White as Snow

On November 14, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Isaiah 59: 1 – 2

Behold the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

Hallelujah! What may sound like rough news to some is shouting ground for us because the blood of Jesus washed away our sins, the only thing that separated us from God. Yahoo! Because of Jesus, our Father hears our every word. His hand is right on our shoulder leading us and protecting us. His arm is well able to save and His ear able to hear. The only thing that blocked Him from us was the veil of sin. Praise God Jesus tore that veil asunder and because he did, we now stand in the very presence of God.

When you know who you are in Christ Jesus, when you get a revelation of the victory He won for us, what was previously bad news becomes glory ground. If you are not 100% sure of your standing, then say this:

“Jesus, I thank you for your righteous blood which has washed away all my sin and iniquity. Lord, I receive your great sacrifice and I accept your cleansing power. I lay my whole life; former, present and future, at your feet, at the feet of the cross. Lord, receive my life as a love offering. Come fill my life, spirit, soul and body with your presence and with your love and be my Lord all the days of my life. Amen.”

Now you are as clean as Jesus’ robes. In fact, God sees His righteousness when He looks at you. You have the saving grace of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit on you and in you. His voice is in your ear and your voice is a melody in His ear. Bless the Lord and be blessed.

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Abundant Thanks Lord

On October 30, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 109: 30 – 31

With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.

This verse is for me today. I would like to be this person. Of all the things I think I could change about me, this is one I would like to succeed at. I doubt I am the only person who feels they do not praise the Lord enough or give Him enough thanks. But then, how could we ever give Him enough thanks. We set aside a day a year but how much do we even thank Him on Thanksgiving Day?

I have known people who praise God in the midst of others. They lived in an attitude of praise. I want to be like that.

God stands at the right hand of the needy. Who is that? I figure that is each one of us. He stands ready to save us from those who judge us and from every situation which plagues us.

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Saved and Healed

On July 6, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 107: 19 – 22

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His works with joyful singing.

Happy Monday all! I pray you are well and longing for a fresh word from the Lord. This psalm is a favorite of mine because it tells of God sending us His Word and the impact it has on human life. The Word heals. Amen.

I have this psalm, specifically verse 20, among the scriptures I give to people when they have need of physical healing. Of course, it is equally applicable to emotional or mental healing as well. I have also used it in the Word of the Day at least 18 times. I believe it has a strong message that will feed life to us. Today, however, I was equally struck by the verses accompanying verse 20 because together they tell a potent story. In context we learn that the people cried out to the Lord in their day of trouble. I cannot think of a period, in my lifetime, when we have been in greater trouble. When the people spoken of in this psalm cried out to the Lord, he saved them from their distress.

This causes me to wonder if we have really cried out to the Lord out of our distress. Do we vent our spleen on Facebook instead of crying out to the Lord with the anguish we feel? Have we actually come to grips with how we feel, or do we sublimate those emotions? It does not seem that we call out to God with the same passion that we give to our remonstrations. Isn’t that the conclusion we must come to since we have not been saved from our present peril? Mustn’t we conclude that either God does not save or we have not cried out to Him? One of the two must be true. I cannot believe my God does not save or that His arm is too short to save. And if that is true, then there must be some other explanation. Looking at this model, I have to presume that the first condition has not been met.

Were you to read the whole psalm, you would see that the author tells of several times when the people cried out to the Lord in their distress and in each case, God saved them. If He saved them, why would He not save us? Did He love them more than He loves us? Were their lives more precious to Him than are ours? Surely not! So, I have to believe that the Lord, our God and Father, is still able and very willing to extend His hand of salvation to us today. Let us not forsake the end of this passage, however. Those saints gave the Father praise and thanksgiving. They sang with a joyful song the good news of the God who saves.

