How fitting that the first devotion for December be on “God is love.” He is the perfect embodiment of love. He is the perfect Giver of love. He is the perfect example of love. He is the perfect sacrifice of love. He is the perfect definition of love. He is the perfect description of love.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” Can there be anything more definitive of love than that? Can there be any greater example of love than that? Can there be any greater action to show love than that? Jesus once said, “Greater love has no man than this than a man lay down his life for his friends.” He knew whereof He spoke. He saw it modeled. He became that instrument of love in action.

No wonder hope and security can be only be found in Christ. Nothing horizontal can make that happen because only in a God of love can true hope and security be found.

I like the way Tripp ends his devotion:

The One how is love sent His Son of love to be a sacrifice of love so you and I could be rescued by His love and rest in that love forever and ever.

“Father, thank you for your love for me. Thank you for being love. Thank you for being an example of love. Thank you for giving love in an act so off the charts it is unexplainable and incomprehensible. The Incarnation. The Resurrection. Two events that show your deep love. And one more. My salvation. Thank you.”

 2 lies = devastating consequences

Lie #1- Lie of autonomy. I am an independent human, my life belongs to me, and I have the right to live my life as I please.

Talk about a disaster waiting to happen! Me running my own life? Seriously?

• Solution: God created me. He owns me. I am His. I’m reminded of these words: “You are not your own; you’ve been bought with a price.”

Lie #2- Lie of self-sufficiency. I have everything within myself to be what I’m supposed to be and do what I’m supposed to do.

That’s the old self-help, pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps, Joel Osteen mentality. Yeah…as if that will work.

• Solution: Realize I was created to be in a relationship-with God and with others.

I like what Tripp says: “The self-made man is always poorly made.” Going my own way and doing my own thing = disaster. Seeing what has happened and will happen should open my eyes to the reality that I am incapable of life on my own.

“There you have it, Father. I’m a disaster without You. My life is chaos on my own. You created me; you own me. Let grace be your fingerprint on me.”

Inside. Outside. Two realities about evil. Two big problems about evil. One big truth.

OUTSIDE. Evil is there. The enemy wants to pressure us with outside influences. Temptation. Sex. Violence. Gossip. Words that put down. Divorce. Lies. Theft. Endless outside influences.

INSIDE. Evil is there. Coming to Christ gave me salvation, but not immunity. It gave me salvation from the fear of and punishment for sin.  But it did not grant me immunity from it. Sin is there. God’s grace has greatly enriched my life; saved me; given me hope; but it does not erase the battle with sin.

ONE BIG TRUTH.  Sin is a heart problem long before it is ever a behavior problem. A man or women’s fall into adultery, for example, did not happen overnight or then and there. It started long before with hidden lust.  It started long before with fantasy. It started long before in the heart with a longing for something that was not his/hers. Take another example: someone stealing money from work. That didn’t happen overnight either. It started with greed, envy, desperation maybe. Tripp adds this: “It is only ever the evil inside me that hooks me to the evil outside me.” The lure of temptation is great; the strength of God is greater. (I John 4:4)

“Father, Jesus once said, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.’ Purify my heart so that the outside holds no allure. Let me have eyes only for you.”

It is easy to become judgmental:

• They’re lost; I’m not.
• They’re really bad; I’m saved.
• He/she really needs the gospel; I have it.

The list could go on.  Tripp puts it this way:

The person next to me doesn’t need the gospel more than I do; he just needs it differently than I do. All people sin and fall short.

It’s tragic when I do that. I once read “Comparisons are odious.” My translation? Comparing myself to someone else is stupid. I’m a sinner. I’m as bad as the next person! I need Jesus just like the next person. I may need Him differently, but I still need Him!

Part of the problem with comparisons is the tendency to compare strong vs weak, i.e. my strength vs their weakness. My “righteousness” vs their unrighteousness. That is especially true when the other person is not a Christ-follower. Sadly, when I compare like that I put myself in the camp of those Jesus despised: the Pharisees. They postured. They “pomped.” They posed. They walked with their heads high and eyes even higher. They thought they were better than everyone else. All because they compared their so-called righteousness to the unrighteousness of those who were lower than them on the food chain (at least in their minds). It’s no wonder Jesus called them “blind leaders of the blind” and hypocrites.

“Oh dear Father, one simple prayer. Help me see myself as You see me. That will ward off any thoughts of me vs them = me better than them. Help me to be honest with myself and never lose sight of your view: ‘there is none righteous, no not one.’ “

It’s tough realizing you aren’t enough. In a sense that was the gist of Samuel’s speech to the people of Israel in I Samuel 12. He talked about their sin and chasing after other gods, but also that God used men like him to being them back to God. But Samuel (and the other judges) were not enough. They wanted a king. Not because they wanted a definitive leader. Not because they prayed and God said, “Do this.” No. They wanted a king because the nations surrounding them had one.

Such is the nature of envy. “I see. I want. I must have.” Envy wants what someone else has. What I have is not enough. The Israelites questioned the rule of God as sovereign. He wasn’t enough. His men (and women) weren’t enough. So, as Tripp says, “Envy causes you (them) to question the goodness, faithfulness, and wisdom of God. Envy accuses God of not knowing what He is doing or of not being faithful to what He has promised.”

I know one thing envy does to me. It causes me to forget. To forget God’s goodness. To forget God’s grace. To forget God’s blessings. I’m so busy thinking of what I don’t have, I forget what I do have. And that is tragedy #1.  Just like the people of Israel who forgot God’s goodness and leading and clamored for a king, I, too, forget and clamor for a new thing. Something for me.

“Father, sometimes I know I want something else. Material things take over. But worse is when I push you aside and think I can run my own life. Yeah…that doesn’t work. Help me to stop envying and start being satisfied.”

