May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. [Psalm 19:14]
I’m sharing these daily devotions in the hope they will inspire you to read God’s word. I’m praying that they will help you find your way to a closer relationship with God. [Read More ….]
“It’s a masterpiece!” I would exclaim when admiring my grands’ latest creations before hanging them on the refrigerator. Truth be told, they only were masterpieces in my grandma eyes. To anyone else, they were just a child’s efforts with crayons, markers, and stickers. A real masterpiece is a work done with exceptional skill—a supreme intellectual or artistic achievement. Even then, the word “masterpiece” usually is limited to an artist’s best work. While my grands needed to hone their skills before creating a true artistic masterpiece, every one of us is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece and an example of God’s best work.
Unlike masterpieces like Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon, or da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, we are not to be hung on a museum wall or placed on a stand. We are not a beautifully painted piece of canvas or a masterfully crafted statue whose purpose is to be viewed and admired but not touched. Nor are we a masterpiece like Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Dickens’ Great Expectations, or Shakespeare’s Hamlet with words and ideas that, while wonderful, never change. As great as they are, masterpieces like Renoir’s paintings, Rodin’s The Thinker, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Emily Dickenson’s poems are static—the same today as they were when they were completed. As God’s masterpieces, however, we are never finished. Regardless of our age, we are works in progress. Our creator continually fine-tunes us, refines our stories, fixes the messy spots, and chisels away at our rough edges so that we look and act more like Jesus every day.
Unlike the masterpieces on display in the Louvre or the Library of Congress, it’s not enough to be God’s masterpiece and sit passively on the sidelines of life. God created us with a purpose—to do the things He planned for us long ago. Yes, we are saved by faith and not works, but we have been saved by God’s grace so that we can do His work. God doesn’t make mistakes nor does he make junk and each one of us is as much a masterpiece as are Michelangelo’s frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. While those beautiful frescoes were made for viewing, however, we are made for doing!
Good works are indispensable to salvation—not as its ground or means, however, but as its consequence and evidence. We are not saved because of works, but we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, good works which God prepared beforehand…and for which he has fashioned us. [John Stott]
Several of the men from church met for breakfast and John, a retired farmer from Iowa, offered to say the blessing over their meals. After taking off his cap, he stood and said, “Lord, I sure do hate buttermilk.” The old farmer continued: “And, Lord, I don’t care much for lard!” After a slight pause, John added, “Truth be told, white flour doesn’t taste like much either and, Lord Almighty, baking powder sure is bitter!” Shocked at his words, the men sat in disbelief until John added, “But, Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I truly do love those fresh buttermilk biscuits! Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the biscuits, gravy, eggs, and bacon with which we are blessed this fine morning. Amen.”
John’s table blessing was a bit of fiction to illustrate Paul’s words in Roman 8:28 that “all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” When the Apostle said “all things,” however, he wasn’t writing about flour, baking powder, lard, and biscuits. He meant everything in life rather than a few, some, most, or many. Along with good things like buttermilk biscuits, love, health, and joy, Paul’s words cover all that accompanies life in our fallen world—things like sickness, betrayal, heartbreak, suffering, poverty, war, death, injustice, and abuse. Paul was not denying our pain or misery nor was he saying that all things are good. He was reassuring us that our sovereign God takes all things (both good and bad) and will put them together in some way for our good, according to His purpose.
Unlike a basket of fresh baked biscuits, God’s “good” doesn’t necessarily look like our idea of good and much occurs in our lives that we neither like nor appreciate. We can’t see a purpose in our difficult circumstances nor can we see how anything good can come out of such unpleasant, sometimes tragic, events. Consider Calvary—Jesus’ followers saw nothing good about sinful men torturing and killing the sinless Son of God and yet consider the salvation that came from it.
Even when life seems chaotic and inexplicable, we must remember that ours is a sovereign God who loved us enough to sacrifice His only son for us. An extraordinary multi-tasker, while God is busy orchestrating events in our life, He is doing the same thing for every one of His precious children. While we only see what’s right in front of us at the moment, He sees the whole picture—our yesterdays, todays, and tomorrows! God is in control and He knows what He is doing or, as one paster is fond of saying, “He’s at large and in charge!”
