JULY 27, 2017

“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape.” 
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

PSALM 50-52

 10Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12Restore to me the joy of your salvationand grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.(46:1-3)

ACTS 27:1-25

21After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

JOURNAL 

Paul is a prisoner on a boat headed for Rome where he will stand trial and a storm comes up and threatens to destroy the boat. Paul encourages those on the ship. Here I see Paul, not bemoaning his fate or looking for a way out but rather accepting God's path and being willing to endure the storm. 

Paul a prisoner, is encouraging those keeping him captive. Man o man...scripture really hits me right between the eyes any time I want to feel sorry for myself. This whole idea of joyful suffering is so foreign in our world...yet it is what we are called to do. It is easier and much harder than it seems. Easier in respect to the fact that once you accept it...you get encouragement and energy to keep going in ways you never imagined. Yet it is harder sometimes to trust that God will keep sustaining. The fear of the unknown and how things will play out is a monster that is hard to sometimes face. 

Also accepting the fact that God may allow things to get harder. I see it throughout scripture...when someone is at their breaking point...sometimes things get even more difficult, yet if they cling to God..they ultimately get the courage to keep going. 

 There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were put to death by stoning;^e they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

HEBREWS 11:36-40

JULY 26, 2017

“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.” 
― C.S. Lewis

PSALM 44-49

1God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.^c(46:1-3)

ACTS 25-26

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

19“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. (26:15-20)

JOURNAL 

Today is a gift. There were people who this day never came, yesterday was their very last. There are people whom this day will be the last and there are people who this day will mark their entrance into this world and their journey of life will begin. Most often I don't think of how fragile and precious life truly is. Most often I operate as if the days, months and years of the future are guaranteed. Yet there is no such guarantee.

Father, I desire to live this day fully honoring your gift of life. I am so grateful for the gift and I want to honor it by giving the best of me in service of you. Thank you for all the days I have had up till now. Thank you for protecting me and giving me talents and family and community. I am so blessed! 

 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

2 JOHN 1:6

JULY 24, 2017

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” 
― C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

PSALM 41-43

5Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.(43:5)

ACTS 24

22Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.” 23He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

24Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 26At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

27When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

JOURNAL 

Emotions are emotions. They are a blessing...yet at times they can feel like a curse, especially when they are of sorrow or fear. Yet they are what make us human and they are a gift of God, no matter how uncomfortable at times they are. 

David speaks to his own soul and emotions with the remedy being to put his hope and trust in God. For when my own hope and faith wander from the presence of God, I find anxiety, dissatisfaction, boredom and a whole host of unwelcome emotions. Yet when I stay faithful in seeking the presence of God. When I stay faithful in seeking God first in pursuing greatness, then I find peace, joy and a contentment that is far beyond any circumstance. 

The key is to seek God simply for the purpose of being a light in this world and representing God in all that I do. How this plays out day to day is not for me to decide. That is the trust and faith I put in God. Give my best, seek God in all things and trust that he will use it for his purposes and HE will not fail to care for me in the process. 

25But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

JAMES 1:25

JULY 23, 2017

“And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” 
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

PSALM 34-40

3Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

4Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him and he will do this:

6He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

your vindication like the noonday sun.

7Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.(37:3-7)

ACTS 22-23

12The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13More than forty men were involved in this plot. 14They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

JOURNAL 

Trusting God in the midst of trouble...David speaks of it in the Psalms and here is Paul with death plots being hatched all around him. How do they persist? How do they have confidence in the midst of such dire circumstances? 

It can only be the spirit of God...the same spirit that comforted Jesus and guided him his whole life. The same spirit that gave confidence and passion to David, Joseph, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Peter etc. The spirit of God transforms the weak into the strong. It transforms evil into righteousness. It makes the fearful courageous and the hateful loving.

God's spirit is a living, moving power that cannot be contained, it moves and transforms in ways that are beyond human understanding. 

14For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^f And by him we cry, “Abba,^g Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

ROMANS 8:14-17

JULY 20, 2017

"If you want to figure out the players that will go on to bigger and better things, look at how they fail, in a game of failure. It’s easy to stand tall in baseball when things are going well. But those who stand tall while getting shelled – which happens in baseball often – and shake it off prior to the next outing or at bat, those are likely the players to look for in the multi-tiered stadiums at a later time." ~ https://crawdadsbeat.com/2015/07/18/surviving-low-a-confidence-in-the-midst-of-failure/

PSALM 31-33

16No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength.

17A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

18But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,(33:16-18)

ACTS 21:15-40

27When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” 29(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

30The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”

JOURNAL 

So Paul had a bad day...This was predicted and Paul is facing it head on...he is not retreating or complaining or whining. This is a life transformed by God, this is a life that has been infused with the spirit and will change the world. 

Today is a glorious day...it is a gift, yet it will only be so if I see it as such. What makes it great are not my circumstances, not what I get to do or don't get to do. What makes it great is that I am here, I am breathing, thinking and have the capacity to make decisions and take action. 

I must always consider that because that is the truth of today. To dismiss it and not embrace it is to make trivial God's gift. To see it as a gift is to approach it with joy and passion. Paul saw the day...knowing he would face persecution and walked boldly right into the fire. He could only have done this if he understood the gift of the day, the gift of his life and that his gift to God was his obedience and humility in living and giving his best. 

To my knowledge I am not facing a death mob, or any kind of persecution. To my knowledge I am facing a day with opportunities in a country that is at peace. I have no excuse not to give my very best in all moments today. To encourage, to love, to work, to seek God in all things. What a glorious day, what a wonderful life. 

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^a whenever you face trials of many kinds,

JAMES 1:2