Morning devotions

Smart knowledge and wisdom

/ The Pastor
My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2     turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3     and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4     and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5     then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6     For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7     He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8     for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
[Proverbs 2:1-8]
Technology has made it possible to access knowledge, facts, trivia and data in the blink of an eye.  Simply ask Siri (iPhone) or go to Google and they will tell you what you need to know.  If my wife and I are out and about and we come up against a question we don’t have an answer for my wife says to me, “quick, poke your phone“; like I am the keeper of all knowledge and information. Sometimes I get a big head about this until I realize that I am really not that smart…just my phone is.
But even though I may not be the keeper of all knowledge and information I do have access to it.  No…not my trustworthy smart phone but rather scripture (which I happen to have on my smart phone).  Anyway….the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Granted…the Bible is not going to tell me how much the world weighs or how much plankton a whale eats (like I really need to know that), but the Bible will tell me what I truly need to know:
The Bible tells me I am a sinner and how God has redeemed me through Jesus.
The Bible tells me how I am forgiven when I confess my sins.
The Bible tells me how I am to treat others.
The Bible tells me that I can have hope in the midst of trials.
The Bible tells me…
If we are not seeking God for information and wisdom we are missing the boat.  Knowledge and wisdom gained through this world is fleeting but that which comes from God is eternal.  That’s why I love going through the Proverbs often.  There is so much in there that is very practical; advice that is timeless.  One would think that some wise sage from this time and place wrote them., but that is not the case.  This is wisdom that comes from God.
“Poke your phone” if you need some information but go to God for true wisdom and knowledge.  Be fed through scripture and prayer.  Be nourished by the Gospel.  Find life through Jesus.
Seek the Lord and live!
edh -|—

Fear and Fools

/ The Pastor

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
[Proverbs 1:7]

Those who fear God; have a reverent awe of God, desire to know more about God AND to know God.  They desire to know who this God is that would go to such lengths to save them and desire to have a close relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.   The fear of God does not cause one to run away but to run to.  And their running to is the path of Life; a running they do through faith in Jesus.  They realize, though, it does have it’s challenges, but they know Jesus is with them on their path.  Fearing the Lord leads one to know all they need to know:  Jesus.

Fools on the other hand desire to simply wallow in their own waste and filth (A gross metaphor but it works).  They have no desire to know Life.  They have no desire to grow and be challenged.  Fools walk a path of destruction as they rely on their own feeble “strength” and “knowledge” (something that can not even be compared to God) to get through the day.  Fools have no regard for the Law of God.  They don’t meditate on or learn God’s Law.  They have no regard in knowing how God commands people to live.  For a fool, the Law is simply a list of suggestions;  something to follow if it serves them and doesn’t interfere too much with their life.

In what category do you find yourself?
Fear the Lord and don’t embrace your waste and filth.

edh -|—

Wait…

/ The Pastor

I don’t know about you but I hate waiting…

…but I think the worst part of waiting is knowing God is sovereign.

God knows what is best.
God sees the whole picture.
God has a divine plan.

I get all of that and I am extremely thankful for all of that.  I praise God that He is sovereign.  I worship God because He is…well…God.  But I still hate waiting.  So I think the worst part of this is my selfishness/sinfulness doing battle with my belief in a sovereign God.  They run around in my heart fighting all the while I get torn on how to react when I find myself getting impatient. I want my way but I also want God’s way.

But the thing is…

…I can’t rush God.  I can’t force God’s hand through bargaining or threats. God is going to do what God is going to do in God’s own time.  So I need to get over myself and trust.  I need to wait and see what God is going to do in my life.  I need to understand that God’s plan is a perfect plan.  I need to pray and ask for patience…

Loving God, you are in control.  You have a plan and I am excited about that.  But sometimes I can hardly wait to see what that plan is.  I get impatient and try to bring about what I think is the plan.  And when things don’t work out I get upset and angry.  Almighty God, grant me patience to trust you.  Grant me faith to wait on you.  Grant me wisdom to teach others.  God…you are mighty and I look forward to you displaying your glory.  In the mean time I will wait.  In Jesus name, Amen 🙂

edh -|—

Seek the Lord

/ The Pastor

I lift up my eyes to the hills
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out
and you coming in from this
time forth and forevermore.
[Psalm 121]

This is my wife’s favorite Psalm.

When I am gone overnight she keeps this close by and reads it over and over.  You see…she doesn’t like staying in our haunted parsonage by herself.  O.K…maybe it’s not haunted but with the bats scratching their way in the walls and all the creaking boards one would be tempted to think the house is alive.  Someone once told my wife that the spirits of Salem’s former pastors were walking around and looking out for her.  For some reason that didn’t help 🙂

My wife hasn’t told me specifically but my guess is that she finds comfort in the fact that God is not sleeping and that God is watching over her and …

 “The Lord will keep you from all evil”

I have to admit…there is something very comforting about that phrase.  There is evil all around us and I do not doubt that Satan is using those strange noises in our house to get my wife to doubt God’s presence and sovereignty.  Satan will do whatever he can to get us to believe that we are alone; that God has left us.

