“When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;                             the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:2)

The famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is a spiritual pilgrimage for many. For others its fame grew because of Victor Hugo’s classic novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, cementing its place in literary history. When a massive fire broke out on April 15, 2019 – it destroyed the wood lattice-work roof of the 850-year-old building and caused the spire to collapse. Before the blaze, the church had been undergoing an extensive multi-million-dollar renovation. Notre Dame Cathedral housed some of Christendom’s most sacred religious relics, including the preserved crown of thorns said to contain fragments of the original circle worn by Jesus Christ. Only a week before, sixteen bronze statues from the 12th and 13th century were removed from the spire. A trio of round-stained glass rose windows from the 13^th century, a single Holy Nail and a fragment of wood  believed to be from the True Cross on which Christ was crucified, and the great organ dated to the Middle Ages all survived amid significant overall damage to the structure itself. It’s indeed a blessing that there were no lives lost, and through time the cathedral will be restored.

Restoration comes in many forms. While man can never fully restore something which has been consumed by fire . . . God can! In His Holy Word, the Book of Daniel tells the story of three Hebrew teenagers, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to worship the golden idols of their king. He had the young men brought before him and said to them, “I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace” (Daniel 3:15). Their response: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty” (Daniel 3:17).  The ruler was enraged and had them thrown into a fiery furnace where they should have died. But while they were in there, the king saw something he did not expect.  “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods” (Daniel 3:25). The passage says that when they were released from the furnace, “Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke!” (Daniel 3:27). They came out with no sign they had been in the fire, and their faith passed the ultimate test.

There are applications here for all who love the Lord. The first of these is that, when you are in the fire – you can be assured that you are not there alone. God shows up in fiery places. The second lesson is that when we have an attitude of faith – God works with us through the difficult times. In doing so, we experience the third lesson: It’s part of God’s plan to get us to where we need to be. There is purpose in His allowing us to go through the fire. The psalmist spoke these words: “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more” (Psalm 71:20-21).  You may be facing a fire in your own life. However, you need to convince yourself that the fire is not going to burn you. I used to hear some older folks use the expression, “I feel like I’ve been pulled through a knot hole backwards” when they were having a really bad day. As I grew in years, there came a time when I understood what they meant. Facing times of trouble and tribulation is not unusual as evidenced by examples of godly men and women throughout the scriptures. Their stories can serve as inspiration to us, because the same God who was faithful to them will also be faithful to us. Peter tells us that we are grieved by various situations that “have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7). When gold is refined by fire, it becomes even more valuable. When God sees one of His children worthy of refining, they too should be prepared to be tested by fire.

REFLECTION: Consider a time when you were tested by the fires of life? How genuine was your faith? Was it built upon the underlying character of God, or fixated upon the changing circumstances you were facing at the time?  How does the way we handle our trials and tribulations serve as a witness for others who are not grounded in the faith?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., MAY 4, 2019. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

“In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3)

If a tree falls in the woods and there is no one there to hear it – is there still a sound?  Remember that question you were probably asked and pondered as a child? It was learned about the same time as young people were told, “It will be okay . . . things will look better in the morning.”  I had a chance to recall both of these old sayings not so long ago on a late winter evening with high wind gusts. As the heavy winds picked up, I heard a thump outside. I was suspicious that a tree had fallen close to our home, and I assumed it was the dead one belonging to my neighbor that I had been concerned about for some time. A late evening peek outside verified that a tree had indeed come down next to the house, but it appeared to have caused little if any damage.  When I walked out onto the front lawn the next morning to get a better look, I was surprised to find that it was a live tree from my own yard that had toppled and took down two others, including the dead one belonging to the neighbor. It was then that I revised the old adage to now say, “Wait till morning when things may indeed look different.”

After Jesus had been crucified, He was place in a tomb sealed with a big stone and guarded by soldiers. In scripture, there are four accounts of what occurred on the morning we now refer to as Easter. Mark tells us that on “Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’” (Mark 16:1-3). These women were the first to witness that the world they thought they knew was about to be far different than they ever could have expected. Then they experienced the first indication that the darkness of grief, despair, and broken dreams was conquered. As another disciple picks up the account, we see that a new day has dawned: “Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you’” (Matthew 28:2-7).

