Category Archives: Devotions

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A few days ago, I woke up feeling irritable.

This is an unusual occurrence for me. I love mornings and generally wake up happy to see another day.

However, something had happened the day before that left me feeling drained, put-upon and resentful. The fact that I woke up still thinking about this issue was proof that I had not let it go.

As I got ready to head out to run some errands, my mind still spun with “I should have….”…”I can’t believe they…”…if only I had…”

I know better than this; yet I indulged my flesh rather than taking all my grievances to Jesus.

I got into the car and the wonderful voice of Travis Cottrell immediately filled the space. His ” Live”  album is one of my all-time favorites and I listen to it nearly every day.

Instinctively I began to sing along with Travis and slowly tuned into the words I was singing:

He will live our sorrows sharing, Jesus saves. Jesus saves.
He will die our burdens bearing, Jesus saves. Jesus saves.
“It is done!” will shout the Cross; Christ has paid my redemption’s cost!
While the empty tomb’s declaring, “Jesus saves! Jesus saves!”

Gradually, my spirits began to lift, as the concerns of earth faded in light of the most glorious event in the history of the world: the Cross.

As John MacArthur recently said, ” On the Cross, God treats His Son as if He lived your life so that He could treat you as if you lived His life.”

There is an empty tomb!

I have been forgiven!

I have a place in Heaven that is being prepared for me by Jesus Himself! (John 14:2-3)

He is coming back!

My eternal future is secure!

My life is held safely in His powerful hands!

I have been rescued, redeemed and restored!

I can never lose sight of this astounding, breathtaking and momentous truth.

As my pastor in Florida always used to say, “Preach the Gospel to yourself every single day.”

In light of all this, my irritation was seen for what it was: silly, petty, ridiculous. It was time to move on and get over myself.

His Light broke through my day and rather than muttering discontent, I began to praise Him for the amazing grace that He has bestowed upon me.

“My very Presence radiates Joy in vast, unmeasured fullness. When you praise Me, your joy increases.”—(Dear Jesus by Sarah Young, p. 20).

Rather than allowing myself to go into a downward spiral, Jesus lifted me upward instead. He is always willing to do that if we will cooperate with Him.

Compared to eternity, this life is a blip.

Today, choose to focus on what truly matters…and let the rest go.

“Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen.”—Mother Teresa

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It is no secret that the state of Vermont was hit extremely hard by hurricane Irene. Roads and bridges were washed away, leaving a dozen towns completely stranded. Homes and businesses were flooded and lives were tragically lost.

It was into this catastrophe that my husband ventured last Monday. He had stayed home over the weekend so that he would be here with us as the storm hit.

He left New Hampshire at 6:30 a.m. for a drive to work that would normally take only two and a half hours.  He called me at 10:30 to say that he was having a lot of trouble getting very far into the state but he was going to try another route.

Three hours went by and the phone remained completely silent.

I was going through the motions of back-to-school shopping with my kids but I could feel my anxiety beginning to mount with each passing hour. Horrifying scenarios began to flash through my mind. I imagined his car being swept away by a flash flood or a road collapsing as he drove upon it, burying him under a pile of rocky rubble.

Then, as we turned into another parking lot in search of  the perfect backpack, I was reminded of an interview I had heard with Ann Voskamp the day before. She had said this:

“Fear is always the ‘flee-ahead’….moving out of this moment. If I can stay in this  moment and give thanks for even one thing, even in the dark…that keeps me here…and the grace is in this moment.”

I realized that I had been “fleeing ahead.”

In this moment, the sun was shining. I was with my son. We were both in good health. I was trading the sweetness and simplicity of now  by fleeing ahead into the scary, murky, may-never-be.

Immediately, one of my memory verses came to mind: “Peace I leave with you; My own peace I now give you…do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful, intimidated, cowardly, and unsettled.” —John 14:27 (Amplified version, emphasis added) 

I asked forgiveness for worrying and whispered a prayer that He would help me be fully present in the now.

Jesus never invites us to flee ahead. He commands us to stay in the moment. Right now, this moment, is the only place that is real. It is the only place that I can experience His grace and sustaining power.

Within seconds of entering the store, my cell phone rang.

