“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12

Yesterday was my birthday. So as my wife left the house for an appointment, her parting words to me were, “don’t do any work today!” My first reaction was a smile and a hearty “O.K.!” Right then and there I decided to ‘not’ write my usual “God Morning Words of the Day.” The second reaction I experienced was ‘surprise’ at my first reaction!

Years ago I started forwarding a favorite daily devotion to a few friends. After a while, I felt the urge to take the main premise of the devotion and to personalize it. The next step just kind of happened. I started writing my own devotional to folks in, and associated with, the Church family. That is how GMWOTD began… as a slow walk to a full journey. It was never intentional. Yesterday’s second reaction was a surprising conviction!

I had just read a devotional by Anne Graham Lotz, You know… Billy’s daughter? She had written that her ministry and duties grew into a huge thing that was taking her time at every turn. She admitted that she began to feel overwhelmed and tired. When she finally sat down and got honest with Jesus, He showed her that she was operating out of obligation… not love! HUH??? BILLY’S DAUGHTER???? Her message hit home!

Yesterday was my birthday. I said that. Not because I wanted to let you know… but because it woke me up. I have been going through a kind of rough patch. Something has been gnawing at me and I just have not been able to figure out what it is. That is until I read Anne’s message. One thing led to another and soon I heard Jesus voice telling me I have been leaning toward doing for RIGHT things for WRONG REASONS.

Remember the story of Mary & Martha? Martha was so busy working to feed Jesus and his crew, she started to get upset that Mary wasn’t helping. It hit a big snag when she ultimately complained about Mary’s sitting at His feet and not helping! Jesus informed her that Mary had CHOSEN the RIGHT thing! Which convicted ME!

No one, especially Jesus, asked or demanded that I write a daily devotional. Like a fun spiritual hobby that blessed me, it just kind of developed a duty with timelines, obligations and sometimes too much self effort! NONE of which was requested by Jesus. I had painted MYSELF into a corner and was ‘gnawing’ on MYSELF! This is my confession.

The verse above can easily be misinterpreted. Without verse 13, it becomes work and duty. Verse 13 says, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.” My Birthday present from Jesus was simply this… “Do you LOVE ME FIRST… WITHOUT OBLIGATION?” All I can say is… “thank you for the great Birthday present Lord!!”

Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; And let Me not hear the melody of thy psalteries. JPS Tanakh 1917

I was cutting grass and having fun at the same time. While working, I like to listen to music through my IPod via ear buds. It’s a habit my Audiologist discourages, but one I just can’t break. Music makes work bearable. ESPECIALLY in the Florida heat and humidity! The song was about to crescendo into a great Jesus chorus and I was about to join in! But my grown daughter was standing nearby so… I thought it best to just hum.

It’s Wednesday and that means FLAP (Bible Study and discussion) with band rehearsal preceding. We named it ‘The Band’ because, outside of church, many people ask us if we have one! Now we snicker and say ‘yes.’ In reality, we are just a small, but kinda-dedicated, group of folks who sing contemporary songs to modern accompaniment tracks. We are as much a ‘band’ as Robin Hood’s crew was an ‘army!’ But we have an edge!

While it is true that we will NEVER receive a call from the New York Metropolitan Opera to perform on stage, it is ALSO true that we will NEVER have the performance jitters that would accompany such a call. We know our place and position very well. As the default choir director, whose only experience in leading a band was being a drum major in high school, I make it clear that we all sing to an audience of ONE! And HE is NEVER disappointed!

The Old Testament can sound like a parochial school nun. The verse today is a case in point. One of the difficulties to being a pastor is that when doing the duty, folks take the lessons personal. It is not uncommon to hear, “I don’t like how you say things!” It makes me laugh because… well… often ‘I’ don’t like what I say either! It helps to realize that we are not supposed to read the Bible for pleasure. But for guidance.

Left to ourselves… we stink. NO one would pay to come hear us sing. And no matter how hard we may try, we will NEVER get any better at performing. Which is a good thing because while our Master expects us to work at it, His REAL criteria for success is judged by the song in our HEART!

