Deeper Still by phil mccallum | Archive

Understanding

No Comments 31 May 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Michael Card perform “God’s Own Fool” while reading today’s devotion.

Scripture

He who neglects discipline despises himself,
But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. Proverbs 15:32

A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding
Than a hundred blows into a fool. Proverbs 17:10

Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding,
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. Proverbs 17:24

He who restrains his words has knowledge,
And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Proverbs 17:27

A fool does not delight in understanding,
But only in revealing his own mind. Proverbs 18:2

Observation
What is in the mind of a wise sage? People of understanding are a mystery to explore. Because they say so little and explain even less, it is difficult to know what is in their minds.

What is in the mind of the understanding man?Â From these words in Proverbs about understanding the secret is exposed:

I am not the expert.
I have blind spots.
Rebuke and correction sensitize me to the limits of myself and the beginning of God.

There is deeper wisdom in the Lord.
I don’t have to chase wild schemes.
His wisdom surrounds me.

I do not need to defend myself.
God can answer for me.

Wisdom is not in the rabble of debate.
Deep beneath and far behind human scurry and flurry are the eternal words of God.
I will wait for those sentences to surface.
One sentence of truth will silence many words.
May I be the carrier of that single sentence.

Application
These are the words of the person of understanding. I want them to be my own.

Prayer
Father, help me to say more by saying less. Give me patience not to speak when much is being spoken. Help me not to be quick to self-defence, when you are setting me free by rebuke. Make me a man of understanding. Amen.

Prayer, Thanks

Why God Delays

No Comments 30 May 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Jars of Clay sing Love Song for a Saviour while reading today’s devotion.

Scripture
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:2

Observation
Why does God delay? Answers come to prayer, but only after a long wait. What difference would it make if God answered a few days or weeks sooner? Would I be any less thankful?

God delays in answering because my heart is more significant than the answer to my prayer.

Delays bring my heart to the surface. There is nothing like God’s deferring that will sift through my desires. We desire many things, but what is worth wanting? Delays are useful for they sort out the heart. It is good sometimes for our heart to become sick, for sometimes we need to become sick of ourselves.

When our desires are somewhat refined through God’s delays, we are given more than an answer, but a tree of life. There is always the human tendency to snatch the answer and to keep moving on to the next desire. Sometimes we even forget to say “thanks”. We are restless because of our longings, always wanting what is next.

Wise is the person who turns a long hoped for answer into a tree of life. Just as the fruit of a tree can nourish the body, so an answer to prayer can long feed the soul. The choice to be increasingly thankful, to ponder things in the heart, to meditated on hidden wonders of the character of God, and simply to be amazed–this is the harvest from the orchard of answers to prayer that can last long after the day of celebration.

Perhaps then, prayer isn’t about answers but what we make of them.

Application
Years ago I lived in a house on the edge of the state forest, Two miles deep in those woods grew a lonely fruit tree in a sea of trees. Maybe it grew from a seed tossed from a worker’s lunch while erecting a power line nearby. So deep in the woodland, its fruit was forgotten. But I would trek deep into the forest shadows to find it and eat of it. There are many fruit trees in my soul of answered prayers from years gone by. That is where the nourishment of life comes. There are moments of reflection and thanks in the shade of their fruit-laden branches. What are the top ten answers to prayer in my life? When did I last visit them and nourish my soul with them?

Prayer
Thank you Father for so many answers to prayer. Help me to fully appreciate them. Amen.

Leadership, Words

On Using Words Well

No Comments 29 May 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Steven Curtis Chapman sing “Miracle of the Moment” while reading today’s devotion.

Scripture
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. Proverbs 10:19

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

He who seeks good finds goodwill…. Proverbs 11:27

Observation
If the tongue is a rudder, then a leader’s words navigate great things. Hallway conversations, parking lot interchanges, head-in-the-office-door moments can either steer the vessel home or onto the rocks. The Proverbs are probe-words that make a leader filter the words he speaks along the way.

Here are three lessons Solomon is teaching me today.

First, say little when others say a lot. When there is a blizzard of conversation, then to be sure selfish ambition is at work. The wise leader listens when others blabber. Yesterday a friend told me how he was a chauffeur for Steven Covey. He said that the motivational speaker laid down in the back seat of the car and asked endless questions and just listened for the answers.

Second, say much when others say nothing. The best encouragement comes when someone knows the good he has done, but no one has said a word of encouragement about it. Encouragement is recognizing the truth and exposing it. Encouragement does just what the history of the word implies: it puts courage into people. Every human being is like a slow leaking tire; our words of encouragement pump them up. It is not long after this that others will encourage in return.

Finally, find the best in everything and in every one, and they will find the best in you. The attitude we project toward others is what is mirrored back toward us. Those who pursue good find goodwill.

Application
My life is about leaders, teams and words. I need to maximize them. I need to reflect early in the day what needs to be said, and not let my conversations be only spontaneous.

Prayer
Father, use my tongue for good today. When others are speaking much, beat me over the head so I remember to say little. When others are saying nothing, extract me from self-focus to say a lot. And give me eyes to see what is good that no one is cheering about and to pursue it. The bottom line today, please speak through me. Amen.

