February 5th, 2014

During my web wanderings, I tripped over a website called,

faithgateway. I decided to register for it, and a confirmation
was sent to my email. I have to click the link below to activate
the account. Im not going to. I dont want my email flooded with
ads, etc.

February 6th, 2014

Im getting emails from faithgateway/Devotionals Daily anyway.
I received a Devotionals Daily today titled, The Romance of Boaz and Ruth:
Couples of the Bible. The Bible has romance?
Storys about some woman named Ruth, some guy named Boaz
(strange name) and a marriage among fields of barley.

February 7th, 2014

Devotionals Daily: What Lies Beneath Idolatry is the Issue by Kyle Idleman
Gee. I always thought idols meant, well . . . idols. You know,
metal or wooden statues that arent God.

But this articles says What you are searching for and chasing after REVEALS
THE GOD that is winning the war in your heart. We all have symptoms:
worry, struggles, hurt, stress, therefore, we search, cheat, lie,
avoid, lust, spend, quit, medicate. But these are all symptoms of
idolatry.

I WORRY and STRESS: over my children (at home and at the

school), my school, my reputation, money. What do I do about it?
I search (Im never satisfied), cheat (with money), lie (daily), avoid
(work), lust, spend, medicate (with food; Im overweight), quit (I
have quit, so many times in my life).

Were supposed to love our children. But if we lie on our taxes in

order to help them, the love turns into idolatry, since were not
supposed to cheat on our taxes.

I opened the school to serve my children, and my community. Yet,

the school became so much work, I began to sacrifice my family
for it.
February 8th, 2014
The Danger of Lies in Marriage and Relationships, by Fred Bittner and Zondervan

The devil . . . was a murder from the beginning, not

holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the
father of lies. John 8:44

What is your definition of truth? How often do you bend the truth to avoid trouble?
Do you find shielding truth from someone because you think it will protect them?

The articles then goes on about how Abram told Sarai to tell the
pharaoh she was his sister out of fear of what might have been
done to him if it became known she was his wife. Genesis 12:13.
Abraham, or, Abram, pimped his wife off to the pharaoh. Wow.

We are supposed to speak the truth in love Ephesians 4:10.

Tell your spouse the truth, ask each other and God for forgiveness, then resolve not
to lie to each other again.

I sure have lied to Mike, and I did tell myself it was for his own
good. My past was too sordid to do otherwise. Ill try not to lie
anymore.

February 9th, 2014

Devotionals Daily: Restoration Matters to God Max Lucado
He not only wants your whole heart, He wants your heart whole.

God will carry you through.

In Genesis, Josephs brothers tortured him and tried to kill him.
But he lived, became reborn, so to speak, and the second in
command of all of Egypt.

He waited until his brothers came to him, and did not go to them.
His brothers had to go to him to avoid death.

Hurt people hurt people. An unhealed hurt in your heart can cause someone to
fly off the handle, avoid conflict, seek to please everyone. Wow. This is me,
alright.

God wants to help you for your sake.

February 10th, 2014
Devotionals Daily: You Were Meant To Thrive Mark Hall

I have told you these things so that in me you may have

peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take
heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

You were created for one purpose: to know God and to make Him known.

You were not meant to struggle to make it through the week, the day, the next
hour. You were not meant for your world to feel like a weight, for the break of dawn
to be the start pistol for another meaningless rat race. You were not meant to be
shackled by anxiety, worry, and fear. No, you were meant for so much more.

You were meant to have life and have it more abundantly. That is the promise of the
eternal God.

You were meant to dig deep and to reach out. You were meant to know God and to
make Him known.

February 11th, 2014

Dig Deep and Reach Out Mark Hall

Like a tree,
1.We grow roots when we
Dive into God
Pray
Learn from other believers

2.We reach out, or grow, when

We show Jesus to people and tell them about Him.

We dig deep to learn about, or know, God. We reach out to others to make God
know, that we belong to Jesus and know Jesus as Lord.

Balanced believers dig their roots deep and reach out to others.

February 12th, 2014

Devotionals Daily: Contagious, Audacious Love Bob Goff

Mr. Goff talks about Ryan, a young man who kept asking Mr. Goff
for outrageous things to set the stage for a marriage proposal: the
use of his house, his boat, etc.
Ryans audacious love is the best evidence of the kind of love
Jesus talked about, a love that never grows tired or is completely
finished finding ways to express itself.

