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Traveling Mercies…. (devo reflection)

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

As I’m typing this, I’m sitting in the airport. We boarded a flight in Anchorage at 1am this morning, and we’ve finally made it home-adjacent….four time zones and a lot of hours later.

2 Peter 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with
the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

And as I sit here waiting, I’ve thought about this long travel day and all of the blessings sprinkled throughout: a man who had an upholstery business for 40 years and fixed my bag’s busted zipper, a gorgeous pink sky as we flew our first leg, so many smooth flights, the sweet little toddler who smiled and waved as I was stewing about how stinking long it was taking to retrieve this checked bag.

Ephesians 5:16 Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Lord, Teach me to number my days. Give me a heart of wisdom. Help me spend and invest time wisely, with an attitude of grace and love. Thank You for reminding me to pay attention to You, always, because You are always there. Amen.

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Have a blessed evening.

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Relax and enjoy the present moment…. (devo reflection)

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I woke up this morning worrying about something utterly inconsequential. And while I understood the inconsequential nature of the worry, I was unable to put it aside. It gnawed at me. And then my morning reflection (Jesus Calling) included this much needed gem: “If you trust that My plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, you can relax and enjoy the present moment.”

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…

Worry consumes so much of my time. To relax and enjoy the present moment sounds wonderful. The ability to trust Him with my future, to relax from All. The. Worry, that’s something *I* have complete control over. So why is it so ridiculously hard for me to let go of control, to give up the worrying, fretting, fearing and trust that God has got me? I *know* He’s got me. Truly. So why do I struggle so with letting go and trusting Him?

Proverbs 3:6 …in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the reminder once again that You have got me, that I can trust You and Your plan for me. Help me to relax, to let go of worry and control so that I can enjoy this precious life You have given me. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

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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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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Forgive my prideful attitude…. (devo reflection)

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding….

The commitment to trust the Lord is, to borrow phrasing from the book I’m reading, an all-in commitment. It means trusting Him always, even when your brain tells you that you can handle a situation. (The brain can lie. Optical illusions are a case-in-point.)

Proverbs 3:6 …in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

I’ve never really examined this verse in light of the need for humility before, but as I read it now, that seems to be at the core: Even when I think I’ve got it—a situation, life figured out, everything under control—I’ve got to depend on Him and not myself, which means I’ve got to be aware enough to realize that pride is creeping in—No, no, God. I’ve got this. I’m good.

Proverbs 3:7a Do not be wise in your own eyes….

Lord, Forgive my prideful attitude, even when it is automatic and unintentional, especially then. Help me to be aware, always, of my deep need for You. Help me to trust You in every situation. Help me not to lean on my own understanding. Amen.

Proverbs 3:35 The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame.

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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Reverence…. (devo reflection)

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.”

Proverbs 1:7 comes to mind as I read this chapter: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” I’ve long struggled with this idea of “fear of the LORD,” but I have come to equate it with reverence—understanding the LORD’s place in our lives—as opposed to terror of the LORD.

Hosea 4:6 “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me….”

In this chapter, Israel seems to have no fear, no reverence for God and His place in our lives. That lack of understanding, lack of knowledge is directly responsible for their destruction. God wants to protect them like a shepherd guards his sheep, but the Israelites act like stubborn heifers instead.

Hosea 4:14 “…O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.”

Lord, Thank You for the ability to sit with You each morning, to study Your word, to draw closer to You. Thank You that my thirst to know You more grows stronger every day. Help me, Lord, to always understand Your place in my life, to reverence You, to glorify You, to know You more. Draw me closer. Amen.

Hosea 4:16 The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow?

Have a blessed day.

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Sacrifices and offerings…. (devo reflection)

Ezekiel 46:12 “‘When the prince provides a freewill offering to the Lord—whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings—the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.

There is much mention in this chapter of sacrifices and offerings. I find the timing interesting as Lent started yesterday, a time where many give up something they enjoy as a sacrifice to God. But there are so many scriptures that reiterate the need to go beyond sacrifice.

Ezekiel 46:13 “‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord; morning by morning you shall provide it.

Proverbs 21:3 “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” Hosea 6:6 “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hebrews 13:16 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Ezekiel 46:14 You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an ephah with a third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the Lord is a lasting ordinance.

Lord, In this season of Lent, where so many are actively tuned to sacrifice for You, help us to tune in to the sacrifices that really matter to You—sacrificing our pride to do for others (even those we deem unworthy of our time, especially those), sacrificing our comfort to seek justice, sacrificing our complacency to love others with Your love. Help us, Lord. Amen.

Ezekiel 46:15 So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular burnt offering.

Have a blessed day.

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Righteousness, justice, and sacrifice…. (devo reflection)

Ezekiel 43:18 Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings and splashing blood against the altar when it is built:

One of the verses last week for our daily devos for my church was Proverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. That verse came solidly to mind this morning as Ezekiel 43 talks about purifying the altar through sacrifice.

Ezekiel 43:19 You are to give a young bull as a sin offering to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who come near to minister before me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

This morning it feels a little like a scaffold, leading believers closer to God: Sacrifice, especially that mentioned in Ezekiel, has specific steps to ensure holiness. Following the steps is acceptable for those just learning. But doing righteousness and justice is less of a step by step process, comes with more experience as a Christian, and is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Ezekiel 43:20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the upper ledge and all around the rim, and so purify the altar and make atonement for it.

Lord, You call us to more than sacrifice in this life. Help us to strive to do righteousness and justice for Your people. Give us strength. Draw us close. Amen.

Ezekiel 43:21 You are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

Have a blessed day.

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In God alone…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 20:3 Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush….
Commentary caught my attention today with this gem: “Whenever our expectation is in something wrong, or our glory is in something wrong, the LORD will find a way to make those things disappoint us.” That quote put me in mind of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.”
Isaiah 20:4 …so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame. 
Here’s the thing: I am utterly—mentally, physically, totally—exhausted. Maybe that’s God’s way of reminding me that I am putting my faith, my expectation, in something that is not Him. Maybe this perpetual exhaustion and frustration is a reminder to turn to Him, to trust Him. Jesus, Help me.
Isaiah 20:5 Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame. 
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. I am so weary of this perpetual exhaustion and the anger and frustration that comes with it. Help me to live Proverbs 3:5-6 in such a way that my faith and expectation are in You alone. Grant me Your rest and Your peace. Amen.
Isaiah 20:6 In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’ ”
Have a blessed day.