About the weekend ...

Dear Reader, I thank you for reading my devotional blog and I appreciate your support. It is my deepest prayer that the Our days are His daily devotion is an encouragement to each of you as a follower of Jesus Christ our Lord. If you know of anyone that might like to read the thoughts that I share, you are welcome to send the blog address to anyone, you want to invite as a reader. A few months back, I began sharing some thoughts from my daily Bible readings through various means for encouragement and insight for believers and seekers. Along the way ... it developed into this blog.

Usually on the weekend ... usually on Saturday, I do not write anything.  So if you are wondering why the devotional thought for today is missing, that is the reason. If you want, go back in the blog archives and find a thought that seems appropriate for your day.

Blessings to each of you. Steve

He knows you ...

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.  Great is our Lord and mighty in power;  his understanding has no limit. The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147:1-8 NIV).

    The number of stars is infinite. The distance between the stars is measured in light years which is around 6 trillion miles. There are countless stars in each galaxy. The number of galaxies is estimated to be over 100 million. The Milky Way galaxy of which we on planet earth are a part of is one of the smaller ones.  The Psalmist tells us God knows the number of stars and He knows them by name. These are incredible numbers that cannot be comprehended and yet God created the heavens and the earth.

What is even more incredible and  wonderful … is God’s knowledge of us. Not only is His knowledge of us amazing but His care and healing of each of us is intentional, directed and freely given to each of us because He knows our name and our needs.  Often times in the Psalms … the Psalmist connects the infiniteness of God and His understanding is to the finiteness of our lives and our understanding (Psalm 8 & 147).  Realizing God knows us and loves us will always be incredible and wonderful to us, just as the Psalmist expresses over and over.  Over and over again our hearts should be thankful as they are overwhelmed by our relationship with the Living God and over and over our lips should give praise.

Take time today, to say thank you to God for knowing your name and all of your needs. Offer praise to Him this day.  This day is a gift from Him to you.

But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel:“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;  I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God,  the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaish 43:1-3 NIV).

Daily Reading Psalm 147 & Isaiah 43

Seeing others as God loves them.

“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.  He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them — he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,  the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked” (Psalm 146:5-9 NIV).

   The eyes of Lord are upon the righteous (Psalm 34:15) but His eyes and His attention are also upon those oppressed, forgotten, weakened, orphaned, and those wandering and looking for a place to live out their days.  This powerful reality of God’s attention being upon every created person and His desire to extend grace towards all (2 Peter 3:9) runs contrary to our human tendencies to many times see people by external distinctions alone and become prejudiced by our heart, our culture, our political or social philosophies.  

      God is not partial to the rich, the privileged, the scholarly, the elite or even the religious.  He sees all His created children as His children and He longs for relationship with them.  Jesus Christ lived out in the flesh, the model of loving those that were isolated and cast off and seeing the true heart of everyone He encountered. We are the ones that regulate people by ethnicity, classes, value, and cultural biases.  It is our short-sightedness and human prideful arrogance that devalues and classifies certain people.  If in our hearts, we elevate ourselves above other people and if we act with malice or hate towards anyone … we are not like God or being followers of Christ.

     Our prayer should be simple regarding this matter ... Dear God, let us, see others as You love them. Amen.

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19 NIV).

Suggested Reading for today … Psalm 146 & Deuteronomy 10

A bruised reed ...

“A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law”

 (Isaiah 42:3-4 NKJV).

   How difficult it must be for the Lord to see His children following after false gods looking in the wrong places for light and life.  His judgments against the darkness and emptiness that His people had chosen, is restrained by His steadfast love as He waits for them to return to His care, provision and salvation.  Oftentimes criticisms are spoken of the judgments of God in the Old Testament but alongside every instance of judgment, stand years and ages of mercy, longsuffering and deliverance.

     Beyond that mercy … are promises of a Servant Messiah coming in tenderness, righteousness and truth to the world.  From times of grace in the Old Covenant to the overflowing of grace found in the redemptive life and empowering resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is a glory to the scope of God’s salvation.  In Jesus Christ we see the extent of this tender waiting and sustaining grace of God.  Our Lord Jesus comes with living hope in our weakened place … not breaking us but delivering us. Much is made of the amazing qualities of grace in saving us from our wretchedness but the tenderness of our Lord as He waits to deliver us from our prodigal, rebellious, selfish natures, should amaze us as well.

“In his name the nations will put their hope" (Matthew 12:21 NIV).

Oh Lord, Thank you for coming to me with grace and tenderness when I seek you to change me, deliver me and empower me with hope.  I cannot comprehend the scope of your love but over and over again, I find comfort and security in its balm for my soul. Thank you, oh thank you … Jesus my Lord. Amen

Daily Reading … Isaiah 42 & Matthew 12

Birds of the air ...

“The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:9 KJV).

  To be up with the birds is a common cliché that some people appreciate as they enjoy getting up in the morning.  To others, the cliché is somewhat of an annoyance as any morning generally comes too early for their system.  One thing is unmistakable about birds in the morning … they are up and they are chirping, singing and cooing in a vibrant chorus of sound.  Again to the up early crowd, this morning chorus is a great reminder of a new morning.  To others … this chorus is mostly noise at the wrong time.  We are all different in regards to the rising up from our needed slumber but we all should be grateful for God’s grace in giving us a new day.  Whether we sing at daybreak or after we have had our first cup of almondized coffee … we should have a joy in the goodness of our Lord to us. 

     

      It is the Lord who knows the birds of the air and cares for them.  It is the Lord who knows us, remembers us, who graciously gives to us all the good things that we have in abundance. It is the Lord that loves us with a love found nowhere else in the world, redeeming us and creating in us new life each and every day. We really don’t why the birds sing at daybreak but He does.  Furthermore, He is the only One in the world that really doesn’t care what you sound like whenever you sing … morning, noon or night.  Rejoice in this day. This day is His and he has given it to you.   

“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?  But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7 KJV).

Daily Reading Psalm 145 & Luke 12

Weakness

“Do you not know?  Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,

 the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Isaiah 40:28-29 NIV).

     There are no accolades given for weaknesses in society, government or in any group. To be weak regulates something to be disregarded or cast aside. A weakness is not a quality that is admired in anything. A weak flavor in a prepared food represents inadequacy in skill, preparation or an unwillingness to pay the price.  A weakness in something structural becomes a danger and a liability. A weakness in our character hurts us and those in relationships with us.

     So can a weakness become a strength?  Something that is weak can be made better, if the weakness is acknowledged. Then the weakness can be vastly improved if better quality ingredients are added or repairs are done with better materials.  Beyond improvement of the old … a new replacement might be made with a better materials, better emphasis on better design and total dedication to making something the best it could be.  

     Our weaknesses become strengths when they are acknowledged before God and we allow Him to do the refining or remaking, allow Him to bring the quality and finish the work. Weaknesses become strengths when we allow our Lord Jesus Christ to bring His victorious power to our situations and our difficulties. He never faints or grows weary and His grace is always sufficient.  He is especially proficient at changing our character because only He can make a new heart and He is more than sufficient for any weakness because He created and rules over the heavens and earth. 

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV).

Suggested Reading for the Day … Isaiah 40 & 2 Corinthians 12