Devotion – Page 3 – Pot of Manna

Buying Happiness?

I’ve always heard, “You can’t buy happiness.” But this morning I was scrolling through potential apps for my NookHD+ and I came across this:

And not only can I buy happiness, but I get another app free.

When I started writing this post I wanted a graphic of the old happiness quote, so I went searching. I found countless quotes suggesting you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy something (chocolate, bikes, coffee, books, or tea…and those were the family friendly options…) that’s pretty close to it. Most of them were cute and maybe a bit tongue in cheek, but this one really troubled me:

Really?

The problem with happiness is that it is typically associated with a particular circumstance or emotional response to an experience. What God promises is something far deeper and way more lasting: joy. That’s why James could write: ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4, NIV)

We don’t need an app or a t-shirt to help us find joy. And we certainly don’t need to steal it.

As Jesus was facing his final hours, he prayed. John records it in his gospel (see John 17). In that prayer, Jesus spoke to God. But he did it so the disciples could hear. He said, ¹³“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. (John 17:13, NIV)

And what was this joy Jesus was speaking about? Knowing God. Being in relationship with God.

There is no app for that. No one or no thing can take the place of making that relationship happen for us. Just us…and God. Truth is…it’s already been bought and paid for. It’s yours and mine for the asking and the living.

Knock Three Times

⁷“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8 NIV)

Not this

Or this

But this

Prayer, connection with God and the things He has for me, involves these three things. Asking. You’ve probably heard that there are no “dumb” questions. At our house we say the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

In a lecture on prayer, one of my mentors said, “People so often complain about “unanswered prayer” but fail to recognize the “unprayed answers.” The latter seems to be the exception. God always answers our prayers: sometimes yes, sometimes no, and sometimes not yet. The answers we get may not always come as we have asked or expected, but when we ask, he answers.

Seeking. There are times when finding the answer requires us to become involved in the process. Sometimes we have to put feet to our prayers to meet up with the answer. If we will move, we might find we are closer to the answer.

Knocking. When we are knocking on the door, typically we looking to connect with whoever is on the other side. God created us for relationship. We really do need each other. There is a reason the writer of Hebrews tells us not to give up meeting together and reminds us we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. God’s answers to our needs often come through the hands of others.

So when we find ourselves struggling to find God’s answer to our questions or his provision for our need, let’s employ the A.S.K. method and watch for how he will respond.

PRAYER: God, in our quiet moments today hear the cries of our hearts, as we bring before you our own needs and intercede for others. Open our eyes to many ways you answer and our need to keep asking, seeking, and knocking. Amen.

Stye In Your Eye

Yesterday it was barely noticeable. I thought maybe a stray eyelash or hair was in the corner of my eye. At other times my eye just felt extremely dry and like there was sand in it. This morning when I woke up the pain was still there and I knew…I had a stye.

I went to images to bring you a picture, but I changed my mind. If you want to see one you can go look. The only kind I have ever had is the tiny white dot. Some of the ones shown were huge and I couldn’t imagine the pain. The little bitty ones like I get are bad enough.

Before I was nine years old, I had four corrective muscle surgeries on my eyes. I don’t like things in or around my eyes. I’m extremely sensitive.

I sat down and tried to write today’s devotion. I knew I had to quit complaining about the relatively minor pain. I went to work on my attitude and perspective. The first thought I had was, “At least it’s not a log.” (Remember my booger post from a few days ago? God can even use a stye.)

³“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5, NIV)

Early in my faith journey I read a book about the Sermon on the Mount (How to Be A Christian Without Being Religious by Fritz Ridenour). The author discusses this whole plank verses speck issue. And I learned the phrase “Plank Eyed Saints.” I didn’t hear it again until I was listening to Casting Crowns song “Jesus, Friend of Sinners.” (I’ve attached the song at the end of this post.)

I don’t know how the conversations have been around you, but I find it difficult some days not to be drawn into “plank-based” conversations. Perhaps you’ve heard them too. They’re negative and judgmental. Folks spout facts and figures, and make pronouncements on all sorts of topics…about all kinds of people. Their opinions know no boundaries.

And grace is nowhere to be found.

Would it be amazing, if instead of grousing and complaining, we would just admit we’re confused and maybe even afraid. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if instead of a posture of false bravado we assumed a posture of prayer? If instead of judging we took them to the One who has all the answers and the true means to solve the problems.

Wouldn’t it be.

PRAYER: God, it’s Monday and typically there are more planks on this day than any other. Forgive us for thinking we could possibly take the speck out of anyone else’s eye, and help us to determine to deal with our own issues, fears, and needs before we go looking at those of others. Help us to see and feel and dive fully into your love today. Amen.

