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January 2

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024

My blogging friend, Martha Orlando, has written a wonderful series of books called The Glade Series. I read them a number of years ago (memory escapes me on when) but I recently reread them and decided to do a review of the trilogy. You will find that review over at my other blog, Cycleguy’s Spin. You can access that review/blog here.

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I’m a day late starting my new year with a devotional thought, but then again it is never too late I reckon. This past Sunday, one of our young men gave his communion thought on the phrase “New Year/New Me.” He did what was best: he brought it to the change/transformation that comes from knowing Jesus.

There is a lot of chatter at the beginning of every new year about resolutions. I had a friend text me last night saying, “I know you don’t do new year’s resolutions, but I do. More exercise, longer hair, less weight and get younger. Minor goals.” My response? “Minor? Ha. Two are possible, maybe 3. But that last one? Guess again.”

He is right. I don’t do resolutions. That’s not saying I don’t have some dreams and goals I’d like to reach. My sermon theme for 2024 is Run With the Horses. (Jeremiah 12:5) I want to do that.  But what will that entail? I’ll be working that out all year long! 🙂 But I can tell you it will require:

1. An ever-deepening love for Jesus. I long to drink at His well and be satisfied, but only to find myself wanting more.

2. An increasing respect and hunger for God’s Word. I don’t want what I will call the “Eve syndrome.” I recently read that Eve diminished God’s Word; she added to God’s Word; and she softened God’s Word. I plan to elaborate on those more in tomorrow’s devotion.

3. I want my relationship with Jesus and His Word to determine my choices and not let my choices/wants determine how I look at Jesus or interpret His Word.

All of this falls under one heading: I want to become more like Jesus by pursing Him. What about you? Do you have any overarching dreams or goals for 2024?

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December 28

Thursday, December 28th, 2023

I had some trouble this morning. I had some trouble making a decision. No, it wasn’t whether to get out of bed or not. 🙂 And no, it was not earth-shattering, ground-breaking, or even life-changing. It really should have been a simple one. You see, every other month I read Proverbs. The chapter I read corresponds with the day. In other words, today is the 28th so I read chapter 28. Each time I read I highlight a different verse with a different color. (I recently found Mr. Pen Bible Safe Highlighters to be fantastic with no bleed through). Back to earth, Bill. Proverbs 28 is filled with so many verses I could highlight that I couldn’t make a quick decision. Here are just a couple:

28:2- “When there is moral rot in a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.” Need I say more?

28:6- “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich.” Hmmm. That sets your mind back a bit.

28:7- “Young people who obey the law are wise; those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.” Choose friends wisely.

28:13- “People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.” Shades of Psalm 51.

There are more and I would encourage you to read the chapter. Slowly. Savoring it. But, here is the verse I settled on this morning: “Greed causes fighting; trusting the Lord leads to prosperity.” (v.25)

Some would look at that verse and their eyes will light up at the latter part. “See? Prosperity is promised.” But the whole verse must be considered, not just a section. “Greed causes fighting.” Put a nail through that section. “I want.” -> “Step aside.” (or step on/over) -> “I get.” That is a recipe for disaster. And that is exactly the point of that first section. James 4:1-2 says, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have…”

The core issue is greed, selfishness. The rest of that verse simply says if we take our eyes off ourselves and trust we will know true wealth. Can there be anything better than true reliance on the Source?

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December 14

Thursday, December 14th, 2023

All week long I’ve been looking at the women who are in Jesus’ genealogy. You can check them out here and here and here. But I’m going to shift gears this morning and talk about a man. Yes, I know you could say, “Pick a man. Any man” much like you would in a card trick. Jesus’ genealogy is no different in that respects from any other one from that time. {Side note: for Matthew to include women in Jesus’ genealogy was highly unusual. Women were considered non-entities in that day and age. Even in His lineage, Jesus breaks the mold}. Okay, off the rabbit trail and back on course. 🙂 The man is mentioned in Matthew 1:16 with a fuller story in verses 18-25.

Joseph. The earthly father of Jesus. The husband of Mary.

Jewish marriage was in 2 stages. The parents usually arranged the marriage to start with. The first stage was the kiddushin, or what we would call the engagement period. The second stage was the huppa. It was actually more like our engagement period, but the couple was considered married and had all the rights and privileges of marriage EXCEPT the sexual relationship. Joseph and Mary were in this stage.