February 13th, 2014

faithgateway: Thats What Love Does Bob Goff

What do I do to live into the person that Jesus made me to be?

Gods love changes things.

It brings hope where before there was only despair. Its active. It works. It risks.
Gods love . . . does. Its not something you can earn, buy, or win.

Have you ever had to do something you were afraid to do? What do we learn when
we do this?

Courage is not the same thing as the absence of fear. The definition of courage is
to act in spite of the fear. Acting, even when you are afraid, is something people
who are called to follow Jesus have to do all the time.

After we do something that frightens us the first time, the second time is never as
hard.

The third thing we learn is that moments of risk are when we truly feel most alive.
When we try things that are daunting, our lives actually become more full and
vibrant.

Josephs decision to marry Mary was an act of courage.

Wasnt Marys decision to become pregnant an act of courage?

Did she have a choice?

February 13th, 2014

Be an Ambassador of love Richard Stearns

Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and
in truth. 1 John 3:18

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only
Son, so that whoever, believes in Him shall not perish but
have eternal life. John 3:16

Is that really it? Just believe that Jesus exists? It cant be.
Followers of Jesus will be recognized by their tangible expression of love for all
people.

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no
pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but

with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

We give up all our stuff? Yikes.

February 14th, 2014

Love Cautions the Loved Max Lucado

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will

forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but

anyone who does not believe will be punished. Mark
16:16

In those days before the flood, people were eating and

drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the
day Noah entered the boat. They knew nothing about what
was happening until the flood came and destroyed them.
It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. Matthew
24:38-39

There are strong parallels between the flood of Noah and the return of Christ:

People refused to listen then. Many refuse to listen still.

God sent a safe place for the faithful then: an ark. God sends a safe place for the faithful
today: His Son.

A flood came then. A flood will come.

The first was a flood of water. The next is a flood of vengeance.

The first flood was irreversible. So is the second.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth on the day of judgment (Matthew 25:30).
Regarding the lost, the Bible says, The smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever;
and they have no rest, day or night (Revelation 14:11).
Some will be saved. Some will be lost. Many of those who
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt Daniel 12:2.
Paul agreed:
To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and
honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for
those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but
obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.
Romans 2:78

Jesus story (in Luke 16 about the rich man who goes to Hell and the beggar who
goes to Heaven) concludes with a surprising twist. We hear the rich man plead:
Please send Lazarus to my fathers house. I have five brothers, and Lazarus could
warn them so that they will not come to this place of pain (Luke 16:2728).

Jesus, who understands the final flood of wrath, pleads with us to make any sacrifice
to avoid it.

If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and
throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or
lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into
the eternal fire. Matthew 18:89

Do you listen to the flight attendant when she tells you what to do
in case theres an emergency? I dont.

What if she set a doll on fire as an example of what can happen to a passenger if
they dont listen? What if she showed a short film of people screaming and
frantically running for the exits? What if she grabbed reading material away and
yelled at everyone to listen, because their survival depends upon it? Shed suffer
and get fired, but then, I would listen. Thats what Jesus did for us.

Out of love, He cautions us, who He loves.

To me, God seems too loving to send us to hell. But this article
basically says, well. Yes, Hes very loving, and thats why hell
exists. True, hell does act as a moral anchor, a deterrent against
a sinful lure that proves too strong to ignore. But its more than
that.
First, God does not send people to hell. He simply honors their
choice. Hell is the ultimate expression of Gods high regard for the
dignity of man. He has never forced us to choose Him, even when
that means we would choose Hell.

As C. S. Lewis stated:
There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, Thy will
be done and those to whom God says, in the end, Thy will be done. All that
are in hell choose it.

In another book Lewis said it this way: I willingly believe the damned are, in
one sense, successful rebels to the end; that the doors of Hell are locked on
the inside.

