Category Archives: Devotions

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” – Isaiah 54:10

Earthquakes hit our lives and send everything out of control. Things get broken or moved off center at the very least. And when the shaking ends, we look around at the mess it left and wonder what happened, and how we’ll pick up all the pieces.

Let’s face it. There are a tremendous amount of things that can be shaken in our lives. When our worth and/or happiness is determined by what we have, who loves us, who approves of us, what we do, how much we’ve accomplished — we have a lot to lose when a shaking comes.

But God’s promise is this:  Whatever is shaking in your life, it cannot shake you free from His love and His promise of salvation. That’s your safe ground right there. If you are going to cling to something, cling to that.

Everything else can shake. Everything else may need to shake until it falls. God promises that He will not be shaken.

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ … What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.” – Isaiah 46:10, 11)

This is one of the passages of scripture I stood on during the restoration of my marriage. When doubt began to rise. When what was in front of me looked nothing like restoration. When the lie crept in that it was on my shoulders to fix this thing, to somehow make everything right again.

But it’s not just me. We all have lives that are being taken from destruction to restoration, if we know Jesus.  And we all have days of doubts and days of lies. Days when it feels like it’s all on us.

Let today be a day of truth. Regardless of what our eyes are seeing, we are in the process of restoration. Our lives are full of His purposes and His plans. He will do what He said He would do.

God always keeps His word.

The same truth that should cause those who refuse Him to tremble, can be for us a firm place to stand.

“In Your unfailing love You will lead the people You have redeemed. In Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.” – Exodus 15:13

And this is our own song as well. You and I, the redeemed, are being led home from our place of captivity. He didn’t save us to just leave us to find our own way. Through every difficulty, every sorrow, every valley…we are still being led by the God who rescued us. The God who promises that He loves us and will never, ever abandon us.

You have not been forgotten. He is still leading you. Not with anger or disappointment. Not with reluctance, but with unfailing love. He is not waiting for you to figure it out or make all the right moves. He is waiting for you to believe Him again. To trust that He is with you and He is for you.

Lift up your eyes this morning and remember that you are His, and He is leading you home. With love.

 

^“Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” – Luke 9:12-13

These same twelve had just returned from being sent out by Jesus to heal people and cast out demons. But when faced with hungry people and not enough food, they can only consider what is humanly possible.

But what catches my heart this morning is this:  His followers were called to participate in His power. He sent them out, in His power, to heal and deliver. And then He included them in the miraculous feeding of hungry people. Until He sent them out, they had watched Him minister with power, but now He was calling them to do with Him what He had been doing alone.

It will always be His power at work, but as His follower, I have been called to co-labor with Him. Sometimes, that will mean feeding people who are hungry, rather than sending them away.

His power reaches every part of our lives. The sick parts, the tormented parts, and the hungry parts. Today, don’t overlook the places His power wants to touch through you.

“On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”…From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. “
You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”” John 6:60, 66-69

Following Him was not a walk in park. He taught hard things. Even those closest to Him didn’t fully understand Him or His mission. But while others fell away, the twelve kept going. Because they knew. Because for them, something had changed and at least one thing was clear. Jesus was who He said He was, and eternal life would not be found anywhere else.

We are no different. We know, don’t we, that following Jesus isn’t always easy. He teaches some hard things. And we mess up, bicker with one another and even argue with Him when He seems to ask the impossible from us (read John 6:5-7).

But this we know:  We have come to believe and know that He is who He says He is, and eternal life is not found anywhere else.

What we don’t know can sometimes make us want to walk away. It’s what we do know that keeps us going.

Today, remember what you know.

“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” – Isaiah 61:1-3

He cares about your broken heart. He is against your captivity. He wants your mourning to end and your dancing to begin. He takes no pleasure in your despair. He wants joy to be yours.

He wants good things for you. Jesus was sent because the Father is for you, not against you.

Last year’s mourning can become this year’s dancing. You can be whole and not broken. The despair you have been wearing can fall, and your lamenting can turn into praise.

Because your Father’s heart is good, and Jesus has come for you.

 

“Let it be as becomes those who believe gospel truths, submit to gospel laws, and depend upon gospel promises; and with an answerable faith, holiness, and comfort. Let it be in all respects as those who belong to the kingdom of God among men, and are members and subjects of it.” – Matthew Henry Commentary

Jesus died so that I could live. He took all of my sin upon Himself so that I could be forgiven. He suffered so that He could defeat death and spend eternity with me.

The gospel is worthy of more than lying back in the grace of God, nestled in the assurance of forgiveness and the love that God has lavished upon me. It is worthy of more than claiming allegiance to a cross that I refuse to carry.

This gospel marks us, His Church, and it is worthy of more than our bickering and our offenses, our need to be seen and applauded. It is worthy of being a people who lay down their lives for Him, for one another and for the lost. It is worthy of taking the towel and washing the feet of our comrades. It is worthy of dropping our stones and choosing to love the worst of us.

Today, may we consider what manner of living is worthy of the gospel, and then live that way.

Lord, forgive us, and raise us up to be a people with a passion to live worthy of Your gospel.