Press the arrow to listen to Darlene Zschech sing “Call on Jesus” as you read this devotion about brick walls.

Scripture
Look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Observation
Life has brick walls. With our nose rubbing in the ungiving, red clay of opposition it tempting to slide down the wall and mope at the bottom. Walls of brick can be built with debt, hardship, sickness, conflict, misunderstanding, and disappointment. These walls are pock marked from our attempts to blast and to hammer them down. There is graffiti of frustration sprayed over them. But still the brick walls stand without a window to give fresh air from the other side.

There is blue sky beyond the red brick. Freedom cannot be seen, unless we choose to see it. Faith can make brick as translucent as glass. Faith is not pretending that the wall is not there. The bricks are real. Faith, however, can hold in tension two realities. First, it can see the world we live in full of impossibilities, and second it can see the realm where God lives where all things are possible.

Faith knows a secret: bricks crumble. The wall of discouragement is just a passing phase. Walls are real, but they are not not forever. Promises are always permanent; obstacles never are.

Application
I choose to have bifocal vision, to hold in tension the things that are seen and the things that are unseen.

Prayer
Father, in a world of impossible, I ask for the liberty to taste the atmosphere that surrounds you where all things are possible. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to New Life Worship sing “Here In Your Presence” while reading today’s devotion about the miraculous power of God.

Scripture
As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Mark 11:20

The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. Numbers 17:8

Observation
If we are to pray with faith for the miraculous, what is supernatural must become almost natural to our thinking. There is a sense when we pray for healing that we are asking for something so far beyond the norm that we can’t conceive it. But we need to open our minds to let the superantural seem natural to us. That is where faith is born. Here’s what I do to increase my faith.

I close my eyes and I see a row of sticks laying in the dark in the presence of God. One of them is Aaron’s rod. There are no roots to draw moisture. There is no soil to make things grow. There is no water to be drawn up as sap. There is no sunlight to begin photosynthesis. But the atmosphere of God’s house is heavy with a humidity without moisture and a warmth without sunlight. Richer than the nurturing environment of a greenhouse, it is God’s Spirit caressing the lifeless dead stick laying on the ground. The atmosphere around that dead wood works without roots, soil, water or light. Life emerges from the centre of the rod. Buds, leaves, flowers, and fruit emerge. This is the atmosphere of heaven bringing life where there was none before. It is all naturally supernatural.

When we pray for the sick or we lay lifeless things in the presence of God, this is the same restorative power that is at work in them. The supernatural seems almost natural with faith in our hearts.

I close my eyes again and see Jesus, the Creator of all, talking to a tree as if it were human. With one sentence that tree gave up the will to live and was dead before the sun was up. In the spring time when life was on the move and in a tree that for decades had lived death suddenly came. What power there is in the word of Christ. His word can drain life or restore it. It is nice to know that Jesus took out his anger on trees rather than people. Again what is supernatural seems almost natural if we look at it with faith.

Application
Old timers will speak about “bathing in prayer” the requests that they bring to the Lord. I should have a sense as I pray for the sick or the impossible, that I am immersing these lifeless things into the miracle-grow of the Lord. The same life-giving power that rose Christ from the dead is at work within me and the things I pray for.

Prayer
Father, give me the courage to lay lifeless things in the darkroom before you that they may live. Give me the faith that the obstacles in the way can be shriveled with one word from you. Let my prayers be naturally supernatural. Amen.

Worship as you read this devotion by pressing the arrow.
Song: Delirious Miracle Maker

Scripture
Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they replied.
So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. Mark 8:5-6

Observation
The “Feeding of the 5,000″ story is repeated in all four gospels. There is a reason why. The “Feeding of the 4,000″ is like an instant replay in slow motion of the first miracle. There is a reason for that as well. If God repeats something twice there is something important he is teaching; if that lesson is written multiple times then it must be very important for us today.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to us? Simple: the way Jesus met this need is how we are to sustain every ministry we do. Jesus was not intimidated by the need or nervous about resources, instead he moved in purposeful, slow motion making clear-headed decisions that led to miraculous provision. When I read this story, what stands out to me is the panic of the disciples contrasted with the serene stability of Jesus. They were looking at the bottom of the bag while Jesus perceived the edges of heaven.