I won’t lie. Sometimes I long for heaven. I get tired. I get weary. I get discouraged. I see all the pain and suffering and I long to be rid of it all. I have my own aches and pains which I know will not go away until heaven. But then, like Paul, I realize there is still so much to do and so much I want to do. My sin is great; grace is greater. My discouragement sometimes wants to take over; grace says nope.

I’m looking for a perfect world. Not here. I know that will never be. Huey Lewis once sang a song called Perfect World in which he talked about everyone getting along.  It didn’t happen in the Garden; it didn’t happen with Cain and Abel; it isn’t going to happen this side of eternity.

I can’t, for a moment, imagine a perfect world. No tension. No separation from God. No pollution. No cancer or any other disease. No hate. No violence. No pain. No distrust. No impure thoughts.  No addictions. The list is endless. The wish is endless as well. But I can sure dream of that perfect world.

Someday. Someday. Because of the cross, someday there will be a day when perfection is here. There will be a perfect world. The enemy was defeated at the cross; someday he will be annihilated and sent to a lake of fire NEVER to raise his ugly head again.

“Until that day, Father, I choose to trust you. I choose to trust you will never turn your face from me. Mercy and grace will lead me home to you and to your perfect world. I can’t wait.”

If I didn’t know any better I’d say God was trying to pound a point home to me.  🙂  The devotion today is on worship. My sermon today is on worship.

The question is not whether I will worship, but rather what I will worship-my glorious Creator or something He created.

BAM!! I have a worship problem. I know it. I don’t worship Jo. I don’t worship the girls or my family. I don’t worship my bike (although at times I come close). I don’t worship the house, or my truck, or going to the Y, or my body (it is deteriorating), my job (although that is sometimes border line), or things. My biggest problem is me. I worship ME. Or as Tripp calls it: the idol of self.

I’d really like to believe I’m beyond that…but I’m not. I’d really like to believe I have that problem solved…but I don’t. I’d really like to believe that struggle is in my past…but it’s not. I’d really like to believe I have that surrendered…but I haven’t. Again and again I find myself going to other idols, starting with myself. My way. My rights. My rules.

“Father, the struggle is real. The struggle is daily. The struggle is never-ending. Help me in that battle for supremacy to yield my way, my rights, and my rules to You. Be the object of my worship.”

I asked Jo (my wife): “What is this week’s sermon about?” She said, “Awe.” I said this is Tripp’s opening statement:

It is dangerous to live without my heart being captured by awe of God, because awe of God is quickly replaced by awe of me.

I could write the whole devotion here but I’m not going to. Instead, I want to write and comment on the part which stuck out to me.

“I was created to live in a real, heart-gripping, agenda-setting, behavior-forming awe of God. But other awes kidnap my heart…shove the awe of God out of my heart. So I need grace to see again, to tremble again, and to bow down again at the feet of the One who deserves my awe.”

I must admit I’m one of those fickle creatures who struggles with awe. I don’t want to but I do allow creation, people, events, and even myself to move (okay shove) the awe of God out of my heart. Much like the Israelites who made promises but failed to keep them, I’m guilty. Being in God’s presence was so important, God carefully gave Moses instructions to give to the people while he was on the mountain receiving the Law. (“Don’t come near the mountain.” “Don’t touch the mountain.” etc) He has given me instructions as well: “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.”

“May I, Father, do just that. Give me a sense of awe and make no substitutions.”

There are so many thoughts running through my head with this devotion. First, Tripp’s opening statement rings a bell:

Obedience is an act of thankful worship, not a fearful means of trying to gain favor with God.

When I was a kid, obedience to my dad was expected. A failure to be brought dire consequences. It was a “do it or else” situation. Obviously, that tainted me and how I saw God.

There is nothing I can do to gain God’s favor:

• I will never be righteous enough.
• My thoughts will never be pure enough.
• My desires will never be holy enough.
• My words will never be clean enough.
• My choices and actions will never be God-honoring enough.

Tripp says it so well that I can’t say it any better: “I don’t need to obey to gain God’s favor. Jesus has gained God’s favor on my behalf. So my obedience is never a fearful payment (note: “I better or else”), but a hymn of gratitude to a God who met me where I was and did for me what I could not have done for myself.”

“Father, what a refreshing take on obedience. It is not “do it or else.” It is not a “fear the wrath” kind of thing. Instead it is a hymn of gratitude for a gracious God’s love for me. A hymn of thanksgiving for a debt I could not pay, paid by Someone who had no reason to do so. May my life be a song to you- a song of love, laughter, grace, mercy, and gratitude to You and sung by others as well.”

How fitting today’s devotion is. Although when he wrote these Tripp would have known the date for Thanksgiving Day (TD) would move around, today’s is on “needs,” a perfect topic for TD.  Today is the day set aside on the calendar and called TD and his opening statement sets the tone:

“How could I not have all I need when my Savior has promised not to withhold any good thing from me?”

The discussion always goes to need vs greed. But Tripp avoids that by looking at what I call a “need” and seeing the end result of need = essential for life. He puts an interesting and CONVICTING twist on this devotion. What I see as a need can often lead to:

1. Entitlement- It’s mine.
2. Demand- Give it to me.
3. Judgment- You don’t love me or You do.

Honestly, I’ve never looked at it this way but I can see how that happens. I can also see how those 3 scenarios would play havoc with my faith and my growth. Most assuredly with my gratitude. I become nothing more than a spoiled child.

“Father, on this day set aside at TD may I not lose sight of your goodness and graciousness. Help me not to get to the point of entitlement, demand or judgment. Help me, instead, to see I have all I need because You promised that. Thank you for all your have blessed me with and without.”