s Word.

Here’s one take-away for me in the first 14 chapters: Job’s friends were better companions when they sat with Job in silence. Things went south when they started talking. Trite answers and shaded accusations were not helpful to Job.

Sometimes people need presence more than words.

If you are reading Job along with me, what are your take-aways?

Love in the Ashes

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Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day collided yesterday.
The juxtaposition of these two holidays was like having
a funeral and a wedding on the same day.
Can a person grieve and rejoice at the same time?
I hope so, because happiness and sadness often walk hand in hand.

My grandparents were married in December of 1919. Five days before their wedding, my grandpa’s mother took her own life. She left a husband and five children, including a 14 year old daughter and an eight year old son. And my grandpa. There was a funeral on Tuesday and a wedding on Thursday.

Ash Wednesday is a day to remember we are but dust.
Valentine’s Day is a day to recognize the wonder of being loved.
We can hold both of these truths together at the same time.
We are loved dust.

The ashes remind us to
hug a little tighter
kiss a little longer
be a little sweeter
try a little harder.
“Teach us to use wisely all the time we have.” Ps. 90:12

The hearts remind us that
love is a gift
often given
in the midst
of sacrifice.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8

I hope you had a Happy Dusty Valentine’s Day.
May we all find love in the ashes.



Right Hand Rules

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PB and I have four kids, two daughters-in-law, two sons-in-law and eleven grands. That makes twenty-one of us when we all get together. Now it seems we have our first, and only, lefty in the bunch. That means 4.7% of our clan is left-handed, well below the population average of 10%.

Lots of famous people favored their left, including Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon Bonaparte and Babe Ruth. Five of the last eight presidents were lefties. Of all professional sports, baseball has one of the highest left-to-right ratios at 30% and southpaw pitchers dominate on the mound. Both of our sons bemoaned the fact that they were right-handed pitchers. They thought we shirked our parental duty by not tying their right hands behind their backs as toddlers.

Even in Bible times, having lefties in your army was highly advantageous. Seven hundred men were chosen among the Benjamite tribe who were left-handed, “each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.” (Judges 20:16) Sign ’em up.

It appears that God has a dominant right hand. At least, that’s how the Old Testament poets and prophets view Him. Over 60 times in the Psalms, the Lord’s right hand is extolled. God saves, sustains, upholds, seizes foes, achieves awesome deeds, and holds victorious power—all with His strong right hand. When Jesus ascended, He sat down at the right hand of the Father. (Ephesians 1:20) In heaven, we will experience eternal pleasures at the Lord’s right hand. (Psalm 16:11)

What’s up with all this right vs. left hand business? 

According to early Jewish thought, the right hand was considered to be more prestigious. This general rule that the right should take precedence over the left was carried into every aspect of Jewish life. They went a little overboard with the whole idea. Rules were put into place that commanded people to wash their right hand before their left hand. They had to put their clothes on in prescribed ways (right sandal first, then left; right arm in the tunic first, then left). The rabbis even advised that when in doubt on which way to turn on a road, take a right.

This preference for the right hand was perpetuated by the teaching that the right represented the attribute of kindness, while the left represented severity. If a person was faced with a situation in which a decision had to be made between kindness or severity, kindness was always the right choice.

God has a strong and mighty right hand. And left hand.
He’ll kindly take either one of ours when we reach out to Him.

“For I am the Lord, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”
Isaiah 41:13

Song and Dance

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In what seems like many lifetimes ago, I was a college student working toward a degree in vocal music. I learned how to round my vowels and breathe from my diaphragm. I learned the solfeg system and how to recognize half-diminished seventh chords. I modulated and transposed and notated. I practiced the harmonic minor scale, the pentatonic scale and the whole-tone scale. In my senior recital I sang Bach in English, Faure in French, and Puccini in Italian.

The music degree required two years of piano instruction. I had taken years of piano lessons as a youngster, even though I begged my parents to let me quit. I even went so far as to safety-pin notes to my mom and dad’s bedsheets so when they turned down the covers one night, they were faced with a barrage of petitions, such as “Please let me quit piano,” and “I hate piano lessons,” and “Just because my sister took piano lessons doesn’t mean I should have to.”

They did not give in.
And I’m so glad.

I had a fantastic piano teacher in college named Mrs. Grill. I never once was tempted to pin notes to her bedsheets. I didn’t want to quit taking lessons from her, even after graduation. She pushed me beyond what I thought were my limits—I was convinced I couldn’t play music with sharps. Flats were no problem, but sharps? No way. Until Mrs. Grill assigned me Canciones Y Danzas by Federico Mompou.

Not just one sharp, not two, not three, but four sharps. And I learned to play the piece! And memorize it! And perform it in a recital! Dear Mrs. Grill. I couldn’t have done it without her.

One of my goals for 2024 is to play Mompou’s “Song and Dance No. 5” once again. Right now, I’m stumbling and bumbling my way through it. Right hand alone, then left hand alone, then slowly together. I may never play it with the same confidence I had over 40 years ago. But then, I don’t have Mrs. Grill encouraging me every week.

I’m learning the joy of doing something just for the love of it—not to pass a class or fulfill requirements or even perform for an audience. Sometimes I still need to be pushed beyond what I think is possible. On the other side of practicing scales and finger exercises, there is delight.

The Psalmist said, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2) The disciplines of regular prayer and scripture reading can seem to drag on, but then suddenly, there are days when it is pure delight.

Don’t stop. Keep walking (and practicing) every day.