Recovery Devotionals

Recovery Devotional 365 Miserable Conformity

2011-06-04T08:46:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 365 Amos 2:11-16 Miserable Conformity

And I raised up some of your sons for prophets and some of your young men for dedicated ones [Nazirites]. Is this not true, O you children of Israel? says the Lord. But you gave the dedicated ones [the Nazirites] wine to drink and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

Behold, I am pressed under you and I will press you down in your place as a cart presses that is full of sheaves. And flight shall be lost to the swift and refuge shall fail him; the strong shall not retain and confirm his strength, neither shall the mighty deliver himself. Neither shall he stand who handles the bow, and he who is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; neither shall he who rides the horse deliver his life. And he who is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked on that day, says the Lord.

What would possess a society that claims to be “God’s people” to give wine to Nazirites and to command prophets to “Prophesy not?” To the lost and backslidden, not only is the holiness of God offensive, but His holiness manifested in dedicated believers is repugnant as well. The movement of God is clearly superseded by people’s love of the status quo. People resist the spontaneity of God’s work in favor of the miserable security of programs, predictability and human control. I have been in churches that spiritually starved their congregations with substandard Sunday School literature because the pastor’s pension was tied to the denominational printing house that had lost its inspiration. Non-denominational publishers were putting out rich, stimulating and challenging material; but it would have been heresy to use anything other than “Snooze Press.” On a personal level, I have always been told that I am “too much”, “over-driven”, a “potential heretic” and much pressure has always been applied to suppress drives that I believe that God inspires. I am somewhat obsessive; but what if God wired me that way for His purpose? Making people comfortable by throwing water on my fire would be just like giving wine to a Nazirite.

Dear God,

I want to follow You and not man. No doubt all people should submit to the authority of the Church and to our Christian and civil leaders in so far as it does not violate scripture. Without accountability I would fall. However, almost every time You began a new work, resistance opposed Your representative man or woman, even sometimes from the Church: how do we know when it is godly to be stubborn and cling to our calling over our peer’s opposition? How do we avoid deadly pride and self-righteousness? I am no authority to myself. Keep me in the middle, faithful to Your Holy Spirit’s leading, true to my unique self regenerated in Christ, supportive of Your larger work in the world through Your Church. And as much as it lies in me, may I be at peace with all people without compromising Your call upon my life.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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Recovery Devotional 364 Perfect in Righteousness

2011-06-03T07:42:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 364 Nahum 1:2-3 Perfect in Righteousness

The Lord is a jealous God and avenging; the Lord avenges and He is full of wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will by no means clear the guilty. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.

Lost people and immature Christians, when confronted by scriptures portraying God’s rock-hard righteousness and standards of holiness respond by saying something like, “My god is a god of love,” and “I don’t believe god gets angry or punishes anyone.” They reason as if the God of the Old Testament is a different god than that of the New. I credit Ray Comfort, of Living Waters Ministries, of helping me see that by definition, God must be absolutely righteous, without fault, and He must be a perfect Judge, not letting any guilty person escape punishment. Any judge that lets criminals off the hook would be a corrupt judge. God is infinitely GOOD, and that goodness mandates perfect integrity and justice. Those who hold to a god of love and not of justice are guilty of idolatry, having fabricated a god of their own imagination, and are destined for damnation. We must conform our view of God in accordance with His revelation of the scriptures (it is not up to man to define God; God defines man!) God is infinite in all of His attributes: perfect love, perfect righteousness, perfect justice, perfect mercy, perfect knowledge, perfect holiness: and God never compromises any of His virtues. God’s ultimate expression of mercy and love was through sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for sinners. Only those who believe and receive Jesus as Savior and Lord will be saved, everyone else will be smashed by the Law of God into smithereens! Repent and be converted! Salvation is on His terms!

Exodus 34:6-7 (NKJV) And the LORD passed before him (Moses) and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing [the guilty,] visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."

Luke 13:3 (Jesus said) "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Dear God,

You are perfect, but human beings, in their depravity, try to remake You in their image, because they cannot bear the reality of their damnation before You. All sins will be punished one way or another; thank You for punishing mine in Your Son. May I never take for granted the outrageous grace of my redemption. You are angry with the wicked every day; Help me to depart from iniquity; help me to hate sin as You do, and to love You with a perfect heart.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 363 Refreshing Souls

2011-06-02T06:45:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 363 2 Corinthians 7:5-6 Refreshing Souls

For even when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no ease or rest, but we were oppressed in every way and afflicted at every turn--fighting and contentions without, dread and fears within [us]. But God, Who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking, comforted and encouraged and refreshed and cheered us by the arrival of Titus.

Our inner monologue can make or break us. It is easy to fall into the rut of wallowing in toxic thought (“woe is me”, “life is bad”, etc.) We could all use some help when we are down to see the lighter side of life. When it comes to encouragement, opportunities abound. There is an exchange that takes place with every conversation; some people tend to be fountains and others drains. Put another way, some people are joy-givers and others joy-stealers. It is healthier to be positive; but it takes effort and mental discipline to see the good in difficult times. Everyone has influence, and we are called to use that influence for good; we have a responsibility that extends from ourselves to our neighbor. The heart of God yearns to comfort his children; and we are His hands and feet: His representatives. We have no idea how much encouragement a kind word, a sympathetic ear, or a friendly gesture may bring to another.

Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad.

Proverbs 17:22 A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 15:30 The light in the eyes [of him whose heart is joyful] rejoices the hearts of others, and good news nourishes the bones.

Dear God,

Guard my mouth, and keep me from bringing others down through careless conversation and habitual negativity. Transform my presence and countenance; open the valves of joy and grace; bless others through me. Help me to take the goodness out of my basement and display it up front to encourage people. Your presence in my life is overwhelmingly positive. Make gladness contagious in my life. May God be magnified.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 362 Robbed of Relational Time

2011-06-01T06:26:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 362 Psalm 127 Robbed of Relational Time

EXCEPT THE Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil--for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy, blessed, and fortunate is the man whose quiver is filled with them! They will not be put to shame when they speak with their adversaries [in gatherings] at the [city's] gate.

Focus: verse 2: It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil--for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.

This is the formula for success in the Western world: suck it up and drive on. In our highly competitive work place, fear motivates people to stretch their workday at the expense of their relational life. Work encroaches the lunch hour so one more report gets done and filed away (where it may never be read). Personal maintenance slips as more of the corporate machine consumes our day, we leave home early and come home late. Every man rationalizes that he does this for his family: but what his family needs is him: his interaction, his presence, his vitality. There has always been tension between the needs of workers and management’s expectations: you have to push back or be consumed. We need to leave work at work to protect the best part of our lives. Work is not our life, and it does not define us. Where does a “quiver full of arrows” come from? Intimacy is not just sex; it is a deep connection with those around you. We are relational beings, and God created us for relationship.

Dear God,

I hate coming home like an empty shell, a spent cartridge, a fraction of the man You created. My wife, my friends, my Church, my life deserves better. If I am to be consumed may it be with You, my Lord and my God. If I burn out, they will find another to replace me, so why do I sacrifice so much? I am driven by fear: redirect my drives: help me to crave godly intimacy. Help me to slow down to be personal with my friends, to be a friend in deed, to listen intently. I can focus on relationships instead of work because You are in control of the Universe, I am under God and not under man.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 361 We Preach Not Ourselves

2011-05-31T05:53:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 361 2 Corinthians 4:1-5 We Preach Not Ourselves

1-4 THEREFORE, SINCE we do hold and engage in this ministry by the mercy of God [granting us favor, benefits, opportunities, and especially salvation], we do not get discouraged (spiritless and despondent with fear) or become faint with weariness and exhaustion. We have renounced disgraceful ways (secret thoughts, feelings, desires and underhandedness, the methods and arts that men hide through shame); we refuse to deal craftily (to practice trickery and cunning) or to adulterate or handle dishonestly the Word of God, but we state the truth openly (clearly and candidly). And so we commend ourselves in the sight and presence of God to every man's conscience. But even if our Gospel (the glad tidings) also be hidden (obscured and covered up with a veil that hinders the knowledge of God), it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing and obscured [only] to those who are spiritually dying and veiled [only] to those who are lost.

For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers' minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God.

5For what we preach is not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves [merely] as your servants (slaves) for Jesus' sake.

The Energizer Bunny® doesn’t work without his batteries; and we cannot be godly without being Christ-centered (He in us and we in Him). The Christian Message is not just philosophy; it is divine, supernatural power flowing from God based upon His promise. The Gospel is indeed enlightened logic; but if it were reduced to mere logic; a man-centered sales-pitch; then it is devoid of the power of God to transform lives. The Word of God has power because of who uttered it. Christianity is a religion; however, it is singularly capable of abolishing all other religions (that are nothing other than humanity’s attempts to reach God) by sending one from God Himself to us to show us and lead us on the Way of salvation. God saw our wretched, helpless estate, and sent His Son as the propitiation for our sins. It is all about Jesus Christ.

The problem I have with so many TV celebrity ministers is that it is all about them. In order for them to get and hold onto a following, they must be self-promoting. To attract the world as one’s audience, to entice their tastes, one must be worldly; and compromise is patently unchristian. The friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4). Godliness does not mix with a worldly lifestyle, though many Hollywood celebrities try to add the cross as a fashion statement. It is an attempt to appeal to a wider audience of fellow hypocrites (the cross should represent our corresponding sacrifice for what Christ has done for us, our death to this present world system and its enticements). The self-elevation of personality-based ministries is antithetical to Christian service.

“He must increase, but I must decrease. [He must grow more prominent; I must grow less so.](John 3:30 AMP)

When people use Jesus Christ to serve their own ends, then who is serving whom? (God is not our genie, nor is He our butler: He is our Lord and Master). A person is most effectively following and serving Jesus Christ when they become invisible to the ones they are ministering to. Discipleship should never foster co-dependence; we are to equip people, and wean them from us so that they can stand tall in Christ without ourselves being in the equation.

Dear God,

Your reputation is tarnished through those falsely claiming to represent You; but who are really just serving themselves. Many seekers have been betrayed by the twisted heresies and manipulation dished out by wolves in sheep’s clothing. I understand the cynicism of people who have been betrayed by counterfeits; but counterfeits could not exist without there having been the real thing also. Expose the frauds and con-artists! Help Your people to refrain from imitating the world’s ways: give us Your soul-winning power instead. May Jesus Christ be elevated. May we righteously handle Your Word (2 Timothy 2:15). Teach us how to do Your work in Your way with Your power and under Your blessing. You are the Message.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 360 The Day of the Lord

2011-05-30T08:45:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 360 Amos 5:18-24 The Day of the Lord

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness and not light; It is as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned with his hand against the wall and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light? Even very dark with no brightness in it? I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell a savor or take delight in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer Me your burnt offerings and your cereal offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I look upon the peace or thank offerings of your fatted beasts. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty and ever-flowing stream.

1 Peter 4:17-19 For the time [has arrived] for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will [be] the end of those who do not respect or believe or obey the good news (the Gospel) of God? And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the godless and wicked? Therefore, those who are ill-treated and suffer in accordance with God's will must do right and commit their souls [in charge as a deposit] to the One Who created [them] and will never fail [them].

It is better to take your medicine up front, to fear God and turn from evil voluntarily, to search your soul for hypocrisy, to commit to live deliberately and carefully before God while it is still our day of choice. Many Christians pine away for the ‘Day of the Lord’, and have no idea that judgment begins with the Church. Our Age of Grace is not license for sin, indifference and neglect of spiritual duties. Judgment begins with us because we have been given more and we know more so more is required of us. We have the testimony of history. The pendulum at times needs to swing between comforting the afflicted to afflicting the comfortable. Does God love the Church in China, Indonesia and the Sudan any less than the U.S.? Self-righteousness is still sin. Can anyone take a good inventory of their sins of omission? God is love; but it is still wise to fear Him.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.

1 Corinthians 11:31-32 For if we searchingly examined ourselves [detecting our shortcomings and recognizing our own condition], we should not be judged and penalty decreed [by the divine judgment]. But when we [fall short and] are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined and chastened, so that we may not [finally] be condemned [to eternal punishment along] with the world.

Dear God,

Everyone wants to believe that they are exempt from judgment; but You have warned that many people who thought they were serving You will be sadly mistaken (Matthew 7:22). Father, chastise and correct me up front: make me aware of my transgressions so I can cooperate with Your Holy Spirit, and change my heart, mind, and way of life. The kind of fear that breeds resentment is distorted, and does not comprehend Your Holiness and man’s utter depravity. Perfect my love for you: perfect love casts out that fear, even of the coming Judgment. Only as I abide in Christ am I truly shielded from the Judgment that will lay waste to this world.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 358 Outrageous Expectations

2011-05-29T08:46:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 358 Acts 26:18-29 Outrageous Expectations

To open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may thus receive forgiveness and release from their sins and a place and portion among those who are consecrated and purified by faith in Me. Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but made known openly first of all to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the whole land of Judea, and also among the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works and live lives consistent with and worthy of their repentance. Because of these things the Jews seized me in the temple [enclosure] and tried to do away with me. [But] to this day I have had the help which comes from God [as my ally], and so I stand here testifying to small and great alike, asserting nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses declared would come to pass-- that the Christ (the Anointed One) must suffer and that He, by being the first to rise from the dead, would declare and show light both to the [Jewish] people and to the Gentiles.

And as he thus proceeded with his defense, Festus called out loudly, Paul, you are mad! Your great learning is driving you insane! But Paul replied, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but I am uttering the straight, sound truth. For the king understands about these things well enough, and [therefore] to him I speak with bold frankness and confidence. I am convinced that not one of these things has escaped his notice, for all this did not take place in a corner [in secret].

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? [Do you give credence to God's messengers and their words?] I perceive and know that you do believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul, You think it a small task to make a Christian of me [just offhand to induce me with little ado and persuasion, at very short notice]. And Paul replied, Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who are listening to me today, might become such as I am, except for these chains.

In one sense, it seems outrageous to expect people to make a decision altering the course of their life based on a brief presentation of the Gospel. A reasonable response is to demand evidence, and to critically review the messenger and the message, to give the proposal a full examination. However, many people have already inoculated themselves against the Gospel as something that would interfere with their ‘lifestyle’. They profess that the Truth is unknowable (thanks to godless ‘scholars’, unbelieving ‘theologians’ and other wolves in sheep’s clothing promoting doubt). They claim it is a credibility issue; but it is really a moral issue: they won’t acknowledge a God who would interfere with their choices. The irony is that this same population makes foolish choices and life altering decisions every day based on 30 second commercials they know are designed to separate them from their money through mostly unsupported ‘truths’. If they will invest their life’s savings in worm farming based upon what a stranger in an advertisement says, we might as well be doing some advertising ourselves, and be ready to back up our claims. Cast many seeds, water and weed the minority that sprout, tend the very few that reach maturity.

Dear God,

Help us to faithfully witness to a world that does not want to hear our Message. Our relationship to You and our knowledge of the consequences demand that we be witnesses. Silence is deadly.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 359 Judgement is Coming

2011-05-29T08:45:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 359 Amos 3:4-8 Judgment is Coming!

Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where there is no trap for him? Does a trap spring up from the ground when nothing at all has sprung it? Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be alarmed and afraid? Shall misfortune or evil occur [as punishment] and the Lord has not caused it? Surely the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?

Amplified Bible Footnote:

God has always warned the world of coming judgments in order that it may not bring them upon itself. He warned Noah of the coming flood (Gen. 6:13ff.); Abraham and Lot of the future destruction of Sodom (Gen. 18:17; 19:14); Joseph of the seven-year famine (Gen. 41:30); Moses of the ten plagues on Egypt (Exod. 7:1ff.); Jonah of the destruction of Nineveh (Jonah 1:2; 3:4); Amos of the downfall of Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel (Amos 1 and 2). Various prophets were told in detail about the final events in connection with the captivities of the chosen people, and in every case the warnings were startlingly executed. Jonah announced the destruction of Nineveh, but judgment was postponed following repentance. When later generations of Ninevites backslid and reverted to extreme wickedness, the warning of Nahum was carried out completely against them. Christ's coming was foretold throughout the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi. Equally plain and inevitable of fulfillment are the warnings of Jesus and the prophets concerning the future that each day comes nearer to every nation on earth.