It was Doug, calling to tell me that he had to head back home because all the roads leading into the town where he works were closed. There had been no cell phone reception along the roads he had been traveling.

My body went weak with relief and praise filled my thoughts.

I had needlessly suffered by allowing myself to flee ahead.

The next time I am tempted to do that, I will call to mind John 14:27. I will thank Him that His grace is sufficient for this moment. I will rejoice that I can fully trust Him to guide and protect me and those I love. I will rest in the fact that I serve a good and faithful God who is firmly on His throne, even during the bad times.

Don’t flee ahead, no matter how strong the temptation.  No good ever comes of it.

Stay in the moment.

As night fell in our town Sunday night, it seemed as if hurricane Irene had finally moved on.

However, we were warned that it was not over yet because the back end of the storm would bring high winds.

The winds started after midnight.

I couldn’t sleep. The local news was on, broadcasting scary images of vehicles trapped in rising water, roads being washed away, homes submerged, red and blue police lights flashing as roads were blocked off to protect motorists from danger.

I moved closer to my sleeping husband, grateful that he had stayed home that night, rather than heading to Vermont earlier in the day.

The house made creaking noises as the wind grew in strength. Since our development is rather new, there are no mature trees to cushion us from the wind so it blows hard against the house. Sometimes it  sounds like a freight train is going straight through the center of it.

I lay in bed and stared out the sliders beyond our deck. For some reason, there was an eerie glow above the mountains. A local TV host reported that five people and a dog had been swept away into the dark night by rising waters in an area thirty minutes north of our town and a rescue was underway. (Fortunately, there was a happy ending to that story. Thank God for our men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis to save others).

Why does everything seem so much scarier at night?

I closed my eyes and began to recite Scripture passages from Ps. 18 , Ps. 91 and Psalm 121. His Word is such a comfort anytime, but never more so than when storms are raging.

Peace settled over me like a blanket and I was able to fall asleep.

I awoke to blue skies and a shining sun. There was no evidence that Irene had been here at all.

Even the scariest of storms comes to an end.

Thankfully, so do the storms in our lives.

I remember hearing the late Barbara Johnson say that one of her favorite sayings in the Bible was “…and it came to pass.” 🙂

I just came through a season that I thought would never end. Day after day, nothing seemed to change. The storm raged on.

Some days I was strong; some days I was weak and the tears flowed. There were days of discouragement and days of victory. Sometimes I wondered if the storm was here to stay for good. It was hard to remember the  carefree days of sunny skies.

During this time, I read a book by Michael Card entitled A Sacred Sorrow: Meeting God in the Lost Language of Lament.

He explained that in the Bible, the world lament means simply refusing to let go of God, no matter what.

That is how I got through the storm. I just never let go.

I clung to my lifeline, the Bible. I lived on those words that spoke life and joy and peace and comfort to my tired soul.

I never stopped talking with Jesus, even during the darkest days of tears, anger, confusion, and sadness.

I just kept getting up every time I fell down.

I refused to let go of my Savior who has promised that He will never let go of me.

And then one sweet day, the storm was over. The  dark clouds evaporated to reveal blazing sunshine.

A new day had arrived.

If you are in the middle of a storm right now, continue clinging to Jesus through His Word. Refuse to let go no matter what.

The storm will end in His perfect timing and He will see you safely through.

“Christ said, ‘Let us go over to the other side’—not ‘to the middle of the lake to be drowned.'”—Daniel Crawford

photo credit: caitlin marie

Her grief, confusion, hurt, and anger poured out across the phone lines.

All I could do was listen and sympathize.

I felt helpless in the onslaught of all this pain.

So I did the most powerful thing I could do…I prayed the entire time she was talking.

“Jesus, open her eyes! Let her truly see You!”

She has heard the gospel in all its entirety…twice.

Twice, she has reached out to me in her pain, searching…endlessly searching…seeking peace that never comes.

Because…she will not bend the knee to the Prince of Peace….Jesus…the only One who can give her the peace she so desperately wants to possess.

“I’m not ready….” she has whispered in the past, tears streaming down her face.

Ever the Gentleman, Jesus grants her request to pursue life without Him.