I wish I could get this devotional into the hands of every Christian in the world and I wish that each one of those persons would find inspiration herein that would create a worldwide outpouring of passionate prayer to the Father, who is Lord. I wish that those who may not know Christ personally would turn their hearts, with us, to the one who saves and would cry out for help, and I wish that our lands would be healed, that we would unite under one banner, the banner of Christ, that our eyes would look well beyond politicians, medical personnel, and even friends to be fixed on the one who is well able to rescue us from this present trouble. I wish we would turn off the news and instead search God’s Word and our own hearts for real answers. Give me the good news!!! Tell me what God has to say about the problems which confront us. Demand answers of Him and listen. Join in one voice to the Great Almighty who loves us. Believe with all your heart that He does love us and is willing to save. Call upon Him with an impassioned demand. Let us cry out to our Father. Let’s really do it. Tell all your friends. Stir up the fire in your heart and cry out to the Lord. Father, send your Word and heal us!

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Obligated by Love

On June 12, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 1: 14

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Of course these words were written by Paul who was a preacher, like me. He encountered what we all do, the ministry to the saints juxtaposed to the ministry to the non-saved. There is more to this than simply preaching to saved and unsaved. Of course, the message is different when addressed to those who are already saved. Beyond that, though, there is a requirement in this verse of our obligation to the unsaved. The obligation is to the educated or learned as well as to the uneducated. In other words, don’t you hear Paul calling out that the anointing of ministry obligates us to all people?

This is such an interesting discussion. Some ministers are called as evangelists to the unsaved. Others, like myself, are called to minister to the church. This verse teaches us, though, that we are all obligated on both fronts. Further, the ringing truth that I hear is that we owe the “barbarians” more than an evangelical, “sinner be saved” message. We are to love and honor them as we would our Christian siblings.

Frankly, sometimes it is easier to work with the unsaved than the Christians because they tend to be less judgmental. I have figured out that my part is to preach life to everyone and let Jesus take care of salvation. In truth, wherever I see light, I recognize the spark of Jesus because he is the light. So, that makes it easy for me to just see the person and not have to categorize them as saved, unsaved, we, them or any of those other burdensome labels.

My favorite yoga teacher calls herself an agnostic. She isn’t really but self-identity is important. None the less, there is more light, life, kindness and love flowing out of her than out of whole groups of Christians. I have no problem accepting her because she emits love overflowing. Love only comes from God because He is love. There is no other source of love. Satan certainly didn’t give her this overflowing kindness and caring. She may not know Jesus personally, right now, but she most definitely recognizes when he shows up in the room. And, she is drawn to the light in me because she recognizes that spirit of love.

So I, like Paul, have learned that our Father will not allow us to draw that line in the sand which segregates His children into the haves and have nots. Some “non-saved” people have more light in a certain area than those who have received the revelation of Jesus as the Christ. We are all on this journey to light and love and have excelled in some areas while lagging in others. What a delight it is to be allowed, and expected, to connect to the light in others while we each travel towards the ultimate revelation of Jesus as Lord. For my yoga instructor, I think when she meets Jesus face to face, she will say, “Oh, it’s you. I have known you all along. Now I am happy to get to put a face and name together with you.”

We will all shout a resounding “Glory!” when we see Jesus in person. No one will deny the truth, will be able to deny the truth of who he is. Whether one yields to his lordship or not is their choice but they will all see with their own eyes that Jesus is Lord and many who don’t currently call him “Lord” will bow their knee and joyfully worship his name. In the meantime, we are called to love and accept them all. That is the obligation of the “One Commandment,” the one thing Jesus commanded of us. Love them all. Speak life to everyone: the rich, the poor, educated, uneducated, Asians, Europeans, adults, children, saved and unsaved. This is the obligation of love.