The Bible abundantly declares a coming judgment. Israel’s destruction in 70AD and the persecution the Jews have endured for 2000 years foreshadow our future. If God did not spare His own ‘special’ people, how do you think everyone else will fare? If Israel’s apostasy was met with severe punishment, then what of the Church’s apostasy? The Church is almost silent on coming judgment. Why?

Dear God,

Does the Church think it is exempt from judgment? Have we not read that You chastise everyone that You accept as sons and daughters? The Judgment Seat of Christ will break many hearts as we try to give account of what we did with our lives, how we failed Christ Jesus, how we didn’t warn sinners of damnation. Are we silent because we do not believe, or due to the fear of man? Help me to courageously endure the wrath of man and speak the truth so Your wrath may be averted; help us all to do our duty.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 357 Supernatural Tools

2011-05-27T06:40:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 357 1 Corinthians 1:17-24 Supernatural Tools

For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of Christ should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain (fruitless, void of value, and of no effect). For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God. For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning; I will frustrate and nullify [them] and bring [them] to nothing.

Where is the wise man (the philosopher)? Where is the scribe (the scholar)? Where is the investigator (the logician, the debater) of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world's wisdom? For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophy, God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him], to save those who believed (who clung to and trusted in and relied on Him).

For while Jews [demandingly] ask for signs and miracles and Greeks pursue philosophy and wisdom, We preach Christ (the Messiah) crucified, [preaching which] to the Jews is a scandal and an offensive stumbling block [that springs a snare or trap], and to the Gentiles it is absurd and utterly unphilosophical nonsense. But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.

There is a natural tendency to recast the Gospel in a way that will make sense to the secular mind, to not offend 20^th Century sensibilities, to be more palatable for our culture: but this will deprive the Message of its power. The Gospel is not a logic puzzle: it is a moral revelation (God is not recruiting for MENSA). The methodology of Jesus Christ’s propitiation can be made perfectly clear in a flow chart; but the power to convict a person of their own sin is supernatural, and of God. Most people are outright offended by the mention of blood sacrifice, universal depravity, the coming judgment and Israel as God’s chosen people: but if we want God’s power and blessing in our evangelism we need to learn His way of doing it, to present the whole truth.

Dear God,

Are we so prideful to think that we can ‘spin’ Your story, improve Your PR, or change Your methodology through market research? I know what it is like to try to witness in my own ‘wisdom’ and with no power: I have fallen flat many times. Should I not yearn for better results, at least to have a sense of delivering the Message well? Yoke me with Christ Jesus, get me in step, teach me Your way of sharing the Gospel with Your power driving it home, to the heart and soul of lost people. I understand Your withholding Your blessing when it is my way rather than You way: teach me Your Way, and bless me indeed. I know that Jesus echoes this prayer.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 356 Wall of Anguish

2011-05-26T06:15:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 356 Exodus 6:5-9 Wall of Anguish

I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians have enslaved; and I have [earnestly] remembered My covenant [with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]. Accordingly, say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage, and I will rescue you with an outstretched arm [with special and vigorous action] and by mighty acts of judgment. And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that it is I, the Lord your God, Who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land concerning which I lifted up My hand and swore that I would give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage. I am the Lord [you have the pledge of My changeless omnipotence and faithfulness].

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they refused to listen to Moses because of their impatience and anguish of spirit and because of their cruel bondage.

Disillusioned people are slow to believe: life’s disappointments have conditioned them to reign in their expectations. The last thing they want to do is to add to their pain, to be set up for another devastating let down by hoping in something false or insufficient. Many would-be deliverers with all kinds of twisted motives have come before you, offering much and delivering little. It takes a lot of faith to keep sharing a message of hope to unresponsive and hardened hearts, but persistence is necessary. Persistence shows you value them, that they matter, and that their lives are important. Continuing to share demonstrates that your message of hope does not depend upon people being responsive to it; that it is true in its own merit even if nobody accepts it. To be faithful in witnessing is to continue to proclaim Christ and leave the results to God.

Dear God,

I have often let the unresponsiveness, indifference and hostility of lost people discourage my witnessing. I based too much on them, on their response, and not enough upon You, on being faithful to my commission. Transform my understanding of just how I am to present the Gospel to a lost world. How far do I go when they wont listen? In faith, I will keep planting the seeds of Your Word, knowing that You must prepare the soil, and provide water, and make it grow. May I not give up on people who can be saved.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 354 The Springs of Worship

2011-05-25T05:55:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 354 Exodus 4:28-31 The Springs of Worship

Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs with which He had charged him. Moses and Aaron went and gathered together [in Egypt] all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the Israelites, and that He had looked [in compassion] upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

The carnal mind cannot comprehend the worship of anything other than self and its lust objects. Suffering hardship, sickness and loss have a sobering effect; and they bring the view of oneself back to reality. Accessing your deficits and neediness brings a posture of humility. The acceptance of one’s limitations moves a person to look outside of themselves for life, help and fulfillment. The world, however, is full of false Messiahs and ill-conceived solutions, imperfect cures and pretend friends: cultivating cynicism and bitter hopelessness. Many people are angry with the God they never really trusted to come through for them. Some pews are filled with professing Christians who secretly resent divine authority, ignorant of their utter depravity and of the blessedness of God’s indwelling presence. Then there are those who cling to a belief in a perfect, powerful and present God: who apprehend salvation. To hear the Gospel, and receive it as a personal message from God, to entrust one’s life completely to Jesus Christ, to believe that He knows your needs and cares deeply about saving you unleashes spontaneous praise. Unbelief blocks our view of God; faith opens the springs of worship.

Dear God,

Knowing that You look upon me with compassion blesses my soul. Believing that Your Word is sure enables me to endure this hostile world. Faith transforms my sorrow to joy. Help me get a head start on worship; stimulate my heart to overflow with sincere appreciation.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 353 Use Grace NOW

2011-05-25T05:53:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 353 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 Use Grace NOW

LABORING TOGETHER [as God's fellow workers] with Him then, we beg of you not to receive the grace of God in vain [that merciful kindness by which God exerts His holy influence on souls and turns them to Christ, keeping and strengthening them--do not receive it to no purpose].

For He says, In the time of favor (of an assured welcome) I have listened to and heeded your call, and I have helped you on the day of deliverance (the day of salvation). Behold, now is truly the time for a gracious welcome and acceptance [of you from God]; behold, now is the day of salvation!

Today’s a heavy burden-I’ve got to process this-I call on God and all of you. A brother in Christ, a friend of mine, took his life the other day. We served together, shared Communion, took scores of kids camping, met early for men’s breakfasts, held Bible study in each other’s homes, he even took me in when my wife and I were separated to get me into counseling. In the process of time, and through church splits, we went on with our lives and lost contact. From his best friend, I now hear of his battle with clinical depression. His disease amplified the darkness of his world: of pastors resigning, of missions failing, of ministries falling apart, of a hostile and oppressive work place, of a costly and seemingly endless war on terrorism, of the declining health of loved ones, of a society slipping into chaos: when you are sick you can’t absorb the goodness in the world, only the bad. With darkness apparently reigning death seemed better than going on and on and on. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33-34:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

AA has token coins for staying sober for 24 hours, for 1 week, for 1 month, for 6 months and 1 year. They even have minted a coin for really struggling souls celebrating 1 hour of sobriety! When it comes to suicide we need the same thing. There has been many times that I could not face the prospect of living through years of recovery and the financial dept my dysfunction created, of the long slow rebuilding of broken relationships, of facing the my demons daily. I had to take God’s grace in real time: “one day at a time”; and sometimes minute-to-minute. Grace is like the Manna that God fed the Israelites with in the desert. If they bottled it and saved it for another day, it quickly rotted and produced maggots. Manna from Heaven has to be consumed IMMEDIATELY. Tomorrow never comes; do not put off grace. Do not take God’s grace in vain: it is given as it is needed, it will sustain you if you depend on Him.

Dear God,

I am stunned and overwhelmed with grief. Why didn’t he cry out for help? Why are men such lonely islands, so private, so isolated? Please make us aware of each other’s pain, draw us close enough to feel it ourselves, and to share each other’s burdens. It is long past time to discard the masks in Church, to be real and openly profess, “I’m not all-right, it’s not O.K., I’m hurting and broken inside!” No brother or sister in Christ should be alone in his or her misery. There is no God-forsaken place. Darkness will not reign. Come, Daystar, arise in our hearts. The only way I can keep going is to daily depend on Your grace. Bear me, Lord.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 355 Idolatry too Close to Home

2011-05-25T05:50:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 355 Exodus 4:19, 24-26 Idolatry too Close to Home

19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead.

24-26 Along the way at a [resting-] place, the Lord met [Moses] and sought to kill him [made him acutely and almost fatally ill]. [Now apparently he had failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife being opposed to it; but seeing his life in such danger] Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it to touch [Moses'] feet, and said, Surely a husband of blood you are to me! When He let [Moses] alone [to recover], Zipporah said, A husband of blood are you because of the circumcision.

Footnote: [He who is on his way to liberate the people of the circumcision has in Midian even neglected to circumcise his second son Eliezer (J.P. Lange, A Commentary). It was necessary that at this stage of Moses' experience he should learn that God is in earnest when He speaks, and will assuredly perform all that He has threatened (J.G. Murphy, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus).]

God is so infinitely above anything in this physical realm that putting anything else first is a great evil; even your devotion to your spouse must be subordinate to your devotion to God. A test men often fail is to take the ‘peaceful way’ rather then the ‘righteous way’, or they trade convenience for godliness. The best husband any woman could have is a man who fears God and uncompromisingly puts Him first, a man willing to make unpopular (but righteous) decisions, a man willing to accept her scorn rather than betray his first love.

Dear God,

I thank You that it is not very often that my wife comes between us; but tests do come. Help me to be sold out to You, totally devoted, unwavering, with true fidelity. Only by Your power and presence and godly influence in my life can I be a faithful man: sustain my integrity. You are first in my affections, highest in my esteem, primary in my loyalty; my one true God.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 352 Ducking the Call

2011-05-22T08:42:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 352 Exodus 4:10-14a Ducking the Call

And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent or a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue. And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say. And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send]. Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses…

The world reserves its praise and glory for the best, the cream of the crop, the top of the heap: this is where they look for stars, for leadership, for the next ‘American Idol’. However, the Way of God turns the world upside down. With the war on terror going on, there is hardly a televised marathon in which there are not a few contestants with one or more artificial limbs. Cameras are not drawn to them because they are in first place, or even in the front half of the runners. They might come in dead last; but their finish is triumphant! Even the lost world recognizes the glory of the human spirit in overcoming physical impediments and great difficulties. We know that Spirit more perfectly; but when it comes to God’s call upon our own life our tendency is to shrink back, to make excuses, to point out better candidates, to focus on our deficits. God knows exactly who and what He wants to use for His glory. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

Dear God,

Make me aware of the times I have been like Moses, resisting Your call in my life. Bring me back to the Burning Bush, and help me to rise to the task, to step out in faith, to trust in You to provide everything service requires. Thank You for concealing potential glory in all of us.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 351 The Name of God

2011-05-21T08:23:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 351 Exodus 3:11-15 The Name of God

And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM and WHAT I AM, and I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you!

God said also to Moses, This shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you! This is My name forever, and by this name I am to be remembered to all generations.

Footnote: [To know the name of God is to witness the manifestation of those attributes and apprehend that character which the name denotes (Exod. 6:3; I Kings 8:33ff.; Ps. 91:14; Isa. 52:6; 64:2; Jer. 16:21) (John D. Davis, A Dictionary of the Bible). God's name is His self-revelation (Charles Ellicott, A Bible Commentary). The name signifies the active presence of the person in the fullness of the revealed character (J.D. Douglas et al., eds., The New Bible Dictionary).]

People spend their lives pursuing what they think they need. For the convenience of having everything in one place, warehouse stores like ‘Builder-Biggie’ and ‘Meglo-Mart’ have emerged to dominate the market place. But you can’t buy everything you need (even on credit!) Camping is a good exercise because it reduces our need list down to life’s basic necessities: food, clothing and shelter; simplicity is refreshing, though some necessity is always overlooked (like insect repellant, sunscreen, Band-Aids, etc.) Human beings are conspicuous members of the animal kingdom in that we enter this world naked, and cannot generate our own covering; but must go outside of ourselves for insulation, survival, protection, identity and dignity. When reduced to our most vulnerable state (of nakedness) we are not so independent, not so powerful, and definitely not complete. Our list of wants and needs are infinite, our power to overcome our deficits is extremely limited: finiteness is humbling. It is a blessing to be stripped of the false and inadequate things that prop us up in this world when that crisis drives us to seek out our greatest need: God. God is the one to take with you whether you are camping or facing the rat race. He is all you need and will ever need, He is all sufficient.

Dear God,

I know that I am regenerate, because I have lost faith in my own resources and have come to the end of my own self-sufficiency, and will accept no substitutes: I am holding out for You and You alone. You are MY God. As Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!” I have come to realize that my Swiss Army knife will not save me, neither its blade nor my intellect can stay sharp enough to cut through life’s mysteries without Your leading me. Life is a battle ground, the Church is under siege, clothe me in Christ Jesus for combat and ministry. I call upon Your name…

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 350 Land of Plenty

2011-05-20T07:56:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 350 Exodus 3:6-14 Land of Plenty

Also He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters and oppressors; for I know their sorrows and sufferings and trials. And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand and power of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a land good and large, a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]--to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Now behold, the cry of the Israelites has come to Me, and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. And Moses said to God, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? God said, I will surely be with you; and this shall be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain [Horeb, or Sinai].

You would think that people who live in bondage, and suffer abuse and poverty would be happy to take the first exit to a good land, under the rule of a good God; but people are baffling. Moses would find himself leading a reluctant people who were still slaves at heart to life in Egypt. Our selective memory recalls the brief trifles like the onions, meat and spices of our old life; forgetting the daily lashings, futile drudgery and hopelessness that was our reality. People cling to the world they know even though it is a kind of hell rather than to trust God and be led into a wholesome place: they fear change. To enter the Promised Land takes faith in the one who made the promise. Spiritual poverty makes us distrustful of God’s generosity; pride inclines us toward continued reliance upon our own shabby resources. We fear the ‘giants’ who stand between us and wholeness; forgetting that God is with us, and will be sufficient to make us victorious as we abide in Him. When we shrink back from God’s call in our live, when we respond by asking, “Who am I?” we reject the power, presence, and blessings of God and remain in the land of misery.

Dear God,

I do not want to remember how many times I wandered in circles, looking back toward Egypt, complaining of Your remedy for my sin, shame and bondage. The path You take Pilgrims through for recovery crosses deserts, rocky ground, high hills and dark valleys. There are no unguarded moments in the realm of spiritual combat. The character you develop through hardship and the discipline You cultivate through testing become priceless treasures. The world scoffs, and thinks we pilgrims are worse off then before, seeing only the dusty path we follow. Those who are really on the path know Your presence, and power, and blessings: our faith has brought Heaven into view, there is no turning back. Help me to get those who still circle Sinai in dysfunction, who are stuck and vacillating between commitment and rebellion, to get firmly on the path, into recovery and wholeness, on the Way of Christ.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 349 Knowing God Knows

2011-05-19T05:57:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 349 Exodus 1:13-14 2:24-25 3:7-8 Knowing God Knows

1:13-14 And the Egyptians reduced the Israelites to severe slavery. They made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar, brick, and all kinds of work in the field. All their service was with harshness and severity.