So she continues to be imprisoned by her pain…tortured by long nights filled with “what-ifs” and “if-onlys”…forever feeling unfulfilled because those she loves do not have the ability to make her whole…mentally ripping the bandages off wounds that remain unhealed and will not be silent.

The pain screams.

And the Healer waits.

He longs for her to turn to Him. He desires to release her from the enemy’s ruthless and relentless grasp.

He is the only One who can flood her soul with Peace and Joy. His  brilliant and powerful Light would dispel every bit of the deep darkness that now covers her heart.

He can take all her pain and transform it into something beautiful…beauty for ashes is His specialty.

He is the only One who will not be driven away by the depth of her need.

If she opened  His Word…His eternal love letter… He would tell her that she is lovely and precious to Him…that He rejoices over her life with heavenly song…that His plans for her life are grand and glorious (even when it hurts)…that He loved her enough to die for her and He wants to spend eternity showering her with His love.

She doesn’t want any of it.

This is incomprehensible to me and it breaks my heart.

I know this One.

He has set me free. He has healed—and continues to heal— what was/is broken in my damaged heart. Every day is a love affair with Him, no matter how hard or long the road.

He captivates me. He takes my breath away. He pours His love into my heart and opens my eyes to see that His glory and beauty truly does fill the whole earth.

He has made me whole.

I want this for her.

So…I will continue to pray for her as long as there is breath in my body, knowing that I have a Savior who desires that all would come to repentance and find true restoration and redemption.

“I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts…” (Isaiah 65:2, Amplified)

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. —2 Corinthians 1:20

That is an absolutely amazing Scripture!

We have been given hundreds of “great and precious” promises in Jesus’ love letter to us, the Bible ( 2 Peter 1:4).

What is your need today? Find several promises that correspond to your situation and realize that Jesus answers every single one of them with a resounding and eternally joyful “YES!”

“Jesus, I need more of Your joy.”
“YES!” (John 15:11)

“Jesus, I need more of Your peace.”
“YES!” (John 14:27)

“Jesus, will you show me which way I should go?”
“YES!” (John 16:13)

“Jesus, I am filled with fear. Will You fill me with Your courage instead?”
“YES!” (John 14:27)

“Jesus, I feel like I’m not going to make it. My strength is so small. Will You pour Your strength into me?”
“YES!” (Phil. 4:13)

“Jesus, I am going to be honest. This person is driving me nuts! Please pour Your supernatural love into my heart?”
“YES!” (Romans 5:5)

“Jesus, I don’t feel very lovable right now. Please reassure me that Your love for me is powerful and unconditional, even when I mess up.”
“YES!” (Jeremiah 31:3)

“Jesus, my resources look awfully small. Help me to rest in Your promise that You will supply my every need.”
“YES!” (Philippians 4:19)

“Jesus, I am so confused. Things look so dark and scary right now. Yet, You say that Your plans for me are for good, to give me a future and a hope.”
“YES!” (Jeremiah 29:11)

“Jesus, You tell me that I am more than a conqueror and that is true whether I feel like that or not.”
“YES!” (Romans 8:37)

“Jesus, I feel very alone. Thank You for assuring me that You will never leave me or forsake me.”
“YES!”  (Hebrews 13:5)

“Jesus, I thank You that even now, You are preparing a place for me in Heaven.”
“YES!” (John 14:1-2)

Our great God is absolutely faithful. He cannot lie. His Word is eternal and His promises are absolute.

By faith, choose to believe His promises to you today.

Every single one of them will prove true in wondrous ways.

“Faith rests on the pure Word of God alone.”—George Mueller

My heart is heavy on this rainy morning.

From the earliest moments of this day, I began getting both emails and phone calls from dear friends and family who were at the end of their ropes, feeling totally overwhelmed and assaulted by life.

It is my honor and privilege to stand in the gap for these dear ones. My heart cries out to the Savior for deliverance for them…the same Savior who boldly and truthfully stated that He had come “to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed, downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity. ” (Luke 4:18, Amplified version). 

 I may feel and be helpless to do anything for them, but I go boldly to the One who is all-powerful and tender-hearted toward every soul that calls on Him in the midst of deep pain.