God hasn’t left us and never will.

God is our help.
God is our peace.
God in our life.

Where do you turn for help?
Where do your eyes look when fears ravage you?
Who do you seek for safety?
Who do you run to for shelter?

The Lord will keep your going out
and you coming in from this
time forth and forevermore.

“Lift your eyes” and seek the Lord…and don’t let spooks and goblins (or Satan) drive you to despair, but trust in the Lord’s presence and strength.  He will keep your life and bring you home through Jesus Christ…and there is nothing Satan can do about that.  Wrap your heart around that blessed assurance and sleep well tonight knowing that God is not sleeping and that God has your back.

edh -|—

Vacation and disconnected

/ The Pastor

I have been on vacation for a few days and away from any computer (and very little cell phone/WiFi signal).  It’s been strange being somewhat isolated but also revealing.  It shows how much I (and I am guessing most people) desire to be connected to the world as we are accustomed to through the Internet and smart phones (and other means).  Technology is such an important part of our lives today.  Ten years ago I wouldn’t have felt myself twitching being disconnected like that.

In any case…I am sorry that I haven’t posted any devotions for a while but I will be back at it tomorrow when I return to work.  One thing that I have learned these past few days though; I need to find another outlet for this spiritual discipline if I happen to be “disconnected” from the world.  I have missed writing and engaging scripture in that way.  In a time where people rarely hand write letters and notes I never gave it a second thought to do that; to actually pick up a pencil or pen.  What a strange concept 🙂

My other thought is that maybe Satan used my dependence on technology to keep me away from devotional writing.  I never gave THAT a second thought (or a first thought for that matter).  But now that I am aware of this hopefully I will be better equipped to combat Satan when he strikes again.   It’s amazing the things and ways Satan uses to draw us away from God but to see them and be aware of them is half the battle.  The other half is how you chose to deal with it.

Satan, often times, uses good things to draw us away.  I guess that is why Satan is so successful in tempting us.  Another reason is that we think we are strong enough to handle things on our own.  It’s like we have a humility problem.  We have a hard time falling to our knees in prayer; asking God to take control.  If only we would turn our lives over to God and send Satan running in the other direction.

Dear God, grant me the eyes to see when Satan attacks.  Grant me the faith to turn to you.  Grant me the strength to resist temptation.  Grant me the humility to reply on you.  In Jesus name, Amen!

P.S.  Wait a second…did I just write a morning devotion?  I guess I am back today 🙂

Praise be to God!

edh -|—

Whom do you follow?

/ The Pastor

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
[Psalm 118:8-9]

Sound advice but one that is hard to put in actual practice especially during an active political season where promises are being made left and right by individuals trying to earn your trust and get your vote.

And these promises grab our attention because:
~ We see the economic struggles around us.
~ We see poverty and homeless in our communities.
~ We see people struggling to find work.
~ We see people scraping to get by each month.
~ We see troubles all around us.

Or…you may find yourself smack dab in the middle of the chaos and are looking for a savior.

But then ~ someone comes along who promises they can fix things; turn the economy around; create jobs and put more money in our pockets. When that person (or political party) makes these promises we are tempted to give them our “worship”.  After all, if they can fix what is wrong in our lives, why shouldn’t we follow them.

But here’s the problem…

…when we follow man we will be lead astray for they can only take us so far; for they are mortal and will not last forever.  If we put our trust in man/princes alone we may be happy for a season but it won’t last.

But…

…when we put our trust in the Lord we will have a joy that WILL last forever despite any hardships we may face now.  For only God can give us what we truly need: forgiveness and everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So put your faith in the Lord.
Find your refuge in God our Creator.
Place your trust in Jesus Christ.

And know true JOY ~ all the while praying for those who are in elected office and running for office; praying that God may use them.

But place your trust in the Lord, not in man.

edh -|—

Eyes of Faith

/ The Pastor

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
[1 John 5:13-15]

A big misconception I keep running into about the Christian faith is that we can somehow get what we want from God when we pray.

If we live the right kind of life.
If we are kind to others.
If we volunteer enough.
If we serve in the church.
If we bring hot meals to the home bound.
If we are “good” people (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that one).
If we ask in the right way.
Etc, etc, etc…

And when people don’t get what they want they become disillusioned  about God and the whole point of even trying to be a Christian.  The problem isn’t that God is being a bully but that we are not understanding who God is and what our relationship looks like.  We are not understanding our place in this creation and what God has called us to be.  Despite what Joel Osteen says we can’t get what we want from God if we try really hard or have the right attitude.

It’s not about us or getting what we want when we want it, it’s about giving praise and glory to God.