2:24-25 And God heard their sighing and groaning and [earnestly] remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites and took knowledge of them and concerned Himself about them [knowing all, understanding, remembering all].

3:7-8 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters and oppressors; for I know their sorrows and sufferings and trials. And I have come down to deliver them…

Egypt represents the secular world, and it is still dishing out oppression and misery. We cooperate with our cruel taskmasters to earn a living; some have it better than others do; but life on the lower rungs of the corporate ladder is harsh and difficult. I have known people on the assembly line who could not afford the medicines they needed, who pray their way to work every day in dilapidated cars, who have worked past the age of retirement because they have no pension and little reward for their labor. Workers who have made it to the middle have improved wages and benefits, but often at the cost of incredible demands and pressure. Chronic stress takes its toll on the heart, the body and the mind. There is no job security. I have also seen the masters who dine sumptuously, who live too large, and who show little concern for the many backs that support them. We are economic slaves, and we are partially to blame for the burden we carry to maintain the lifestyle we want: but the workplace is no paradise, either. All of us are rich compared to a child born in a garbage dump in Brazil: but judged from the acceptable norms of our society we are all struggling to keep what we have and not slip down hill economically. Perhaps the physical and emotional and mental stresses add up to make all equal. When the prospect of what I will face Monday makes me sick at my stomach Sunday afternoon, when thoughts of work wont leave me alone at three in the morning, it helps to believe that God knows. God knows because He cares. He cares because I am His child. God will ultimately deliver His children from misery because He is good, and had promised it. Knowing that He knows makes me feel better. Faith in God is the victory that overcomes the world.

Dear God, (Prayer is Psalm 142 verbatum)

I CRY to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord do I make supplication.

I pour out my complaint before Him; I tell before Him my trouble.

When my spirit was overwhelmed and fainted [throwing all its weight] upon me, then You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a snare for me.

Look on the right hand [the point of attack] and see; for there is no man who knows me [to appear for me]. Refuge has failed me and I have no way to flee; no man cares for my life or my welfare.

I cried to You, O Lord; I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.

Attend to my loud cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my life out of prison, that I may confess, praise, and give thanks to Your name; the righteous will surround me and crown themselves because of me, for You will deal bountifully with me.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 348 Unfinished Business

2011-05-18T07:50:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 348 Esther 6:1-3 Unfinished Business

ON THAT night the king could not sleep; and he ordered that the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king. And it was found written there how Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's attendants who guarded the door, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus (to slay him). And the king said, What honor or distinction has been given Mordecai for this? Then the king's servants who ministered to him said, Nothing has been done for him.

Our Twentieth Century lives are so full of demands, activity and distraction that our days can feel like a raging white-water river and we are simply doing all we can to avoid being dashed upon the rocks as we are pushed forward. However, in order to sleep, we need to clear our minds and drift into tranquility for consciousness to disengage. I, like many people today, often find this very difficult: sleep eludes me. As the pandemonium of the day quiets down, issues surface that were important; but were pushed aside by the tyranny of lesser, but *urgent things. Sometimes I do sleep for a while; but unfinished business wakes me up. The big things in life like the spiritual welfare of our family, our witness in the world, neglected souls within our reach, good deeds unrewarded and unacknowledged finally surface: having been held down by mundane business all day. I keep a pad of paper beside my bed; for when my mind is quiet, God speaks to me of unfinished business; and His instruction would be lost without writing it down. To get the important things done, they need to be recorded, a priority should be set upon them, they ought to be planned and you must sacrifice lesser activities to make room for them. Diligence here will not only help you sleep better; but will ensure ending up with much less unfinished business.

Dear God,

Remind me of promises that I have not kept, of duties that I have neglected, of souls within reach that need my help. Empower me to address what is most important; give me a clear vision of what these things are. For Your kingdom and glory.

Amen

*”Tyranny of the Urgent”, a great Intervarsity Press tract.

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 347 Fidelity

2011-05-17T05:58:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 347 Ezra10:1-12 Fidelity

NOW WHILE Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there gathered to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men, women, and children; for the people wept bitterly. And Shecaniah [II] son of Jehiel [one of the congregation], of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra: We have broken faith and dealt treacherously against our God and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land; yet now there is still hope for Israel in spite of this thing. Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God; and let it be done according to the Law. Arise, for it is your duty, and we are with you. Be strong and brave and do it. Then Ezra arose and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel swear that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.

Then Ezra came from before the house of God and went into the lodging place of Jehohanan son of Eliashib [for the night]. There he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned over the returned exiles' faithlessness [and violation of God's law]. And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles, that they should assemble in Jerusalem, And that whoever did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders, all his property should be forfeited and he himself banned from the assembly of the exiles.

Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month, and all the people sat in the open space before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, You have acted wickedly and broken faith [with God] and have married foreign (heathen) women, increasing the guilt of Israel. So now make confession and give thanks to the Lord, the God of your fathers [for not consuming you], and do His will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from [your] foreign (heathen) wives. Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, As you have said, so must we do.

Footnotes: (AMP) {I cannot improve on this, here it is verbatim}

Ezra 10:11 The apparently great severity which characterized Ezra's divorce policy, as shown in chapters 9 and 10, becomes thoroughly justified when Israel's tragic experiences because of marriages with heathen women are considered. The consequent idolatry, first of King Solomon, for example, and then of the whole nation, was fatal. God's wrath had been so great that He not only took the kingship from Solomon, but eventually turned the Israelites over to their enemies and left the promised land desolate, while the people bewailed their fate as captives in a heathen country. Ezra, to whom the keeping of God's law was of constant concern, had been born in captivity among exiles who hung their harps on the willow trees and grieved for the country, for the peace and prosperity which their now justly offended God had once given them. Nothing could have been more abhorrent to Ezra than that the Jews should again fall into the snare of idolatry. His action in leading the exiles to give up their foreign wives and their children was the only way out if God's consuming wrath was not again to be incurred. That those still living of the 42,360 men who over eighty years before had made up the congregation (Ezra 2:64) also saw complete separation from the foreign women as the unavoidable solution is obvious from the fact that only four (Ezra 10:15) spoke against it. However, those who were now actually married to native heathen women were only 17 priests, 10 Levites, and 86 laymen--113 in all, according to the records, though the list may be incomplete (Amplified Bible footnote copied in its entirety).

Dear God,

In our Age of Grace, we are not under the Law as Israel was; yet Your standards have not changed, and this scripture has much to teach your people today about how serious You are about righteousness and obedience. Your uncompromising, rigidly just and righteous ways are abhorrent to a pagan world, a secular culture, a depraved society, permissive people. If You were permissive with the physical laws that govern our Universe, everything would become radioactive as the elements dissolved, chemistry would be unpredictable, no life could exist. If You were permissive with righteousness, righteousness itself would cease to exist. Saving retched sinners cost You the ultimate price: help Your people to understand what they were saved from so they separate themselves from a condemned culture.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 346 Bittersweet Recovery

2011-05-16T06:46:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 346 Ezra 3:10-13 Bittersweet Recovery

[After 70 years of exile, Cyrus King of Persia decrees that God told him to rebuild His house (temple) in Jerusalem. So a remnant of the exiles were returned to perform the work…]

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their vestments with trumpets, and the Levite sons of Asaph with their cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the order of David king of Israel. They sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, For He is good, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid! But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house [Solomon's temple], when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice, though many shouted aloud for joy. So the people could not distinguish the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far off.

Once God spoke directly to His people; but while they were being disciplined for their apostasy He spoke to a pagan king (who became the ‘head’, and Israel the ‘tail’). Scholarly notes remark about when the priests returned to Jerusalem, they consulted the Urim and Thummim, articles on the High Priest’s breastplate that once gave indications of God’s will. The lack of mention of a word from God, and no further mention of these articles in the scriptures lead many scholars to believe that Israel’s long-standing disobedience had apparently caused Israel’s priests to forfeit the divine gift of guidance through Urim and Thummim. Imagine that you could once text-message God through your cell phone; and receive personal answers; but due to your spiritual adultery and the damage to that relationship, your cell phone was henceforth dead. God did send prophets to speak to Israel; but this line of direct communication was gone. When you have really blown it, and your life has fallen apart due to long-standing sinful behavior and gross rebellion, the rebuilding of your life is bittersweet. Any new life is worth celebrating; redemption and renewal are a source of great joy; but the wasted years leave you with fewer ones going forward, with less to dedicate to God than you could have. It plays out in scaled-down projects, like the temple’s smaller foundation that moved the older priests, who knew what could have been, to weep. A man who has fallen hard must bear the knowledge that God had to use others to fill in for his dysfunction: others to support his wife, others to raise his children, others to take his place while he has languished. The consequence of sin, the wreckage of relationships, the misdirected energy mixes weeping with recovery’s celebration.

Dear God,

The weight of the consequences of my past sins could sink me into utter despair were it not for the blood of Jesus and the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit. The more I understand what You saved me from, the more astonished I am that You did it! Outrageous grace has ushered me into a position of complete acceptance and forgiveness. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Many fellow Christians have questioned my spirituality because I am not bubbling over with joy: we know my inner rapture, the joy we share privately. You also know my pain as sharply as rusty nail prints can put it: that is also real. The combination of the two helps keep me chaste and sober, my spirit has been tempered, I am thoughtful now, as a disciplined child finally quieted. Glory to You for carrying the load, for filling my voids, for rebuilding this life.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 345 Carnival Mirrors

2011-05-15T09:44:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 345 Proverbs 11:2-3 Carnival Mirrors

When swelling and pride come, then emptiness and shame come also, but with the humble (those who are lowly, who have been pruned or chiseled by trial, and renounce self) are skillful and godly Wisdom and soundness. The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the willful contrariness and crookedness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

I remember polishing silverware as a child, usually near a holiday when we were expecting guests. Polishing spoons was the best part of that chore, because once they were bright and shiny I would look onto one side, and then the other and amuse myself with the distorted image of myself. The convex side would make my nose look much bigger than it was, and the concave side would make my image upside down and shrunk. Carnival mirrors are amusing because they distort reality. They can make an average person appear as skinny as a rail or as fat as a weather balloon. What is not amusing is that in a much more subtle sense our minds do this all of the time to protect our ego. The character flaws we share with others become amplified in them and diminished in us; the stature of others is diminished making us seem more prominent. We also tend to shrink our giftedness to keep our expectations low, which foolishly avoids situations in which we might fail (and just as possibly succeed!) We cannot directly address the unconscious filtering our mind performs to protect our ego; but we can work on our self perception and bring it back to reality so there is not so much ego to protect. Then we will see ourselves and others more clearly.

Proverbs 4:25 (AMP) Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you.

Dear God,

It is just as wrong to think too little of myself as to think too much of myself; help me to see right on. My spirit is wounded still, my inner child cries, abandoned and outcast, searching for love and acceptance. Another part of me has taken over for long forgotten bullies, beating myself up for every shortcoming and minor mistake; I am my own cruel oppressor. I unconsciously chase people away so I can avoid the pain of rejection. Why do I have so many masks for my public face, why cannot I just be myself? Thank You for giving me glimpses into my psyche, as uncomfortable as it is, to see my depravity. Tell me again why You love me so I can love myself. I need to love myself more so I can love others as I should. Help me by faith to see myself one day conformed to the character of Jesus Christ. Continue Your healing work and the repairs I so desperately need to be whole and secure in You.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 342 Key of Promise

2011-05-14T10:07:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 342 2 Peter 1:3-5 Key of Promise

For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature. For this very reason, adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence)…

We live in a physical world full of spiritual realities. When it comes to spiritual enemies and problems, we do not naturally have the tools to protect ourselves or to deal with them. Pagans try to use symbolic material things and mystical words to gain a metaphysical edge through magic and spells. For a Christian, the pursuit of occult power is forbidden; our power is not our own, it comes from dependence on God. How blundering and helpless we would be anyway; to navigate blindly in the spiritual plane, trying to defend ourselves against enemies that know their turf and can see us clearly. Our power is in God, and He has all the spiritual power we need. However, we are not to be passive in this spiritual civil war: God has given us provision and protection in the form of His promises; and the responsibility to activate those promises with our faith. Faith is the key that unlocks the infinite resources of God’s promises. These promises are not to be exploited in the vain pursuit of our own material prosperity: they were given for living a victorious Christian life and for serving God’s kingdom. The promises enable us to be OBEDIENT. In John Bunyan’s classic, “Pilgrim’s Progress”, the main character named “Christian” had a ‘magic’ key, the Key of Promise, which grew to fit any lock and could open any door. It grew in proportion to its holder’s faith. It freed “Christian” from bondage. Exercising our faith is our responsibility, and it brings glory to God as we acknowledge His faithfulness to His Word.

Dear God,

Your divine power HAS given me EVERYTHING I need for life and godliness. I am hungry for the knowledge that helps me live in accordance with Your will; that helps me know Your heart. Forgive me for the many times I tried to manipulate reality to suit myself: serving You is true liberation from moral decay. Help me to be a man of faith, victorious in Christ as I depend on Your power and presence in my life. Thank You for giving all of us everything we need in Christ.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 343 When God Departs

2011-05-14T10:06:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 343 Judges 16:17-20 When God Departs

17-20 Then he told her all his mind and said to her, A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my birth. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his mind, she went and called for the Philistine lords, saying, Come up this once, for he has told me all he knows. Then the Philistine lords came up to her and brought the money in their hands.

And she made Samson sleep upon her knees, and she called a man and caused him to shave off the seven braids of his head. Then she began to torment [Samson], and his strength went from him. She said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free. For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

There are several tragic instances of God and His Glory departing from His people in the scriptures. In 1 Samuel 4 judgment comes upon Eli the Priest for not correcting his sons who had made a mockery of that office, and of abusing the gifts, sacrifices, and even abusing the people who brought offerings to God. Eli and his sons die in a single day, and the Ark of God is captured by the Philistines. Upon hearing of these things, Eli’s daughter-in-law gives birth to a son she names “Ichabod”, meaning ‘the glory (of Israel) is departed.’ A generation later, in 1 Samuel chapters 15 and 16, King Saul grows proud, and disobeys the Lord, and offers sacrifices that are unlawful for anyone but an ordained priest to administer, so: “…the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented and troubled him” (16:14). Then, the Gospel of Luke (ch 13:34-36) records Jesus chastising the religious leaders in response to their idolatry and apostasy, “Your house is forsaken!” (Abandoned, left to you destitute of God’s help). “You will not see me again…until the time comes when you shall say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” When God departs, all that is good is gone! Obedience is not an optional or casual requirement for harmony with God. As Christians, who have been saved by God’s grace and promise, our salvation is secure and our relation is solid: we will always be His children; but the harmony of our relationship and the special presence and power of God in our life waxes and wanes in accordance with our obedience.

Dear God,

Thank You for the assurances I have of my salvation. May I not use Your grace as an occasion to sin; but may I earnestly cling to You and Your ways out of gratitude and because Your way is right. Help me to not be wise in my own eyes; but to fear You, and turn away from evil. Search my heart and make me aware of where I am leaning toward rebellion. Please exert Your holy influence on my life to get me in step with Your Holy Spirit. The wages of sin is death because You are the source of life in all of its dimensions, its only source. Your nearness is my good. Abide in and with me. Abba Father.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 344 Passion's High Contrast

2011-05-14T10:05:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 344 Proverbs 8:13 Passion’s High Contrast

The reverent fear and worshipful awe of the Lord [includes] the hatred of evil; pride, arrogance, the evil way, and perverted and twisted speech I hate.