God’s Word tells me plainly that I am not just talking to air. I am entering the very Throne Room of the entire universe where my great and mighty God sits forever on His majestic throne, able, willing and mighty to save.

He hears our prayers and He records every single one of our tears.

The  Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. –Ps. 34:18

I just heard this song by Travis Cottrell and I wanted to share the beautiful lyrics:

“I come broken… to be mended
I come wounded… to be healed
I come desperate… to be rescued
I come empty… to be filled
I come guilty… to be pardoned by the blood of Christ the Lamb
And I’m welcomed with open arms
Praise God…just as I am.”

If you are hurting today, come as you are to the only One who can set you free.

Come to Him in all your pain and let Him take it.

You are not alone.

You are seen.

You are heard.

You are deeply and eternally loved.

You are not in a hopeless situation.

There has been a resurrection!!!! You have a God that can redeem and restore anything! Jesus has come to make all things new. Nothing is impossible with Him!

“I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the One who helps you.'” –Isaiah 41:13

A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench. –Isaiah 42:3

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…you are precious in My eyes and honored and I love you. –Isaiah 43:1-4

Come to Him just as you are this day and find healing for your soul.

Less than a week after my husband’s job was cut in 2009, he had an interview with a company that was literally within walking distance of our home. There was an opening in his field and the man who would be his boss was a member of our church.

I was elated. What an incredible testimony this would be! God’s provision would be lightning fast and this unemployment business would be a mere speed bump in our lives.

Except…it didn’t happen that way. The company decided not to fill the position.

I was devastated.

I had been so sure. It had seemed like such a perfect answer to prayer.

I went to bed that evening with a heavy heart. In the morning, I continued talking to Jesus about the situation, pouring out my sadness and confusion.

Suddenly, His Spirit spoke to mine so clearly that it was unmistakable: “Do not presume upon Me.”      

That is exactly what I had been doing.

I was stunned into silence.

It truly felt like I was standing on holy ground, His Presence was so thick. In that moment, I felt like the disciples did when they began to grasp who Jesus truly was and asked themselves in wonder and amazement, “Who is this?”

The word presume means: “to take for granted, assume, or suppose; to undertake with unwarrantable boldness; to take liberties.”

God forbid that I treat Him in this way.

I realized anew that He is GOD an I am not.

He is the Potter and I am the clay.

He is the infinite and I am the finite.

He is the Savior and I am the one who needs saving…sometimes (often) from myself.

It was an incredibly humbling moment.

I immediately asked Him to forgive me for my presumption and told Him that I would surrender to His plan and His path wherever it led.

I would no longer try to “write the rest of the story” as my friend Dianne says.

A few days later, I read this in my Streams in the Desert devotional:

“In no way is it enough to set out cheerfully with God on any venture of faith. You must also be willing to take your ideas of what the journey will  be like and tear them into tiny pieces, for nothing on the itinerary will happen as you expect. Your Guide will not keep to any beaten path. He will lead you through ways you would never have dreamed your eyes would see. He knows no fear and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.”—Annie Flint Johnson, p. 158

I didn’t know it at the time but Jesus was about to show me that the ‘Jesus’  I thought I knew so well was about to get a major and crucial adjustment.

Over the next two years, Jesus would (lovingly but firmly) expose the true state of my my heart:

*my security was actually tied to the things of this world rather than God Himself

*my focus was mainly on the passing things of this earth rather than on God’s eternal Kingdom

*without realizing it, I was sacrificing depth and lasting joy for fleeting, shallow happiness

*I had plenty of  tidy head knowledge about Jesus but as a result of this extended journey, I was ready to grant Him complete access to my restless, wandering heart and fully encounter Him as He truly is…in His fullness, majesty, and passion.

I am to have no other agenda than His.

Jesus wants—and because He is Lord, rightfully demands—it ALL. No holding back. No hesitation. No double-mindedness.

Just complete and total surrender to a Savior who “is gentle and merciful and kind. But He is also strong to save. And He loves us so much He refuses to pamper us.” –Mark Galli.

As Bible teacher James MacDonald is fond of saying, “God’s love is not a pampering love but a perfecting love.”

Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. The longer you walk with Him, the more you will realize that He truly does not ever lead you by a predictable path.

Yet, this I promise you…He will surround you with His tender mercies and loving-kindness every step of the way (Ps. 40:11).

Don’t be afraid.

Having  just gone through a long season of pain and fear, I just wanted to offer a “battle plan” that enables a believer to endure trials from the place of victory and hope that Jesus’ death and resurrection permanently secured for us. This helped me and I pray it does the same for you…

1) The Word of the LORD is right and true; He is faithful in all He does. —(Ps. 33:4).

All means ALL.

All means the good and the bad. Jesus pulled no punches when He said, “In the world, you will have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer ( take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted!). For I have overcome the world. (I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you).”—(John 16:33)

No doubt about it…this life can be rough. However, we must prioritize His Word over our circumstances.

His Word tells us over and over that He is a loving God and everything He says is true. His ways are not our ways, but they are always right. Regardless of what we can see, we can know with absolute certainty that He will prove faithful to us.

2) When we stumble and fall (which we will), it is not the end of the world, as evidenced in Micah 7:7-8: “As for me, I watch in hope for the LORD; I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I  have fallen, I will rise. though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my Light.”

Notice that Micah did not say that he was hoping and waiting for his circumstances to change.

His focus was on his God, who is the Author of Hope.

Even so, he experienced setbacks, as we all do. The enemy loves it when we stumble and fall. He is a shameless opportunist and works hard to convince us that we will never change, that God is disappointed in us and can never use us.

However, we can join with Micah and refuse to stay down. Jesus knows that we are frail and our weaknesses and failures never catch Him off guard. We can thwart the enemy’s plan by accepting Jesus’ outstretched hand and choosing not only to stand up again, but to move forward out of the darkness that surrounds us and into His Light, bold and unafraid.

Don’t you dare stay down when you fall. You have a Savior who is ever-ready to lift you up. (Ps. 40:1-3)

3) You may say, “I don’t have the strength to get up again. I’m too tired and the battle has raged too long.”

Jesus would disagree. He tells us in His Word that we can do all things through Him because He gives us His strength. (Philippians 4:13). Once again, all means ALL.

Due to the fact that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, we possess the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. There is nothing that comes our way that we cannot handle in the strength that Jesus offers us.

You are not at the mercy of your circumstances. They are to be firmly under your feet. Claim Philippians 4:13 and refuse to live in fear and weakness.

Your legacy is supernatural strength and victory.

4) Do not live in fear of lack.

Jesus promises to supply all your needs according to His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19). Notice that the text does not say that He will provide “out of” His riches, but “according to.”

If I have $100 and I give you $5.00, I only have $95 left.

Jesus is infinite and has infinite resources that can never be diminished in any way! He knows exactly what you need when you need it and He will always provide your needs.

My husband and I saw this time and time again in the months following his lay-off. We absolutely marveled at God’s abundant provision. As a result, we learned that everything we have truly comes from His hand. Knowing this leads to the peace that does pass all understanding.

(Quick note: much of what we classify as ‘needs’ are actually ‘wants.’ If you need it, He will always provide it. If you don’t have it, it was a ‘want’ and not a true need. Oh, this was a tough lesson for me to learn! After many tears, I finally submitted to the fact that He sees the big picture and I don’t. I came to accept it when He said no because I learned that I could absolutely trust His heart and that He could only give me good things ( Psalm 84:11). And you know what?  He is such a lavish Giver that He does give plenty of ‘wants’ too…as long as we seek Him above all else).

5) Regardless of your circumstances, claim the liberating and awesome truth of this Scripture: “… pray that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His His glory (to exercise every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy, giving thanks to the Father…” (Colossians 1:11-12).

It is verses like these that vividly illustrate that the true Christian life is a supernatural life. If you pray this Scripture and believe that your desire will be granted, I guarantee you that everyone around you will know that you have been with Jesus.

When going through a trial, never lose sight of the fact that you follow a risen Savior who will always lead you in triumph!

The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior who saves! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest (in silent satisfaction) and in His love He will be silent and make no mention of past sins or even recall them. He will exult over you with singing.—Zephaniah 3:17