An olive tree in Ithaca in Greece, reported to be over 1,500 years old.

Scripture

I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever. Psalm 52:8

Observation
Olive trees endure. In places like the Garden of Gethsemane, olive trees still grow that once sheltered Jesus as he prayed. What is more remarkable is that these ancient sentinals still produce fruit. For example, in Croatia on the isle of Brijuni, an ancient olive grows now 1,600 years young, and yet it still produces about 30 kilos of olives each year. Aged and fruitful, olives are symbol of life-giving stability.

Like the Ents in the Lord of the Rings, so God’s forest needs trees that endure for a very long time. Their gnarly presence is a comfort in the midst of constant change. And because God is at work in lives like this, there is never a use-by-date, instead they continue to produce oil-rich olives.

Application
I want to be an enduring tree in the house of God. For years I have most admired elders in churches, who like stabilizers in a ship, keep the people of God steady and forward moving. The secret is in the source. Such enduring men must trust in the lovingkindness of the Lord. This is love that flows from covenant. It is given not because it is deserved, but because it is the nature of God to continue to give it. An ancient tree will watch much history pass by, and knows that one event in and of itself is not enough to stop the flow of God’s grace. The mercy that is new every morning will yet flow from the covenant heart of God to us. More fruit will come.

Prayer
Father, make me an endurer. Give me roots buried deep in lovingkindness so that I am known as one who is always there and evergreen. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Mercy Me sing “Here with Me” while you read today’s devotion on excellence.

Scripture
Then they hammered out gold sheets and cut them into threads to be woven in with the blue and the purple and the scarlet material, and the fine linen, the work of a skillful workman. Exodus 39:3

Observation
I imagine a wiry man in a stuffy tent with mallet in hand thumping a chunk of gold. I can see him with the Egyptian version of a Stanley Knife meticulously slicing fine gold wires. His world is an ordered world measured in tidy millimeters.

Of all the people that God chose to trust with his most sacred building project, to create his home on earth, a symbol of heaven on the planet, were creative artists. That should make any artist swell with a bit of pride.

But it was not just any craftsman that God chose. He wanted those who did the “work of a skillful workman.” This was not just a matter of doing a good job, but an excellence the flowed from their hearts. It was an honour to be asked and an awe to see their small involvement create something so intricately immense as The Tabernacle. That entrustment brought heart-felt excellence.

Application
The call that God has given me should drive me to do my very best. Today I will not be hammering out gold foil, but I will be working with hearts. It is a delicate work. Just like a jeweler lightly fingering tinsel-thin gold and embroiderers slowly pulling gold threads, so I will speak words that could last forever. They need to be spoken like the work of a skillful craftsman.

Prayer
Father, today I ask for a craftsman’s heart in all that I do with you. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to “Hear Us From Heaven” from New Life Worship as you read today’s devotion about listening to God.

Scripture
On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up… Acts 10:9-11

Observation
Waves lapped at the shore. Just up the hill glistened a white washed cottage. In the kitchen women were busy kneading and dicing to get lunch ready. They wanted this to be a special meal because the great apostle Peter was their special guest. Up on the family patio, Peter was resting before lunch time. While his stomach growled, he used the few moments to pray. It was a normal day in a small fishing village, but history was just about to change.

Peter didn’t know about the angel that had visited a Roman of all things. He didn’t know about three men approaching the house where he was resting. Peter didn’t know that he was about to upend 1,500 years of Jewish tradition by entering the house of a Gentile. Peter was meditating in the sun, waiting for lunch.

There is something ordinary about this extraordinary scene. It could be an everyday day that any one of us could live. But something about Peter made it different. Peter was the right man in the wrong place. The congregation he needed to speak to was in a different city. Revival was about to bust out in Caesarea and Peter was waiting for lunch. Nonetheless, there was something in Peter’s spirit that was listening even when he was resting.

Application
How can I be in the right place at the right time to be useful to the Lord? I could become compulsive about it and neurotically examine the will of God. Peter, gives me a different example. The man who had walked on water and had seen 3,000 converts at his first meeting, took a few minutes before lunch to pray. History changing events can swirl around us. We too can be part of them if like Peter we’re listening for the voice of God as much as hearing our stomach’s growl.

Prayer
Father, I want to be in the right place at the right time to be of use to you. You have total access to my ordinary moments as well as the extraordinary ones. My beeper is on Father. I’m on call. Amen.