Monthly Archives: November 2015

Your Word Lord ~

14 Saturday Nov 2015

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Nothing cuts to the heart like God’s word.

Deborah Ann Belka's avatarCHRISTian poetry ~ by deborah ann

Powerful ~ CHRISTian poetry by deborah ann

Your Word Lord,
it is mighty powerful
it is commanding
it is boldly truthful.

It is alive and active,
it is full of energy
it is razor-sharp
for it pierces inwardly.

Your Word Lord,
it cuts to the core
it penetrates the soul
showing all You abhor.

It is always at work,
it obliterates the dark
it is jolting . . .
for it is raw and stark.

Your Word Lord,
it punctures the heart
it perforates the mind
separates the two apart.

It is discerning,
it conquers and divides
it see those who have
its truth living inside.

Your Word Lord,
no one must ignore
for one day our lives . . .
to You, we’ll account for!

~~~~~~

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful,
 and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and…

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God Hears

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Psalm 66, Psalms

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Reading:                                          Psalm 66

(Verses 13-20)

 I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you—
vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats

Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me! (NIV).

Reflection

I grew up in a family that prayed. But that statement might give you the wrong impression. It might be more accurate to say, “I grew up in a family that religiously recited prayers.”

Green's Creek, Ottawa, ON --photo by David Kitz

Green’s Creek, Ottawa, ON –photo by David Kitz

We recited a common table prayer before every meal and the Lord’s Prayer before breakfast. My mother taught me a very scary bedtime prayer: Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.

To a six-year-old, that’s a scary prayer. It’s enough to keep you awake lest your soul be carried off in the night, while you’re off in la-la land.

I don’t think I really prayed—prayed from the heart—until the end of my grade four school year. The memory is still fresh in my mind. The little one-room country school I attended was closing. In September I would be bussed to the big school in town. This change was frightening. The familiar was being taken away and in its place was something big, strange and intimidating. Could I survive there? Could I thrive there? These thoughts troubled me.

On my last walk home from my country school, I left the country road and walked into a grove of poplars. That’s where I prayed—not a meaningless recited prayer—but a prayer from my heart to God. I asked for wisdom, strength and God’s favour for the challenging year ahead. God answered. After all these years I can say, “Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”

Response: LORD God, thank you for answering prayer—not once but thousands of times. Again and again you have proven your love for me. You are the God who hears me. Amen.

Your Turn: When did you learn to pray from the heart? Do you remember the occasion?

Monday – 9/11/15

09 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by in Psalms

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Here are some great thoughts to get your week started:

muchgrace's avatarencourage, comfort, edify

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care — then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Phil‬ ‭2:1)

It was the final part that floored me …

Lord please help me to forget myself long enough to lend a helping hand! X

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Altered at the Altar

05 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Devotionals

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Have you been altered at the altar? Has God changed you there—really changed you in the hidden places?

Every rightly built house of God has a change table. Most often it’s called an altar. God fixes us up there. That altar can look quite different depending on which church tradition you follow. But the purpose for the altar is always the same. It is the place where we are cleaned up. Sin is washed away.

What parent throws out their infant on the first occasion when they soil their diapers? Every parent knows that baby messes come with the baby. Changing diapers quickly becomes a part of the family routine.

As a father of two infant sons, I had ample opportunity to practise my diaper changing skills. I would lay the baby on the change table and in a minute or two everything was fixed up—put to right—on that change table.

God has a change table for us. He is intimate with us there. The outward trappings of righteousness are stripped away. He sees us completely. You see there is no place for human pride at the altar of God. Our heavenly Father gently lays us down and does his work on us. There is nothing we can hide. Why would we want to? Let’s deal with all of it.

Cleanse me should be our only cry.

I am reminded of what happened at the dedication of the first temple. Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud,  and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God. (2 Chronicles 5:13-14 NIV).

Landestreu Church, Landestreu, SK, Canada

Landestreu Church, Landestreu, SK, Canada — Photo by Donald Adam

But isn’t the altar just for babies? LORD, haven’t I grown and matured since my first trip to your altar? I would like to think so. I’m not tripped up by the same things anymore. Surely, I don’t have to humble myself yet again!

If we have outgrown the altar, then we have outgrown God. And that’s preposterous!

The LORD God Almighty has not lost any of his awesome power or majesty, simply because we have grown older and supposedly wiser. We are still in need of His correction, His discipline, His mercy and His love. I still need to get onto God’s change table on a regular basis. Moral perfection keeps eluding me. The smugger I feel about my self-deluding, superior spirituality complex, the more I prove that I need to be altered on the altar.

I hear God whispering “Lay down. Lay it all down. I want to change you.”

Response: Lord Jesus, forgive me. Change me. I am not the person I want to be. I need your help to change. Thank you, Holy Spirit for working on me from the inside out. Amen.

Your Turn: Have you been altered at the altar? Have you outgrown the altar?

Welcome God’s Testing?

03 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Devotionals, Psalms

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Reading:                                          Psalm 66

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”

Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for mankind!
He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in him.
He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.

Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;
he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.
For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance (NIV).

Reflection

I can’t answer for you, but I for one did not enjoy writing tests at school. It’s not that I did poorly on tests, the exception being high school math. But let’s not go there. I haven’t for the last forty years and have suffered no ill effects.

Gatineau Park, QC --Photo by David Kitz

Gatineau Park, QC –Photo by David Kitz

Simply put tests are stressful. No matter how well you know the material, you can’t be sure of the outcome. Will there be a trick question? Will you experience a momentary brain burp? Have you studied the right subject matter?

Despite my aversion to tests and major exams as a student, I quite enjoyed administering them after I became a teacher. They provided so much information. They let me see into a student’s head and heart. Was learning happening behind those big brown eyes or were they only going through the motions?

But why would God test us, since He already knows the outcome? For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

God tests us to bring out the very best in us. In the furnace of affliction He removes the dross from our lives so His glory can shine through. Only then can we properly reflect His glory.

Response: LORD God, help me appreciate the tests you bring into my life. I praise you in advance because you are working to perfect me through the hardships I face. Amen.

Your Turn: Has the Lord brought you near to Him in difficult times?