In John Bunyan’s classic Book, Pilgrim’s Promise, the chief character, “Christian”, meets a man named “Talkative” on the path. “Talkative” loves to discourse on spiritual themes and Biblical topics; but those loves are equal to his love of bar room banter and of hearing himself speak on virtually any mundane subject. He has an answer for everything; his chief pleasure is to have an audience of eager listeners. He is the center of attention when people listen to him. “Christian” wisely discerned that “Talkative” is, “Long on talk, short on walk.” If there is no distinguishing your love of God for your love of other things, to include the love of one’s self; then that kind of love is rather weak. The kind of love that Jesus Christ demands for God is so profound and enormous that one’s natural love of one’s parents would seem like hatred by contrast

Luke 14:25-27 (AMP) Now huge crowds were going along with [Jesus], and He turned and said to them, if anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters--[yes] and even his own life also--he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple.

Dear God,

My love for You demands that I reject other suitors. Abide in me, and unify my heart so that my devotion to You is singular and undivided. May I give good cause to make the world, the flesh and the Devil jealous of my devotion to You. I know that such a commitment will bring trials, tribulation and persecution: may I endure those as badges of courage and as proof of my passion. I confess that my heart is prone to wander: only by Your holy influence can I be faithful: please exert that influence in my life. Because You first loved me, I love You. May my life clearly show it.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 341 Perfect Peace

2011-05-11T06:03:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 341 2 Peter 1:2 Perfect Peace

2 Peter 1:2 (KJV) Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

[If you are like most people, you probably raced through that verse, right past ‘peace’ to see what it was talking about. ‘Peace’ is the subject. How do you define peace? This is why I use the Amplified Bible; because our minds tend to be lazy, and we gloss over important details, and we fail to comprehend the meaning of important words].

2 Peter 1:2 (AMP) May grace (God's favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

The world settles for an imperfect ‘peace’, as found in mutual funds and insurance policies, in superficial agreements to refrain from open hostilities, in the avoidance of conflict through retreat and isolation. A stalemate between two hostile parties is a sad substitute for peace. Do we Christians really comprehend ‘perfect peace’? Peace is impossible to attain directly; it must be obtained through resolving the fears, passions, and conflicts that usurp it. Peace is an attitude that accepts the sovereignty of God in one’s life. A peaceful person has gotten off the fence and fully committed their life to God. A peaceful conscience is one that has decided in advance to do what is right always regardless of the consequences. Peace flows from a unity of spirit, soul and body that is firmly centered in Christ. Anything less than ‘perfect’ peace is no peace at all.

Dear God,

The conflicts that disturb my peace reflect inner rebellion. Double-mindedness, divided loyalties, unholy alliances, and unbridled passions agitate the soul. Covetousness destroys peace through a lack of contentment with Your provision in my life. When my mind is hostile to You, I deserve to be without peace. Transform my mind, bring it into conformance and submission to Your will, give me a singular heart. You alone can supply the perfect peace I seek. I can count on Your blessings coming with no hidden regrets, no tricks nor traps, no sorrow added. I will wean myself from that which is false, I will keep my mind set upon You, I will rest on Your promise of peace.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 340 The Burden of Parenthood

2011-05-10T06:16:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 340 Judges 13:6-10 The Burden of Parenthood

Then the woman went and told her husband, saying, A Man of God came to me and his face was like the face of the Angel of God, to be greatly and reverently feared. I did not ask him from where he came, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, Behold, you shall become pregnant and bear a son, and now drink no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death. Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, O Lord, let the Man of God whom You sent come again to us and teach us what we shall do with the child that shall be born. And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. And the woman ran in haste and told her husband and said to him, Behold, the Man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.

This barren couple earnestly sought the Lord to know how to manage the child He had given them. They wanted to know his purpose and calling, they wanted to fulfill God’s will in his life, they wanted to train and raise him properly. Oh, that every set of parents recognized the miracle of the child that God gave them! Oh, that we would make haste to seek God’s counsel on how to rear this special person! The burden of parenthood is coming to terms with our own ignorance and seeking godly counsel in raising our children.

Dear God,

I was still emotionally and mentally a child when fatherhood was thrust upon me. I was overwhelmed with the responsibility. I could not stomach the prospect of the world, through television and entertainment, shaping the character of my children. Having children drove my wife and I back into the Church, for guidance, accountability, for training in Your Word, for examples of good parenting. Forgive me for the many times I still got it wrong; the excesses of discipline, my hypocrisy and inconsistency, my harshness and critical spirit. You were training me as I was training them. Help me now to be a better grand father than I was a father; to better reflect You in my parenting. You are THE GOOD FATHER. Lead me.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 339 Open Rebuke and Hidden Love

2011-05-09T05:46:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 339 Judges 10:9-16 Open Rebuke and Hidden Love

And the Ammonites passed over the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was sorely distressed. And the Israelites cried to the Lord, saying, We have sinned against You, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.

And the Lord said to the Israelites, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed and crushed you, you cried to Me, and I delivered you out of their hands. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more. Go, cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress. And the Israelites said to the Lord, We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only deliver us, we pray You, this day. So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and His heart became impatient over the misery of Israel.

Proverbs 27:5 Open rebuke is better than love that is hidden.

God loved Israel, but in times of disobedience, that love remained mostly hidden. What part of that love that broke through to the surface was in the form of an open rebuke. In their state of rebellion, traditional loving words would have only fueled greater apostasy: the medicine they needed was a sharp rebuke. That rebuke led them to repentance, and into a posture of submission so it was now fitting for God to rescue them.

Dear God,

When we are in trouble, oppressed and hurting, we yearn for words of comfort. Sadly, the truth is, we are often responsible for our own predicaments: our bad choices, our lack of diligence, our sin, our shortsightedness, our rebellion. You love us like no other ever could love us; but our sin conceals much of that love. Medicine is unpleasant but necessary for the sick soul. Do not abandon us: if rebuke is the only part of Your love that can show---rebuke us! Correct us. Lead us to repentance. Heal and restore us. Then, when we submit to You, may Your love be made manifest in our obedience. May we do what ever is necessary now to ensure that we ultimately witness the full measure of Your hidden love toward us. Lash us, if necessary, with Your love.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 338 The More Excellent Way

2011-05-08T08:11:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 338 Judges7:24-8:3 The More Excellent Way

[After a major portion of the battle against the Midianites was fought, the Midianites fled and Gideon pursued. Fatigued, he called to the hills for reinforcements.]

And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites and take all the intervening fords as far as Beth-barah and also the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together and took all the fords as far as Beth-barah and also the Jordan. And [the men of Ephraim] took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

AND THE men of Ephraim said to Gideon, Why have you treated us like this, not calling us when you went to fight with Midian? And they quarreled with him furiously. And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of [your big tribe of] Ephraim better than the vintage of [my little clan of] Abiezer? God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger toward him was abated when he had said that.

[Amplified footnote: "Gideon's good words were as victorious as his sword" (Bishop Joseph Hall, cited by Charles Ellicott, A Bible Commentary). "He might have said that he could place but little dependence upon his brethren when, through faintheartedness, 22,000 left him at one time (Judg. 7:3), but he passed this by and took a more excellent way" (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with A Commentary). "The improving of a victory is often more honorable and of greater consequence than the winning of it... Humility of deportment is the. .. surest method of ending strife" (Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Holy Bible).]

It is not uncommon to find myself with way too much on my shoulders, depleted and overcommitted, carrying more than my share of a floundering project with all of my helpers apparently AWOL. When I am feeling stressed and abandoned, my impulse is to lash out at the people I was depending on and “should” all over them. “Where were you when I needed you?!” “Why aren’t you carrying your share of the load?!” It never ends well. I end up alienating my friends and coworkers, loosing my composure, saying or E-mailing things I later regret; exacerbating my problems. When I let myself get backed up against a wall, I am apt to react badly (the situation is in control of me rather than me of it; I have in effect given something outside too much power over what is inside of me).

Dear God,

When I am overwhelmed, I need You to show me a more excellent way. My carnal weapons that I use to lash out at my troubles cause too much collateral damage. People’s wills may be as strong as iron; but their spirits are as fragile as hand blown glass: help me to be gentle and loving, even to my supposed ‘enemies’. How do I express it to my friends when they let me down? How do I say no to managers who heap it on and have no concern for my mental health? You care. Even if my mother and father abandon me, the Lord will take me up. Will Your wing shield me from corporate assaults? Will You find a man to stand in this gap or will You stand there Yourself for me? Preserve me, Lord, and show me a better way to endure this.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 337 Of Mousy Men

2011-05-07T07:32:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 337 Judges 4:1-9 Of Mousy Men

BUT AFTER Ehud died the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth-hagoiim [fortress or city of the nations]. Then the Israelites cried to the Lord, for [Jabin] had 900 chariots of iron and had severely oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time.

She sat under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded [you], Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun? And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you at the river Kishon with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into your hand?

And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the trip you take will not be for your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

13-15 Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him from Harosheth-hagoiim to the river Kishon. And Deborah said to Barak, Up! For this is the day when the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Is not the Lord gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. And the Lord confused and terrified Sisera and all his chariot drivers and all his army before Barak with the sword. And Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled on foot.

Men hate to be nagged; and they receive it with great irritation. But the essence of nagging is a reminder of one’s responsibilities. The irritation comes from the shame of knowing we should do better. Barak had to be reminded of God’s command, and had to be pushed and prodded like an old mule, and found sitting on his responsibilities again was told to “Get up and engage the enemy! (Fight like a man!)” God bless the women who courageously nag us; God have mercy on the weak men who need it! Feminine shoulders carry most churches because too many men are Baraks. Men are to be the spiritual leaders of their households; what kind of leader needs constant reminding of his responsibilities? How inspiring is that kind of ‘leadership’? We owe our wives and our Church and our Lord better service than this.

Dear God,

This has been hard to write because I have been there: passive, distracted, less spiritual, and sitting when I should be charging forward. Forgive the men of Your Church (and me) for failing to lead as men. I have also sometimes gone too far and lorded my maleness over my spouse: teach us servant leadership and help us to love, cherish and respect our wives and the women of the Church. They are worthy of great praise for carrying the load and covering our backs while we slept. Lord God, wake us up, help us stand; use our aggressive tendencies under Your Spirit’s control to further Your kingdom.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 336 Rescue Me!

2011-05-06T06:34:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 336 Psalm 143 Rescue Me!

1-2 HEAR MY prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, and in Your righteousness. And enter not into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no man living is [in himself] righteous or justified.

[Lord, I (James) cannot come to You in my own righteousness, You know what a sham that is. I acknowledge that I fall so far short of Your standards; but I come anyway, as a needy man.]

3-4 For the enemy has pursued and persecuted my soul, he has crushed my life down to the ground; he has made me to dwell in dark places as those who have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed and faints within me [wrapped in gloom]; my heart within my bosom grows numb.

[It would be easier to take out my enemy if he had a sword and spear; but in reality, the enemy is usually within. My enemies are gross insecurities, low self-worth, volatile emotions, unbridled passions, loneliness and rejection. It is hard to get along with other people when I am so broken up inside. My intensity and neediness chase everyone away. Right now, it is just too hard to be me.]

5-6 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I ponder the work of Your hands.

I spread forth my hands to You; my soul thirsts after You like a thirsty land [for water]. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

[My troubled soul has always and only found its satisfaction in You: the nearness of God is my good. I am dying of thirst, Lord! Give me living water! Hold this trembling man: comfort me.]

7-8 Answer me speedily, O Lord, for my spirit fails; hide not Your face from me, lest I become like those who go down into the pit (the grave). Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for on You do I lean and in You do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my inner self to You.

[What I lack in personal resources I make up in faith: it is the only currency I have. I believe that You are loving and gracious, and will not turn me away in my need. Receive this wretched man!]

Dear God,

9-12 Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I flee to You to hide me. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me into a level country and into the land of uprightness. Save my life, O Lord, for Your name's sake; in Your righteousness, bring my life out of trouble and free me from distress. And in your mercy and loving-kindness, cut off my enemies and destroy all those who afflict my inner self, for I am Your servant.

[Destroy my dysfunction, heal my inner man].

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 335 Covenant Breakers

2011-05-05T06:37:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 335 Judges 2 Covenant Breakers

1-4 NOW THE Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, I brought you up from Egypt and have brought you to the land which I swore to give to your fathers, and I said, I will never break My covenant with you; and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; but you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? So now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voice and wept.

In the course of this chapter, these are the ways that Israel broke their covenant with God:

1. They failed to train their children in the ways of the Lord, and pass on their values.

2. They served Baal (involving infant sacrifice for prosperity) and Ashtorrth (involving lustful images, temple prostitution and worship of sex).

3. They forgot God and they did not acknowledge what God did for them in the past.

4. They forsook God (broke allegiance, and aligned themselves with other gods).

5. They failed to be the (righteous) Light to the Nations that God had commissioned them to be.

6. They brought disgrace upon the Name of God.

Verses 14,15 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them into the power of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer stand before their foes. Whenever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them; and they were bitterly distressed.

Verses 20-22 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and He said, Because this people have transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not listened to My voice, I from now on will also not drive out from before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

Dear God,

Is America not unlike the nation of Israel? The Pilgrims, Puritans, pioneers and our Founding Fathers appealed to You for divine help in establishing a righteous nation: but as we prospered materialism and indulgence displaced the noble commitments of our early works. Our centers of learning slander You daily; preferring the worship of man and nature in intellectual idolatry. We have squandered our opportunity to export righteousness: the most shameful materials and entertainments are homegrown, and have soiled the internet and the air waves of many nations. All who forsake You shall be forsaken; it is a bitter thing to place our benefactor into the seat of judgment. We have earned trials, testing and difficulty; but for the sake of Your people, who still cling to Your Name, raise up deliverers to set us back on the right course.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 334 Blind Hatred

2011-05-04T06:32:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 334 Jonah 4:5-11 Blind Hatred

So Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and he made a booth there for himself. He sat there under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city.

And the Lord God prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil situation. So Jonah was exceedingly glad [to have the protection] of the gourd. But God prepared a cutworm when the morning dawned the next day, and it smote the gourd so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he fainted and wished in himself to die and said, It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the loss of the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die! Then said the Lord, You have had pity on the gourd, for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons not [yet old enough to] know their right hand from their left, and also many cattle [not accountable for sin]?

The Author of Life has a different perspective than we creatures have for one another. It is a good thing that automobiles are not equipped with machine guns and death rays (especially near Christmas): road rage reduces other people into mere obstacles. It is a good thing that our powers are limited: if a thought could kill, how much blood would be on your hands? (We might have had this kind of power before the fall! Who knows?) Paul said that in God “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). God is intimate with all living things, whether they are conscious of Him or not, whether they accept Him or not: because He animates all things. I have heard many people frustrated with the situation in Iraq and Iran say things like, “Nuke ‘em and let God sort it out.” They forget that in these Muslim countries exist small, heavily persecuted populations of Christians. There are many more potential Christians; both those disenchanted with the shallow scathing dogma and those who find no relief or comfort in the Koran for their soul. Then there are millions of children…

Dear God,

David asked, “Do I not hate those who hate you?” (Psalm 139:21) It was even said of our Lord Jesus, “Zeal for Your House hath eaten me up” (John 2:17). But when James and John wanted to call fire from Heaven down upon a town that rejected their teaching, Jesus rebuked them

Saying, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of” (Luke 9:55). Lord God, help us to bridle our passion, to control our anger, to arrest the hatred that wells up to blacken our hearts. Give us spiritual eyes, for our earthly context does not give us the perspective we need, to see things Your way. Paul spoke of showing us “a more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31), help us to be known as a loving people. You alone are worthy and capable to judge and to condemn: may we leave those things in Your hands, and love others, even our enemies, as You commanded.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 333 Roots of Hostility

2011-05-03T06:50:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 333 Jonah 3:10-4:4 Roots of Hostility

10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God revoked His [sentence of] evil that He had said that He would do to them and He did not do it [for He was comforted and eased concerning them].

