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Psalm 117:1a Praise the Lord, all you nations;

With Easter Sunday tomorrow (and knowing I want to go to Luke 16 starting then) and needing to cover my Saturday devotional, I googled “What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?” Psalm 117 is it, and all of Psalm 117 is represented here.

Psalm 117:1b …extol him, all you peoples.

I’m not sure why I’m so flabbergasted by its brevity, but I am, though I think we can learn a valuable lesson from today’s verses: Praise doesn’t have to be long and involved. It just has to be sincere. Praise the Lord because His love is great and His faithfulness endures forever. That’s it. Praise Him. Praise Him for His great love and His enduring faithfulness. Praise Him. Period. Amen.

Psalm 117:2a For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Precious Savior, Sometimes we think that praising You has to be some grand, formal, long-winded, “rightly performed” event. Thank You for Psalm 117 and the reminder that short and sweet is ok, that what’s important is that we praise You, honestly, earnestly, fervently. Amen.

Psalm 117:2b …Praise the Lord. 

Have a blessed day.

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 

I can imagine Jesus was pretty drained after driving out impure spirits and healing many. His response to feeling drained is to go to a solitary place to pray. I can learn a lot from that. In fact, I have. I’ve modeled my devotional time for years on it. I get up an hour before my family so that I can read and pray and concentrate just on my Savior before the day begins.

Mark 1:36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 

When my boys were little, when they needed me from sunup to sundown, it was a necessity. I had to connect with my Savior before that incredible need for my time, my attention began. (I love my children deeply, but raising children is no joke. It’s a lot of work!) But even now I find that I am just a better, more compassionate person if I root my day in Jesus, if I have that time to pray and reflect before each day gets underway.

Mark 1:37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Precious Savior, Thank You for showing us how to begin each day–rooting ourselves in You–Your love, Your mercy, Your compassion, Your word. Help me to always begin each day deeply rooted in You. Amen.

Mark 1:38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 

Have a blessed day.

Luke 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

The seventy-two returned, high on the fact that even the demons submitted to them in Jesus’s name. Who can blame them? They won. They were victorious. The DEMONS even listened. But Jesus has a crucial reminder in verse 20: “…do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Luke 10:18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Ultimately, He’s saying: Don’t lose sight of the end goal–Heaven. Don’t get distracted by the demons listening–they were listening because you were using my name. What I want is for You to rejoice that you will be with me in Heaven. That’s what’s important. 

Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

Precious Savior, I am easily distracted by things that aren’t truly important. Help me to stay focused on You, on eternity with You. Thank You that I am Your beloved child. Help me to shine Your light for all. Amen.

Luke 10:20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Have a blessed day.

Joshua 1:5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 

In the span of four verses (v6-9), God tells Joshua three times to be strong and courageous. That seems a lot of encouragement in a very small space, though the worrier in me appreciates the repetition. It makes me wonder if Joshua was that afraid or if God was that intent on being reassuring or what exactly is going on here.

Joshua 1:6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 

Personally, though, I have found that repetitious reminders to be strong and courageous, especially when I am stressed or hurting (or angry or bitter or melancholic or….) are lifesavers, game changers. They make all the difference when I am struggling mightily in a given situation.

Joshua 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the many, many reassurances that You are with us, that we are not alone, that we can proceed in life–strong and courageous–because You will never leave us nor forsake us. That promise is priceless, and I am so very grateful. Amen.

Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 

Have a blessed day.

Jeremiah 29:19 For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.   

We all want to be heard. And sometimes, just feeling like you are heard, truly heard, can be life-changing. And in the realm of not listening to God’s words, I expect we all at one time or another are guilty of not listening. I know I am. God has given us the ability to edify each other, to build each other up. Listening, truly listening is one of the ways we can do that.

Jeremiah 29:20 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

David Joy, an Appalachian writer, once said, “Sometimes the greatest gift we can give someone is just to keep our mouths shut and let them empty themselves into our hands. When they’re finished, we don’t need to do anything with what they’ve given us. We just need to show them that we’re holding it for them till they can catch their breath.” This is the gift of listening.