To be a thinking entity means to have a choice. To truly choose,

both moral and immoral choices need to be present. Our
ancestors made the wrong choice, and now were all inherently
evil, living in an evil world. So, we would really do only evil. The
only way out is to choose Jesus, and listen to what He says.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will

forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but

anyone who does not believe will be punished. Mark
16:16

February 16th, 2014

Devotionals Daily Choose To Be a Victor David Zerfoss

For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for
you against your enemies, and He will give you victory!
Deuteronomy 20:4

No matter what your circumstances in life, you have a choice about your attitude
toward them.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. Winston Churchill

Attitudes determine our actions, for good or bad. D. L. Moody

If you dont like something, change it; if you cant change it, change the way you
think about it. Mary Engelbreit

February 16th, 2014

Faith Gateway Youll Get Through This Max Lucado

The Bible is filled with faithful friends of God who suffered in this life. Moses was
violently opposed by the people he spent his life loving and trying to lead. David
learned to dodge spears hurled at him by a mad king. Ruth walked through the
death of her husband and became a stranger in a strange land. Jeremiah was
beaten and thrown into a pit. Stephen, an early church leader, was stoned to death.
The apostle Paul was strapped up and beaten no less than five times. The list could
go on and on.

Then there is Joseph. He discovered at a young age that the road of life is not
always smooth. His story is peppered with rejection, false attacks, deceitful
accusations, enslavement, imprisonment, and long stretches of loneliness.

If you have ever hit a hard patch of road and thought, Ill never get through this,
you just might want to look over Josephs shoulder and learn from his journey. It was
hard. It was not a weekend trip but a tour of duty that lasted about two decades!
But his story echoes through the centuries to remind us that we can make it through
even the toughest of times. We really can.

Youll get through this. It wont be painless. It wont be quick. But God will use this
mess for good. In the meantime, dont be foolish or naive. But dont despair either.
With Gods help, you will get through this.

GET THROUGH WHAT?

February 17th, 2014

Devotionals Daily How Do You Know Gods Will? Max Lucado

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

To pray, Thy will be done is to seek the heart of God. The word will means strong
desire. [So] what is His heart? His passion? He wants you to know it.

Shall God hide from us what He is going to do? Apparently not, for He has gone to
great lengths to reveal His will to us. Could He have done more than send His Son to
lead us? Could He have done more than give His Word to teach us? Could He have
done more than orchestrate events to awaken us? Could He have done more than
send His Holy Spirit to counsel us?
God is not the God of confusion, and wherever He sees sincere seekers with
confused hearts, He will do whatever it takes to help them see His will.

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised

for our iniquities. Isaiah 53:5

The one to whom we pray knows our feelings. He knows temptation. He has felt
discouraged. He has been hungry and sleepy and tired. He knows what we feel like
when the alarm clock goes off. He knows what we feel like when our children want
different things at the same time. He nods in understanding when we pray in anger.
He is touched when we tell Him there is more to do than can ever be done. He
smiles when we confess our weariness.

He wants us to remember that he, too, was human.

He wants us to know that he, too, knew the drone of the humdrum and the
weariness that comes with long days. He wants us to remember that our trailblazer
didnt wear bulletproof vests or rubber gloves or an impenetrable suit of armor. No,
He pioneered our salvation through the world that you and I face daily.

No wonder they call Him the Savior!

February 18th, 2014

Devotionals Daily What is Salvation? Dr. O.S. Hawkins

SALVATIONS CAUSE
For God so loved the world
The motivating factor behind Gods redemptive plan for every man and woman is
His love for us. He not only loves us, He so loves us!

Later, the apostle Paul sought to describe this love by speaking of its breadth, and
length, and depth, and height (Ephesians 3:18), God is love (1 John 4:16), and
this deep emotion is what brings about the possibility of our redemption; knowing
Him in the intimate relationship of Father and child. Gods love for you is the
motivating cause of salvation. For God so loved

SALVATIONS COST
that He gave His only begotten Son
Our salvation, the free pardoning of our sin, and the promise of abundant and
eternal life in Christ did not come without cost.
Freedom is never free; it is always bought with blood.

From the early chapters of Genesis, there is a scarlet thread woven throughout the
pages of Scripture revealing the blood atonement. It climaxes in the final and
complete sacrifice for sin on a Roman cross outside the city gates of Jerusalem.
Jesus not only spoke of His love for us, but God demonstrates His own love toward
us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Our salvation in Christ came at a great cost: God gave His only begotten Son.
SALVATIONS CONDITION
that whoever believes in Him

Salvation is not spelled d-o, but d-o-n-e. Many people, however, think their own
good works are the pathway to eternal life. Consequently, they do this or do that, or
they dont do this or dont do that, all in order to earn salvation.

But our salvation is done. It is already purchased for us with the blood of Christ on
the cross. Our part is to believe, to transfer our trust from ourselves and our own
efforts to His finished work on the cross of Calvary.