There is an old hymn entitled ‘He Keeps Me Singing’ that starts of with, “There’s within my hear a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low.” When sung before God, it meets the only criteria which He cares anything about… His Son! His only concern is that the song is really in there… right in the singers heart! To make it simple, He wants us to acknowledge, by performance, that His Son is the center of our song! It is impossible to ‘fake it!’ Jesus Christ either is… or is not… my heart song!

Tonight, after we practice our song, we will discuss Bible verses that apply to our hearts. I am actually looking forward to it. Because while I am not a genius, I DO know that this verse in Amos cannot possibly apply to me! But do YOU know why?

“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take [any] person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” Ezekiel 33:6 

I read this devotional this morning and before I knew it I had begun the process of editing it to fit into a text for parents.  I sent it to our parents affiliated in the church and then realized the time.  So this is the GMWOTD… You MAY have already seen it.

Read: Genesis 19:12-38

“So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.” Genesis 19:36

Before this incident, these two girls were physically virgins, though already debauched in their minds. They had long since grown accustomed to obscenity and unrestrained luridness, so, up in the cave on the mountainside, they seized the thinnest of excuses. The story ends in a foul orgy of drunkenness and incest. Lot had nothing but heartbreak and grief to show for his years in Sodom. The Lord said, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it (Matthew 16:25a). So Lot, trying to get the best out of both worlds, lost all & became the picture of the Christian who is saved, but only as one escaping through the flames (1 Corinthians 3:15b). He has nothing but wasted years to look back on and an eternity ahead. When you attempt to gain the best of both worlds, you destroy others beside yourself. What was the greatest pang in Lot’s heart when he awoke there in the cave in the mountains and learned what he had done? Do you think it was grief over his lost wealth that troubled his mind? Don’t you think that the greatest, deepest wound of all in that man’s heart was the recognition of what he had done, in Sodom, to his little girls?

Children are watching their parents.  They may see outward respectability & desire to be right and to do good. But in some of you, they also see that the deepest thing in your life is to get $ or to enjoy pleasure. They see that you will quickly sacrifice a prayer meeting for a night out. The willingness to take the $ or pleasure, regardless of what it may do to the family They see the things sacrificed and the willingness to skimp and save, but not for God.  They watch, and they see.

Bit by bit these children lose interest in the Bible, church & God. They resolve to get ahead in the world and win the respect of Sodom no matter what moral restraint they have to abandon.  And too late, parents discover they too,  have abused their own kids.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20

My youngest daughter and family were moving this last weekend and she asked if we would watch her young boys, Coast is 2 years old and Case is 5 months. After helping move the furniture on Saturday, they left the boys with us to finish and clean up on Sunday. Having offered to help, she said there was no need, that it would only take about 3 hours for the 2 of them to finish up anyway. Almost 8 hours later!!!!

Now this is NOT a complaint or criticism of my daughters timing skills. I KNEW it would take longer because I have moved many times in my life. Most things in life take longer AND cost more… commandments 11 & 12! With a 2 year old, time moves slowly. In the middle of even the ‘funnest fun’ he would say, ‘mommy, daddy come back soon!’ We all know NOTHING can take the place of mommy and daddy… not even smiling, happy ME! Being true to form, I needed a distraction to keep him busy. As most grandparents already know… one of the greatest distractions are… COOKIES!

I keep a bag of chocolate fudge striped cookies in the refrigerator. All my grandkids know it. When I die they will talk about it! So on the rare occasions when Coast got a little sad, I’d say.. “HEY… want a cookie!??” It worked EVERY time! So much so, he started his own mantra I had to monitor closely… “Want cookie!” Which made me wonder… does Father GOD use that same trick on ME? The answer is an emphatic “Yup!”

