Why Me Again?

Galatians 5:18 “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” For the past couple years I’ve listened to the audio bible when I hit the hay. I feel great that words of wisdom get imprinted on my heart each night as I slip into unconsciousness. But I find it’s even more helpful when I’m having a hard time sleeping. I can feel “productive” by soaking in his word rather than tossing and turning. Either I sleep or I spend time with God, and neither of those options are half bad. The other night I was listening to Galatians 5 and verse 18 caught my attention. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” That seems like a funny thing to say, and somewhat dangerous when you’re trying to keep a church full of new believers away from harm. It’s easier to have some guardrails in black and white than to leave each situation up for interpretation. But this morning it dawned on me that this might be more an issue of the heart than of behavior. In our house we have a rule that one of us prays before each meal, and the boys often shy away when it’s their turn. “Ohhhh why me again? I just did it!” We’ll respond with the same answer every time. “It’s not that you HAVE to pray, it’s that you GET to pray.” The Spirit will never tell you to do something counter to the word. But if we are led by the Spirit, our actions overflow from internal rather than external influence. “I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Lord, I have a tendency to get legalistic about my own walk. I don’t want a relationship with the rules. I want a relationship with you. We have faith that our boys will jump at the opportunity to pray someday. Until then, help us to model what a Spirit-led life looks like. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Altar Call

Psalm 63:1 “I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you…” Every now and again at church services or retreats I’ll head to the front of the sanctuary when the pastor calls for people who need prayer to come forward. Most of the time he or she will call out a specific need that only applies to some portion of the congregation. Add that to the fact that folks are shy, and the result is that a pretty insignificant minority will step forward for each of these altar calls. One of the most intense spiritual mountain top experiences I’ve ever had was attending our sister church’s retreat in China a few years back. Christians are so hungry for God in the Middle Kingdom, and that’s led to the greatest revival the world has ever seen over the last few decades (100M new believers). It was crazy to see that at every single altar call, pretty much the whole church came forward because everyone was so desperate to experience God. In one of these calls, the pastor actually said “no, I only called for those with pain in your right shoulder. Surely you can’t all have pain there?!? The rest of you can stay back.” Well today, I read about the attitude of desperation that led Bill Johnson to a ministry of supernatural healing. On his way to a revival later dubbed the Toronto Blessing, P Bill cried out to God to touch him. “I wanted increase, and I received prayer every time there was an opportunity in Toronto. In fact, I got prayer five times in the first night. I jokingly tell people they could have had an altar call for African-American, pregnant pastor’s wives and I would have gone forward. It is close to the truth. I HAD to have God touch me again.” Due to the pandemic, the world hasn’t seen too many physical altar calls over the last year. But the reality is that God invites each one of us forward every day to come and experience Him. Today I’m reminded that this attitude of thirst, of hunger and desperation is what leads to a move of God. And when God moves, healing, restoration and abundance have no choice but to follow. Lord, I come forward today, desperate for more of you. There is nothing else I need. In your son’s name, Amen.

Valley of the Peachy Keen

Isaiah 54:2 “Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not.” About 7 years ago I started an accountability group with Ron and Greg, two friends from church. We started to post some basic thoughts from our quiet time in a chat group. The frequency was relatively sporadic at first, but we got into a good rhythm of encouraging each other, and pretty soon all of us were posting every day. After many years I felt God calling me to open source those thoughts, forming the foundation of this daily devotional. Last night the three of us caught up for the first time in many months. God called Ron out of nowhere to move to Florida from Singapore and take over a business recently. It was so out of left field and would require so much hardship, but God gave some crazy supernatural signs that He was in this move. In talking about the priority of comfort in making life-decisions, Ron relayed (and I paraphrase) “I’ve been away from my family for five months now. My wife needs to pack up the house and move to the States on her own, all while looking after the kids without help from me. I need to plug into a totally new community, which has been impossible in the midst of covid. I’m overwhelmed with so much to do with the new business. But I can honestly say that God has spoken to me more clearly in the last month than in the whole of the rest of my life combined.” Scripture doesn’t say “even though I walk through the valley of the peachy keen, I will fear no evil.” It does say “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me.” Peace from above often comes despite difficult circumstances, not because of a lack of difficult circumstances. I believe there are seasons when God brings comfortable surroundings and there’s no shame in enjoying those moments. But I also believe that God uses tough situations to stretch us, to enlarge our territory, and to prepare us for something much bigger. I believe God’s been doing that for Ron and his family, and I can’t wait to see what’s next. Lord, thank you for always having the best in store for your children. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Bless Ron and his family. Bless all of us who are dealing with difficult circumstances. Thank you for giving us peace in the midst of tough times. In Jesus’ name, Amen.