Judges 21, Jeremiah 2:1-3:5, Luke 8:26-39, Titus 3:12-15, Psalm 36: The last few days Cindy Sampson, Janice Thompson Creed, Denise Grimsley Griffin and I have been traveling through the Northwest part of our country. We have seen huge mountains, beautiful trees, golden prairies, the deep blue of a water filled crater, the vast beauty of oceans and gray of cliffs. Words are inadequate to describe the vast colors and varieties of all we have seen. So as I read Psalm 36 today once again I praised God!
Psalm 36:5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O Lord.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
I have truly taken refuge in my Savior as I have feasted on the bounty of all He created. How can anyone see all of these things and not want to know the One who created it all. He is so vast and yet He loves us. He loves us with our imperfections and failures. He loves us with a steadfast love that nothing can separate us from. He is infinite and beyond measure and yet He whispers His love and affection on us. It takes my breath away and makes me once again fall on my face in thanksgiving and praise. To Him be all glory and honor and praise !!!

Judges 16; Habakkuk 1:1-2:1; Luke 7:18-35; Titus 1:5-9; Psalm 32: Do you feel bewildered by the violence you are seeing these days? Do you feel helpless to even put into words the cry of your heart? Listen to the words of Habakkuk
1:3 “Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.”
But God does hear us! Hear His response.
1:5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.”
He is at work around us. We don’t see all He is doing, but we trust Him to bring about His best and His good. Here is our responsibility.
2:1 “I will take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”
Our response to the evil we are seeing today is to pray. Some might say prayer is not enough. That does not mean we don’t take other actions, but only God can change the human heart. The other part of the scripture is to listen to what God will say to us as well. We need to act when He speaks and make a difference right were we are.

Judges 13-14, Zephaniah 2, Luke 6:37-49, 1 Timothy 6:11-21, Psalm 30: Let me begin by saying this is not a political post. It is a post about the heart of men and women, boys and girls. Over the last few days we have seen evil take the lives of 29 people in 2 shootings. It is heart breaking to think about going to Walmart and not coming home because evil has taken innocent lives. There is one common denominator with all of the violence that is happening not just in the case of these two incidences but around our globe. It is that Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy. The problem is that those doing the evil have allowed their hearts to be filled with anger, bitterness, resentment, jealous, and darkness. That darkness then manifests itself in multiple ways, but the end result is to steal, kill and destroy. Our passage in Luke today says
Luke 6:43″For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Satan’s tactics are not new. They were displayed even in the original sons of Adam as one brother killed another. No matter what weapon is used to take the life or wound the core is the same, a heart problem.
I hope you will join me in praying for the hearts and minds of those in our communities. Pray that we will see those in deep need before they explode in violence and can reach them with Light, Truth, and a better way to handle their hatred. Pray for our teachers, principals and school administrators as they try to teach our children how to handle conflict and difficulties in a different way than they may have even seen in their own homes. Pray for churches to stop fighting with one another and begin to love like Jesus loves. Pray we see that the enemy is Satan and not our brother or sister. We are all in need of prayer that we would reflect the Light of the gospel not the desires of our flesh. Pray for those who lost people they loved this weekend and communities that today are trying to pick up the pieces and put life back together. Jesus is the only answer!

Judges 9, Nahum 1, Luke 4:1-14, 1 Tim 4:6-16, Psalms 26: If I were to ask you to describe God you would probably describe His love, care for us and mightiness. Rare has been the time when I have asked a group or people about God that they described Him like this.
Nahum:2 “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.”
Though we would not describe Him like that, these are accurate descriptions of God as well. Our culture focuses on the positive attributes, but many have also known the side that Nahum describes. God is jealous and will not have us give our love and allegiance to anything or anyone above Him. Some may say that is not right, but He created all things and everything belongs to Him. Therefore He is worthy of our love, appreciation and praise. Nothing is greater than Him. In His great love He will use whatever is necessary to bring us into right relationship with Him. Thus sometimes it takes being conquered to be blessed. Anyone who does not turn to Him will be crushed. I have often thought and said I would rather choose to be broken before Him than crushed by Him. I am thankful that though I know these truths about the Father, I have not often seen His wrath. I am grateful for His slowness to anger and thankful He forgives those of us guilty who turn to Him.

Judges 8, Isaiah 66, Luke 5:1-16, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, Psalm 25: I know God can do anything! The part I struggle with is will He. In Luke 5 we see Jesus healing the man with leprosy. The man says to Jesus “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” It was not that the man did not believe. He definitely did believe but he too struggled with the will you part. I love Jesus’ response “I will; be clean.” Short and sweet. It is not I will if you will clean up your act and do right. Or I will if you will commit to a certain thing. Jesus just got to the point and at His word the man was healed and clean.
I wonder sometimes if we don’t feel like we must earn our healing, forgiveness or blessing. God chooses what He chooses without us having to “Pay for it”. He is a good Father who longs to bring good things into our lives, however He is also a good Father who sees that not all we request is good for us. So His gift of a no or not right now are also good gifts we just don’t know it.
I am reminded of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who told the king that their God would save them from the fiery furnace but even if not He was still God. In the end His will was above all else.
Today I am interceding for those of you who are asking God for something only He can give. I pray that He will, but even if it doesn’t come right now, hold on. He may be saying not now or this is not best. He loves you and only wants the best.