That explains why Joseph sought to divorce Mary. In his eyes, the explanation Mary gave for being pregnant had to be incredulous. “Seriously? An angel told you what?” I honestly believe Joseph loved Mary and it was more than an arranged marriage at this point. His only go to was Mary had broken her virginity with someone. He just knew it wasn’t with him. Joseph was an honorable man. He didn’t want a scandal. He didn’t want to embarrass or demean Mary. Take her away. Divorce her quietly. Let her live her life without shame.

Until God intervened in a dream. Long story short (and you probably know it): Joseph did as he was told, i.e. stay with her and marry her and don’t have relations with her until after Jesus’ birth.  Then be the father to Immanuel. That seems like a lot to us. But consider this: Joseph went through life with the reputation of being married to a promiscuous woman-which, of course, was not true. Mary went through life being considered an immoral woman. On one occasion the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Well, we weren’t born as a result of sexual immorality.” (John 8:41).  Yeah, like let’s bring up someone’s past. “Mary, you had an illegitimate child. Joseph, you are the father of that child.” They lived with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s scarlet letter glowing brightly.

Joseph’s story seems to end sometime after Jesus’ turned 12 and was found in the Temple. It is surmised that he died after fathering other children with Mary. Joseph teaches us the importance of listening and saying “Yes” to God (just like Mary). Jesus had two good earthly teachers-a father who loved Him as his own, and a mother who loved Him until His death. May we all be like Joseph and be willing to change the course of our lives if led by God to do so.

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November 16

Thursday, November 16th, 2023

I began reading an old book yesterday. It was first published in 1983; the second edition in 2009; and a third edition-a commemorative one-in 2019. The book is entitled Run With the Horses by the late Eugene Peterson. He found his title from Jeremiah 12:5. Peterson’s own Message Paraphrase puts it this way: “So, Jeremiah, if you’re worn out in this footrace with me, what makes you think you can race against horses? And if you can’t keep your wits during times of calm, what’s going to happen when trouble break loose like the Jordan in flood?” The NLT translates it: “If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?

The subtitle for the book is “The Quest for Life at Its Best.” Trust me when I say it is not another Joel Osteen knock-off. You won’t read more “your-best-life-now” drivel.  On the contrary. Here is what you will get a sample of:

Vitezlav Gardovsky, the Czech philosopher and martyr who died in 1978, took Jeremiah as his “image of man” in his campaign against a secret society that carefully planned every detail of material existence but eliminated mystery and miracle, and squeezed all freedom from life.  The terrible threat against life is ‘that we might die earlier than we really do die, before death has become a natural necessity. The real horror lies in such a premature death, a death after which we go on living for many years.’ (pp.18-19)

Sort of like living with a dementia or Alzheimer’s patient. They may go on living for many years after their diagnosis, and yet not really living.

Jeremiah was ready to abandon his unique calling because of opposition and self-pity, but that moment God nailed him with the words of Jeremiah 12:5. It is like he is saying, “Life is difficult, Jeremiah. Are you going to quit already? Are you going to quit at the first opposition?” We would say, “Are you going to run home to mommy, Jeremiah, are you going to run with the horses?”

I know what I want to do. I want to “run with the horses.” Wild. Free. With purpose. Engaging and enjoying life. What about you? Are you going to quit, give up, throw in the towel, be put out to pasture (ahem), or…run with with horses?

I seldom do this but a song from years ago came to mind. If you have a chance check out Dark Horse by John Fischer. Sorry I can’t find any lyric video but the lyrics are plain. Hint: its from the 1970s. And yes, I was listening to CCM way back in those dark ages. 🙂

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November 16

Monday, November 13th, 2023

We all have a story. We all have a past. We all have a present. We all will have a future (although as Doc Brown says in Back to the Future: “Our future hasn’t been written yet.” Doc Brown is right, and he is also wrong.  We don’t know what the future holds. God does. He has written our future. What that all means is a discussion for another day).