I remember growing up with a younger brother that was complete opposite of me. He was a saver and hoarder. I was an immediate gratification guy. Later in life I had to ask God, who loves EVERYBODY, if HE had a preference. Being stubborn and willful, I IMMEDIATELY believed it didn’t matter. But as I studied and REALLY looked at the evidence, I had to admit… God is a ‘delayed gratification’ God!

The proof of God’s preference is in the history of Israel AND in the Church today. We all work and move forward toward a FUTURE where He is the King, in a Kingdom of bliss. We don’t get those awards and accolades for faithfully following Him HERE. But…we DO get cookies! It comes in the form of GRACE!

I LOVE my grandkids. I want them to be happy… not sad. Joyful… not miserable. A package of my favorite cookies from the Dollar Tree costs… well! There are 32 in a pack. That means 1 distraction costs me 3.125 cents! If a cookie does the trick… how foolish would I be to NOT offer it! After all.. My heir doesn’t LIVE here under my roof! So even if he ate half a pack… it wouldn’t kill him! News flash… you and I are not meant to live HERE either!

Life is hard. But God didn’t make it that way. We CHOSE it! His Love and Grace bought our salvation… and IT was EXPENSIVE. There is NOTHING the enemy would love to do more than to make us feel unworthy or secure in our family status! So when life gets tough, it really isn’t that hard to receive the distraction we need to get us through. JESUS CHRIST is RIGHT HERE WITH US! ALWAYS! And He PROMISES to lead us safely home. No matter HOW sad or bad we feel here! And He works EVERY TIME!

Cookie anyone????

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity.” Hebrews 6:1

Walking into the kitchen, I poured a cup of cold coffee, placed it into the microwave… beep, beep, beep whirrrrrrrr! While it heated I opened the refrigerator and surfed the cellophane wrapping for a cookie… crunch… crackle… BEEP! The coffee was done! Turning around I saw my wife glaring at me.. eyes wide open… and I froze…! “I’m not like you!” was all she said. DUH!!!!

If you know Katie you know she is sweet, kind, patient and dedicated. But she is also frazzled. Working to renew her accreditation, she is cramming online classwork like a boss! I should have remembered because just that morning she was ready to send the neighbor with the leaf blower to Valhalla!! She hates distractions when she is concentrating. I was one! When I offered her a cookie… she didn’t even smile! 

I know, I know.. it’s hard to imagine ME not being the mature one!!!!! She was on a timed test and needed to concentrate. I was just doing my thing… unaware of not being aware! If I could pick a superhero to hang out with, it would be Batman. But in reality… I LIVE with a superhero. Katie can out-perform, out-work, out-last and out-shine me on any given day! Pick one! SHE is my hero. And while she is a Master at teaching pre-school… she is FAR from elementary! And now she was being mature.

Believers in Christ are called to movement. To mature, grow, go and be His… WHATEVER my Savior and Lord calls me to. He has plans for me, and ALL of us, that will never be fulfilled as long as I am playing in mud-puddles. There comes a time when we must grow and go! The world is in danger.

There is a time for everything. For work and play, silly and serious. And while it can easily be a downer to think of the looming tasks that call us, I must remember that He is NOT pressing me to DO something FOR Him. He wants me to grow up and FOCUS and DEPEND upon Him. THAT is maturity. He does not call me to independence.. but joyful dependence. Strangely opposite from what the world expects.

It is possible to be both the distracted and to be the distraction. Could it be that God is calling me to be NEITHER?

“How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not!” Matthew 23:37

This article pierced my heart and spirit.  In a world gone wrong… Who’s to blame?  Could it be the Church?  What can and will WE do about it if it is?  Thank you for feeling Christ’s passion for people. K.C.

“Stop Blaming the Wrong People for Our Culture’s Wickedness. You were unwilling. I would, but you would not, God says. As a result, Jerusalem was reaping what she had sown. Getting the consequences of her neglect. The resources of heaven are standing by; we neglect this to our detriment.

