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God alone…. (devo reflection)

Micah 2:1 Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.

I have recently come to realize that I need acknowledgment in my life—Let me know you hear me, you see me, you understand me. Let me know you notice and appreciate the things that I do. When that realization dawned, I accepted it for the truth it is—not really a trait I love, but it is what it is—but today I sense that God’s whispering His truth to my heart concerning that trait.

Micah 2:2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance.

Commentary says that “Micah preached for anywhere between 16 and 25 years before there was any response.” Based on my need for acknowledgment, had that been me, I probably would have thrown in the towel long before I was able to do any good for God. While the need for acknowledgment isn’t in itself a bad thing, if it keeps me from fulfilling His work for me, there’s a big problem.

Micah 2:12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.

Lord, Thank You for Your word, for this realization about myself, and for the knowledge that it could become a problem if it keeps me from the tasks You have set before me. Help me to seek acknowledgment only from You. Help me to center myself on You alone. Amen.

Micah 2:13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their King will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.”

Have a blessed day. I love you.

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Glimpses…. (devo reflection)

Micah 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Lord, At this point in my life, in my motherhood and teaching journeys, I understand on an entirely different level the love, compassion, patience, and mercy inherent in these repeated warnings to try to get Your people to repent and return to You. Thank You for loving us so deeply despite our many, many flaws.

Micah 1:2 Hear, you peoples, all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it, that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

Lord, We are flawed and broken. Nothing on this side of the veil will ever be perfect. Thank You for the glimpses that show they are listening, that they do hear, that it is making a difference. Know that that is true for me as well.

Micah 1:3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.

Lord, Thank You that You don’t tire, that You don’t give up on us. Help us to lay our burdens at Your feet and clothe ourselves in Your strength as we continue to show love, compassion, patience, and mercy to all those You place in our paths. Amen.

Micah 1:4 The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.

Have a blessed day.

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Self-righteous attitude…. (devo reflection)

Jonah 4:1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.

At the end of Jonah 3, the people of Nineveh turned from their evil ways. Praise God. But in Jonah 4, Jonah is angry that God gives them a second chance. He doesn’t feel like they deserve it. Ironic, isn’t it?

Jonah 4:2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

Lord, Thank You that I can so easily see myself, my own actions in Your word. Thank You that when I try to get self-righteous about the behaviors I see, You remind me that I’m not so different. In many ways, Jonah’s self-righteous attitude is my own. Forgive me.

Jonah 4:3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Lord, On this Easter Sunday, help me to have nothing but joy for Your grace and compassion, for your slow anger and abounding love. I am the recipient, the benefactor of that love and grace. I don’t deserve it. Help me to lay aside my judgement and just be thankful. You are risen, Lord. I praise You for that gift, that hope. Amen.

Jonah 4:4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Have a blessed day. I love you.

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Even in our mess.… (devo reflection)

Jonah 3:1-2 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

Yesterday I wrote a reflection on Luke 22:24-25, where after Jesus tells the disciples that He is going to suffer, that He will not eat and drink again until the Kingdom of God comes, they get into an argument with each other about which of them is greatest. At the time, I was grouching about writing a reflection when I was exhausted and done with humanity.

Jonah 3:3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.

Here, Jonah runs from God’s direction, endangers a ship full of sailors, spends time in the belly of a whale, and finally decides to listen to God’s call. My point? People have a lot of baggage—myself included—but if we will allow, Jesus can and will use us, even in our mess. But we have to show up.

Jonah 3:4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

Lord, Thank You for Your mercy and compassion. Thank You for giving Jonah a second chance to go to Nineveh to preach Your word. Thank You for giving the disciples a chance to carry on Your ministry, even after their ridiculous squabble. Thank You for a speaking to my heart again and again and again, for allowing me to reflect on Your word, even when I balk and grump. Help me to love others with the same amazing, fierce, compassionate love with which You love me. Amen.

Jonah 3:5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

Have a blessed day. I love you.

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Undeserved love, compassion, grace, mercy…. (devo reflection)

Jonah 2:1-2 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.

Precious Savior, Thank You for not turning Your back on me when I get myself into a mess, especially when I cause the mess by disobeying You in the first place. I don’t deserve Your compassion and mercy, but You lavish them on me anyway. Thank You.

Jonah 2:6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.

Lord, Thank You for not leaving me to stew in my own ruin. I run headlong into the opposite direction, I blatantly ignore Your will for my life, I try to prove I can do it myself only to make a complete mess of it all, and still You bring my life up from the pit. Thank You for Your grace.

Jonah 2:9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

Lord, You show me, again and again and again, love, compassion, grace, mercy. You show these in my pain and rebellion. You don’t walk away from me, no matter how hard I push. Thank You. Help me to treat others with the same undeserved love, compassion, grace, mercy that You so generously lavish upon me. No matter what. Amen.

Jonah 2:10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Have a blessed day.