Judges 5, Isaiah 63, Luke 4:1-13, 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Psalm 22: Do you remember some of Jesus’ last words from the cross? They come from Psalm 22.
Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
If you did not know this Psalm you would think that Jesus felt forsaken by His Father in Heaven, but that is not at all the case. God had not left Jesus. He was there with with His Son the entire time. Yes there was a point where it was too much to look upon His sinless Son taking on all of our sin, but God was still right there. As Jesus spoke these words He was pointing us back to this Psalm. Keep in mind it was written much before Jesus’ lifetime and crucifixion was not even a form of punishment before the Romans used it in Jesus’ time. So when these words were written the Psalmist had no idea what he was penning, but the Father did.
Psalm 22:11 “Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!”

Even as I read this over again I am just so grateful to Jesus for going through this and paying for my sin so that I can live forever with You. Thankful for God’s amazing grace!

Judges 1, Isaiah 59, Luke 2:22-38, Philemon, Psalm 18: Do you pray and pray only to feel like God doesn’t answer your prayer? Do you get frustrated and finally just ask “What’s the use?” Today’s scripture may shed light on why you are coming against a stone wall.
Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
It is crazy because we think as long as our sin doesn’t affect others it shouldn’t be a big deal. Any sin separates us from God. He is holy and perfect and sin of any kind separates us from His perfection. That is why times of confession daily are so necessary. Yes, Jesus died for all of our sin and it was and is paid for by what He did on the cross, but when we choose to sin and live in disobedience it affects our relationship with Him. Our prayers may seem to be unheard because sin blocks that relationship. We aren’t receiving the answers we desire because sin stands in the way. If you are struggling in this area take time today to do an inventory. Just talk to God and ask Him to reveal any hidden sin or anything that separates you from Him. He is faithful and will forgive. If after that you don’t sense an open relationship, talk to Him about it and then listen. He can and will reveal hidden things to you. Agree with Him and get headed in the direction that pleases Him. You will live more at peace and know that as much as you can you have done everything to be in the right place with God.

Joshua 23, Isaiah 57, Luke 1:67-80, Colossians 4:2-6 Psalm 16: In the last week I have done a couple of virtual cooking challenges where I would suggest a food and ask people how they would use it in a recipe. It has been fun to see how many different ways people can use the same ingredient but in different ways. Today in Colossians 4 we read how the writer challenged us to walk in wisdom toward outsiders making the most of every opportunity pointing them toward Christ. He then said our conversations were to be seasoned with salt so that we know how to answer everyone. That salt is the gospel.
As believers our conversations should be life giving and bring the aroma of Christ to all. That doesn’t mean that we condemn or belittle others for walking outside of God’s ways. It does mean speaking in such a way that others see the love of Christ in us. One of my prayers lately has been, “Lord please remove anything from my thoughts and words that don’t bring You glory.” This week I was meeting with a friend and said something I would not normally say. It wasn’t terrible, but it was like me to say it. I asked the Lord to forgive me and help me speak only things pleasing to Him. You may not be convicted of that, but I was and for me it was wrong. I knew it when it came out of my mouth. I apologized to my friend, but I knew I should not have said it. I am definitely still a work in progress!!!
May all of our conversation and walks today bring Him much glory!

Joshua 21; Isaiah 55; Luke 1:39-56; Colossians 3:1-17; Psalm 14: How would you have felt if you had been Mary the mother of Jesus? I am sure I would have been scared and fearful. I would have struggled trying to figure out how to help people understand that I really was a respectable woman and I had not done anything wrong. I am sure I would have wanted to run away and hide. Mary did run, but it was to the home of her cousin Elizabeth. I am sure Mary had moments of fear, but Luke 1 records how she felt about her soon to be Son.
1:46And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
Mary’s eyes were on the Lord. She knew He knew the truth and He was allowing her to serve Him. She knew He would give her the strength she needed. She viewed herself not as someone of high standing, but as a lowly servant to loved God and wanted to do His will.
How about you? Do you struggle with what God has called you to? Are you fearful or scared? Keep your eyes on the Father and trust Him to bring you through. Sing for joy and know He has counted you worthy to do what He has called you to do.

Joshua 18, Isaiah 52-53, Luke 1:1-25, Colossians 2:6-15, Psalm 12: Have you ever wondered what Jesus looked like as a child? We see artists rendering of the Child and His parents at Christmas but are they accurate? We know very little about His childhood other than the fact that He was left accidentally at the temple by His parents. Isaiah prophesied about Him in Isaiah 53. Look what he said about this special Child.
Isaiah 53:2 “For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.”
Though Jesus was a special young man, His outer appearance was not one that would help Him gain approval. If you read the following scriptures you will find not only did He not gain approval, but He was ridiculed, rejected by man. There were many things about Jesus’ life that could lend Him to ridicule. In His home town many knew His mother before she was married and knew that she was with child before the wedding. He was the son of a carpenter but His earthly father is not present for much of the latter part of His life so He may have been the eldest son in a home where the father died early. His mother even traveled some with Him as He ministered. She was definitely at the foot of the cross the day He died.
Isaiah may have written these verses to remind us that Jesus was a “normal” human being though still divine. He understands us because His earthly skin was not a ticket to success. He was not treated with honor as a royal child might have been. Therefore He can identify with us in our “normal” life complete with struggles and challenges. YET He was without sin and lived the perfect life so that when the end of His life came He was the Lamb worthy to be slain for our transgressions. He took on Himself our sin and shame. He died to live again as the First Fruit from the dead. He may not have been born into majesty here on the earth, but today He sits enthroned above all else. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Don’t let the early life, no beauty fool you! He is worthy of all our praise!