I repeat: we all have a story. I’ve been reading each morning from a book entitled Limping with God by Chad Bird. It is a book solely committed to tell the life of Jacob. Jacob’s name means “supplanter, deceiver” and it seems his whole life was one big story on that idea. Many incidences in his life stand out, which would require far more space than I am able to give right now, but two stand out head and shoulders above the others. One was in Genesis 28 where Jacob dreamed of a stairway to heaven (yeah…don’t go there.  🙂 ). The other is in Genesis 32 as he goes to meet Esau and wrestles with God and comes away with a limp.

There is much to learn from diving into that story, but one I read this morning stuck. Mr. Bird writes, “Jacob limped into the future bearing the burdens of his past-burdens that were lightened by the memory of the God who christened him with a new name.” (p. 174).  BTW: that new name was Jacob to Israel.

We all carry scars of our past. Jacob’s (Israel’s) was a limp where his fellow wrestler (God) touched him on his hip because Jacob said he would not let him go unless he blessed him. Thus, the limp.

I have discussed this before: anyone who think becoming a follower of Jesus releases us from a tough time in life is whacked. No where, NO WHERE, does God promise us an easy road. Quite the contrary, what He does promise is that our present and future might be a life of pain from our skirmishes and scars, but one in which we are never left alone.

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October 25

Wednesday, October 25th, 2023

Holocaust survivor  and writer of The Hiding Place Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Look without and be distressed. Look within and be depressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest.”

Boy, ain’t that the truth? After the events of my life in the last couple days (see two previous posts here and here), I can say a hearty AMEN to that. It’s like one of those cartoons where you see the character standing still while everything and everyone around is moving at light speed. My grandson used to run like Dash from The Incredibles and look behind him to see if there were any “speed trails.”

Corrie knew whereof she spoke. In a concentration camp she watch her father and sister-and many others-die at the hands of the Nazis. But her sister, Betsy, had a huge faith that rubbed off on Corrie. Betsy taught/showed her not to look around or within because that would only bring despair. She taught her to look to Jesus.

Life appears hard at times. To look around one will find it easy to get distressed (unless you are a Ranger or Diamondback fan. Little baseball there). Seriously, can we really have a lot of hope at the moment? Then we are told to look within. Are you kidding me? I’m a sinner. I’m messed up. If I look within I’m in deep trouble. There is a big “D” called depression just waiting for me if I do that.

But looking to Jesus? That’s the ticket. Stay fixed on Him. Keep moving forward in the power of His strength. Don’t despair (outward). Don’t sink (inward). Find hope. (Upward). “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”  (Ps.95:6-7 ESV).  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Heb. 12:1-2 ESV)

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September 13

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

I read this morning that as thousands of Ukrainian women and children arrived at Berlin’s railway station fleeing war, they were met with a surprise-German families holding homemade signs offering refuge in their homes. “Can host two people!” one sign read. “Big room [available],” read another. Asked why she offered such hospitality to fleeing strangers, one woman said her mother had needed refuge while fleeing the Nazis and she wanted to help others in such need. (Source: Our Daily Bread-9/13-Sheldon Voysey author)

The word refuge stood out to me as I read that story. I think of a refuge as a place to hunker down during a storm. There have been times I have been out riding my bike when a storm has hit unexpectedly (and I was trying hard to beat it). Out of necessity I have ridden in a misty rain or a steady rain (Getting from Point A to Point B), all the while looking for a place to get out of the rain. But a storm? I look for the first porch, first barn, first roof, first covered inset of a building to (hopefully) wait out the storm.

Multiple times in the book of Psalms we read the word refuge. Here are a few:

Psalm 2:12- “Kiss the Son…Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”

Psalm 5:11- “Let all who take refuge in you rejoice…”

Psalm 7:1- “O Lord my God, in you I take refuge…”

Psalm 11:1- “In the Lord I take refuge…”

Psalm 16:1- “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge…”

Psalm 46:1- “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  (It is reported H.G. Wells once said, “God is an ever absent help in time of trouble.”)

As you can see the verses speaking of God as a refuge are many, and those are just a small handful of verses from Psalms.

Storms come. They know no discrimination. They know no boundaries. We will all experience storms. Some catastrophic; some light. Some inexplicable; some easy to read. What makes a difference is to WHOM we run. In WHOM will we seek refuge? David, the author of most of the Psalms, found his refuge in God.