1-4 BUT IT displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, I pray You, O Lord, is not this just what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and [when sinners turn to You and meet Your conditions] You revoke the [sentence of] evil against them. Therefore now, O Lord, I beseech You, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Then said the Lord, Do you do well to be angry?

What makes you angry? What kinds of people push your hot button? Who do you want to see suffering in Hell? Behind those strong sentiments is secret shame; of all the people we mislead, at the very front of the line is our self-deception. If you are rabidly homophobic, then, to some degree, you are secretly attracted to the same sex and are ashamed of it. If you hate lazy people, you are really acknowledging that you despise your own lazy tendencies even though you cover them with the fig leaf of a workaholic. Our psyche can hardly bear a clear and undistorted view of our own soul: how selfish, how petty, how utterly depraved we are at our core: it is so repugnant that a healthy mind tries to shield itself from the truth. The temptations and sin men and women suffer from “are common to all” humanity (1 Corinthians 10:13). Jonah could delude himself into thinking he was a righteous and upright person, but God saw right through him. God was not out just to save the people of Nineveh, but to save Jonah! Jonah was dead in his trespasses and sin; God used the people of Nineveh to expose his racial hatred and calloused heart. Jonah wanted God to nuke them, oblivious to the fact that he was just as worthy of damnation (a person of God’s chosen people or not, individually he was a retched sinner). Never begrudge another of God’s mercy; for with the measure you use, it will be dealt out to you (Matthew 7:2). Look into the mirror and thank God for His mercy. You needed it as much as any other.

Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth…

Dear God,

I praise and thank You for Your mercy! Help me to not judge others; remind me, that ‘but for the grace of God, go I.’ If I become emotionally out of control, and my contempt, anger and hate well up; expose the root of it, remind me of my depravity, and bring cleansing. Impart humility. Help me to be gentle with myself and others, forgiving and accepting without compromising on sin and righteousness. May our repentance and redemption glorify Your holy name.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 332 The Burden of the Yoke

2011-05-02T06:36:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 332 Jonah 2:10, 3:1-10 The Burden of the Yoke

2:10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

3:1-10 AND THE word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach and cry out to it the preaching that I tell you. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city of three days' journey [sixty miles in circumference]. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown! So the people of Nineveh believed in God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came to the king of Nineveh [of all that had happened to Jonah, and his terrifying message from God], and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe aside, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh, By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed nor drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell, God may turn and revoke His sentence against us [when we have met His terms], and turn away from His fierce anger so that we perish not. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God revoked His [sentence of] evil that He had said that He would do to them and He did not do it [for He was comforted and eased concerning them].

God often sends us where we do not want to go, to minister to people that we do not like. If we forget who we are serving we will try to tailor our ministry to suit our personal taste and prejudices: but true ministry is ordained of God, and He sends us where we will. Jonah had a strong cultural bias against the people of Nineveh; but God had compassion on them and brought about a great revival. God, of course, knew that they worshipped a ‘fish god’; and that they would take seriously a man coming out of a great fish’s mouth warning of the judgment to come! Jesus’ yoke is easy; we make it hard when we judge people as being unworthy of the Gospel.

Dear God,

Help me not to be like the Clansmen who misuse Your Bible, vainly believing that You share their prejudices! Purge my heart of racial bias and animosity. Free me from only wanting to witness to ‘nice people’; the truly rotten dredge of humanity need You the most. May I not think that I am too good for Your work, too conceited for Your specific calling, too particular to condescend to any retched soul in need. God forbid! Transform my thinking, and give me a heart of compassion for the objects of Your mercy. Make me faithful to Your calling to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ. ANY mission that is from You is good enough for me!

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 331 A Taste of Hell

2011-05-01T10:04:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 331 Jonah 2:1-7 A Taste of Hell

THEN JONAH prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly, and said, I cried out of my distress to the Lord, and He heard me; out of the belly of Sheol cried I, and You heard my voice. For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your waves and Your billows passed over me. Then I said, I have been cast out of Your presence and Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to [the extinction of] life; the abyss surrounded me, the seaweed was wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms and the very roots of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever. Yet You have brought up my life from the pit and corruption, O Lord my God.

When my soul fainted upon me [crushing me], I earnestly and seriously remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple.

What does it take to get our attention? Must we bask for three days in the digestive juices of a sea monster until we acknowledge God? In my life I had a great breach of faith when I was eighteen; though I loved God as a child, as a teenager I rebelled against His authority and tried to convince myself that there was no God. For seven years I languished, even trying to return on my own, but I was just going through the motions. My first Jonah experience was in the Army. Basic training stripped me of my family, friends, possessions, clothing, hair: my identity. The rigors I went through, out of shape and seven years older than most everyone else in my platoon, broke my arrogance and self-reliance as I repeatedly failed to keep up with my peers physically. The drill sergeants loved to abuse ‘college boy’, as they called me. God was all I had to get me through it. He was my lifeline.

More than a decade later, I again became arrogant and self-reliant and rebelled against His authority. This time my Jonah experience was a mental breakdown. It is bad enough to have a propensity for learning things the hard way, but even worse to have to learn and experience things twice. When you rely upon things to prop yourself up, and lust usurps your highest love for God, (and you belong to Him), He will clean house for you if you do not do it for yourself! Sometimes I cried out to God to just leave me alone; but that would have destined me for an eternal hell. Praise God for loving us enough to give us a brief taste of hell to redirect the course of our lives to a better end!

Dear God,

Thank You for loving me and being faithful to discipline me when I stray. I realize now that I did not come to You out of my own goodness (I have none apart from You); You drew me, You pursued me, You conquered my stubborn, self-destructive soul. I cannot believe You thought this was worth while; but I shudder from the terror of knowing the fate I deserved! I will praise You for all eternity; there are no shortage of reasons. My life is testimony of Your mercy. Thank You for loving me so much!

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 330 How to be Miserable at Church

2011-04-30T07:33:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 330 3 John 1:9-11 How to be Miserable at Church

I have written briefly to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to take the lead among them and put himself first, does not acknowledge my authority and refuses to accept my suggestions or to listen to me. So when I arrive, I will call attention to what he is doing, his boiling over and casting malicious reflections upon us with insinuating language. And not satisfied with that, he refuses to receive and welcome the [missionary] brethren himself, and also interferes with and forbids those who would welcome them, and tries to expel (excommunicate) them from the church.

Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen (discerned or experienced) God [has enjoyed no vision of Him and does not know Him at all].

The formula is simple: put yourself first, diminish the contribution of others and reject authority.

Dear God,

Why do so many people choose misery over joy at Church? Has Satan so twisted our wits that we know not what we do as we add to Christ’s (and our own) suffering? We are called to be child-like in faith and adult in intelligence; and by nature we get it reversed. Please help us even though we should know better. You have given us the power to change our minds; help us to properly utilize this gift so that we may share in abundant life and not be miserable at church.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 329 Hi-Fi Church

2011-04-29T06:03:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 329 3 John 1:4-8 Hi-Fi Church

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers. In fact, I greatly rejoiced when [some of] the brethren from time to time arrived and spoke [so highly] of the sincerity and fidelity of your life, as indeed you do live in the Truth [the whole Gospel presents]. I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my [spiritual] children are living their lives in the Truth. Beloved, it is a fine and faithful work that you are doing when you give any service to the [Christian] brethren, and [especially when they are] strangers. They have testified before the church of your love and friendship. You will do well to forward them on their journey [and you will please do so] in a way worthy of God's [service].

For these [traveling missionaries] have gone out for the Name's sake (for His sake) and are accepting nothing from the Gentiles (the heathen, the non-Israelites). So we ourselves ought to support such people [to welcome and provide for them], in order that we may be fellow workers in the Truth (the whole Gospel) and cooperate with its teachers.

High-fidelity audio equipment faithfully reproduces sounds from the master recording, without adding distortion or noise. The amplifiers in a hi-fi instrument run at about half their potential gain; because as they near their max their quality breaks down, much like a soloist exceeding her vocal range. Hi-Fi circuits are designed with a lot of restraint: balance and tone filtering on the inputs and outputs, moderation in the gain, distribution of the workload between successive stages rather than overloading any given section. A genuine hi-fi instrument commands a much higher price. Rip-off manufacturers will copy the basic scheme, but will delete as many components as they can get away with to reduce cost, not appreciating the subtle contribution made by every single element. A hi-fi church is a healthy, prosperous body, drawing its life from many selfless members keenly committed to The Church; to preserve its love, truth and purity.

Dear God,

What can I do for You, my Lord, considering all of Your benefit towards me? Heaven has a strange economy; hoarding and selfishness brings poverty; sacrifice and generosity makes one wealthy. The self-promotion that works in the World fails in Your kingdom. Train us to be good churchmen and churchwomen; hi-fi Christians content in our place of service. Thank You for letting all of us rejoice in and share in the success of Your Church.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 328 Modus Operandi

2011-04-28T06:46:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 328 Philemon 1:8,9 Modus Operandi

Therefore, though I have abundant boldness in Christ to charge you to do what is fitting and required and your duty to do, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you just for what I am--I, Paul, an ambassador [of Christ Jesus] and an old man and now a prisoner for His sake also—

Restated in another translation:

Philemon 1:8,9a (NIV) Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love…

Under the Old Covenant, religious authority was supreme, justice swift and transgression could be fatal. At the time of Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry, some people were disappointed that the Kingdom He was setting up was apolitical, separate from the state, voluntary and relational. The authority of the early Church was limited to disfellowship; if a person persisted in a transgression or heresy, and would not submit to church discipline, he/she became unwelcome, a social pariah, anathema (a formal ecclesiastical ban, curse, or excommunication; a vehement denunciation). The early Church did not practice stoning nor torture. Many centuries later, when such heavy measures were employed, they were later seen as an abuse of power and as an exercise of intolerance and ignorance. In free societies, a Church cannot hold and control people under power and threat; in societies that are not free, the Church should set the example and not lord it over the laity. Jesus established the basis for our fellowship beginning with the Apostles in his High Priestly prayer (John 15-17), which is the bond of love and unity as we abide in Him and He in us. He also established the test: if we love Him we will obey Him, and love one another.

In my personal experience, I have felt the legalism of rule-driven churches. I have briefly sat under the oppression of dictatorial pastors. In one church, prominent families competed for power and influence, tearing it apart. I have also visited a church where the deacons were in charge and the pastor had no power what so ever. These churches all lost their warm, inviting spirit due to the power struggles that consumed them. I could not bear the strife and dysfunction, having had my fill of that growing up. Christ did not will to set up a harsh and impersonal institution; the Church was to be an extension of His body and of His fellowship with His followers. Most of what I have experienced has fallen far short of His ideal with a few exceptions. For those that put something other than love first, that lack of love snuffed out their candle.

Dear God,

The Church is a living, growing organism with Christ as its head. Anything that grows has the potential to grow wrong, as parts of it sometimes have. Help people like me to not judge the whole Church by a bad church experience; not even by a dozen bad experiences. Bring healing and restoration to Your people. Help us to put love and grace at the forefront of how we do business in the Church. May we each love the Church as Jesus did, and be willing to give our lives for it; because that is Your vision: a glorious bride.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 327 Safety Net

2011-04-27T06:44:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 327 2 Samuel 22:37 Safety Net

You have enlarged my steps under me, so that my feet have not slipped.

We are all prone to missteps. I am most apt to stumble after a victory; on the heels of success I drop my guard, and let my euphoria run unbridled. But the bridle (discipline), and the yoke (submission to Christ) and the self-control (fruit of abiding in him) are what brought me to success in the first place. God knows that we are ill-equipped on our own to make perfect decisions. There is no way that we can see all of the eventual consequences that cascade from our choices. To make matters worse, our minds tend to shield us from ugly realities to preserve our egos, thus creating huge blind spots. Anyone who drives knows the danger blind spots present to changing lanes in heavy traffic. I only trust mirrors a little because they never show the whole picture. I ask my wife, “Is it safe to change lanes?” God enlarges our life-changing steps under us by giving us the Church, Christian accountability and His Holy Spirit to check our moves and to sustain us on uncertain ground.

Dear God,

Your Word is full of principles that preserve life and righteousness. When the way is foggy, or if events transpire faster than I can grapple with them, and for the dangers I cannot see: please make up the difference and enlarge my steps under me so that I do not slip. When my own willful disobedience leads me astray, discipline and forgive me; and restore this man to Your path. Help me to see the minor errors as a ‘short lapse in progress’, and for Christ’s sake keep me from major ones.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 326 Charity in the Wilderness

2011-04-26T07:16:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 326 2 Samuel 17:27-29 Charity in the Wilderness

[King David and a small contingent fled for their lives pursued by his murderous son Absalom.]

When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash of Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, parched [pulse--seeds of peas and beans], honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of cows for David and the people with him to eat; for they said, The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.

Years before, when David was in sin and rebellion, God sent Nathan the Prophet to challenge him about his sin and lead him to repentance. God forgave David, but the consequences of his actions remained to haunt his life. One such consequence was that ‘the sword shall never depart from his house.’ Now, about six years later, note that Nathan, the man of God, did not return to say, “I told you so!” like some kind of rabid zealot. There was a godless man (Shimei) who followed and tormented David by throwing stones and dust at him from a ridge line. We Christians are often tempted to state the obvious and point out how a person’s sins have brought on their dire consequences; but people already know this in their heart, God has a better role for us to play. A person who is harassed, weary and fatigued in the wilderness is suffering enough already. God sent David what he needed, which was charity, grace and provision. Let life preach its bitter lessons; but may God’s people show mercy, compassion, and outrageous grace to those in need.

Dear God,

Please impart wisdom to Your people. The little ‘knowledge’ we have inclines us to show it off by throwing stones as self-appointed agents of justice; but there is a deeper wisdom in dispensing grace. Teach us how to be more like Jesus; give us an appropriate message. I tend to extremes, to either dispense empty pabulum or sharp condemnation: help me to arrive at a healthy balance, a winsome message, a compelling witness. May my words be like a healing balm to a wounded soul.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 325 Faithful Unto Death

2011-04-25T07:30:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 325 2 Samuel 15:13,14,18-21 Faithful Unto Death

[Absalom rewarded his father’s mercy with orchestrating a bloody coup d’etat.]

13,14 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom. David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise and let us flee, or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil upon us and smite the city with the sword.

18-21 All David's servants passed on beside him, along with [his bodyguards] all the Cherethites, Pelethites; also all the Gittites, 600 men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. The king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you go with us also? Return to your place and remain with the king [Absalom], for you are a foreigner and an exile. Since you came only yesterday, should I make you go up and down with us? Since I must go where I may, you return, and take back your brethren with you. May loving-kindness and faithfulness be with you.

But Ittai answered the king, As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or life, even there also will your servant be.

One of my favorite movies about death is “What Dreams may Come” starring Robin Williams. In the course of the movie, his wife is overcome with sorrow at the loss of her entire family and commits suicide, plunging her into a hell of her own creation. Robin is warned not to try to rescue her, that she can neither see nor hear him, and that if he lingers her hell will become his hell also; but he won’t abandon his mate. He tries to talk her into leaving the shadows, but she does not budge. He begins to loose his view of heaven, and her hell replaces his reality. But his act of ultimate self-sacrifice brings a glimmer of light into her soul, reviving her, and she pulls them both out of her hell. That is fiction; but the reality is that Jesus took upon Himself the entire brunt of God’s wrath toward us, and He descended into Hell to rescue us from that fate.

Psalm 16:10 For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one [Holy One] to see corruption.

Ephesians 4:8-10 Therefore it is said, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [He led a train of vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men. [But He ascended?] Now what can this, He ascended, mean but that He had previously descended from [the heights of] heaven into [the depths], the lower parts of the earth? He Who descended is the [very] same as He Who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest).