See what the Lord Jesus said to the leper in Mark 1. This fellow violated every convention, every standard, and instead of calling out “Unclean! Unclean!” and avoiding Him, he ran to Jesus. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can make me clean.” The wonderful Lord Jesus did the unthinkable and touched the untouchable.

Get Spirit-filled content delivered right to your inbox! “I am willing,” He said. “Be cleansed.” I am willing. There may be no three words more appropriate for the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ than these.

He is willing to forgive sins (see Mark 2:5, where He did so without even being asked). He is willing to bless even at the expense of stirring up opposition (see Mark 3:1-6). His love is so overpowering.

God is not willing that any should perish (2 Pet. 3:9). He said, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14, emphasis added).

My people. If they do this. It’s God’s people who are the means of revival. They are God’s channel. It’s God’s people who stand in the way of revival. They are the roadblock. “We have met the enemy,” said the cartoon character Pogo, “and he is us.”

The wonderful promise of Revelation 3:20 shows the risen, ascended Christ bringing the blessings of heaven up to the front door and waiting for the sleeping church to open to Him. Laodicea’s door was closed. The fascinating thing is that immediately on the heels of that, John tells us, “I looked. And there was an open door in heaven” (Rev. 4:1).

How graphic is that! The door to the human heart is closed, while the door to heaven is open. God is willing, the problem is humanity. Specifically, the Lord’s children. The redeemed. We must stop blaming the ills of the world on the lost and unsaved. Christ came not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved (John 3:17).

Consider this a call for God’s people to humble ourselves, repent of our rebellion and our faithlessness, and to present our bodies—our very lives—as living sacrifices unto Him. Every day of our lives, let us ask, “Father, what would You have me to do?” “Here am I, Lord, use me.” “Have thine own way, Lord.” “Thy will be done on earth (and in my life) as it is in Heaven.”

The blame is with us. Let us pray. Let us love one another. Let us stay in the Word and on our knees. Let us pray for revival. Revival is simply God doing His will in the lives of His people in the world.”

(Joe McKeever is retired from the pastorate but still active in preaching, writing, and cartooning for Christian publications. He lives in Ridgeland, Mississippi.)

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily…so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Hebrews 3:12-13

Driving down the road in 4 lane traffic, I saw some road debris ahead. Mental note… ‘avoid.’ Traffic was heavy and apparently everyone ahead of me had thought the same thing, as they weaved around the trash. Then.. the trash MOVED! Zig… zag… weave…! My mind was trying to process what I was seeing, but at 50mph, I was on it soon enough! It was a rat in the middle of the road! He had lived, up till now, by the grace of the drivers. But something told me he was not long for this world!

We all know about rats. They live in the underbrush and dark areas of the world. They are sneaky and rarely seen. When they are, most folks shudder at their sight. To be in the open, on a major road, on a hot sunny day in rush hour traffic was rare. STUPID! Even for a rat! I made a mental note to write about it and, with God’s help, to find a Bible verse that would maybe put some meaning to this illustration.

I am a ‘road rat!’ That term means someone who takes shortcuts through parking lots, back roads or side streets in order to avoid being stuck in traffic or at a long red light. It drives my wife NUTS! I am not, nor ever have been, a sitter. I’d rather lose a little time but be moving ,than sit still. I know, I know… and THAT is the problem!

God wants me to MOSTLY BE STILL! Looking for shortcuts on life’s road is usually dangerous. Back allies and dark side trails can hide a lot of bad stuff. Sin LOVES to lurk there. And there are times, I must admit… so do I. Discouragement at life’s pace, lack of progress or the failure to see my, or other peoples progress, may find me settling for the darkness. Which is completely out of character for God’s chosen. Do you follow me?

I can tell when I have been lingering in the land of the dark heart. God is SO gracious and kind to me, even then. His Grace ALWAYS gently calls me to come home. It’s not a yell or a threat. It is just a simple quiet call that comes from becoming hardened by hiding out in places my spirit life feels uncomfortable. And it doesn’t even have to be a BAD place! Often it is sunny and open! But DANGEROUS!

