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Astounding…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing and our righteousness is as filthy rags…

And yet He loves us fiercely anyway. He lavishes us with grace upon grace anyway. Isn’t it astounding the love He has for His children? It takes my breath away.

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way….

And yet He sends us sunshine, blue skies, showers and rainbows, people who love and encourage us, God-moments to draw us closer. He even allows us to wrestle with doubt so that we can come to the end of ourselves and find Him.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Lord, I am not worthy, can never be worthy, and yet You tell me again and again and again that my life is of eternal worth. You invite me to know You intimately, to trust You fully. I want that, Lord, so much. Help me. Amen.

Lamentations 3:22-23 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Have a blessed day.

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In You, with You, for You…. (devo reflection)

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ….

Lord, Living “in Christ,” living a life that is “not I, but Christ,” indicates a level of familiarity and intimacy with You that I want in my life. Help me.

2 Timothy 2:11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him….

Lord, When we spend our morning prayer and study time together, You are tangibly close, but as I move about my day, the world gets louder and more insistent and it’s hard to hear Your voice. Help me.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Lord, Thank You for loving me deeply and fiercely. Thank You for the reminder to live humbly, striving to understand and love Your children instead of to judge. Help me to live in You, with You, for You. Draw me closer with every breath. Amen.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God….

Have a blessed day.

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Letting go…. (devo reflection)

John 17:20-21a “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

Enns says that, for him, “…trust means letting go of the need to know, of the need to be certain.” I think that one of the things that has been eluding me is the fact that this letting go of those needs is continual, a daily letting go, a daily trusting of Christ. It’s such a simple truth, yet, for me, it’s not easy.

John 17:21b May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Jesus says in John 17:20-21 that His prayer for us is that we will be in Christ and in God just as Christ is in God, that we may have the level of trust that we can say as Jesus did, not only, “”My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” but also, “Not my will but Yours be done.” That is deep, abiding, eternal trust. I want that desperately.

John 17:22-23a I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.

Lord, Help me to set aside the need to know, the need to be certain. The idea that life has to be something I understand is my pride speaking, I know. Help me daily to set aside that need, that pride. Help me to trust You—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—unequivocally. Always. Amen.

John 17:23b Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Have a blessed day.

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Like Jesus…. (devo reflection)

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Lord, I feel You calling me again to examine pride and humility. I know I get a little too smug sometimes when I’m mentally passing judgement about what someone else is or is not doing. Help me, Lord.

Proverbs 16:5 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Lord, You know I tell my students all the time that “we don’t know what we don’t know.” We have to stay open to listening, to hearing, to learning, or we will never grow. Help me to find that balance. I don’t want to be a doormat. I don’t want to be a know-it-all. I want to be compassionate and merciful and loving, like You. Help me, Lord.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Lord, You tell me again and again that if I seek You with my whole heart, I will find You. I know that if I am open to seeing You, to seeking You, I will find You, sometimes in the most unlikely places. Help me, Lord. Amen.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Have a blessed day.

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Jesus wants to make us whole…. (devo reflection)

Psalm 10:1 Why, O LORD, do You stand far off? Why do You hide in times of trouble?

One of the pearls from today’s reading is this: “Jesus wants to make us whole.” The only way to do that is for us to fully surrender to Him, fully dying to ourselves and our need to be in control and to understand. Enns described the process of surrendering control as a process of dying to self, and that dying to self is crucial if we want to live Galatians 2:20, “…yet not I, but Christ….”

Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Jesus lived on earth, fully human and fully divine. He, the human side, had to come to the end of Himself, trust God, and surrender, literally giving up control of the situation, trusting God’s plan, His wisdom. Jesus gave us a model of the process, and showed that while it is difficult and painful to let go of control, of our vision of what life should be, that when we trust God on that soul-deep level, He will make us whole and wholly His.

Matthew 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

Lord, The need to be in control feels hardwired into me. Help me to let go of control, to die to self, so that I can be complete in You. I know You have a plan for me. I know Your plans are far beyond anything I can imagine for myself. Help me to die to self so I can live fully in You. Amen.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Have a blessed day.

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Be merciful to those who doubt…. (devo reflection)

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Every year I run into at least one student who knows it all. You can’t tell that student anything—they will learn nothing new—because they don’t think they have anything to learn. Sadly, I’ve been there, smugly passing judgement, secure in the fact that I know so much. Oh, the irony.