There is just something about the morning that God holds dear. He dwells in perpetual light, and He appears to love the dawning of each new day. On that first Easter morning, Jesus triumphed over death and darkness and brought life and immortality to light. The fact that He was raised from death guaranteed that all evil and sorrow is only temporary, and that good and joy are eternal. Easter is about conquering all obstacles that get in the way of achieving the purpose of Christ. The stone was rolled away, not for Jesus to come out of the tomb, but instead for others to see its emptiness. Prior to that, there was a world of darkness. Then came the morning with a light that could never be extinguished. Before, there was a world of hate. Then came the morning, and love triumphed over hate. Previously, there had been a feeling of despair. Then came the morning, and hope was born anew. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate how the dawn of that new day changed everything. For those of us who love Christ, we come to understand that because of His resurrection, there is no end to our personal stones that need to be rolled away to fulfill God’s purpose for our own lives. Thus, we are comforted by these words: “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Jesus came to live and die for each of us. And just when many thought all hope was lost . . . then came morning, and the world was never the same again.

REFLECTON: Consider a time in your life when you felt all hope was lost. Did you face that occasion with or without Christ by your side? As you think about your huge personal obstacles that need to be ‘rolled away’ – will you run away trembling, fearful, and bewildered? Or, will you face the dawn knowing that the resurrected Jesus will provide hope and everlasting peace for each and every day that follows?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., APRIL 27, 2019. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above . . .” (John 19:11)

The practice of bartering has been going on for thousands of years. Each of us most likely did this when we were young, sometimes trading lunch items at school. Even today we occasionally engage in swapping things, such as providing childcare for your family if you prepare dinner for mine. In each situation, the offer is successful only if both parties have something the other needs and considers what they are giving to be a fair exchange for what they receive. More often than not, people prefer dickering where there is disagreement over the value of the exchange. Our family once had an older couple as  neighbors. Years ago, when they went to buy a car – the wife haggled over the purchase price until the salesperson agreed to “18,000 and not a cent more.”  When the couple went to pick up their new car, the franchise presented an invoice for $18,000 plus taxes and transfer costs. The wife argued that this was “not the bargain.” Guess who won, as her husband just smiled and shook his head?

Can you imagine being bold enough to bargain with God? When you’re dickering with a merchant, you possess the money and they hold the merchandise. You each have something the other person wants, so you have some bargaining power. But when it comes to God, He holds everything. The good news is that if we try to bargain with God, He is gracious to deal with us right where we are. The story is told that Martin Luther’s father, who worked as a miner, wanted his son to become a lawyer, so Martin studied law. He was almost done with his preparation, when one day at the age of 21, he was caught outside during a violent thunderstorm. In the midst of his fear, Luther cried out to St. Anna, the patron saint of miners, “Save me, Saint Anna, and I shall become a monk!” God spared Luther, and he kept his vow, to the great disappointment of his father and his mother. In our limited understanding of who He is and because He is sovereign over all, God can even use our feeble attempts at bargaining to accomplish a more glorious purpose, as He did with Luther.

In the Old Testament, we can read about Jacob leaving his home on a journey to find a wife from among his people. “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth’” (Genesis 28:20-22).  Later in 1 Samuel, we discover Hannah who has been unable to conceive and bear a child, while her husband’s other wife had many children. “And she made a vow, saying, ‘O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life…’” (1 Samuel 1:11). We come to understand that it is not possible to make deals with God, except perhaps in special cases where deal-making is part of God’s teaching process. Both Jacob and Hannah had lessons to learn along the way, so it appeared that God bargained.