1 Peter 3:19-20 For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit, in which He went and preached to the spirits in prison, [The souls of those] who long before in the days of Noah had been disobedient, when God's patience waited during the building of the ark in which a few [people], actually eight in number, were saved through water.

Dear God,

Jesus has done it all! He tasted the bitterness of death so that I would not have to. He brought me from death unto life. What a faithful friend! He endures the anguish of the cross, and of hell to save me from the punishment I justly deserved. Help Your people to really know what they were saved from and what Jesus has really done for them so that they might overflow with praise and thanksgiving. And may we, by Your holy influence, reciprocate the loyalty and faithfulness, even unto death. Make us faithful witnesses of this salvation.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 324 Justice is Blind, But Mercy can See

2011-04-24T04:19:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 324 2 Samuel 14 Justice is Blind, But Mercy can See

Absalom, one of David’s sons, was in exile, having fled to another country after he killed another of the king’s sons (from a different mother), Amnon, for raping his sister Tamar. While David grieved over the loss of Amnon, he also grieved over his estranged Absalom for three years.

1-8 NOW JOAB son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart was toward Absalom. And Joab sent to Tekoah and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, Pretend to be a mourner; put on mourning apparel, do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has long been mourning for the dead. And go to the king and speak thus to him. And Joab told her what to say.

When the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king! The king asked her, What troubles you? She said, I am a widow; my husband is dead. And your handmaid had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

And behold, our whole family has risen against your handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who slew his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew; and so they would destroy the heir also. And so quenching my coal which is left, they would leave to my husband neither name nor remnant upon the earth. David said to the woman, Go home, and I will give orders concerning you.

13,14 [She] said, Why then have you planned such a thing against God's people? For in speaking this word the king is like one who is guilty, in that [he] does not bring home his banished one.

We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. And God does not take away life, but devises means so that he who is banished may not be an utter outcast from Him.

We have all broken the Law of God, and justly deserve to die for our sins. Justice is blindfolded, and makes no exceptions. If you have lied, stolen (irrespective of the value of the thing), murdered (even hated), disrespected your parents, failed to keep the Sabbath, have put anything above your esteem of and commitment to God, if you have strongly desired and envied your neighbor’s possessions, then you are guilty as a law-breaker. If you die in your sins you can look forward to judgment and eternal damnation. Contemplate appearing before a Holy God and seeing all of your supposed ‘good works’ burn up like so much trash in His radiant presence. The whole human race deserves to die, eternally banished from the Father! But our Heavenly Father did not want the ember of humanity to be utterly snuffed out, and worked out a long-shot salvation whereby a remnant of mankind could be saved. He has devised the means to bring us back to Himself through Jesus Christ, through the substitutionary death on a cross of a sinless sacrifice. But for this to make any difference in your outcome, you must appropriate it through faith and receive Jesus as your lifeline. You are either in Christ (under mercy), or under judgment. And if you are really in Christ, you stay in Christ and obey Him as Lord.

Hebrews 2:3,4 How shall we escape [appropriate retribution] if we neglect and refuse to pay attention to such a great salvation [as is now offered to us, letting it drift past us forever]? For it was declared at first by the Lord [Himself], and it was confirmed to us and proved to be real and genuine by those who personally heard [Him speak]. [Besides this evidence] it was also established and plainly endorsed by God, Who showed His approval of it by signs and wonders and various miraculous manifestations of [His] power and by imparting the gifts of the Holy Spirit [to the believers] according to His own will.

Dear God,

Every man thinks he wants ‘justice’ until he understands the implications and the consequences of his own sin. Justice terrifies me! I have no defense apart from my Lord Jesus Christ. The evidence is stacked against me, I have no alibi, the jury calls for my blood. When I am on trial for murder, You are the attorney I crave. You are in fact Judge, Jury and Defense Attorney; unless I am foolish enough to represent my self; then I’m doomed! I rest my case in Your hands.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 323 When Does Sin Begin?

2011-04-23T08:01:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 323 2 Samuel 11:1-6 When Does Sin Begin?

IN THE spring, when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab with his servants and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites [country] and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

One evening David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, when from there he saw a woman bathing; and she was very lovely to behold. David sent and inquired about the woman. One said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her. And she came in to him, and he lay with her--for she was purified from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house. And the woman became pregnant and sent and told David, I am with child. David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. So Joab sent [him] Uriah.

When did sin begin in this story? You cannot say when he saw Bathsheba naked; because in Hebrews 4:15 is says concerning Jesus Christ that He has been tempted in every way, just as we are---yet without sin. The Apostle James probes the process of temptation maturing to sin:

James 1:12-15 Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor's] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one. But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death.

The reason that temptation in and of itself is not sin for the one being tempted, is that it is a purely external phenomenon. What makes temptation perilous to us is that we carry something within that was foreign to Christ, that is, evil desires. Due to the sin curse, they are ever present, though generally suppressed. Temptation in harmony with our evil desires defeats us as easily as a master key in a lock. God is all about righteousness. He wants us to succeed. He tempts no one; but He does test His workmanship in our lives by permitting us to be tempted and tried. It is so important to resolve your moral commitments ahead of time when your mind is lucid, rather than waiting until a temptation comes and your reasoning is eroding like a breach in a levy. David was at his best when he struggled against the odds, when he was pursued by Saul, when his life was full of troubles because those troubles motivated him to depend on God and to earnestly seek Him and to spend much time in prayer. David failed the test that most people fail; to be godly in good times, in easy days, in idleness. It is when we are alone and without pressure or accountability that some of our worst character flaws become apparent.

Dear God,

Could it be that my way is hard, and I am often pressed to the limit because You know how unrighteous I would be if life were easy? The thought puts me to shame! If my ‘righteousness’ depends upon being made too busy to have the time and energy to err then how shallow my purity is indeed. Apart from You I am an unfaithful man, a wretched sinner. But please help me to never again be defined in isolation from You; it is You in me that makes all of the difference, Your Holy Spirit makes me better than I am. May I resolve to do what is right from the start, to not contemplate any alternatives, to even act unworthily in my imagination. When idle moments linger, may I initiate constructive activity that promotes my holiness and Your kingdom’s growth.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 322 Play the Man

2011-04-22T07:47:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 322 2 Samuel 10:9-13 Play the Man

When Joab saw that the battlefront was against him before and behind, he picked some of all the choice men of Israel and put them in array against the Syrians. The rest of the men Joab gave over to Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the Ammonites. Joab said, If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you. Be of good courage; let us play the man for our people and the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what seems good to Him. And Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.

Perhaps Joab’s brother Abishai was younger, less experienced and more fearful than Joab; or perhaps, being brothers, they knew each other well, that much of their bravado was hot air, a bluff. They were up against a union of two enemy nations, out gunned and out numbered, the situation was desperate. Were Rambo for real, he would have been afraid. But look at what Joab says to rally himself and his brother, “Let us play the man.” Many times a man does not feel like a man, that he measures up, that he has got what it takes to face a hostile world. Many women similarly do not feel feminine, and new mothers sometimes do not feel paternal, inclining them to disavow those roles. But the answer to not feeling your God-given role is not rebellion but faith. The first step in achieving the mantle of your role is to play the role, in spite of your feelings, trusting God to overcome your deficiencies with His sufficiency. Acting the role is an expression of faith. Through the travail of pressing through the challenges to your person God mysteriously solidifies your identity. Men who do not feel like men do not have the option of becoming women; and women who do not feel like women do not have the option of becoming men. We are told to resist even the most formidable enemy of our souls, Satan. In James 4:7 it says to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” You may not feel like a spiritual warrior; but feeling is not the prerequisite. Just prior to the admonition in James to resist the devil is the true prerequisite of success, “Submit yourselves then to God…” God has called us to specific roles; let us play the role that we are called to and let the feelings come in time.

Dear God,

Sometimes I need to play the mature adult when I engage my children; to play the disciplined student when the outdoors look so inviting; to play the dedicated husband when I’d rather be served. Help me to accept the role and script that You have called me to. For a long time I thought ‘playing the role’ was false, it troubled me; but I did not realize that playing roles is a part of learning proper behavior, a part of growing into them, the pathway to maturity. By Your power and presence in my life, I wont always be playing, no, the role will become reality as I become fully committed to doing things Your way and being the person You created me to be. Help me to ‘play the man’, the faithful man of God, and to master the part.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 321 Unfailing, Unsought, Unlimited Mercy!

2011-04-21T06:45:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 321 2 Samuel 9:1-11 Unfailing, Unsought, Unlimited Mercy!

AND DAVID said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan's sake? And of the house of Saul there was a servant whose name was Ziba. When they had called him to David, he said to him, Are you Ziba? He said, I, your servant, am he.

The king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the [unfailing, unsought, unlimited] mercy and kindness of God? Ziba replied, Jonathan has yet a son who is lame in his feet. And the king said, Where is he? Ziba replied, He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar. Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel at Lo-debar. And Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, Mephibosheth! And he answered, Behold your servant! David said to him, Fear not, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father [grandfather], and you shall eat at my table always. And [the cripple] bowed himself and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I am?

The lameness of some is readily apparent to all. Wheel chairs, ramps, lifts, handicapped toilets make it clear that our population has people who cannot walk. An enlightened society does its best to respect the dignity of the disadvantaged, to protect their ego. But in the spiritual dimension, we all are lame in some way. None of us can walk upright before a Holy God. We need charity, a helping hand, the mercy of others. The psychology of human nature is wired to deny this reality; and to protect our own ego; we deceive ourselves and others pretending to be whole. But for a few blessed individuals, God breaks through the façade and makes us come to grips with our spiritual immobility. I have cried out to God in anguish just like Mephibosheth, “I am a dead dog, Lord!”

9-11 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, I have given your master's son [grandson] all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. And you shall till the land for him, you, your sons, and your servants, and you shall bring in the produce, that your master's heir may have food to eat; but Mephibosheth, your master's son [grandson], shall eat always at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, Your servant will do according to all my lord the king commands. So Mephibosheth ate at David's table as one of the king's sons.

In order to receive true life you have to give up the false ‘life’ and consider it dead (to see it as God sees it). We have nothing to give God but our retched, needy selves. But our Heavenly Father receives us as sons and daughters, as princes of His Kingdom, we become royalty! Is a little dignity and pride too much to give up to receive eternal blessedness?

Dear God,

I am astounded and all so grateful for Your unfailing, unsought and unlimited mercy! As good as King David was to Jonathan’s son, Your mercy surpasses that of any man: no one can out grace You! It was so hard to face the reality of my own miserable estate, my helplessness and my depravity; I hid from You, ashamed that I needed so much and had nothing to give but the wreck of my life. Good and holy and merciful is the Lord God Almighty! You sought me out, and brought me into Your presence and pronounced healing and eternal blessedness upon this man. You are worthy of all praise. My life is Your’s. May my expressions of thanks and gratitude carry into all eternity.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 320 Your Word is Law

2011-04-20T06:32:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 320 2 Samuel 7:18-20 Your Word is Law

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? Then as if this were a little thing in Your eyes, O Lord God, You have spoken also of Your servant's house in the far distant future. And this is the law for man, O Lord God! What more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord God.

God’s Word is Law for man. If you could take everything mankind has spoken, composed and written one could not distil one atom of original substance from it all. God is spirit, and He spoke the material universe into existence. How keenly we should listen when God speaks! How highly we should treasure His promises to us. As a man, I have learned to be very sparing and extremely reserved in what I promise due to my limited ability to deliver; in spite of my best intentions my ‘promises’ almost always make a liar out of me. But God is not a man. And God knows who and what we are, and has committed words of grace to us anyhow.

Dear God,

I do not live by bread alone (by mere material things); but by EVERY word that proceeds from Your mouth. Your Word is life to me. From Your lips I hear FORGIVENESS, REDEMPTION, REGENERATION and SALVATION. Your Word has the power to transform me. Please call me FAITHFUL, TRUE, HOLY, RIGHTEOUS, PRECIOUS, FRIEND. You have spoken of the life we will share forever; keep speaking, Lord, Your servant listens intently. May not one word from You fall to the ground; may my heart ponder and treasure them all as apples of gold.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 319 Astounding Reciprocated Love

2011-04-19T05:52:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 319 2 Samuel 7 Astounding Reciprocated Love

1-13 WHEN KING David dwelt in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you. That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, go and tell My servant David, Thus says the Lord: Shall you build Me a house in which to dwell? For I have not dwelt in a house since I brought the Israelites out of Egypt to this day, but have moved about with a tent for My dwelling. In all the places where I have moved with all the Israelites, did I speak a word to any from the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to be shepherd of My people Israel, asking, Why do you not build Me a house of cedar? So now say this to My servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over My people Israel. And I was with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like [that] of the great men of the earth. And I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and be moved no more. And wicked men shall afflict them no more, as formerly and as from the time that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord declares to you that He will make for you a house: And when your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up after you your offspring who shall be born to you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My Name [and My Presence], and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?

David loved God, and wanted better for his God than he had for himself. But as David expressed his love and commitment for God to build Him a house; God reciprocated that love and promised David an eternal home. This world so well knows the pain of unreciprocated love that we instinctively hold back. But God is nothing like those of this world! He will not leave our love for Him unanswered! When we esteem Him, He esteems us more. When we bless Him, He heaps more blessings upon us. We cannot out give or out grace or out love God. We have so little to give; but when we sacrifice our ‘widows mite’; God gives us the deed to the planet! Distorted Health and Wealth teachings would have us give to get; God can easily see through impure motives. But loving God for God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, for His divine attributes, for giving us life, and a hope and a an eternal promise of divine intimacy will open wide the windows of Heaven because of His great love for us. God Himself is our inheritance; being united to Him is our great reward.

Dear God,

My love is the key to Your heart. Pure love does not manipulate, coerce, or diminish the object of its affections. Please continue to transform this man to be willing and able to love You purely. There is a fountain of living water bound up within me; un-dam it. There is a burning passion that no firewall can resist; kindle that unrestrainable love in me for You. I will sacrifice my world for You, just to be with You. I will live a life of sacrifice before You in this one, so others will see my love and wonder about its object. Be jealous for my affection; demand my fidelity; answer my heart oh Lord my God.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 318 The Idolatry of 'Respectability'

2011-04-18T05:43:00.001-04:00

JMD Devotional 318 2 Samuel 6:14-16,20-23 The Idolatry of ‘Respectability’

14-16 And David danced before the Lord with all his might, clad in a linen ephod [a priest's upper garment]. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter [David's wife], looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

20-23 Then David returned to bless his household. And [his wife] Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who stripped himself of his kingly robes and uncovered himself in the eyes of his servants' maids as one of the worthless fellows shamelessly uncovers himself! David said to Michal, It was before the Lord, Who chose me above your father and all his house to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord. Therefore will I make merry [in pure enjoyment] before the Lord. I will be still more lightly esteemed than this, and will humble and lower myself in my own sight [and yours]. But by the maids you mentioned, I will be held in honor. And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

For years I sang praises to God with my hands in my pockets; though in my heart I wanted to raise them above my head. What held me back? The fear of man, conformity, idolatry. It is idolatry to esteem the opinion of mere men above worshipping God, to hold back to maintain one’s ‘respectability’. Holding back to preserve one’s ‘image’ is grasping a graven image indeed! It is foul! Reprehensible! Abdominal reasoning. We quench the Holy Spirit and then wonder why we lack joy.

Dear God,

Who am I trying to impress, who am I striving to please? Are white-washed tombs and dead men standing worthy of my subservience? Forgive my idolatry and iniquity; may nothing rival my love and dedication for You. Let me be an utter fool in their eyes for Christ’s sake. Unclog the fountain of joy. Holy Spirit, take control, have free reign, express Yourself in me. May my body as well as my mind engage in worship and praise; to the glory of God.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 317 Scattered Sheep

2011-04-17T09:32:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 317 Zechariah 13:7-9 Scattered Sheep

Awake, O sword, against My shepherd and against the man who is My associate, says the Lord of hosts; smite the shepherd and the sheep [of the flock] shall be scattered, and I will turn back My hand and stretch it out again upon the little ones [of the flock]. And in all the land, says the Lord, two-thirds shall be cut off and perish, but one-third shall be left alive. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.