Discouragement is an evil from the pit of hell. We ALL land on its back road from time to time. Sometimes we can’t see our own way out. It is those times that a friend or fellow believer can encourage us to come out, with a softened caring heart, and enjoy the ride God intended.

Since you are NOT one… don’t be a road rat!

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

It has been about 20 years since we last painted our house. Maybe even longer… I can’t remember. Our neighbor just painted her house, which sparked something in my wife because… one thing led to another and there we were, buying paint! All that needed to be done was to apply it! Yesterday, as we were working together, she turned to me and said, “we need to be thankful that we can still do this! The next time it needs painted we won’t be able too!!!! “ “____________!”

There is nothing one can say to a statement like that. Since the thought was out of character for her usual ‘can do’ attitude, the shock of the words hit and left me with the only thing that it could… silent consideration. I knew she was right. I have figured that my genetic chances of even living through my 70’s is low. Her statement brought that home to roost in the house of reality.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not sad or worried or afraid at all. I KNOW where I will spend eternity and that SHE will be with me. It will CERTAINLY be better than HERE! But SOMETHING was gnawing at my heart and I didn’t know what it was. Until later. I have teased about it, but the reality made me sad. Genes say I will probably die long before she does. Which means I won’t be there to help her with her needs later on. Excuse me while I wipe my face!

This month we will be married 42 years! Yes… I KNOW a LOT of you are in your 80’s and think this might be silly. But when did YOU have your first reality check? Katie and I started our marriage knowing each other for less than 3 months! To pay the bills, one of our first jobs was to paint houses together! Call it silly or nostalgic, but here we were, one more time, spending time together… doing what we have done SO many times before… as the clock ticks.

There will not be a need to paint in heaven. And this is NOT written to induce sorrow or melancholy. It is what it is. But it would be unfair and unfitting if I did not quote today’s verse. It SUMMARIZES our lives together. Yes… our hearts WILL fail and our bodies WILL grow weak. But we DO know what will NEVER fail. And that is our relationship in Christ alone. Regardless of the flesh, we will have strong souls and spirits thanks to our God.  And ya can’t gloss over that!

“In order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'” 2 Corinthians 7-8

Having stains in my pool that will not come out, I took some water to my local pool store. After testing I was told that I have too much stabilizer and too much sanitizer (chlorine) in the water. HAAAAA I had to laugh… “ME???? TOO STABLE and TOO PURE!!? “No sir,” she replied, “your pool!” And just like that, my quick brush with conceit was quickly over! But I have a problem!

I have had a pool for 30 years. All the mess, fuss, chemicals and tests proved worth it when the kids are around or I need to cool off from yard work. Years ago I discovered new chlorine tablets that have stabilizer IN them. Stabilizer keeps the chlorine from being burned up from the sun. I’ve been liberally floating them in my pool for years. Now I am told that was a mistake that needs to be corrected! Like I needed another thing to remedy!

It is true that I was seeking a simple fix. I don’t want to take the time to constantly monitor chemical levels or buy and add this or that to balance them. I have better things to do man! I was saving time and money at the expense of balance and clarity! It turns out my understanding was clouded! And then she told me the remedy!

There is nothing I can add to FIX this particular problem. With an ironically straight face, she told me, “you need to pump the water OUT of your pool!” “WHAAAAAAAA?” I cried. “Yes…OUT!” she said. Apparently this stabilizer stuff cannot be diluted. “It needs pumped out and replaced,” she added. If you know me and the means I have gone to SAVE water…! This was like telling me my IPod had crashed! The good news was that I only need to pump out about 2 feet! GREAT!!!!!!

So my humble lesson today is that SOMETIMES what I THINK is right and good… can actually NOT be. SOMETIMES, when I THINK I know something, I may be wrong! Which is a shock to me! So now that He has my attention, I can sense Him crooking His finger at me to come a little closer for some clarity! Oh Boy… here we go again! I think this object lesson is about to get real!