Proverbs 3:7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

Thomas Merton has a prayer that begins, “Lord, I have no idea where I am going.” I find it a refreshingly honest start. As an adult, a wife, mother, teacher, Christian, I’m supposed to act with confidence, I’m supposed to know things, but Merton’s prayer resonates deeply. “Lord, I have no idea where I am going.”

Proverbs 26:12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Lord, I don’t want to be so confident in myself and what I think I know that I can’t learn anything new, especially about Your love and mercy. And I don’t want to feel so lost and afraid that I can’t keep moving confidently forward because I know You are with me, even if I can’t see You. Help me, in the words of Merton, to “…trust You always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.” Amen.

Jude 1:22 Be merciful to those who doubt….

Have a blessed day.

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The necessity of loving…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Today’s chapter talks about loving others how and where they are. The Bible talks about loving our enemies, but, honestly, sometimes loving those closest to us, loving them how and where they are, is absolutely harder and requires much more humility.

Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Loving those close to us how and where they are (and how and where *we* are) requires letting go of the way things *should* be in our minds and just loving instead. It means putting aside hopes, dreams, and judgments, and loving warts and all. That often takes a hefty dose of humility—to love when you are hurt, angry, frustrated, humiliated—to cling to what you know to be true—this person is a deeply loved child of God, even in the face of this thing I’m struggling with that they have done or not done.

Matthew 5:43-45 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven….

Lord, Thank You for reminding me of the necessity of loving the people in my life how and where they are. Help me to put my pride aside and to love like You love, deeply and fiercely, no matter what. Amen.

Matthew 5:46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

Have a blessed day.

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Trusting God unequivocally…. (devo reflection)

Lamentations 3:1-3 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

Lord, Sometimes life is difficult, painful, and senseless. Sometimes it feels like You are making us walk alone, in darkness rather than light. Those are the times that You are calling us to trust You unequivocally, to not question, to not try to understand, just to trust You. Help me, Jesus.

Lamentations 3:21-23 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lord, I don’t like those times, don’t like being afraid or anxious, don’t like not understanding the why of life. Help me remember that this life is not about me. It’s about You. Help me to trust You. Always.

Lamentations 3:24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Lord, Thank You for being with me even when my feelings try to tell me You aren’t there. My heart knows You will never leave me, especially when I need You most. That’s trust, Lord. It’s there. I do trust You. Help me to trust You more each day. Amen.

Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him….

Have a blessed day.

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The pride of self-sufficiency…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 55:8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

My need to understand the why of life causes me a lot of anguish at times because there are times when life just doesn’t make sense. And sometimes, as they say, you have to let go of what’s good to grab hold of what’s better. But that doesn’t make the pain of letting go any less.

Isaiah 55:9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

God’s thoughts and His abilities, His dreams and His plans for me, are far beyond anything I am capable of imagining, which means the road to attaining these things is far beyond my imagining as well. Again, this is where trust in Him comes in. If I cannot imagine or conceive of something, there is no way I can achieve it in my own power. Jesus, help me.

Isaiah 55:10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.

Lord, Forgive me for the pride of self-sufficiency. Crack open my protective shell and help me to cling more closely to You. I don’t want to be self-sufficient if it means doing life without You. I need You, Lord. I trust You. Amen.

Isaiah 55:11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Have a blessed day.

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Cultivating trust in God…. (devo reflection)

1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect….

Today’s chapter talks about cultivating trust in God so that it becomes a strong habit and is there when we need it, when life makes no sense. He calls it developing “a faith where our first impulse in the face of life’s challenges is to trust God rather than figure out what God is doing so we can get a handle on life.”

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

I’m absolutely guilty of getting stuck in the “why” of life. I ruminate, fret, worry, etc, trying to figure out what in the world God is up to, why things are happening the way they are. Eventually I make my way to, “I do not understand what You are up to, God, but I trust You.” Clearly, I need to focus on trust first and foremost. Jesus, Help me.

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

Lord, You are teaching me so much during this study about faith and trust. Thank You for the reminder that I need to respond to You in trust first and foremost. I do trust You, Lord. I do. Help me to trust You more. Amen.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

Have a blessed day.