Jeremiah 29:21 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the ability to listen–to You and to each other. Forgive me for the many times I’ve squandered that opportunity. Help me to read, to hear, to listen to Your words and Your wisdom. Help me to use my ability to listen as a healing gift for others. Always. Amen.

Jeremiah 29:22 Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’ 

Have a blessed day.

John 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.   

What strikes me about today’s verses is the short, choppy nature of each verse. Brief. Staccato. Sharp. Was Jesus emphasizing His point? Was He in a hurry to say all He needed and wanted to say?

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

His pattern here is truth, prayer, truth, truth. It’s not fancy. It’s not elaborate. But He said everything He needed to say, submitted His request before God. I can learn a lot from this prayer.

John 17:18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Lord, Thank You for continuing to reveal Your truth to me. Thank You that I don’t have to be overly elaborate or fancy when I come to You in prayer. I need to be honest, open, humble, direct. Thank You. Amen.

John 17:19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Have a blessed day.

1 Kings 19:13a When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave…

As I was rereading 1 Kings 19 this morning, I noticed that the words of verse 10 and verse 14 are identical. The only difference is that after verse 10, Elijah was in the presence of the Lord. It strikes me that this entire chapter is about Elijah gaining perspective about how mighty, how present, how sovereign His God is and how his problems don’t stand a chance against Him.

1 Kings 19:13b …Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Back in verse 4, Elijah sat under the broom bush and prayed to die. He’d had enough. Yet with rest, food, the Lord’s gentle whisper, he is now confidently laying his fears before God. Essentially, this chapter seems to be the epitome of “Don’t tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big your God is.” That’s perspective.

1 Kings 19:14a He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword…. 

Lord, I know I am guilty of losing perspective, of allowing my fears to grow enormous while my faith shrinks and quakes. Help me, like Elijah, not to freak out, not to give in to stress. Help me to rest in You, to renew myself in You, so that I can confidently bring my fears to You and lay them at Your feet, leaving them there. Amen.

1 Kings 19:14b …I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Have a blessed day.

John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

This world is all about hierarchies and power dichotomies. Who’s in charge? Who has power? Who are the underlings? But Jesus strives for another way. Not only does He want us to have His joy, for His joy to be complete in us, but He calls us friends, not servants. He is all about changing the narrative of power structure.

John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

He could absolutely have kept the title of “Big Boss,” but He calls us friends, He invites us in. I think He does this originally with the disciples because He knew He would not be able to stay with them and He wanted them to be as passionate about the Kingdom cause as He was. He wants the same for us. He wants His kingdom to be our kingdom, His mission to be our mission.

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 

Lord, Thank You for choosing me and appointing me so that I could bear fruit. Thank You for calling me friend, for treating me as co-heir to God’s kingdom. Thank You for the trust implied by those actions. Help me to live up to that trust. Amen.

John 15:17 This is my command: Love each other.

Have a blessed day.

Acts 2:8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 

A quote about fear and destruction came to mind as I read today’s verses, but I am unable to find exactly the one I remember. It was something along the lines of “What we don’t understand, we fear. What we fear, we destroy.”

Acts 2:9-11 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

A quick look at verse 13 shows the truth of this semi-remembered thought. The speakers in verse 13 didn’t understand how everyone could understand in their native tongue, regardless of what language was being spoken. They were afraid because they didn’t understand. They tore down–”They must be drunk!”–what they feared. No discussion. No attempt at understanding. No examination for the miraculous. Just harsh, dismissive words.

Acts 2:12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Lord, In this world it is far too easy, far too common, to fear what we don’t understand. When faced with fear, many seek the route of ridicule and dismissal instead of trying to understand. But Your thoughts are not our thoughts. Your ways are far beyond anything we can ever imagine. Help us to open our minds and hearts. Help us to seek to understand and to share Your love, compassion, and mercy. Always. Amen.

Acts 2:13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Have a blessed day.