Procrastinating With Questions

We’re getting close to Easter. Can you feel it? Do you feel more “ready” for it than you have before? Are you moving beyond the familiar to SEE Jesus in new ways, different places?

Take John 3:16, for example. It’s quoted, tattooed, worn on t-shirts, and seen at every major sporting event…but can you put it in context? Do you know any of the verses surrounding it?

I turned to chapter three of John’s gospel and read it in the message and a new phrase leaped off the page at me. As the conversation unfolds, Jesus tells Nicodemus what he must do, but Nicodemus is full of questions–very pharisee-like. Finally, Jesus tells him: Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. (John 3:11, The Message)

Ouch. This habit of questioning may have been used by the Pharisees a lot…but they don’t have a corner on the market. The longer I can keep someone engaged in dialog or conversation, the more I act like I “don’t get it”–the longer I have before I have to DO it. If you can’t recognize this in yourself, maybe you recall how your children could come up with a hundred questions to avoid doing their homework or cleaning their room.

Here’s a quote that might help us put this in perspective: “If you ask too many questions, you will find no answers, only more questions.” (Monica Fairview)

I know the danger here. Someone is going to think I’m saying, “Don’t ask questions.” I’m not. God is able to handle our questions and curiosity. But we know when we cross the line and venture into “Procrastination Land.” That’s what God’s message is for us: Don’t go there.

And we’re not procrastinating to avoid making our bed or finishing our math. No, the stakes are higher. We’re avoiding change. We’re clinging desperately to the familiar to keep from having to release control. Just like with Nicodemus, God is calling us to action or deeper surrender, growth or faith.

So today, let’s determine to leave the security of our questions and trust God to really love us. That is what it says in John 3:16, after all.

PRAYER: God, thank you for loving us…so much, that you gave. Help us to move beyond our questions and procrastination so that we too can give…give our lives to you more fully, deeply, completely. Amen.

Saturday!

Saturdays are supposed to be a day off. But we cram it full of shopping, cleaning, ballgames, and all kinds of running here and there.

They say confession is good for the soul…so here goes: I didn’t want to write this morning. When I woke up and thought about it, I wished I had been more diligent during the week so I could have slept in. Whose crazy idea was it to write a post daily? Oh, wait, it was mine. (Insert sigh here.)

Sitting down to type, I was right on the verge of grousing when God gave me a Gibbs smack. For those who don’t watch NCIS, it looks like this:

https://youtu.be/QqMUuOPsa0o

Now why would God give me a Gibbs smack?

To jar loose a few things I need to remember about him:

Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. Psalm 121:4

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. Deuteronomy 31:6

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8

Bottom line: God doesn’t take a day off.

The reason we need a Gibbs smack is due to that ridiculous habit we have of “tucking things in the back of our minds for future reference.” Don’t ask me how we accomplish that feat…but in the great file cabinet of our brain, we stick these important truths in the back drawer. Then when life gets crazy and we can’t handle things on our own, we go digging and searching…looking for God.

And he’s right there all time.

So, the next time you feel like giving in or giving up…or trying to take a day off from God, remember: He’s on duty, 24/7, 365. Pretty cool.

PRAYER: Thank you, God. Thank you for loving us too much to ever let us be on our own. Thank you for not turning your back on us, even when we’re much less faithful. If it takes a Gibbs smack for us to remember, we’ll receive it in the spirit of loving reminder and discipline from a Father’s heart of love. Amen.

Pick A Box

Do you have God in a box?

It’s an odd question…an old question.

Usually, we say we believe the Creator of the Universe is too big to be limited. We use theological words like omnipresent, omniscient, omni-something-or-other.

But we don’t live what we believe.

Sometimes we act like our problem is too big for God to handle…or too small for him to care. Or at times, we’d rather do things our way, because he’s too slow. Funny…he never seems to be in half the the hurry I am.

We hold back from letting him help because we don’t want him to “mess things up”. All that means is we only want our way, but don’t look at the mess we’ve made.

We take him out when it’s convenient, when it makes us look good, when no one will be offended.

What if God put us in little boxes and only took us out when it was convenient?

Here’s a couple verses that can help us with this box problem:

⁵Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
⁶In ALL your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

If we will do this…he will do that.

So either we climb into that God box with our ALL, or we let him out so he has freedom to fill and lead us wherever we are.

PRAYER: God, sorry about the box thing. This world we live in is so conveniently compartmentalized. It’s how we try to maintain control. Help us to do that hard work of trusting you with our ALL so you can lead us into your best. Amen.

Would I Know You?

⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9

I’ve been married for 36 years. You would think in that time I would have learned everything there is to know about my husband. But no. New things pop and I wondered how I could be with him all that time and not know him.

Jesus wondered the same thing about the disciples. He had just told the disciples he was the only way to the Father and if you have seen him, then you see, know, the Father.