Why would God strike His own ‘associate’, the Shepherd of His people? His striking the Shepherd ushered in a time of trial and testing, a season of suffering, chaos and turmoil. It had to be necessary for their purification, to rid them of idolatry, and for their maturity. During difficult times the weak and the false are weeded out; people show what they are really made of. Is our commitment to Christ strong enough to stay faithful to His teachings even when it seems that His representatives (our pastors) are struck down? Are we so used to being fed and led that we go astray and starve without a shepherd? Do we have lazy faith?

Matthew 26:31-35 Then Jesus said to them, You will all be offended and stumble and fall away because of Me this night [distrusting and deserting Me], for it is written, I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I am raised up [to life again], I will go ahead of you to Galilee. Peter declared to Him, Though they all are offended and stumble and fall away because of You [and distrust and desert You], I will never do so. Jesus said to him, Solemnly I declare to you, this very night, before a single rooster crows, you will deny and disown Me three times. Peter said to Him, Even if I must die with You, I will not deny or disown You! And all the disciples said the same thing.

We all say the same thing the Disciples said; but will our actions deny the reality of Christ in us? The truth comes out only when our status quo is turned upside down and the smooth road becomes rocky and the work of the Kingdom falls into our hands, because the Shepherd has been struck. He warned us of trials, tribulations and persecutions; He trained us to carry on His ministry; but we become so dependent upon others carrying the load that we do not know what to do when our time has come and our shepherd is struck down.

Dear God,

How I crave the easy way, the broad road, a smooth path: but broad is the way that leads to destruction! How uncomfortable is controversy, confrontation, and fighting for righteous causes…but Your Kingdom is not enlarged by ‘barrack rats’. The war is in the world; Your soldiers need to engage that world. I am beginning to understand that Satan would have us comfortable and isolated in the barracks; but You are a God of War, and we have a mission and an enemy and souls to rescue. If it takes shaking up our world to wake us up from our passive slumber, so be it, Lord. But fill us with Your Holy Spirit, and empower us for the challenge that we might pass the test and glorify Your name. Help us to see past the present pain to our glorious future with You in Paradise. Give us vision…

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 316 Follow My Example *(Asterisk)

2011-04-16T08:50:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 316 1 Corinthians 11:1-3 Follow My Example *(Asterisk)

PATTERN YOURSELVES after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah). I appreciate and commend you because you always remember me in everything and keep firm possession of the traditions (the substance of my instructions), just as I have [verbally] passed them on to you. But I want you to know and realize that Christ is the Head of every man, the head of a woman is her husband, and the Head of Christ is God.

As the early Church gained definition and structure, a hierarchy of leadership emerged by necessity to govern the body of believers and maintain the ‘flock’. But some would seek positions of Church leadership solely out of their lust for power. Others strived to make a name for themselves, and competed for the affection of congregations, even to the point of sabotaging the work of the Apostles. Some were sincere but misguided; a few were deliberate wolves in sheep’s clothing entering the Church with a covert agenda. One major characteristic of these wayward ‘leaders’ is that they inverted the Christ-centered focus and made it all about them instead. Such people forget where they came from, and their own propensity for folly, and have departed from dependence on God and carry out their works fueled solely from their own flesh and reasoning. Paul rightly acknowledged that even as an Apostle, he was a man under authority, and just a man. He gave a disclaimer: “follow my example AS I FOLLOW CHRIST.”

I would echo that and go so far as to say, “Don’t follow my example”:

-when I am out of step with the Holy Spirit

-when I get too full of myself

-when I act as my own authority

-when I am trying to please men rather than God

-when I am not ‘in Christ’ (in harmony, in sync, under authority, filled with the Spirit).

Only follow me as I follow Jesus Christ.

Dear God,

May I not be so arrogant as to be trying to compete with my Lord Jesus Christ! I have to be reminded that it is not all about me; You rightly share Your glory with no man. I so want to live a consistent witness; but this ‘work in progress’ stumbles a lot. If I pursue calling disciples to myself then I rob Christ---may God forbid such blind ambition! Help me to genuinely work to promote Your kingdom and glory rather than my own. Help me to accept being a man under authority, and to soberly respect the influence I have over others. I am depending on You to cultivate and empower godly conduct in my life as I seek to be Your good and faithful servant. The Universe is a safer place with You in charge.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 315 Passion for a Friend

2011-04-15T06:01:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 315 2 Samuel 1:25-27 Passion for a Friend

How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.

I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me. Your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. How have the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

King David was not ‘gay’, (as our culture likes to call it), he was God-fearing, a devout Jew, heterosexual. He was confident enough in his masculinity to express his passionate love for Saul’s son Jonathan. They loved each other in a way that the Bible honors. The Bible makes no apologies for the many times it condemns sexual activity between ‘friends’. The strongest word in the scriptures is used for that: “abomination!” But this love has nothing in common with what the world calls ‘love’ (lust, infatuation, sex, perversion). The Holy love of one brother to another, or one sister to another is to be highly praised and treasured! Rightly expressed love requires a solid foundation.

Storge: The Love of Parents (Family affection, touch, eye-contact, soothing voices, hugs. What you long for when you are homesick. This is what we should receive from our parents through out conception to adulthood. A sense of being valued, important, of belonging.)

Philia: The Love of Friends (Friendship, commaradery, acceptance by peers, a sense of belonging within a group of people that you are often with. School mates, chums, associates, co-workers.)

Eros: The Love of Pleasure (Romantic love, the love of the beautiful. {When broken, the desire to control and own; to possess the beautiful object.})

Agape: The Love of God (God's love. God does think I'm beautiful {I am His workmanship, after all.} God does desire to possess me.{He made me, all creation was and is His very own. But humanity is 'lost sheep.'})

We are supposed to experience all four of these in their fullness; and in the order that they are listed.

The key truth here is, if in our development we lacked one of these, particularly Storge (family love) we tend to overcompensate striving to fill that void with other love that was not intended to meet that need. We end up totally out of balance. I know that I lacked the family affection I needed; so I attempted to get more out of my (Philia) friendships than they could give--simple friendships broke under sexual pressures. This escalated to a pursuit of (Eros) just sexual gratification to fill both voids--a lack of friends and a lack of the sense of value and belonging I missed growing up. I had trouble believing in (Agape) God's love because I was so wounded and needy from my experiences with family and friends and sexual partners. Reparative therapy is a form of counseling that attempts to bring wholeness by repairing and replacing what was missing from our formative years.

“Sex is like the Kudzu Vine. Out of its proper place, it will grow and fill and choke out our whole garden.

As a parent, this is a striking point:

>If you touch your children right, they'll know when touch is not right.

>If you don't touch them, then any touch will do.

“If the culture makes no room for impure sexual activity it also creates ample room for wholesome displays of friendship and love between men” (and between women) (Quote-Clayton McLean).

Dear God,

For so much of my life I have recklessly gone about as a lonely, rabid, hungry beast starving for love. My neediness resulted in so much shame; I was too much for most people. There are still tender spots from all of the bruises I incurred from being pushed away with ten-foot poles. I have experienced so much abandonment, isolation and loneliness that I could not even love myself. Many took advantage of me. Even my early church experiences amplified my sense of being unloved; the human institution is as dysfunctional as any family. I praise and thank You, God, for giving me a new family in the Church that transcends buildings and denominations and geographic congregations, the one true universal family of God that I see by faith. We may be scattered in time and space; but we are united in You. And I thank You for my special friend (besides the duck) that demonstrated unconditional love and passionate friendship to me. He rescued me from the pit of Hell as I wallowed in my own wretchedness. No one else believed in me; all had written me off as lost. No one else had time for me. Lord Jesus, I see You clearly in my best friend, Bruce. I am so blessed. I am so loved.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 314 Share and Share Alike

2011-04-14T07:01:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 314 1 Samuel 30:18-25 Share and Share Alike

David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken and rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken; David recovered all. Also David captured all the flocks and herds [which the enemy had], and the people drove those animals before him and said, This is David's spoil. And David came to the 200 men who were so exhausted and faint that they could not follow [him] and had been left at the brook Besor [with the baggage]. They came to meet David and those with him, and when he came near to the men, he saluted them. Then all the wicked and base men who went with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will give them nothing of the spoil we have recovered, except that every man may lead away his wife and children and depart. David said, You shall not do so, my brethren, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and has delivered into our hands the troop that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as is the share of him who goes into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike. And from that day to this he made it a statute and ordinance for Israel.

We often fail the test of grace. We perceive ourselves as being kind and generous; but when inconvenienced by someone else’s needs, resentment wells up. We may have on a polite mask, but inwardly we judge and condemn the other person for not living with more wisdom, for not making provision, for not being as ‘strong’ as we are, for not carrying their own load. In those situations we fail the see the gift that God is setting before us: a chance to be like Him and extend grace, love and mercy that will adorn our brow for all eternity like golden crowns. We forget that everything we have is a gift from God. David extended grace because he knew that the battle was the Lord’s, and he appreciated the fact that these 200 men wore themselves out fighting an earlier battle for him. Someone had to watch the baggage and hold down the fort. Share and share alike will multiply God’s grace and blessings; there is more than enough to go around!

Dear God,

My first impulse is always pharisaical---please rewire me to be kind and loving; apt to serve without judgment. Only in Christ Jesus can I be that kind of person. In those situations may I put my ledger and accounting tools away; even turn off my teaching propensity for a moment and help me just demonstrate Your love for the individual as Your representative.

Amen

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Recovery Devotional 313 Don’t Reason with the Grieving

2011-04-13T05:50:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 313 1 Samuel 30:1-6 Don’t Reason with the Grieving

NOW WHEN David and his men came home to Ziklag on the third day, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid on the South (the Negeb) and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken the women and all who were there, both great and small, captive. They killed no one, but carried them off and went on their way. So David and his men came to the town, and behold, it was burned, and their wives and sons and daughters were taken captive. Then David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Tragedy and crisis bring out primal, unreasoned responses from people. The shock of a sudden loss can provoke a person to utter awful things, to lash out at anyone close, even to blaspheme God: some experiences are just too much for the brain to handle in real time. I have seen a lot of loss and have been to too many funerals; one thing it has taught me is that reason has to take a vacation so people can fully express their grief and reel about in the flood of emotion to slowly reconcile themselves to an altered reality. We grew up thinking a loved one would always be there, that professions, homes and status were stable, that life was predictable: but none of those are true. David did the right thing; he did not confront the people saying he ought to be stoned, he withdrew and let them grieve, he did not defend himself or try to reason with grieving souls; he drew close to the one unchanging entity in the Universe and found his solace there. He entrusted himself to God.

Dear God,

I laugh at the thought of being the captain of my own soul, the master of my own destiny; yet I find that my reflexes take me to self-reliance when I really need to lean on You. I am better at choosing a course of action after the fact than in real time; my brain gets flustered in the face of a crisis. Help me navigate through the unexpected. Plot complications remind me that I am not in charge. Jesus promised us temporary trouble in John 16:33, but gave us eternal hope. Help me to be compassionate with others who grieve, and to be sensitive to their loss and understanding of the grieving process.

Amen

John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 312 Playing the Fool

2011-04-12T06:18:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 312 1 Samuel 26:17-24 Playing the Fool

[In another encounter between Saul’s army in hot pursuit of David and his men, we have a seeming ‘golden opportunity’ for David to avenge himself. Saul’s whole army is sound asleep! David and a servant just walk in, and David takes the spear and water bottle laying besides Saul’s head. They then climb to another ridge line and call out to wake up Saul.]

And Saul knew David's voice and said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, My voice, my lord O king! And David said, Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? What have I done? Or what evil is in my hand [tonight]? Now therefore, I pray you, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods. Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord; for the king of Israel is come out to seek one flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains. Then said Saul, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly. David answered, See the king's spear! Let one of the young men come and get it. The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed. And behold, as your life was precious today in my sight, so let my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation.

Saul in his shock and surprise blurted out something too true; “I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly!” Wakened suddenly, he did not have time to put his mask on; caught off guard, he forgot about his posture: he was real for a moment. His own words probably embarrassed himself when he realized all ears around him heard his frank confession. It is almost always folly for a politician to speak off the cuff, to go unrehearsed, to engage the media in real time: because the truth comes out. But the real folly is to pursue a course of action that is contrary to one’s core beliefs. For Saul, it was the pragmatic course of holding onto power and position that God was taking from him. What greater folly is there than to fight God? It was not that Saul quit believing in God; but that he put other interests ahead of his spiritual life; he compartmentalized religion into one corner; and his professional life into another. Any time we move out from under God to under anything else; we play the fool and err exceedingly.

Dear God,

Human beings are expert at self-deception! Like a child playing with power tools, we use the little wisdom we have to justify rebellion. Our self-inflicted pain must be miserable to watch. Thank You for the lucid moments, the epiphany that opens our eyes to our own folly. Please do not let the light of those moments of sanity fade out; help us to abandon independent living in favor of Your rule over every area of our lives. May our obedience be taken for outstanding wisdom and may all the good that results bring glory and honor to God.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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Recovery Devotional 311 Right Behavior in an Unfortunate Marriage

2011-04-11T05:40:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 311 1 Samuel 25 Right Behavior in an Unfortunate Marriage

[Nabal was rough and evil in his dealings. When David’s army was camped near Nabal’s flocks, David’s men provided security and protection. David sent a few men to Nabal asking for some provisions (which he had in abundance), and Nabal mocked and insulted them. This must have been his pattern of dealing in the community, because his name came to mean “foolish, wicked”.]

12,13 So David's young men turned away, and came and told him all that was said. And David said to his men, Every man gird on his sword. And they did so, and David also girded on his sword; and there went up after David about 400 men, and 200 remained with the baggage.

14-17 But one of Nabal's young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed at them. But David's men were very good to us, and we were not harmed, nor did we miss anything as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields. They were a wall to us night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. So know this and consider what you will do, for evil is determined against our master and all his house. For he is such a wicked man that one cannot speak to him.

18-20 Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five measures of parched grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. And she said to her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal. As she rode on her donkey, she came down hidden by the mountain, and behold, David and his men came down opposite her, and she met them.

21-22 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good. May God do so, and more also, to David if I leave of all who belong to him one male alive by morning.

23-28 When Abigail saw David, she hastened and lighted off the donkey, and fell before David on her face and did obeisance. Kneeling at his feet she said, Upon me alone let this guilt be, my lord. And let your handmaid, I pray you, speak in your presence, and hear the words of your handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray you, regard this foolish and wicked fellow Nabal, for as his name is, so is he--Nabal [foolish, wicked] is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see my lord's young men whom you sent. So now, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, seeing that the Lord has prevented you from bloodguiltiness and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. And now this gift, which your handmaid has brought my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. Forgive, I pray you, the trespass of your handmaid, for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the Lord's battles, and evil has not been found in you all your days.

(I cannot improve upon this printed commentary, here it is verbatim):

Whenever God's inspired Word says "[earnestly] remember," one is certain to miss something if he does not stop, look, and really listen to what the Holy Spirit is wanting to tell him--or her. "[Earnestly] remember" Abigail, the woman whom God has specifically held up as a pattern of right behavior in an unfortunate marriage. Here a dozen vital questions are answered through Abigail's example. She could not have known that thousands of years later people in similar circumstances would become "more than conquerors" because of her, but God knew. Study her until you know her God-given secrets of success; then pass them on to the people who are letting an unfortunate marriage wreck them rather than sanctify them for service. F.B. Meyer (Through the Bible Day by Day) said, "Never let the evil disposition of one mate hinder the devotion and grace of the other. Never let the difficulties of your home lead you to abdicate your throne. Do not step down to the level of your circumstances, but lift them to your own high calling in Christ. 'Be not conformed... but be ye transformed' (Rom. 12:1, 2 KJV)."