To believe does not mean to simply give intellectual assent to the claims of Christ. It
means to transfer our trust to Him alone for our salvation. The most pointed
question in the entire Bible is asked of the apostle Paul by a Philippian jailer: What
must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30).

Pauls immediate reply follows in the next verse: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you will be saved. I believe in George Washington, but I dont believe on him; I
dont trust my life to him. Salvations condition is through faith and faith alone
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

SALVATIONS CONSEQUENCE
should not perish but have everlasting life

What a consequence! What a promise! Those without Christ are perishing, but
those in Christ have the eternal promise of everlasting life. This comes not from
our own human efforts, morals, or good deeds, but the promise is to those who
realize that Gods love reaches down to us, was made possible through the payment
of Christ, and is received by grace through faith alone; believing in the Lord Jesus
Christ.

God knows you, loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life

JOHN 3:16 Yochanan 3:16 Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

For Hashem so had ahavah (agape) for the Olam Hazeh

(children of this world) that Hashem gave the matanah
(gift) [Isa 9:5 (6)] of Hashems Ben Yechid (only son) [Gn
22:12; Prov 30:4; 8:30} so that whosoever has emunah
(faith) in him may not be neevad (lost, perish, be ruined
with destruction), but find Chayyei Olam (eternal life)
[Daniel 12:2].

So, to believe on Jesus means to listen to Him, and do what He

says. Just thinking, I believe in Jesus, or chanting in church
doesnt do it. I need to have Jesus in me, LISTEN to Him, and do
what He says.

Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but

anyone who does not believe will be punished. Mark
16:16

This CANNOT mean baptized with water, but baptized with THE
WORD. Whoever believes, or lays down their life for Jesus and
does what Jesus tells them to do is baptized, and saved. I think
John the Baptist was prepping people for Jesus, not actually
baptizing yet. I dont think we can baptize ourselves, our
children, or each other with water, or anything else.

Only God can baptize us with words we listen, we do, were

baptized.

February 20th, 2014

From Adversity to Greatness by Bryant Wright

Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in

you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ
Jesus. Philippians 1:6

In Genesis 37, when Joseph was seventeen, he had a dream prophesying that he
would someday rule over his brothers. But he wasnt ready yet; he had to spend
thirteen years facing setbacks, challenges, and even prison.

Through adversity, God molded his character so that when Pharaoh appointed him
prime minister of Egypt, he was ready to fulfill his God-chosen destiny.

Think about Joseph when you go through tough times in your own life.

Sometimes God breaks us and allows us to hit rock bottom so He can shape us into
the people Hes calling us to be.

Maybe the adversity is Gods way of strengthening you, teaching you, molding you,
and preparing you for the great plans He has for your life.

WHAT AM I IN FOR???

February 20, 1014 11:12 pm

How Should Christians Engage With Technology? Andy Geers
Technology is neither overwhelmingly good nor inherently evil its how we USE it
that counts.

February 21st, 2014 12:14 am

Becoming Jonah: Running From Our Stories by Leslie Leyland Fields and Dr. Jill
Hubbard
Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it . . .
but Jonah ran away from the Lord . . . Jonah 1:2-3

We know what comes next. Weve all heard this story since childhood; this
fantastical tale of a man who ran away from God and got swallowed by a whale, and
three days later got vomited out.

Thats what kids remember Jonah, the upchucked prophet. But for us here and
now, Jonahs story echoes into our own. Hed been called to a great, wicked city
located in a neighboring country.

They were enemies with Jonah and his countrymen, by reason of birth and by
reason of their own violence and cruelty. Theyd done his people wrong, maybe
even done Jonah himself wrong. He had reason to hate them. And now he had to go
and preach to them.

Preaching against them wasnt the problem. The problem was, he was ordered to
warn them of their coming fate theyd be destroyed if they didnt repent.

Destruction? Total destruction? Why should they be warned? Jonah must have
thought. Why give the chance to repent? How many times had Israel herself been
destroyed, and judgment not been withheld?

Oh, the bitter taste of this, to be forced to preach Repent! to enemies deserving
only of death! To be compelled to offer mercy to those who had not been merciful!
What kind of God was this, who did not honor boundaries and simple, decent
justice?

He could not bear it. So he ran. Hes one of us.

Yes, to the ship bound the other way. And dont we do this? We never run toward
what must be done. Instead, we run precisely the other way. Its logical; it makes
complete sense until we remember God. Until we remember who He is and that
this is His world, not ours.