Phillip was not one for Jesus double speak. “Just show us God.” Plain and simple.

Jesus must have shook his head as he replied, “When you look at me, listen to me, watch me interact, see me love…you have seen the hand of God, the heart of God, the mind of God…the plan of God.”

Perhaps we shouldn’t give Phillip and the gang so much grief for not getting it. How often do we wonder? How many times have we prayed to see God more clearly? How many people have spent their entire lives in church, going to Sunday school, studying the Word…and still not see…still not know?

PRAYER: God, you want so much for us to understand, to know you, that you came in a form we could relate to…Jesus. Open our eyes to really see who you are…how you are…and how you want us to be. Amen.

Even a Booger

²⁰For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20

Once upon a time, in a very distant church, a young pastor was given the task of providing children’s stories during the Sunday morning worship hour. That pastor was me and I loved it.

It was so much fun to bring spiritual applications to the wide open minds and hearts of children.

It wasn’t hard for me because I grew up believing Romans 1:20. I sang about it in church choir. I can still sing the song. “There is enough of God in nature, his power is clearly shown. A man has no excuse for wandering. God and heaven are known. God and heaven are known.” (You can find the whole musical on youtube: The Apostle-Continental Singers 1973.)

I am wired to see spiritual things in common place things. This is so true one girl told her mom she thought I could make a sermon illustration out of a booger. I probably could, but I’ve refrained and restrained myself.

But it all came back when I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

My grandson is in a PBJ phase. But a simple sandwich is not enough for him. He prefers one that looks more like this:

He is happiest with a super thick layer of chunky peanut butter and a thin smear of strawberry jam…and it has to be triple decker.

So can God be seen in a triple decker PBJ sandwich?

I don’t mean like some people see him:

What I referring to is seeing God in the ordinary, the everyday.

What spiritual implication is there in a PBJ? I think we all go through phases where we want to taste and see that God is good (Psalm 34:8), but he wants to be the God of exceedingly, abundantly, above (Ephesians 3:20).

When we reach for all that God is, we find satisfaction and fullness of life.

Where will you see God today?

PRAYER: God of everywhere, thank you for wanting to be seen, wanting to be known. Open my eyes to see you, my ears to hear you…my heart to receive you. Speak to me in the ordinary, plain, and everyday things around me. Amen.

Too Busy

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
    Remind me that my days are numbered—
    how fleeting my life is.
⁵You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
    My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
    at best, each of us is but a breath.” Interlude

⁶We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. Psalm 39:4-6

On the way to work the other morning, I was running behind. Technically, I wasn’t late, but I sure felt rushed.

Too rushed.

When I got to the school crossing I nearly blew through it. At the very last second I saw the crossing guard’s car door open. I glanced across the street and saw three elementary aged children nearing the curb. I slammed on the brakes. The guard nodded my way. I breathed a prayer of thanks.

I was still running behind, but I had a clearer sense of my surroundings…and the need for it.

A couple blocks down the road I came to the Senior Center crosswalk. Rarely do I encounter anyone crossing the road, but on that day it looked the bingo crowd was heading in! I stopped, smiled, and waited.

I was probably 10 minutes later to work than I wanted to be. But I was surprised by how peaceful I felt.

I felt good about not rushing. Slowing down. Taking time to notice…appreciate…to just simply see the things around me.

As I walked to the building, I noticed the blue sky. I heard a bird song. I felt the breeze. All things I would have missed if I raced to the door, fumbling with my bags, and searching for my key.

I know in my head rushing may get me to the destination, but I don’t enjoy the going.

And the scripture is clear: all our rushing gets us nothing.

We certainly can’t see God, nor experience life fully, the way he intended.

So what will it take to slow you down? A crosswalk was a good reminder for me.

Who Will They See?

²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. (John 12:20-22)

As I was looking for a picture to put here at the end of yesterday’s post, I started humming the gospel song, “You May Be the Only Bible Some May Ever Read.” Allowing his light to shine through our broken places and his love to spill out of our hearts is key to living so others can see Jesus in you and me. And what if our encounters are the only encounters they have with God?

People won’t be as formal in their request to see Jesus as they were with Phillip. They will watch for a long time. They want to see if what we say we believe will be consistently portrayed in our lives. They’re watching for inconsistencies and discrepancies.

But I think they want to see more. Oh, I’m not naive enough to think everyone will be hoping to see more, but there are those people out there, hungry for hope, who will be watching us. Instead of anticipating failure, they’re hoping to see that God can and does make a difference.

This is what we need to be showing. This is why the Greeks came to Jesus. They weren’t coming like the Pharisees hoping to trip or trick Jesus. These men knew Jesus had something and they wanted it.

Take care friend, you really may be the Living Word for someone today. How will they read your life?

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