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The Lord weighs the heart…. (devo reflection)

Jonah 1:1-2 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

I looked into commentary from two different sources for this book. One presented the view of Jonah’s actions I’ve long been familiar with: Jonah’s telling the sailors to throw him overboard was a selfless, repentant act. Jonah knew he was wrong for disobeying the Lord and this was his way to repent. The other commentary asks whether telling the sailors to throw him overboard was maybe Jonah’s most selfish act yet. What if Jonah was hoping to sink, die, and get out of God’s call permanently?

Jonah 1:3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

It’s an interesting theory that put me in mind of Proverbs 21:2 “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Human beings are quick to judge and interpret actions, but God knows the heart. We can’t know with certainty what Jonah’s motivation was, but God knew and went after Jonah with the same love, mercy, and compassion He shows for each one who is lost.

Jonah 1:11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

Lord, Thank You for the reminder that our judgements of the actions of others are based on human factors. Only You know the heart. Help me not to make snap judgements of others, Lord. I’m not qualified. Draw me closer to You. Amen.

Jonah 1:12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

Have a blessed day.

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The deceptive power of pride…. (devo reflection)

Obadiah 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

I think this verse gets to the heart of why God keeps after me, after all of us, about pride. He knows the deceptive power of pride. He knows that if pride gets its claws into our souls, we will depend on our own flimsy strength and turn from Him. He knows how disastrous that would be for us. And He doesn’t want that for His beloved children.

Obadiah 1:6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged!

But, as commentary succinctly points out, pride “makes us think things about ourselves and others that simply are not true,” things like “I’m not the one in the wrong,” like “if this were a true friend s/he would….,” like “I’m strong. I don’t need anyone.” Pride makes us forget the truth of 2 Cor 12:9, that God’s power is perfected in our weakness.

Obadiah 1:7 All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it.

Precious Savior, Every time I think I have a handle on my pride, You show me another area I need to examine closely in my life. Thank You for loving me so much. Thank You for Your incredible patience during this process. Help me to empty myself of my pride so I can be filled with Your love and compassion. Draw me closer. Amen.

Obadiah 1:21 Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.

Have a blessed day.

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Try again…. (devo reflection)

Amos 9:4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. “I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.”

As I read the second part of verse 4, Gen 50:20 came to mind: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good….” I want God to keep His eyes on me, but I want His intentions to be good, and thankfully, under the new covenant of Christ, they are.

Amos 9:8 “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord.

Gone is the old covenant of obey and you will be blessed. Disobey and you will be cursed. But even in that covenant, God strove for mercy and renewal. The disobedient Israelites didn’t get what they deserved, they weren’t treated as they treated God. His goal for them was repentance, renewal, restoration.

Amos 9:11 “In that day I will restore David’s fallen shelter—I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins—and will rebuild it as it used to be….

Precious Savior, Thank You for not treating me as I deserve. Thank You for Your fierce love and deep compassion. Thank You for the new covenant of Christ. Thank You that every day I get to try again to be a better person than I was yesterday. Forgive me when I fall short. Help me to forgive myself. Draw me closer. Amen.

Amos 9:15 I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.

Have a blessed day.

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Hearing the words of the Lord…. (devo reflection)

Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

Matthew 7:7 reminds us that if we “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” But in Amos 8:11 God says that because His people are not listening, not seeking, not thirsting, He will bring a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

Amos 8:12 People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.

Because I sit in my recliner every morning asking, seeking, knocking, because every morning I read scripture wondering what message my Savior will have for me and every morning He talks to my heart, I feel the threat of Amos 8:11 on a gut level. Because He shows up even in scripture that makes no sense to me, because He whispers His truth to my heart daily, a famine of hearing the words of the Lord would be incomprehensible.

Amos 8:13 “In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.

Lord, Thank You for meeting me here every morning. Thank You for whispering Your truth to my heart. Thank You that a famine of hearing the words of the Lord would be an incalculable loss for me. Help me, always, to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Help me to hear Your words always. Amen.

Amos 8:14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria—who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.

Have a blessed day.

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Unflappable like Amos…. (devo reflection)

Amos 7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.

Just when I think I’m finally getting a handle on my own tendency toward pride, God shows me how far I still need to go. Amos is doing his job—praying and prophesying, when Amaziah, another prophet, a jealous, self-serving priest, tells lies to the king about him.

Amos 7:11 For this is what Amos is saying: “ ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’ ”

Immediately, my hackles go up. What Amaziah is saying about Amos is not fair and it’s not right. How dare he?!? But Amos simply goes on praying and prophesying, calmly addresses Amaziah, and goes on about his God-given business. No anger, no hackles. I can learn a lot from him.

Amos 7:12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.

Precious Savior, You know my heart. You know I try to do right by You always. You also know that I pay too much attention to what the world says and thinks. Help me to be unflappable like Amos, going about my God-given business with not a care about the false words or thoughts of others. Amen.

Amos 7:13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

Have a blessed day.