Category Archives: Devotionals

How, Or If?

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” – Luke 1:18-20

Someone else asked a similar question, with a very different outcome.

When Gabriel showed up to tell Mary that she would conceive a child, she responded with “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34) Instead of making her mute, Gabriel explained that it would be by the Holy Spirit.

So, what’s the difference between Zechariah and Mary?

When Zechariah asked “how can I be sure of this?”, it was a dead giveaway that he needed proof, because he didn’t believe what Gabriel was telling him.

Mary’s question arose not from doubt or unbelief, but from a place of wondering how God was going to accomplish this.

As with most things, it’s a matter of the heart. Zechariah’s contained unbelief, while Mary’s did not.

There is a big difference between wondering how God will do what He said He would do, and wondering if He will do what He said He would do.

Do you have a how in your heart, or an if?

It’s Not Random

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. – Luke 1:8-10

Remember, Zechariah’s name means “God remembered” and that means that the time had come for God to fulfill something. In this case, an angel was sent to Zechariah to announce that he and Elizabeth were going to have a child. The one crying out in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3) was going to be conceived in a barren woman who was too old to have children, by her husband, an old man himself.

Let’s zoom in on five words – “he was chosen by lot… “. In our culture today, that would mean it was a random selection. Luck, really. But in their culture, it was understood that in the casting of lots, God was choosing.

“The lot is cast into the lap,
    but its every decision is from the Lord.” – Proverbs 16:33

I think we can easily get pulled into a culture that believes in luck, coincidences, and chance; a culture that does not acknowledge the sovereignty of God. But we are not of this world and their culture is not ours. Ours is a Kingdom culture and in this culture, we know that He stands sovereign over the affairs of His creation.

We are not chosen by chance, nor do we stumble into “lucky breaks.” What may appear random is, in truth, directed by God’s hand and in accordance with His divine will in the unfolding of His divine plans and purposes. Perhaps this realization can mark the beginning of a holy reverence for Him—the awareness that He rules and reigns over every detail of your life. He has left nothing to chance for you.

Lord, help us see You rightly. May we fully surrender ourselves to You, the Master of all creation.

Rejoicing With Envy

Elizabeth gave birth to a long prayed for son who would become known as John the Baptizer. And Luke tells us in his gospel that “her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her his great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.” – Luke 1:58

And I wondered.

Among the rejoicers were there also women feeling the emptiness of their womb and prayers that went unanswered? Husbands, happy for Zechariah, while wondering why he was the lucky one, as they felt helpless for their own wifes’ maternal longings?

Weddings. Births. Healings. Financial or material gain. The list is long and it creates a space where “good for them” and “why not me” battle it out for front row seats, while we ignore it or shove it down with a piece of cake and a smile that hides the truth.

What if we chose sanctification instead? Put ourselves on the altar and let Him bring our envious heart into the light so that we can see the damage it’s done.

A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. – Proverbs 14:30

“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic… – James 3:14-16.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” – Galatians 5:19-21

We just can’t continue to ignore our own envy—that stuff is dangerous on every level. Instead, I pray we will become so quick to repent when we see it, and ask God to heal our heart of what has wounded it.

Because we know He’s a good Father, and everything we need. We know He does not overlook us. We are loved, cared for, and safe in His hands.

Lord, teach us to rejoice without envy.

40 days of truth: day 27—Fleeing is Fighting

But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. 

1 Timothy 6:12

What are “these things” that Paul is telling Timothy to fight by fleeing? False teachers, who “have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain,” and the love of money.

I fight the good fight of faith by running from one thing, in pursuit of another.

I’m not told to reason with false teachers, or attempt to change their teachings, I must remove myself. Get out of that place and chase godliness. Run away from the love of money and toward righteouness.

Running from these things is not cowardly, it is mandatory. And if fleeing is how I fight the fight of faith, then remaining is how I quit fighting. Remaining will open my faith up to destruction.

Not every battle requires me to stand my ground. Sometimes, fleeing is fighting.

40 days of truth: day 26—The Enemy Will Try To Call Me Away

“So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing important work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Four times they sent me the same proposal, and I gave them the same reply.

Nehemiah 6:3-4

Quick review: Nehemiah was a Hebrew living in Persia, and received permission from the king to return to Jerusalem to rebuild her wall. This work was opposed by the Samaritans, under the leadership of a man named Sanballat. In today’s verses, Sanballat sent messengers four times to get Nehemiah to meet him outside of Jerusalem. But Nehemiah knew it for what it was – an attempt to not just harm him, but to stop the work.

Lord, open our eyes to see the scheming of our enemy!

  • Prayer
  • Fasting
  • Giving
  • Discipleship
  • Serving
  • Evangelism
  • Meditating on His Word
  • Forgiving others, bearing burdens, encouraging others

Just some of the work of the Kingdom that the enemy schemes to call us away from, using apathy, busy-ness, fear, disappointment, guilt, offense, and all manner of such things.

I can search my pockets and find plenty of excuses. My plate is too full as it is. I’m worn out. I’m an introvert (my go to for most things that involve other people). It’s not my gifting. I’m not called to that. I feel inadequate. Seriously, my pockets are quite full.

But I need to know truth so that I can walk in truth.

There is an enemy who is always trying to call me away from the work of the Kingdom.

But on a practical note, walking in this truth will take discernment, and an ear that hears the voice of God. Because I need to know whether it is the enemy calling me away from the work, or, if God is saying “that is not the work I have for you to do right now.”

So I pray for you and for me, that the whisper of God will be louder than the shouts of the enemy.

40 days of truth: day 25—He Came for the Broken Me

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick… For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

Matthew 9:12-13

For the Sick. For the Unclean. For the Lost.

I wasn’t ready. Before He came to rescue me, people did their best to get me to come to Him, but I was never quite ready. For some reason I thought I needed to clean up my life first. Ha. As though.

I could have scrubbed for a decade and still would not have been clean enough to stand in the presence of God.

Only blood can make us clean and only one blood at that. The blood of Jesus has more power to cleanse us than 10,000 years of doing good things ever could.

He came for me because I was not righteous. Because I was sin-stained through and through, sick as a dog from my guilt and shame. He came for me because I had no way out on my own.

He saw me. Had compassion on me. Loved my whole broken self.

He didn’t come for the good girl I thought I needed to be. He didn’t come for the girl that dressed right and talked right and knew how to behave herself.

He came for the broken me.

And He still comes for me and this is the truth I need with every sunrise. He has cleansed me and He is cleansing me. He has forgiven me and He is still forgiving me. He has freed me and He is still freeing me.

Because He still loves me. He still chooses me. He still has compassion for me.

And for you.

40 days of truth: day 23—Resistance Is My Way Out

“ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” 

James 4:7

Resistance Is My Way Out

{re·sist·ance – the refusal to accept or comply with something}

Some days he’s just right there.

When I’m hurt, he’s there with all the accusations for me to pick from, all the anger for me to wallow in, all the ways I can hurt back.

When I’m worried, he plays out worst-case scenarios, whispering the “what ifs” that stoke my fearful fires.

When I am anxious, he offers what will kill me with comfort.

When I have doubts, he’s there to feed them until they become unbelief.

Some days I feel trapped, blind to the companion of my flesh.

And then one day I remember that some days come and some days go and what makes them better days is if I take the way out God offers.

Submission to the One who leads me to life, and resistance to the one who leads me to destruction.

I have the choice to refuse to comply. The choice to say no to temporary comfort and rickety fixes, and say yes to the obedience that brings freedom.

Here is truth for my some days: It isn’t my singing or my shouting that puts the devil on the run.

It’s my resistance.

#jointheresistance