It only takes twelve-minutes for raw biscuits to cook and become palatable but God sets the timer on our difficult circumstances and it usually takes more than a few minutes in a hot oven to come to fruition. The disciples had to wait three days for the risen Christ, Joseph waited in jail for thirteen years before being made Vizier in Pharaoh’s court, and Israel spent seventy years in Babylon before returning home. Sometimes, the good that comes from bad takes a lifetime to materialize—and, sometimes, we may not understand until we are on the other side.
Just as John had to trust the biscuit baker, we must patiently trust God for the end result. Like baking powder, challenges and difficulties can leave a bad taste in our mouths. But, after God is done mixing them all together, they can turn into something quite wonderful (and much better) than fresh buttermilk biscuits!
There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot, from that situation, create something that is surpassingly good. He did it at the creation. He did it at the cross. He is doing it today. [Handley C. G. Moule]
Sign painted on the side of a plumber’s truck: “We repair what your husband tried to fix!”
My husband managed to track tar into the house on the bottom of his shoes. Unfortunately, he tracked it right onto the new bedroom carpet! I immediately got out a whole battery of chemicals and tried to clean it up. Needless to say, my efforts didn’t improve the situation; in fact, they only made it worse. In desperation, we did what we should have done in the first place: we got the name of a good carpet cleaner and called him. He spent as much time cleaning up the residue from my failed efforts as he did cleaning up the tar.
I suspect many of us have tried a home repair only to end up in bigger trouble than when we started. Most of us simply don’t have the expertise for appliance repair. We’re not licensed plumbers, electricians, or HVAC contractors but, unfortunately, many of us think we are! Rather than admit we’re in over our heads, we tend to fumble and bungle and take the situation from bad to worse. When we finally come to our senses and call in the experts, they not only have to fix the initial problem but also the damage done in our failed attempts at repair.
It’s not just in our homes that we find things that need cleaning, adjusting, repair, or renovation. Often, there’s something in our personal lives that is faulty, damaged, worn-out, or broken. Just as Christians aren’t immune from leaky roofs, clogged drains, and damaged drywall, we’re not immune to things like depression, addiction, anxiety, PTSD, eating disorders, or marital problems. At first, we may ignore the issue the way we ignore a dripping faucet or the squealing sound from the washing machine. Then, once we finally admit there’s a problem, we’re prone to say, “I’ve got this!” when we truly don’t.
Before making things worse, however, we might want to think about calling on the number one life repairman and restoration specialist: God. It takes a fair amount of humility to finally admit that something in our life isn’t working and we just can’t fix it on our own. God, however, truly is the answer to our prayers. Simply consulting His repair manual (the Bible) and several prayer sessions with Him could be all we need. On the other hand, God often steers us toward some expert earthly assistance, as well.
Perhaps I’m dating myself, but do you remember the old Maytag advertisements with the lonely repairman sitting idly by just waiting for a call? With nothing to repair, he was said to be “the loneliest guy in town.” Maytag appliances may not have needed much repair, but our messed-up lives often do. As soon as we realize that we’ve got a problem with the way they’re functioning, let’s not hesitate; make that call to the expert before it gets any worse. God is heaven’s repairman; He is always there to rescue us. Just give Him a call!
Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise, in the dark night of affliction, afraid to draw the latch, whereas he should then come boldly for shelter as a child into his father’s house. [William Gurnall]
During his second missionary journey, Paul spent 18-months establishing the church in Corinth before returning to Jerusalem. In 53 AD, he set off on his third mission and ended up in Ephesus. Upon receiving disturbing reports of immorality among Corinthian believers, Paul wrote to them. After a delegation from Corinth arrived with a letter containing a series of questions for him and another group visited the evangelist with reports of divisiveness in Corinth’s church, Paul replied to them with the letter we know as 1 Corinthians. Although Paul’s epistle was written to correct such things as errors in doctrine, divisiveness within the church, a sectarian spirit, and sexual immorality, this rebuke to a troubled church has one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13.