God is not a master who passes along favors to His servants who strike bargains with Him. If one thinks that they can somehow manipulate God into doing things their way, they are deceived. Making promises to God in order to gain favor shouldn’t serve as a basis for our relationship. Rather, we must live our lives according to His will. Remember Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He cried out “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Luke 22:42). And the Father said, “No.” That “no” was a turning point replacing the old covenant of works with the new covenant of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). It made the way for those who follow Jesus to live for all of eternity in God’s holy presence. The blessings we receive will come through that same grace of God because He loves us and not because we talked Him into it by promising to do things we should have been doing all along. While God will sometimes allow us to be in difficult situations so that He can connect with us, the good news is that He is sovereign and gracious. We are simply called to trust and submit to Him . . . absolutely no bargaining needed.

REFLECTION: Recall a time in which you found yourself in a difficult situation and tried to bargain with God. If that worked out favorably, did you consider that the result may have been what God desired for you all along? How does bargaining with God reveal a low image of Him?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., APRIL 20, 2019. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

Woven in and out of the fabric of one’s life are many persons, some of whom become quite special to us over time. Brandon Lane Phillips was born with a congenital heart defect. Due to his health situation, he was granted a gifted-wish at the age of eleven. Having less than a great home life, he prayed that God would show that he cared about him. He used his wish to meet actor Jeremy Miller who portrayed Ben Seaver on the popular 1980’s sitcom, Growing Pains. Both Jeremy and Kirk Cameron, who played the older brother in the show, began to assure Brandon that God had a plan for his life. That day, they formed a friendship with Brandon who began to develop a new level of self-confidence.  As the years passed, he went to medical school and became a cardiologist. As God’s providence would have it, a day came when Jeremy needed Brandon.  Jeremy had become addicted to alcohol, and Brandon was able to help him enter into a very exclusive recovery program. Together they have written a book, When I Wished Upon a Star, affirming that “God placed us in each other’s’ lives when we needed it the most.”

The Bible is filled with instances when God brought people together for a far-seeing purpose. King Saul hated and pursued to kill David, but Saul’s son Jonathan loved (1 Samuel 20:17) and protected him. “Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the Lord saying, ‘The Lord will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever’” (1 Samuel 20:42). When Naomi’s son dies, his widow elects to stay with Ruth rather than return to her own family. She tells Naomi: “Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16) and she is, in turn, blessed for her loyalty. The Apostle Paul praises his student Timothy for his deep faith (2 Timothy 1:5). Later he tells the Church at Philippi, “I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare” (Philippians 2:20). Scripture references people who are brought together in this way as being ‘like-minded.’ When believers are challenged to be of one mind and voice, they are known for their acceptance of one another by their display of the spirit of God’s love. We are, therefore, inspired by the words of the great apostle: “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble” (1 Peter 3:8)

As we mature, we quickly learn that many of the people who we refer to as friends come and go as if they are only with us for a season of our lives. We are fortunate if we find just a few persons with whom we can develop a deep, lasting relationship. When we enter into a true Spirit-filled, fully-surrendered walk with the Lord, one of the first things to occur is that God will create an awareness of individuals who may not be good for us. God’s Holy Word states that he who keeps company with fools will suffer harm (Proverbs 13:20). The Bible also warns that we are not to team up with those who are unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14), that we are to stay away from people who cause divisions and obstacles (Romans 16:17), and even pull back from those believers who are disruptive and do not live according to our faith  teachings (2 Thessalonians 3:6). Some of that may sound very harsh. While we never want to pass up an opportunity to witness or help meet the basic needs of those who do not know Christ, God also knows who is best suited for us spiritually at any point in time. So, we must let Him guide us toward those who will have a positive impact on sharpening our character. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). Such individuals will help to keep us spiritually in line when we are getting off-track, assist to get us through and make sense of some of the downswings that can occur in our daily walk, as well as provide affirmation that we are heading in the right direction.  In that way, we serve each other and continue to stay on the path where God seems to be leading us. While we are sometimes misled to think that there are many who can do this for us – the end-result will be that if it is to be true and lasting, it will come from God who connects us with special persons who are like-minded.

REFLECTION: With whom are you sharing the important parts of your life? How can you help others understand that being like-minded doesn’t mean we unite around a specific set of doctrines, political issues of the day, or a certain theology?  What are some concrete ways that you can encourage others to earnestly seek the mind of Christ while building one another up in faith?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., APRIL 13, 2019. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.