Scripture repeatedly talks about praying according to God’s will.  The problem is that sometimes our will doesn’t line up with God’s will.  In that case we need to pray for understanding and patience.  We need to have eyes of faith to see what God is up to.  We need to understand that we are to draw others to God and we do that by living according to God’s will.

It might not be God’s will that you get that promotion or new job.
It might not be God’s will that your child get’s into that Ivy League school.
It might not be God’s will that healing comes.

But God’s will…whatever it is…WILL be awesome, because, well…it’s from our sovereign God.

So the next time you pray open your eyes of faith and watch God do His thing.  And the more we do that the more we come in line with his will.  And what a place to be.

edh -|—

Majestic!

/ The Pastor

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
[Psalm 8:1]

What a great refrain.

It is a phrase of submission to God.
It is a phrase of humility (on our part).
It is a phrase of worship.
It is a phrase of Truth.

Our God is majestic…and wonderful…and great…and loving…and forgiving…and merciful…and sovereign (and the list could go on).  So that phrase from Psalm 8 just seems appropriate.  God is our Creator so no one or no thing is above God for what created thing can be above that which created them.

Our Lord is majestic and worthy of all praise.

So the question is: How are you praising God today?
Or maybe the question is: Are you praising God today…and everyday?

For me ~ there is no one who can do what God has done or will do.  No one can save me like God through Jesus Christ.  No one is as patient with me as God is.  No one loves me as God does. No one is as mindful of me as God.

No one!

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

May God bless your day as you bask in the glow of His radiant love.  Praise be to God…Amen!

edh -|—

Starting your day

/ The Pastor

How do you start your day?  Maybe the coffee maker is set up the night before so you can wake up to the sweet nectar that is coffee.  Maybe you roll out of bed and turn Sports Center on.  Maybe you turn on the radio or the CD player.  Maybe you are an early morning runner (like I am sometimes) or hit the fitness center.  Maybe you start by feeding the kids.

Whatever the case, we have our routines that we like and (sometimes) very much depend on.  For me…my routine varies throughout the week depending on the day (don’t worry…I won’t bore you with the details):
~ Sunday has its own morning routine for obvious reasons.
~ Monday – Wednesday routines share a common thread.
~ Thursday is slightly different since it is sermon prep and scotcheroo day 🙂
~ Friday is my day off (Sabbath Day).
~ Saturday is just different.

But whatever is going on; whatever is happening; where ever you are, there is one common thread I would suggest you adopt or strengthen:
Prayer and scripture

I used to be an ESPN guy in the morning but I have noticed that starting my day with God has made a huge difference.  Instead of sports flooding my thinking I am focused on God as a tackle a new day.  Instead of reflecting on my fantasy football players I am thinking about my Salem and Belmont members.  Instead of looking ahead to the next game I am looking ahead to who needs a pastoral care visit.  My morning routine definitely effects the way I see my day.

“This is the day the Lord (not Sports Center) has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.“  (Psalm 118:24 ~ with “Sports Center” being my addition…obviously).

Let us praise the Lord for this new day!

edh -|—

Flowing words

/ The Pastor

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
[2 Peter 1:16-21]

I was asked one time by a family member: “How do you come up with all those sermons?”  [He was amazed that for as long as I had been a pastor that I could still come up with a sermon each and every week.]

My response: “God”
Family member: “Yes, I know that, but how do you write one every week?”
My response: “God”

I could tell he wasn’t getting the answer he either wanted or expected as the conversation quickly shifted to another person and another topic.

Peter here is saying the same thing.  He, and the rest of the apostles, are not making this message of Jesus up.
~ It did not come from clever arguments.
~ It did not come from misdirection.
~ It did not come from witty one liners.
The message of the Gospel came from their eye witness experience.  But not only should people rely on the apostles’ eye witness experience of Jesus but on the prophetic word itself that comes from Jesus.

I am not an actual eye witness of Jesus but I have met him.  I do know him.  I do have a relationship with him. So I share and proclaim what I know.  But even more than that the Holy Spirit speaks this prophetic word through me.  It is not me who “comes up with these sermons” but rather they are inspired by the Holy Spirit (some weeks I listen better than others).  I know this to be true because I am NOT a good writer, preacher or speaker and if it were left up to me I would surely bring it all to ruin.

You see…what we share with others, as Christians, is the prophetic word that has been passed down to all who believe.  We share what we know.  We share what JESUS said.  And the word we hear from the Holy Spirit we would do well to listen to.  Why?

This Word is life.

So preaching (whether it is the pastor or a lay person sharing their faith) is not about trying to come up with a clever message, but about trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the prophetic word that needs to be proclaimed.  If you know Jesus then you know his Word, and therefore there is nothing to make up.  Share what you know; trusting the Holy Spirit.

So just listen and pay attention to JESUS’ Word of life…and let the words flow.
Amen!

edh -|—