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Gracefully Saved

On May 1, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 6: 21

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We have become the righteousness of God in Christ because Jesus took our sin onto himself. There is a song that, although pretty, kind of bugs me because it fails to reflect this great thing that Jesus did for us. The singer says in the chorus that he is just an old sinner saved by grace. Well, which is it? Are you an old sinner or are you saved by grace? You cannot be both. Now the song is trying to make a point about God’s grace saving us from our sins, but we need to be very clear on this point in our own minds. You cannot be both a sinner and saved by the grace of God. Jesus took your sin onto himself so that when God looks at you, he sees the righteousness of Christ. Jesus took away our sin. That’s what killed him. It wasn’t Roman soldiers. The wage of sin is death (Romans 6: 23). The sin of the world hit Jesus while he was hanging on that cross. It caused a separation between him and God because God cannot be in the presence of sin. That is why Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27: 46). For the first time in his life, he was without the presence of God. But Jesus endured that, even becoming our sin so that we might become his righteousness. That is why I don’t like the chorus of that song. Even though I know that the author meant to glorify God and has the very best intentions, it just does not represent the true nature of God’s grace and that is that we are fully and completely washed clean of our sin through the forgiveness of sin.

Don’t go around wearing your sin like some old garment. Throw it out with the rest of the rubbish. To do less makes Jesus’ sacrifice of lesser effect. It is like putting him back up on the cross every day. He died once for all; for all people, for all sin. You are not an old sinner anymore if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior. His blood has washed you clean, and you are a new person in him, the old having completely passed away (2 Corinthians 5: 17). You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. That is what the Bible says. That is what God sees when He looks at you. You have been washed clean by the shed blood of Jesus the Christ. Glorify God in what Christ has done for you.

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Be Found

On September 11, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 15: 25

He was lost and has been found.

At spin class today our instructor played a song in which the lyric said, “I didn’t know I was lost.” I wondered how much that describes our Christian salvation. Did we realize how lost we were before Jesus found us? I think that even as I continue to grow closer to the Father that I realize how lost I was. I don’t know that I thought I was lost though.

The interesting part of this being or feeling lost is that I was actually “saved” in that I had given my life to Jesus. I called him my Lord. This is why the Word says, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2: 12). Even after our initial surrender to Christ, there is so much more for us to work out. We get one area resolve only to discover there is another area of our lives where we are lost in the fog. At first, we don’t even realize we are wandering around in the tall weeds. Then, there is a moment of clarity in which we see the truth of our situation. In that moment we have a choice. Sometimes we are embarrassed by our weakness and wish to hide from the truth. That is a normal reaction, I think, but also one, which if embraced, leads to failure rather than growth. In the moment of our epiphany if we will allow ourselves the right to be on the grow rather than demanding perfection of ourselves, we can choose to let Father help us. Together we can work out our salvation in that area.

Right now, in this very moment, there may be an area where you still feel lost. That’s okay. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit for just such a moment as this. It could also be the case that you are lost and don’t even realize it. A simple prayer asking Jesus to find you in any way you are lost will resolve that problem. We all wander around at times but wise is the person who realizes it and seeks “the way” and you are wise. Reach out to Jesus and allow him to shine light upon your path. Let him lead you into all truth. Be found!

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Ready, Willing and Able

On June 10, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 14: 28 – 31

Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (emphasis added).

I want you to notice that Jesus did not hesitate but rather when Peter needed him, He moved immediately. Many of us have the idea that God waits until the eleventh hour to move on situations. I have been guilty of that myself. Now that I have seen this verse I must reevaluate my thoughts. Jesus did not wait to see if Peter could work it out for himself. He did not let him sink a bit in order to let Peter exercise his faith or grow. As soon as Peter cried out, Jesus saved him. Jesus did teach Peter that it was his lack of faith, his doubt, that caused him to begin to sink but He took hold of his hand first. Jesus works that same way with us today. He wants to teach us and he wants us to walk in faith but He always provides for our safety first. He will not throw you out in water over your head and expect you to walk on the water all by yourself. He will always have you by the hand. Not only that but also He will teach you all you need to know in order to succeed in your endeavors.
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