What about you? Where will you find your refuge?

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September 7

Thursday, September 7th, 2023

I was thinking this morning about the seeming coldness of so many people. Even those who are so-called “social justice warriors” are, when you come right down to it, often in it for themselves. They have a social agenda they want to accomplish-whether it be racial, environmental, lifestyle, or even religious. Instead of truly caring for people, many “front” their agenda with fake concern, fake activism. Whether it be for money, fame, a name, or an agenda, they truly don’t care for others.

How different from what the Bible says is true caring. Just a couple of Scriptures show that. Before I do though, let me add this: there is a big-no make that gigantic-difference between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy says, “I’m sorry” but does nothing. It reminds me of that annoying boy in Polar Express who says, “I’m sorry. I really am” but you get the feeling of “not really.” Empathy, on the other hand, truly feels sorrow but then does two things: 1) puts oneself in their place; and 2) does something about it.

Now for the Scripture…and trust me when I say no commentary will be needed. In I Corinthians 12, after speaking about how each member of the body-hand, foot, ear, eye, nose-need each other, Paul concludes with these words: “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (verse 26 in ESV).

The other Scripture is found in James 2. James discusses favoritism (rich vs poor) in the church assembly by giving favored seats; partiality in morality (overlooking one sin for another sin); and then he hits my point: “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (Verses 15-17 in ESV)

No racial, environmental, or social agenda. Just a faith agenda: one where feet are put to our faith. Empathy, not just sympathy, is the calling card of a life of faith.

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August 31

Thursday, August 31st, 2023

I could say or write on word and it would stir different thoughts. Depending on your circumstances past and present, your mind will form a picture.

The word? IDOLATRY.

For some that will lead you to think of a statue, something made with hands. Some will be astute enough to think of people or places.

If someone were to ask me what my definition of an idol is I would give them a very short statement as an answer: something that captures your heart.

That opens the page to a number of examples. The aforementioned image of wood or stone, which was very common in biblical times and in some religions, even today, comes to mind. Another broader example might be my job, my hobby, my spouse, my children, my possessions, etc.

Here’s the deal though: God is very plain and to the point when He says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” The main concern when He spoke those words was immediately followed up with “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness…You shall not bow down to them or serve them…” (Ex.20:3-5)  God would not be replaced by something stupid, something that could not respond. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote about that in Romans 1:22-23-“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

But truthfully, idolatry doesn’t have to refer to an image. Anything that captures our hearts, demands our attention, takes our affections away from love for the Father is an idol. Not that those things are wrong in and of themselves, but when they take over or take precedence, then they have approached idol territory. If we find ourselves with something or someone besides Jesus Christ taking first place in our heart, we can be pretty sure idolatry has occurred.

And that is a dangerous state to find yourself in.

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August 22

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023

It has been said that we are known by the company we keep. A wise man once wrote: “Do not make friends with a person given to anger, or go with a hot-tempered person, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.”  In case you don’t recognize it, that wise man is Solomon and the saying from Proverbs 22:24-25 (NASB2020). It’s from the Bible. You know…that outdated and irrelevant book. (Okay, so that comment was a bit snarky 🙂 )

The truth of that statement has been proven down through the years. All I need to do is give a word or initial or two and you can see how true it is. Nazis. KKK. Black Panther. Nation of Islam. SDS. El-Qaeda. CCS. PP. History is replete with subversive groups, groups with their own agenda, groups who have made their mark (not always good either). There wouldn’t be groups like this if there weren’t “like” thinkers. “Birds of a feather flock together” is what we will say.

The church should be made up of like-minded individuals. Not cookie cutters, but people with a common goal. People who desire to mold together as a unit to fight our real enemy, not each other, but the one who can kill the soul.

I read I Timothy 1 this morning. I was struck again by the Apostle Paul’s words to Timothy in verses 12-17. My short version is “I was that but now I’m this.” “I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and violent aggressor, but I’ve received mercy. I’m no longer the chief of sinners but an example of a changed life.” Paul was part of a saved family. His goals changed. The company he kept changed.

He was now known by the company he keeps, not kept. What was, is exactly that, was. He’d rather be known by his new company. Please remember we are known by the company we keep. The question remains: who will do the influencing?

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