When unpacking Paul’s figurative language, it’s likely that the tongues of men to which he referred were the supposedly wise and multilingual tongues of the Sanhedrin, the supreme judicial and administrative council of the Jews. Said to be men of distinction and wisdom, its members were to be conversant in the seventy known languages of man so that interpreters weren’t needed in court. As for angels’ tongues, angels are ministering spirits and have no need for tongues; nevertheless, they must communicate in a wonderful angelic language. Moreover, when they took on flesh and appeared to man as God’s messengers, they were inspiring and eloquent in their speech.
The loud sound of bronze was familiar in 1st century Corinth and gongs and cymbals were used in public processions, celebrations, theatrical performances, and both pagan and Jewish rituals. The word translated as clanging, alalazon, comes from alalai, meaning a battle cry, and the harsh reverberating sounds from loud gongs and cymbals were as attention-grabbing as any call to war! Nevertheless, the spectacular noise of gongs and cymbals soon fades leaving nothing of substance in its wake. Paul’s mention of cymbals may have been a wonderful play on words. The Greek word for cymbals is kumbalon and the writers of his day often used kumbalon to refer to a boastful, foolish orator.
In other words, Paul is saying that even if someone speaks with great wisdom, in every language known to man, and as magnificently and eloquently as an angel, if their words don’t come from a heart of love, they would be meaningless. Although heard, they would be nothing but sound without substance—a splendid but worthless performance!
Because the Apostle’s words in this chapter are often read at weddings, we miss some of his original meaning. Having just written about spiritual gifts in the previous chapter, Paul was writing about the necessity of love when using those gifts. Translated as love or charity, Paul used the word agape, which has nothing to do with attraction, romance, or emotion; agape doesn’t stem from natural affection. Originating in God, agape is an authentic, sacrificial, selfless, and unconditional love for all. Displayed perfectly in Jesus, this unrestricted, unrestrained, and unconditional love is implanted in believers by the Holy Spirit.
Paul’s words to a troubled church are as important and relevant today as they were back in 55 AD. They apply any of the gifts of the Spirit—whether communication, wisdom, teaching, faith, leadership, serving, giving, or something else. When the gifts of the Spirit are used without agape/love, they are worthless. As Warren Wiersbe said in his commentary on this chapter, “Spiritual gifts, no matter how exciting and wonderful, are useless and even destructive if they are not ministered in love.”
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. [Theodore Roosevelt]
When someone has an unduly optimistic or positive view of things, they are often said to be wearing “rose-colored glasses.” According to Adam Anderson, a University of Toronto professor of psychology, our moods do affect the way we see things and, as moods change, so does our visual perception. “Good and bad moods literally change the way our visual cortex operates,” says the professor about a 2009 study he conducted. “In a positive mood,” he explained, “our visual cortex takes in more information, while negative moods result in tunnel vision.” He concluded that the better our mood, the better able our brains are to comprehend what it is our eyes are seeing. In short, we see better when we have a positive outlook of “rose-colored glasses”!
I imagine it was a set of “rose-colored glasses” that allowed young David to see the possibility of defeating Goliath with only his sling. In all of Saul’s army, there had to have been other men equally skilled with a sling but, because of their despair and pessimistic outlook, they had tunnel vision and only saw the threatening giant. Instead of an undefeatable opponent, however, David saw possibilities. Before him was an enormous man carrying a javelin, spear, and sword who was so encumbered by 125 pounds of armor that he needed another man to carry his shield. With his rose-colored glasses, David saw what the men didn’t—someone who wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to dodge a well-aimed stone. That stone came from a shepherd’s sling used to kill wild animals and, according to Malcom Gladwell, it had the stopping power of a .45 caliber handgun. With their defeatist attitude, Saul and his army only saw the power of the enemy. David’s optimism, combined with his faith in the Lord, allowed him to clearly recognize both the enemy’s weakness and his own strength and skill!