Application
Just hours later the disciples flew into another flap about not having enough groceries with them. Jesus repeated the lesson a third time (which means to really, really listen) then added, “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus wants anyone in ministry to understand this as well. Ministry to people, especially large numbers of people, will always take a leader beyond his ability to supply. A pastor is given a father’s heart, yet he is taking care of God’s family, which has too many hungry mouths. Just as Jesus couldn’t pay the lunch bill, so over and over again in ministry we will be taken far beyond our ability to supply. What are we to do? Jesus modeled for us actions that said in effect: if I am a servant, then this is God’s problem. Jesus did what practically could be done and lifted his eyes to heaven and gave the difficulty to the Father. There is the example for us to follow. Whatever the need, the problem is not ours, it is God’s. Faith is not shown by a worried brow or flexing jaws, but in a simply doing what next needs to be done and expecting God to do the rest. Just keep walking forward with one good decision after another and see where God takes you.

Prayer
Father, you are our Provider, but so often we act as if you are not. Help me never to see an organization, an institution, a person, a paycheck or any other thing to be my sustenance. That is far too limited. Instead, let me like Jesus learn the relaxed upward gaze in front of a hungry crowd. Let me not get stage fright when it comes my time to walk in serene trust. Amen.

Scripture
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you….Genesis 12:1-2

Observation
I have just spent 45 leisurely minutes absorbing the story of Abraham’s journey, from the moving van in Haran to the midnight messages from God. There are just four short chapters but there is so much living and learning in them.

It began with the luring of Abram by the Lord out from his home and family on a journey to the ends of the earth at least as he knew it. Why did Abram have to leave his home, his relatives and his brothers and sisters? When God wants to speak to a person he will pull him or her into places where only the Lord’s voice can be heard. There is no group think; there is no fearful conformity. Instead there is room for God-sized ideas free from the finger prints of others. It is odd to think, but the love of those who care for us most can be an impediment to God being able to do his work in our lives. Abram had to make the uncomfortable decisions of peeling away embracing arms and walking away alone. When God wants someone he will call that person to be alone with him.

Abram obeyed God, but nothing happened immediately. Instead we trace our finger across our Bible atlas and find a man with a caravan of over 1,000 people bouncing about like bumper cars. There is no purpose to Abram’s zigzag route. What does stand out are the further decisions Abram made to cut himself free from anything he could depend upon other than the simple voice of God. Every time God spoke to Abram it was immediately after a painful choice he made between the status quo and following God.

When he built an altar to worship the one true God in the presence of his pagan neighbors, God spoke to him.

When he let the comfort of Lot go, God spoke to him.

When he turned down the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah on principle, God spoke to him.

God didn’t speak in Egypt, only in the place of promise. God didn’t speak until Abram had made choices that proved to God the worthiness of the man.

The land of Canaan was not all that it was cracked up to be. The country was already inhabited by others. Their ethics and religion were repugnant to Abram. The land of promise is an awkward place where we must live in the presence of what is not ours as if it were.  Abram tried Egypt, but he was deported. The patriarch would have to be comfortable with the discomfort of waiting for God to act in a land that was not his own. Thankfully, he found an oak forest that gave him shelter and a sense of home. So too there will be places of nesting for us until the promise is fulfilled.

Application
The lessons are simple. If we want to hear God speak, we must follow, even if we must leave that which we love and loves us behind. The greatest act of prayer is not with our words but with our actions when when we make a step God-ward. So where is the one place we can be certain to hear God ? It is in the awkward place of promise we should be most expectant to hear God speak.

Prayer
Father, I am in just such a place today. And so I listen expectantly. I have done all a man can do to hear the voice of God. Now I listen. Amen.