God's Love

Constant Love

No Comments 24 May 2008

From Norway the Oslo Choir sings the Power of Your Love. Press the arrow to listen as you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
….His love endures forever. Psalm 135

Observation
I had a friend who came to Christ by the sunrise. His teenage daughter announced she was pregnant and he not only thought the sun would never rise again, he never wanted the sun to rise again. But morning after morning, the sun rose, birds sang and life went on. The persistence of sunlight, combined with years of the witness of his wife, brought him to Christ. It was God who pulled that sun up over the horizon to remind him that his love does endure forever.

God’s love does endure forever. Psalm 135 is a bullet point tour of times when God showed up and did something to save his people. The psalm tells many facts but it gives only one lesson: no matter what happens next, there is more love to come from the Lord.

In this long list of accomplishments, there are two constants.

First, God’s love can persist through any hostile opposition. No human anger, force of nature or enemy is greater than he. God’s love is not lipid; it is lethal to those who oppose it. We think of problems as the persistent thing of life. This Psalm lifts our eyes beyond that to see that the love of God is the persistent thing.

Second, God has left persistent reminders to us of his love. The heavens, sun and moon are starters. Then littered through our lives are accomplishments we were strong enough or smart enough to muster. These accomplishments are God’s valentines to us.

Application
There is almost an unspoken invitation at the end of this psalm to us to continue this list for ourselves in our own lives. As I look backward in my life, what are the monuments of God’s love to me? As I look forward, what intimidates me that his love will outlast?

Prayer
Father, it is humbling to pray to a God like you, who not only feels love for me but acts it out. Your love does endure forever. Amen.

Humility, Repentance

Softer

No Comments 23 May 2008

Press the arrow to listen to “Stand in Awe of You” by Phillips, Craig and Dean.

Scripture
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 1 Corinthians 7:13-14

Observation
There is one simple summary of Solomon’s classic prayer: When life gets hard, don’t harden, be humble. There are many stages of this prayer: pray, seek, turn. But the first step is to humble.

Usually when life gets hard, we harden. We become self-reliant, calloused and defensive. At best we think it is up to us. At worst we imagine that God is mad at us. Either way, we turn to ourselves for answers.

But when we chose to soften in hard times a chain reaction begins. Instead of turning to ourselves for answers, we pray. Instead of turning to others, we seek God’s face. Instead of perpetuating wrong choices, we turn.

Application
Could it be that hardship is an invitation to re-calibrate? This invitation comes from our Lord who wants to soften toward us. He wants to hear, forgive and heal. But first we must humble.

Prayer
Father, I want to stiffen in hard times. Please help me to humble. Amen.

Conscience

Sensitive Again

No Comments 21 May 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Meredith Andrews sing “You’re Not Alone” while you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. Romans 2:14-15

Observation
How can a person know if he or she has crossed the line with God? How someone turn up the volume of God’s voice? Is it possible to restore sensitivity to the soul?

The answer is accessible to everyone, whether they have read a Bible or not. Imagine inside every human life, there is a court room. The law of God is inscribed not in leather-bound law books, but on the soft tissue of the human heart. In this courtroom of the heart, there is a witness stand, with a star-witness under oath, bound to speak the truth. It is our conscience.

We don’t always hear our conscience, because as in every courtroom there is a lawyer.Â The legal counsel in the courtroom is our reasoning. Our conscience can speak the truth, but like a crafty lawyer, reason can twist any argument so that we feel right while doing wrong.

So if our reasoning is not to be trusted, how can we ever know if we have pleased God or not? We are to look for two heart reactions. First we will feel accused when we do wrong. This emotion will not last long because we are skilled at taking our own guilt and hurling it on others. To keep sensitive we need to act promptly and do what our conscience requires.

After accusation, the second reaction is self-defense. When we find ourselves arguing in our thoughts and no one is debating with us, we can be certain that the Holy Spirit is speaking and we are looking for a way around his will. When we sense self-defense we should ask, “What am I trying to avoid here?” Finding that answer and acting on it peels away another layer of insensitivity.

Application
I must fight to stay tender by doing what I want to avoid. The way to turn up the volume of God’s voice, is to confess to others when I have done wrong, repair damage I have done and more. My conscience is too precious to waste.

Prayer
Father, keep me sensitive in a callous world. Amen.

Authority, Worship

God’s Billboard

1 Comment 20 May 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong sing Lord of Lords as you read today’s devotion.

Scripture

The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
every nation sees his glory. Psalm 97:6

Observation

No nation can build a wall high enough to shut out the presence of God. The Iron Curtain did not keep God out, nor did the Berlin Wall. The heavens declare the glory of God and nothing can keep God from advertising on his billboard.

Application

Today I received an email from my friend, Pastor Bong, in Yangoon, Myanmar. He sent images of his Bible College and home decimated by the cyclone. The nation of Burma has closed its doors to help. I watched a news clip on CNN yesterday on the destruction there, and even CNN was so short of footage that they looped a short video clip again and again. There is a helpless feeling as I pray for the believers there. And yet this word gives me hope. God cannot be shut out. Even Burma will see his glory.

Prayer

Father, today I ask for the people of Myanmar, especially the believers there, that you would reveal yourself in unstoppable ways. Open the doors that aid can enter. Reveal yourself in the sky to them. Let that nation see your glory. Amen.

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