Dear God,

In times past, before my breakdown, I was evil to others for no reason other than the bitterness of my own soul. Sometimes I was difficult and unapproachable just to give out the cards I was dealt. Forgive me for having had such a wicked spirit! I was so sure of my own righteousness while I was being harsh and judgmental. I had the delusion that You were drawn to me due to some virtue of my own: I now know that You called me in my utter depravity. How can You be so gracious to retched men? How can You love a sinner enough to die in His place? In our family diplomacy my wife was an Abigail and I was a Nabal. Oh God, transform me! Dredge out the muck that keeps my channels of grace stopped up; purge my soul of evil and selfishness. Through Your good presence in my life may my heart beat in resonance with Your unapproachable virtue. And thank You for giving me an Abigail.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 310 Opportunity is Not License

2011-04-10T08:36:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 310 1 Samuel 24:1-6 Opportunity is Not License

WHEN SAUL returned from following the Philistines, he was told, Behold, David is in the Wilderness of En-gedi. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men among the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the cave's innermost recesses. David's men said to him, Behold the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hands and you shall do to him as seems good to you. Then David arose [in the darkness] and stealthily cut off the skirt of Saul's robe.

Afterward, David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt. He said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this to my master, the Lord's anointed, to put my hand out against him, when he is the anointed of the Lord.

Many people tend to interpret opportunity as some kind of sign. The childhood superstition that every situation either represents God’s approval or disapproval manifests itself in the assumption of a ‘go ahead’ where He may be silent. Many Christians like to navigate through life looking for open and closed doorways, as if God were our door attendant, and the brain He gave us was carry-on baggage for a passive passage through life. I believe that most ‘opportunities’ are actually tests: a test of your integrity, searching out the basis of your choices, measuring your priorities, forcing you to manifest your underlying beliefs. David’s men were wrong! Fortunately, before David bloodied his hands the Holy Spirit convicted his heart to not attack the Lord’s anointed (though he was a wicked king). David rightly understood hierarchy; that it was God’s domain to deal with his superiors. Letting situations determine ones actions results in a situational ethic that is inconsistent in the moral dimension. Righteousness is our God-given, unerring compass.

Dear God,

Many times I confused opportunity with license; forgive my foolish reasoning and presumption. Help me to use the grey matter You have given me better, to wrestle with the moral and spiritual implications under the influence of Your Holy Spirit. Guide me to righteous choices, to make better decisions, to live with integrity and wisdom. You are well capable of dealing with the big issues; save me from undermining my superiors, from railing against those You permit to be in power over me. May I live in harmony and peace under Your sovereign rule.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 309 With Hooks and Fetters

2011-04-09T07:16:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 309 2 Chronicles 33:1,2,6,10-13 With Hooks and in Fetters

1-3 MANASSEH WAS twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. But he did evil in the Lord's sight, like the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. For he built again the [idolatrous] high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared altars for the Baals and made the Asherim and worshiped all the hosts of the heavens and served them.

6 And he burned his children as an offering [to his god] in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom], and practiced soothsaying, augury, and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

10-13 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken. So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks and in fetters and brought him to Babylon. When he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to Him, and God, entreated by him, heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.

The Assyrians were particularly cruel oppressors. They humiliated and tormented their prisoners. Hooks pierced their flesh, often through their upper lip, and were used to pull captives along who stumbled with leg irons (fetters). Nobility was not exempt from this harsh treatment. In a metaphorical sense, Manasseh was ‘hooked’ when he was young and rebelled against his father’s (Hezekiah) reforms. The hedonistic lifestyle of idolatry beaconed. The lure of power and pleasure out-drummed the lessons of the past cycles of affliction that was always the consequence of departing from God’s way. It probably started small, and grew as each broken taboo failed to sustain excitement and as pleasure tarnished through the law of diminishing returns. Most people in bondage put themselves there and wonder where the misery came from. Long before the pain and isolation of captivity bring one to his senses, his marriage and family have been sacrificed to his selfish vice. Manasseh was like most addicts, he needed to hit bottom before looking up to the Lord for help. How much suffering did it take to get our attention?

Dear God,

If there was hope for Manasseh; mercy and forgiveness long before the Cross; how much more now for sinners who repent! Misery is found on every corner; avoidable pain and suffering forged by foolish striving after ‘the good life.’ Forgive the willfully blind. Send suffering and restlessness into the rebellious soul to bring them to their senses, to experience the fruit of their own works, and to know that the Lord is God. Bring Your children to repentance, and through recovery to abundant life in Christ as a witness to a world pulled along with hooks and in fetters.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 308 Crossing the River

2011-04-08T08:26:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 308 John 14:1-6 Crossing the River

DO NOT let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me. In My Father's house there are many dwelling places (homes). If it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going away to prepare a place for you. And when I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. And [to the place] where I am going, you know the way. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me.

My brother Bill died a few years ago, near the anniversary of his beloved wife’s death. An awful auto accident took his life on the way to place flowers on her grave. I don’t think I ever let myself fully express my grief until last night. I had to be strong for my nieces and nephews, my dad and my sisters. All too often only funerals have brought us all together. I had a dream the other morning that kept me in meditation and reflection all day. I dreamt about Bill. He came in a little blue boat and met me at the shore of the river. Without hesitation I got into the vessel with him, so glad to see him, so happy for his company. I didn’t care that the water was choppy, or that the boat didn’t have a motor, sail, rudder nor oars…I trusted him to know what he was doing, I was confident that he knew the way, my only desire was to be with him. That evening after work I began to tell my wife about the dream when something clicked. I ran to my files and dug through old calendars looking for the significance of this day. I shrieked, “It’s his birthday!” I collapsed and wailed like I never wailed for another human being. I will not forget you, brother.

Dear God,

I am not afraid to die because my Jesus knows the way across the river. I don’t know how He will take me across; but I am confident He will. I only want to be with Him, and to enjoy Your presence forever. The truth is that You are in control, and that nothing dead is in Your presence: You are the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob; the God of the living and not the dead. You are my life.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 307 Left to Himself

2011-04-07T06:21:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 307 2 Chronicles 32:24,25, 31 Left to Himself

24, 25 In those days Hezekiah was sick to the point of death; and he prayed to the Lord and He answered him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not make return [to the Lord] according to the benefit done to him, for his heart became proud [at such a spectacular response to his prayer]; therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem…

31And so in the matter of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon who were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God left him to himself to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart.(Detailed in Isaiah 39:1-7)

For most of my marriage, I still functioned as an individual though the decisions I made affected my spouse, and our children, our social and economic status, as well as reflecting on our faith. After years of counseling it dawned on me that my habit of making decisions in a vacuum was sin: I needed to give consideration to the helper God gave me (who often clearly saw my blind spots), and to heed Church counsel and brotherly accountability. We are relational beings, and pride isolated me and caused me to function independently of the souls around me. Having gone through Consumer Credit Counseling twice, I finally put a sign on the bill box on my desk that reads, “MY WIFE AND I MAKE DECISIONS TOGETHER.” Left to myself, I am an impulsive spender: I need accountability. Spiritually, the contrast is sharper. The essence of sin is living independently of God. Some people see their salvation in the very limited terms of a legal transaction with ‘the Judge”, and once made their ‘dependence’ upon Him sits in a cold safe-deposit box in their mind. But eternal life is an unbroken stream coming from the Life-Giver abiding in us; a constant communion. Left to ourselves, we are like potted houseplants dying from neglect. We need His constant care.

Dear God,

Left to myself, my cleverness quickly runs out, my well of inspiration becomes dry, my vision blurs and I forget who I am. When my pride needs to be checked, and You must ‘leave me to myself’, to remind me of what I am apart from You; please make it unsettling and obvious and BRIEF; so I am provoked to depend again on You. Like a fish out of water, I flop. You are right in not sharing Your glory with another; I acknowledge that You are the source of every good thing; both inside and outside of me. Glory to the God I depend on. Counsel me.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 306 Unfit to Lead

2011-04-06T05:52:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 306 1 Samuel 15:28,29 Unfit to Lead

And Samuel said to him, The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie or repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent.

Numbers 23:19 (AMP) God is not a man, that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?

By men’s standards, Saul was a fit king; but compared to the degree and stature that God intended for humanity (God’s image), he falls into utter depravity with the rest of us. We are at the mercy of situations; when they change in the slightest we are forced to either change our minds, back-peddle or lie about our commitments. Our promises are extremely frail and our ability to deliver feeble. A righteous man delivers what he promised even to his own hurt; but that integrity is rare among men. We are like this because in our own selves we are weak. Who is the Strength of Israel but God in us? David succeeded where Saul failed because of his dependence upon God over himself. The only way we can be fit to lead is in submission to the Almighty.

Dear God,

Like Saul, I tend to rely upon my own reasoning and resources; I cave in to people’s opinions, and I try to justify my actions by citing circumstance: on all counts wrong! You are the greatest part of me; Your living in and through me transforms this retched and unreliable person into someone more like Jesus. Help me to be fully yielded to Your rule and reign in my life; completely dependent on Your power and fully committed to Your Kingdom. Not only are You the strength of Israel, but You are the strength of James.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 305 Who Has Oversight?

2011-04-05T06:35:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 305 2 Chronicles 27:6 Who Has Oversight?

So Jotham grew mighty, for he ordered his ways in the sight of the Lord his God.

Generations earlier, King Saul disobeyed the direct orders of God because he feared the ‘people’, and obeyed their voice. God’s censure through Samuel began, “When you were small in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel?” (1 Samuel 15:17)

It matters greatly to whom we give oversight of our lives. King Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel 4, sees himself as a god, and while beholding the works of his own ‘oversight’ is struck dumb like an animal for not acknowledging the true God. Our performance is different when we especially care about pleasing someone watching us, as before an audience. Blinding stage lights may obscure the audience from the eyes of one on stage; but there is no comparison between practicing in an empty room and the electricity of opening night. There may be many watching, but only a few skilled in the technical issues; in the play of life there is only one qualified Judge. When young Jeremiah was called to be a prophet, he was admonished by God not to be afraid of their eyes or dismayed by the faces of those he spoke to; God was with him, God had oversight.

Dear God,

I sometimes imagine myself alone in the desert, under a scorching sun, not under God. I sometimes behave as if You and all the assembly of Heaven were looking the other way or taking an intermission while I sin. I sometimes see You as a critic rather than as my loving Father whom I yearn to please. Sometimes my heart is far from my performance. I need a break, I need to regroup, I need to regain a godly perspective on this life that I live before You. I acknowledge Your oversight, Your exclusive right to judge, Your monopoly on life and Your inherent goodness. Help me to accept Your terms and my situation; and may Your holy influence bring out my best performance.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 304 God's Competition

2011-04-04T05:56:00.000-04:00

JMD Devotional 304 1 Samuel 12:20-25 God’s Competition

[Setting: Israel demanded an Earthly King in order to be like the surrounding nations, thus rejecting God as their sovereign. God gave them their ‘King’ (Saul), and Samuel called a thunderstorm down upon their harvest to make them aware of the gravity of their transgression.]

And Samuel said to the people, Fear not. You have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve Him with all your heart. And turn not aside after vain and worthless things which cannot profit or deliver you, for they are empty and futile. The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, for it has pleased Him to make you a people for Himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; for consider how great are the things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king shall be swept away.

It is an exceeding good thing that God cares about His reputation, and for His name’s sake will rescue His treacherous and unfaithful ‘followers’, to a point. Otherwise, we all would have been found to be unfit; God would have been just in severing His ties to us long ago. Our foolishness puts us in need of amazing grace. Praise God for the prophets, preachers and counselors who speak the hard truths that convict our waywardness! Praise God for the problems---the unpleasant consequences of our rebellion that instruct us in righteousness the hard way! Any suffering that we endure for our salvation (which we by no means earn) sure beats eternal oblivion! And who and what are the contenders, the pleasures, people and things that compete with our primary love and allegiance for God? Could anyone face the Almighty and actually say, “I loved pornographic images more than the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit”? Or, “I wanted the praise and acceptance of the reprobates at work more than pleasing You?” “All those rusted, moldy and moth-eaten things seemed more worthy of my time than the Great Commission when I was alive?” The Bible tells us 365 times to “fear not”; but sometimes a little fear is healthy.

Dear God,

Help me to fear You, and not lesser things. Keep me from folly. My actions say retched things that my lips would never utter: forgive my great iniquity! Thank You for the unpleasant medications that help me withdraw from sin. May Your holy influence transform my heart to treasure righteousness and purity and goodness like You do. May I not take Your grace for granted.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 303 Another Man

2011-04-03T08:15:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 303 1 Samuel 10:6 Another Man

Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you will show yourself to be a prophet with them; and you will be turned into another man.

I remember one afternoon as a young teenager when I was dropped off at church to attend a weekly youth group. I was in a particularly sullen and moody and belligerent way; consumed with my own problems. The first five people I met I rubbed the wrong way with just a few self-absorbed words. Each one turned elsewhere to find more pleasant conversation. Sensing the isolation, and seeing the youth gather in warm fellowship with me on the outside, I panicked. I shouted, “Wait!”, and I ran back to where I was dropped off in the parking lot, and back to the edge of the group, wearing a totally different countenance. Positive, smiling, and asking how each person was, I created quite a stir. Asked, “What was that all about?” I answered, “I had to leave that other person behind.”

There is a throne in each of our hearts reserved for God. When self usurps that throne, we are a miserable tyrant to ourselves and others. We do not have the power, wisdom or character in isolation from God to bless, encourage or help others, much less ourselves. We need God’s Spirit to transform us, to empower us to abandon the self-made man. Humility restores power, order and perspective to our personal ‘kingdom’.

Dear God,

How often I need to be another man. I fall back into old patterns of behavior, negative perspectives, selfish delusions. You are the lovely part of me; the source of virtue and the well spring of love. Animate me in Christ. Make me into another man.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

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*New International Version (NIV)

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Recovery Devotional 302 Godly Intolerance

2011-04-02T07:44:00.002-04:00

JMD Devotional 302 2 Chronicles 19:1-7 Godly Intolerance

JEHOSHAPHAT THE king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. Jehu son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to Jehoshaphat, Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord. But there are good things found in you, for you have destroyed the Asherim out of the land and have set your heart to seek God [with all your soul's desire].

Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. He appointed judges throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Be careful what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord, and He is with you in the matter of judgment. So now let the reverence and fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking of bribes.

Jehoshaphat was rebuked for being a friend and ally to the notoriously evil King Ahab of Israel. Within that same rebuke, what he was doing right was also acknowledged. His personal devotion to God was good, but compromised due to his trying to be a friend to the world. You cannot hold to your integrity and be the friend and companion of reprobates. We are called to a godly intolerance, to separate ourselves from evil, to be distinguished for our values, and to use our influence to promote the standards of God’s Kingdom on the Earth. Jehoshaphat responded to that rebuke by going out again among the people to reinforce godly principles. The inner convictions and the outer actions should be in harmony for a mature believer.

Dear God,

My tendency is to be a people-pleaser; but pleasing ungodly people sends out mixed signals and confuses my witness. I have also seen over-zealous Christians go overboard, and alienate potential converts by being critical, rude and pushy. Please help me to conduct myself with wisdom, and to think rightly about the conduct and posture I should maintain in a plural society. Help me to know when it is appropriate to assert my influence within the world. Choose my battles, and make it clear when I should go against the grain. Give me a winsome attitude, consistent virtue, and the courage to stand against evil. May I faithfully present the reality of Jesus Christ in all dimensions of my life. May people not have to guess what manner of man I am or who I belong to.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

*New International Version (NIV)

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