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DAY BY DAY
For all of us life is a journey. Unfortunately, left to itself, the destination and direction is not guaranteed. For many, life's journey is no more that an excursion through a maze of dead-end experiments. But for those who follow Jesus, the road is clearly signposted with assurances of confidence, strength, courage, and joy. As long as He is in view ahead of us we are never lost and never alone. The choice is yours.
The psalmist rejoiced in the clarity that God's Word brought to his pilgrimage. He pictured God's Word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. As such, he identified Scripture as the only reliable source for guidance, comfort, confidence, encouragement, and strength in an often dark and treacherous world. In Scripture, the complexities of life are unraveled, our confusion is clarified, our challenges are put into perspective, and our joys are multiplied. Turning life's journey over to God's wisdom is a choice full of abundant reward. His advice alone makes our lives like trees planted by rivers of water, yielding fruit in season, unwithered in the driest of times, and prosperous regardless of the difficulty we may face. No wonder that the psalmist exclaims,
Oh, how I love your law! I think about it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for your commands are my constant guide. Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, For I am always thinking of your decrees. How sweet are your words to my taste; They are sweeter than honey. Psalm 119:97-99, 103 NLT
But staying in the Word is a constant challenge. Our minds are far more susceptible to Satan's deceitful schemes and our hearts are more vulnerable to his temptation when we lose sight of God's perspective. It is vitally important to stay close to the source.
My prayer is that each day God will meet you in the selected Scripture passage as well as in the application of His message to your heart. God has an uncanny way of bringing us the right thoughts at just the right time. May it happen often.
To maximize the effect ...
ò read the devotional with your Bible open to the text. Before reading the daily thought, read the passage. Better yet, read the verses that surround the text.
ò read each devotional prayerfully. Pray the Scripture passage back to God in life-related terms. Pray for grace to grow.
ò take each devotional personally. Ask, "What is God wanting to say to me today?" Keep a notebook handy, and write down personal applications and specific plans to implement the truth that has impacted your heart.
Throughout the year you will find recurring themes: the joy and strength we find in Jesus, the glory of God, heaven, hope, comfort, compassion, servanthood, character development, confidence, courage, suffering and trouble, commitment, our search for significance , and many other topics that are fundamental to our success as followers of Jesus.
In addition, fifty-one psalms have been included. The Psalms are a gold mine of truths about life, about ourselves, and about God. I read them regularly for stimulation, comfort, and just to keep my view of God clear. So once a week there is a psalm for you to meditate on and in which you can find solace and strength.
Years ago, someone recommended that I read a proverb every day. That goal is particularly easy to track since there are thirty-one chapters, one for each day of the month. To help you capture that additional blessing, we have included the entire Book of Proverbs in the back of the devotional.
My prayer is that each devotional will be used of God to give you strength for your journey. As the hymn says so well, He faithfully provides "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow." May you experience this grace in great measure.
Special thanks to my wife, Martie, for her indispensable editing help and insightful suggestions; to Charlotte Arman and Sonja Goppert for their efforts in transcribing and organizing the material; to Lori Imhof and Sonja Larson, whose capable assistance in my office frees me to write; to Anne Scherich, whose patient and tireless efforts in doing the final edits will be forever appreciated; to Carolyn McDaniel for the excellent work in typesetting the manuscript through several extra edits; and, most important, to our God, whose Word never fails.
STRENGTH FOR THE JOURNEY
"Be Strong ... that you may be successful wherever you go." -Joshua 1:6-7
Kids have a wonderful way of colorfully depicting the realities of life. I remember the day that our little Matt came running in from the backyard, flopped breathless and exhausted on the couch, and exclaimed, "I've lost all my power!"
We've all felt that way spiritually. Many times the journey feels long and is fraught with bumps and turns, steep climbs and valleys. We weary of that same old temptation that keeps battering our will. Insecurities drain our souls of courage and confidence. And unsuspected surprises in relationships, finances, and health threaten to exhaust our will to win.
But for determined followers of Jesus, there is an always-available source of strength and renewal. Tapping into it empowers us to keep Jesus first, where He belongs and blesses. When we live in the safety of His strength things like money, relationships, dreams, and desires submit more readily to His perfect will. And gladly; fear, anxiety, and doubt are rendered weak by the courage and peace that only the strong enjoy.
Strength for the journey is drawn from a daily connection to the fullness of God. His presence and power are available for every moment of our day as He waits to meet us with the strength that we need. Actively casting all your care on Him and checking for wisdom and direction at every turn provide a constant reminder that you are not a lonely stranger.
Though Joshua led Israel through the toughest of times, he found his strength by tapping into the reality of his God. As God promised, "No one will be able to stand up against you.... I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous.... obey all the law ... that you may be successful wherever you go" (Joshua 1:5-7).
Strength comes to those who instinctively ask, "What is there about God's presence in my life that will give me strength and confidence now? What is there in His Word that turns the lights on in this situation? How should I pray for His wisdom, grace, and strength to move forward in His will?
Be strong! Plan to consciously tap into the power at every turn in the road today!
TOOLS OF DEVOTION
"Ask and It Will Be Give to You; Seek and You Will Find; Knock and the Door Will Be Opened to You." -Matthew 7:7
I finally got organized and set up a workroom in my basement. It's amazing how much more I get done now that I know where all my tools are. Here are some tools to help you get organized in a daily encounter with the living God. I have found them to be helpful.