And we realize the absurdity of trying to outrun the only One.

Yet we do it again and again.

When we run from our stories, we are running from our very selves, and we run
great risks.
Our memories form the very underpinning of our identities, even the texture of our
souls, as Dr. Dan Allender and Don Hudson wrote. Forgetting is a wager we all
make on a daily basis and it exacts a terrible price. The price of forgetting is a life of
repetition, an insincere way of relating, a loss of self. This is a large enough price
to not know who we are. But the true cost is even greater than this. In the same
essay Allender rightly suggests that every hurt and disaster is also a chance for
redemption. When we ignore and try to suppress the past, we lose another
moment to experience Gods mysterious redemption in our lives.

Is it naive to think redemption is possible, even in the hardest stories? Is this fairy-
tale wish fulfillment, believing that every once upon a time finishes with happily
ever after?

There are such logical reasons to run and to doubt. Were running from our
stories, from the pages written behind us, and from an outcome we cant foresee
and may not really want. Can our parents really change? Can we? How can love be
wrung from a stone or even harder, how can forgiveness be wrung from a stone
and handed to someone who does not deserve it?
Maybe the running stops here, and there is enough courage to move forward out of
your old story and into a new one. Like Jonah. He ran, and then the story gets better
which is to say, worse. The wailing wind and storm on the sea, the plunging ship,
the white waves on the pitching deck, until Jonah was found, the fugitive.

He had been cowering in the hold for hours, waiting for God to notice his invisibility.
But when the crew found him, he gained courage to finally act. People would die if
he did not act and act rightly immediately!

He did. He confessed. It was his fault. He was running away from God. And he urged
the sailors to throw him into the sea, so that they all might be saved. Yes, he might
die, but if they didnt give him over to the wrath of God, they would all die.

The author goes on to say how she reconciled herself to her father.

I did not want this particular expedition in my life. I am busy. Im a writer, an editor,
a speaker, a mother of six. I work in commercial fishing. I had no room or time for a
man who had caused nothing but harm in my life. But I know now that had I not
listened and attended to this pull toward obedience, I would have missed the most
staggering displays of Gods character and heart.

This is waiting for you as well.

I looked up the rest of the story in the Bible. The men throw him overboard,
and he gets swallowed up by a whale. After enjoying the accommodations
for a full 3 days, 3 nights, he delivers a heartrending speech to God, vowing
to do what God told him to do. The whale then spits him out onto dry land.

So, God tells him again: Go to the great city of Nineveh

and proclaim to it the message I give you. Jonah 3:2
This time, he goes. For three days he runs around Nineveh yelling, Forty more days
and Nineveh will be overthrown. Jonah 3:4. The people believe him, repent,
change their ways, and fast for three days, thereby avoiding destruction.

So, if we do what God tells us to do, there is a happy ending? I

hope so.

February 22nd, 2014

A Burden Shared Is a Burden Lifted By Renee Stearns and Richard Stearns

Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill
the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

Dont give in to the temptation to do nothing because you cant do everything.

Shrieks of laughter abruptly turned into quiet anticipation as 120 nursery school
children in an AIDS-devastated community in Malawi lined up for a bowl of hot
porridge. For most of them, this was the only meal they had eaten since the
previous morning, and they were hungry. Anastasia, the director of the day care
center, explained that ninety of the children were orphans living in child-headed
households and they would have no other opportunity to eat that day. Money was
tight, and she could only afford to feed them one meal.

Anastasia wasnt always a day care director, but when her sister died of AIDS and
she took on the responsibility of caring for her niece, she decided to include the
eighty-nine other children in her community who had also lost their parents to the
disease. She was an excellent teacher, and once breakfast was finished, the
children showed me what they had learned, reciting in unison the alphabet,
numbers, even the months of the year all in English.

In addition to the few mothers helping at the center, fifteen other local women were
working in a nearby field, tending maize. Their goal was to raise enough money
selling their crops so the day care center could stay open until 5:00 p.m. instead of
closing at 11:30 each morning. Their earnings would also help buy enough food for
the children to have a second meal during the school day. The community was
pulling together to care for its most vulnerable members the children by
bearing the burden resulting from the deaths of so many parents.

Anastasia and a handful of other women in her community took that message to
heart. They assumed responsibility for the child-headed households of Senzani,
Malawi, and took upon their own weary shoulders the burdens those ninety orphans
otherwise would have carried alone.