Rose-colored lenses in glasses are said to sharpen contrast, improve depth perception, and reduce glare. When wearing them, however, one must exercise caution. Things like warning flags, traffic lights, brake lights, and stop signs are colored red to make them more visible and prevent accidents, but that effect is lessened when someone is wearing glasses with pink or red lenses. In the same way, when seeing the world through “rose-colored glasses,” we must use good judgment and not get so enthusiastic about possibilities that we overlook hazards and problematic realities. In spite of his optimistic outlook, David was cautious enough to have not one but five stones in his pouch before facing Goliath. Nevertheless, the shepherd king missed all the red flags when he wanted to move the Ark of the Covenant and again when he spotted Bathsheba on the rooftop! Those times, David’s confidence and enthusiasm caused him to move out of God’s will and into his own!
Faith in God is what offers us the kind of rose-colored glasses that give clarity to life and allow us to see the big picture. It is knowing Jesus that enables us to face each morning with optimism, joy, and hope. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that allows us to see our challenges as opportunities to do God’s will. The “rose-colored glasses” of a positive attitude help us see what is right in front of us. They help us notice any weakness in the opposition, find detours in life’s roadblocks, identify solutions to our problems, and spot help when we need it. So, put on your “rose-colored glasses” and see what wonderful things the day will bring! After all, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” [Ps 118:24]
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. [Helen Keller]
El Roi is one of the Hebrew names for God. We find it in Genesis 16 when Hagar encountered God in the desert and addressed Him as El Roi, meaning “the God who sees me.” After God told Hagar she was pregnant, He said to name her soon to be born son Ishmael. A combination of the Hebrew el and shama, the boy’s name means “God hears” or “God listens.” God both heard and saw Hagar because He’s omnipresent and omniscient; He can be everywhere and know everything at all times. There’s no place we can hide where we’re unknown, unseen, or unheard by Him.
When you think about it, knowing that God sees and hears us in both our best and worst moments is a bit disconcerting. Like those ever-present security cameras or the traffic cop with his radar gun and ticket book, is God hoping to spot us doing something wrong or catch us breaking His law? Is He a voyeur who likes peeking at us in our most intimate moments? Is He similar to the paparazzi who try to capture celebrities in their most embarrassing ones? My life is boring; as a person of no importance, why would God be interested in watching me?
The answer came when fourteen of our extended family went to a ballgame at Wrigley Field. Out of the blue, my husband and I were offered two extra tickets by a friend. Unlike ours that were high and overlooking right field, these were in the eighth row directly behind home plate. Had there just been the two of us, we would have accepted them in an instant. Nevertheless, we declined the generous offer.
You see, watching the Cubs wasn’t our priority. My eyes weren’t focused on the field—they were focused on the ones I love. I don’t remember who won but I do remember watching the little girls get their hair French braided by an older cousin and having the nine-year-old explain a “walk-off home run” to me. The day was about making sure no one got lost in the crowd, choked on a peanut, or dropped their popcorn; it was getting to hold children on my lap, handing out water, and hearing the girls giggle while sharing secrets. I remember laughing at the children’s antics, holding their hands while singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and watching their faces as they cheered on the Cubs. I watched my husband wipe catsup off messy faces, my son shepherd kids to the ice cream stand, and a little one fall asleep in his mother’s arms. That day I understood that the God who watches and listens to us isn’t like a Heavenly hall-monitor waiting to catch us running in the halls or making too much noise! He’s not watching us to catch us doing something wrong—God watches and listens because He loves and cares about us! We are His precious children and God loves us as much as my husband and I love our family. That’s not to say God won’t correct us when necessary and there were a few moments that afternoon when we had to offer some correction to the grands. Nevertheless, we barely took our eyes off them because it was a joy to watch them.
I cherish the moments I see and hear my children and grands. It’s not because they are exceptionally talented or beautiful (which, in my eyes, they are) and it’s not so I can judge them. My eyes and ears are on them simply because they are mine and I love them “to the moon and back!” As for being unimportant—my family is of utmost importance to me. Because we are God’s children, each and every one of us is just as important to Him! Like a loving parent or grandparent, God watches over us simply because we are His and He loves us.
Devotions of the Heart 