Select a slot on your schedule and a corner of your world, and claim it for God. For some, the morning may be best. "In the morning my prayer comes before you" (Psalm 88:13). Others prefer the evening and agree with David's prayer: "May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice" (Psalm 141:2). Others prefer many encounters during the day. The psalmist did: "Evening, morning and noon I cry out" (Psalm 55:17).
How much time should you take? My advice is to value the quality of the encounter over the length of the meeting. I suggest that your quiet time last long enough for you to say what you want and for God to say what He wants.
Read prayerfully. God speaks to you through His Word. Ask God to help you understand the Bible. "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you" (John 14:26 NASB). Before reading the Bible, speak with the author. Don't go to Scripture looking for your idea; go searching for His.
Read the Bible expectantly. Jesus told us, "Seek and you will find" (Matthew 7:7). God commends those who "chew on Scripture day and night" (Psalm 1:2 THE MESSAGE). The Bible is not a newspaper to be skimmed but a mine to be quarried. Look in His Word for wisdom the way you would search a mine for silver; and if you read for understanding as you would hunt for hidden treasure, you will find it (Proverbs 2:4-5). God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Take time for Him. He is there ... waiting.
AMAZING LOVE ... HOW CAN IT BE
Who Loved Me and Gave Himself for Me. -Galatians 2:20
Life thrives on the crest of good relationships. Particularly relationships that are essential-our relationships to parents, spouses, our children, friends, and other significant people in our lives. I suppose there are some people who could care less about relationships, but they are few and far between.
Recently my dad said that he thought I was doing a good job at Moody. I'm fifty-seven years old and still thrill at the approving statements of my parents. Martie tells me that I am her favorite preacher. And our grown children call on us for counsel. No amount of money or material gain can measure against the rewards that are only found in relationships. As good as the rewards are, the real joy in a relationship is the pleasure of making someone you love the object of your service and adoration. Nothing makes me happier than to serve Martie in ways that make her happy.
Relationships are the backbone of life when you realize the worst day at the office is not that bad, because there is a friend or a family member who believes in you-who, in effect, reminds you that there are things in life more important than the drudgery of unrewarding daily routines that go south.
It is for this reason that I am taken by the way God approaches the matter of connecting with us. It is profound enough that God would even want to connect; but that He desires to connect in the context of a loving relationship is an overwhelming thought. Among the world's great religions, Christianity alone is defined by the reality that the relationship between God and His people is driven and defined by a deep exchange of love. Other religions call their adherents with no thought of love to enter ritualistic contracts of sacrificial performance of duties and oft-repeated rites.
If you ask me, I am delighted to be a follower of Jesus. What amazing grace that He loves us and desires our love in return!
"Amazing love! how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me."
KNOWING YOU, JESUS
That I May Know Him. -Philippians 3:10 KJV
We all know who Jesus is.
We preach about His will and His ways, tell His stories by heart, celebrate Him in worship, and serve Him with enthusiasm. But there is a gnawing sense that there should be more to this relationship. Why is it that He often feels so far away? So historical? So Other? So church related?
The distance between knowing about Him and knowing Him is vast. The space between these two experiences separates the spectators from intimate participants.
It's a pretty safe bet that if you are reading this devotional you probably can recite stories of intrigue from His life and perhaps even spin a few theological paradigms about the nature of His existence. But the unfortunate reality is that most of us stop there. Seemingly satisfied with knowing about Him, we have no conception of the deep richness waiting for those who experience Him. And so we live our Christianity all dressed up with nowhere to go, keeping all the rules, exchanging clichés of "Bible-speak," and passing the theological tests of orthodoxy-yet never really knowing Him.
If that's your story, get ready. The best is yet to come. He intends for you to experience the pleasure and reassuring peace of His presence in our lives. He didn't die for us to simply strike a deal guaranteeing heaven. He died for us to make us His own and to give us the privilege of experiencing Him personally. He lives to connect with the entire you. In fact, He sent us the Holy Spirit to make the total connection possible and He gave us His Word to show us the way. And you can know the pleasure.
The words of my grandmother's favorite hymn capture the privilege: "He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known." Knowing my grandmother, I have the feeling that she had tapped the secret of getting past knowing about Him for the joy of experiencing Him.
Read Philippians 3:7-10.
EXPERIENCING JESUS
That I May Know Him, and the Power of His Resurrection, and the Fellowship of His Sufferings, Being Conformed to His Death. -Philippians 3:10
Most of us who have grown up in "church world," particularly of the evangelical kind, tend to want God to come in neat packages that are clearly defined and identifiable. He seems safer that way. Don't misunderstand. God is both definable and identifiable. It's just that He is more than that. There is a mystery about God that escapes the limited definitions of our finite minds and an experiencing of Him that often escapes our capacity to describe. If you are longing for more of Him, then you must be willing to seek Him in places where He can be found, ... beyond the boundaries of definitions and dogma.
Paul, at the end of his life, declared that it was his passion to know Christ. Interestingly, he used the word that means to know by experience, which is noteworthy, since no one has ever experienced Jesus more intimately than Paul. He had a personal encounter of the Jesus kind on the road to Damascus and then spent an extended season in the "third heaven" (2 Corinthians 12:2) with Jesus. Yet he longed for more. Which only proves that you can't get enough of Jesus.
He tells us his secret. First, he puts all of self away so that his heart is clear to see Jesus (Philippians 3:4-11). Then he tips us off that he meets Jesus in three specific places: in resurrection power, in other words, in victory over sin; in shared experiences with the sufferings of Jesus; and in the surrender that does whatever Jesus asks us to do, regardless. And here is the mystery.
Continues...
Excerpted from Strength for the Journey by Joseph M. Stowell Copyright © 2002 by Joseph Stowell
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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