As members of Gods family, the welfare of others is our concern. Is there a brother
or sister whose burden you could help lift today?
February 24th, 2014
Unglued Time for a New Script

For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right
hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah
41:13
Im sad because of the way I acted today. Im disappointed in my lack of self-control.
And the more I relive my emotionally driven tirade, the more my brain refuses
sleep.

I have to figure this out.

What is my problem? Why cant I seem to control my reactions? I stuff. I explode.

And I dont know how to get a handle on this.

But God help me if I dont get a handle on this. I will destroy the relationships I
value most and weave into my life permanent threads of short-temperedness,
shame, fear, and frustration. Is that what I really want?

No. Thats not what I want. Not at all. I dont want the script of my life to be written
that way.

I know what its like to praise God one minute and in the next minute yell and
scream at my child and then to feel both the burden of my destructive behavior
and the shame of my powerlessness to stop it.

The emotional demands keep on coming. Unrelenting insecurity. Wondering if

anyone appreciates me. Feeling tired, stressed, and hormonal.
Feeling unglued is really all Ive ever known. And Im starting to wonder if maybe its
all Ill ever be.

How can our God be so patient? I dont know. But He is. Today, Hes offering us the
fresh start our souls desperately need. Our key verse from Isaiah 41 promises He
will help us.

We can be different. A slate wiped clean. A page crisp white. A chance to start
rewriting the old scripts of past failures. For me. For you. Together.

God, thank You that this is a new twenty-four hours. Today, I want to believe I can
start writing a new script for my life. Help me to overcome the disbelief I have
because of my past failures. Amen.

February 24th, 2014

Unglued Bible Study of the Week by Lysa Terkeurst

How to resolve conflict and find peace in your important relationships

The book of Joshua is about conquering enemy territory. Gods people have just
emerged from forty years of desert wandering and are finally ready to claim the
Promised Land as their own. After spying on the enemy (Joshua 2:1-3) and leading
his own people to recommit themselves to God (Joshua 5:2-12), Joshua is on his way
to survey the walls of Jericho in preparation for battle. But before he arrives, he
discovers that a man he does not know is there ahead of him.

Read Joshua 5:13-15. In this brief exchange Michael, the commander of the Lords
army, essentially says, Im not here to take sides. Im here to take over. Joshua
asks him if he is on his or his enemies side. Michael says, basically, neither. This
was a question for Joshua to ask himself: is he on his side, or is he on Gods side?
Who is in control of the situation, himself (Joshua) or, God?

Settling the crucial question that he is on Gods side gives Joshua the courage
he needs to face his wall of impossibility in a new way.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my

heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my
Redeemer. Psalm 19:14, NIV 1984
Rock and Redeemer mean protector and rescuer. God can protect and
rescue you in unglued moments.

When angry, or unglued, are you a runaway train, an underground nuclear

explosion, or an iceberg? What if you could position yourself on Gods side, or, how
would you behave if God was with you, and listening? A runaway train might
become a train slowly pulling into a station to offload cargo and refuel; an
underground nuclear explosion might have an emergency off switch; an iceberg
might melt into a spring-fed mountain lake.
Im a runaway train. When I become angry, I become wild, and out of control. But
as I feel myself doing this, if I slow down, and think, What would God want me to
think? What would God want me to do? Ill be able to stop the train, and thereby
cease running ramshod over my family.

February 25th, 2014

Forgiveness and Entrusting Justice to God by Max Lucado
Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A
thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no
time Hebrews 12:15
Revenge builds a lonely house. Space enough for one person. The lives of its
tenants are reduced to one goal: make someone miserable. They do. Themselves.

His healing includes a move out of the house of spite; He moves us forward by
healing our past.
Forgiveness doesnt diminish justice; it entrusts it to God. God cares about justice
more than we do. Paul admonished, Never pay back evil for evil never avenge
yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve
it (Romans 12:17, Romans 12:19).
Vengeance is Gods. He will repay whether ultimately on the Day of Judgment or
intermediately in this life.
Judah, who once wanted to get rid of Joseph, stepped forward. Send [Benjamin]
with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you
and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall
require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me
bear the blame forever (Genesis 43:89).
Is this the same Judah? The same man who said, Let us sell him to the Ishmaelites
(Genesis 37:27)? The same brother who helped negotiate the slave trade? Well,
yes and no. Judah, as it turns out, has had his own descent into the pit.

After Josephs abduction Judah went on to have three sons. He arranged for the
eldest to marry a girl named Tamar. But the son died. Following the proper protocol
of his day, Judah arranged for his second son to marry Tamar. The son didnt
manage the situation well and died. Judah assumed Tamar was jinxed. Afraid that
his third son would meet the same fate, Judah put the matter on hold, leaving Tamar
with no husband.

Later Judahs wife died. Tamar heard that Judah was coming to town. Apparently she
hadnt been able to get Judah to reply to her e-mails, so she got creative. She
disguised herself as a prostitute and made him an offer. Judah took the bait. He
exchanged his necklace and walking stick for sex, unaware that he was sleeping
with his daughter-in-law. (Oh, how lust blinds a man!) She conceived.

Three months later she reappeared in Judahs life as Tamar, pregnant Tamar. Judah
went high and mighty on her and demanded she be burned. Thats when she
produced Judahs necklace and walking stick, and Judah realized the child was his.
He was caught in his own sin, disgraced in front of his own family. Things had come
full circle. Judah, who had deceived Jacob, was deceived. Judah, who had trapped
Joseph, was trapped. Judah, who had helped humiliate Joseph, was humiliated. God
gave Judah his comeuppance, and Judah came to his senses. She has been more
righteous than I, he confessed (Genesis 38:26).

For years I wondered why Judahs exploits were included in the Joseph narrative.
They interrupt everything. We just get started in chapter 37 with the dreams and
drama of Joseph when the narrator dedicates chapter 38 to the story of Judah, the
hustler, and Tamar, the faux escort. Two dead husbands. One clever widow. An odd,
poorly placed story. But now I see how it fits.

For anything good to happen to Jacobs family, someone in the clan had to grow up.
If not the father, one of the brothers had to mature to the point where he took
responsibility for his actions.

God activated the change in Judah. He gave the guy a taste of his own medicine,
and the medicine worked! Judah championed the family cause. He spoke sense into
his fathers head. He was willing to take responsibility for God activated the change
in Judah. He was willing to take responsibility for Benjamins safety and bear the
blame if he failed. Judah got his wake-up call, and Joseph didnt have to lift a finger
or swing a fist.
The point of the story?
God handles all Judahs. He can discipline your abusive boss, soften your angry
parent. He can bring your ex to his knees or her senses. Forgiveness doesnt
diminish justice; it just entrusts it to God.

He guarantees the right retribution. We give too much or too little. But the God of
justice has the precise prescription.

Unlike us, God never gives up on a person. Never. Long after we have moved on,
God is still there, probing the conscience, stirring conviction, always orchestrating
redemption. Fix your enemies? Thats Gods job.

Forgive your enemies? Ah, thats where you and I come in. We forgive.
Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not
give the devil an opportunity (Ephesians 4:2627).

The word translated opportunity is the Greek word topos, the

same term from which we get the English noun topography. It
means territory or ground. Interesting.

Who does God think Im going to inflict revenge on? I dont know
of anyone I would want to hurt. Not too badly, anyway . . .

February 26th, 2014

A Tale of Two Fires by Jeff Lucas

When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there

with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, Bring
some of the fish you have just caught. So Simon Peter
climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore.
John 21:911
In forgiving us, God makes no attempt to minimize, excuse, or overlook our sins.
When Jesus was betrayed and taken away from Gethsemane, Peter followed him,
the only disciple who had the courage to do so. When Jesus is taken into the high
priests house, Peter remains close and outside the house, and goes over and
warms his hands alongside other people by a big fire. They begin accusing him, and
three times he denies knowing Jesus.

February 28th, 2014

Devotionals Daily: Whats the Point of Marriage? Part 1: Friendship

It is not good for the man to be alone. Genesis

Why not?
Well, because humans are made in Gods image. That means we are called to image
God, to mirror and mimic God to the world. But thats a problem for Adam because
God exists in a web of life-giving relationships, but Adam is alone.

Early in the story, God says, Let us make mankind in our image. Who is God talking
to? Himself!

Later in Scripture Jesus talks about God as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
But at this point in the story all we know is that God is not alone. And if God is not
alone, why should Adam be?
To know and be known is a powerful thing. My wife knows all my flaws trust me,
there are many and she still loves me.

Is my marriage a strong one? Mike and I love each other, but . . .

do we really love each other? He doesnt know my flaws, and I
really dont know his. If we dont know each other, how can we
really love each other?