Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong Church sing “Still” while reading today’s devotion about God’s secrets.
Scripture “No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 1:9-10
Observation
Secrets are not heard in the noisy street with crowds and activity. Whispers from God are heard when we find quiet places to listen to him speak. Then when we are in the busy places we are not distracted by the plans of others, but have a clear focus on what we are called to do.
No one has a clue what God has in mind, yet he wants to tell us if we will listen. There is so much that the Lord has up his sleeve for our future. There are people, places and things for us to do. When I study the jet trails of my own life, I’m amazed with the Father has done so far. What else does he have planned? My job is to get close enough to listen.
Application
I have this sense when I get quiet that God is getting ready to tell me something that he’s been keeping to himself for a few thousand years. I need to stop and to listen.
Prayer Father, today I chose to listen not just in the major times of quiet, but also in the little quarter rests in the music of today. Help me to hear you as much at a 2 minute stop light as in an hour alone with you. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to “Jesus Is Above All” by Hillsong London as you read today’s devotion about prophetic ears.
Scripture
Surely the Lord GOD does nothing
Unless He reveals His secret counsel
To His servants the prophets.
lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy? Amos 3:7-8
Observation
Amos lived in a shoe-box sized town but he had a widescreen view of the world. There was less to the town of Tekoa than met the eye. It was a place of grubby shepherds and smelly sheep. The freeway of life by passed it without an exit.
Amos, however, knew the world around him. Current events in far-flung cities were familiar to him. Even more, Amos knew God’s word in high definition vision. He could see through the headlines to see what God was up to.
Application
How did he do it? More importantly, how can we hear God as he did? His secret was this: while he worked he listened. Though he was just a shepherd and pruner of trees, he did not let his odd-job life keep him from seeing the big picture. He had confidence that God could speak to a man who was not the son of a prophet. He listened because he knew God speaks even to shepherds. And because he spoke what God told him, he was told even more.
I must work and listen. If God is to act he will speak to those who are listening and speaking for him. In the mundane events of life, I must listen for eternal things. Greater things are ahead for all of us, and before they come the prophets will hear them first. I want to be among them.
Prayer
Father, today, as I tend the sheep help me to hear what you are up to. And show me what to do with what I hear. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to Mercy Me sing “I Can Only Imagine” while reading today’s devotion
Scripture
“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” Matthew 12:30
Observation
What Christian would want to be known as someone who works against Jesus?
Who would want to be known as someone who stands in the way?
Who would want to be responsible for uprooting what Jesus has planted?
Worst of all, would want to be someone who picks a fight with the Lord?
Who would do such a thing? The answer is anyone who forgets the word “with”. It is just a four letter preposition, but living with the word “with” makes all the difference. There is a subtle temptation to go on our own, even if we have followed Christ for some time. Perhaps a prayer is answered and we say, “Thanks for the help, I’ll take over from here.” Maybe we hear the voice of the Shepherd calling and we answer “just a minute.” The degree of separation is slight but substantial, for just a few degrees of separation now can mean hundreds of miles of distance on the future flight path.
Leslie and I walk two German Shorthaired Pointers at night. Lucy is seasoned with age and knows to heel without being told. Jose, however, beats with a puppy’s heart. The world is so interesting and she soon forgets the master’s voice. Normally, Lucy walks on the left and Jose on the right with Leslie and I in the middle. But I experimented the other day by putting the dogs in the middle and Leslie and I on the outside. The measured stride of the old dog Lucy settled the rambunctious young dog Jose. Something of one rubbed off on the other.
I find one of the best ways to remember to keep close to Jesus is to journey with those who have learned to lean well on the Lord. There is a scampering puppy inside of me; I like the old dogs that keep me close to Jesus. There is something about their spirit, that without spoken word, seems to say, “Stay close.”
Every Thursday I receive a phone call from my old friend Larry. Larry is a Berle Ives lookalike, with a cheerful laugh and a warming smile that reaches right into the core of his being. The cadence of his voice, even more than the words that he speaks, set a pace for me in his phone calls that keep me close to Jesus. I hope, one day, to become an old dog myself who steadies others on their journey.
I think Lucy knows the secret of walking with Jesus, but she’s not telling. It’s something about seeing my life as an extension of the Master’s walk, for though Lucy never looks up, I somehow sense she is with me heart and soul as we walk along the road. She is not distracted by birds or passing dogs. She’s with the master and that is enough.
Application
It was James Thurber who wrote about the dog who walked his master. There are so many times I am calling to Jesus and asking him to follow me instead of waiting to follow him. My journey is really the Lord’s journey; if I am to be with him I need to let him walk through me.
Press the arrow to listen to Desperation Band sing Here in Your Presence as you read today’s devotion.
Scripture Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!” 1 Samuel 3:2-4
Observation
Fresh words from the Lord were very rare.
The high priest of the nation was blind.
The lamp of God was nearly out.
And the future prophet of the land was sleeping.
If the book of Judges is a somber book of the dark ages of Israel, then this moment is both its darkest and brightest all in one. On the one hand, the blackness had nearly swallowed the people. There was no king, everyone did what was right in his or her own eyes and the priesthood was nearly defunct. On the other hand, this the first spark that would become the brilliant light of King David and eventually Jesus all because of one word spoken by God, the name Samuel. That name broke the silence and because of that word all human history was changed. The word of the Lord is powerful and creative.
The word of the Lord came because of a boy who loved the presence of the Lord so much that he snuggled up to the Ark of God at night. There is something touching about the lad curled up in a blanket on the tent floor of the tabernacle as close to the Ark as he could get. When my son Levi was young, any new gift or purchase would be taken to bed at night to snuggle with. He slept with computer games, a tool box, and even a little saw. On one occasion he slept with the receipt of something he had put on lay away! Children cherish things, and show what they value by what they will curl up with at night. Samuel didn’t have a teddy bear, he curled up in the soft folds of the majesty of God. The Lord looked across the sleeping nation, in the middle of the night, and his tender heart was touched by the sight of a boy who loved his presence. That waiting in the presence is what moved God’s heart to finally speak to his people.
Application
Is there a message for adults in this child’s story? God will speak to us when we want to live in his presence, even in our sleeping hours. How much do we as adults, and me as a grown man, love the presence of the Lord? When I read the story of Samuel I see that I need to love it more. There are moments we know when God draws near. Often TV, internet, and busyness keep us at a distance with our “just a minute” excuses. But the choice to drop what we are doing, to spend time in the presence of the Lord without an agenda will draw the Lord to speak to us as he did to Samuel.
Prayer Father, I pray that I will prize your presence today. Help me to live like Samuel, taking time for what is most important. Let me live in your presence and when you speak my name may history change. Amen.
Worship as you read this devotion by pressing the arrow. Song: Desperation Band Promises
Scripture
‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ “For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.” Mark 7:7
Observation
Littered across the salt pan of the Arizona deserts are scattered tree logs toasting in the sun. Don’t try to build a night time fire with them to warm yourself from the desert chill, for this is petrified wood. The trees once full of carbon molecules were transformed one drip at a time into stone. What was living was replaced by what is dead.
The same happens in any vital relationship with Christ. There is a trickle through effect that replaces what is real and vital with what is inert.
How does it happen?
In one scenario, a maverick spiritual leader centuries ago read the Bible and called Christians back to a vibrant relationship with God just as the early Christians knew. During that first generation the children of that movement read the Bible and experienced the fire of God. But as one generation gave way to the next, the children and grandchildren quoted the founder rather than going to the foundation in the Bible. Now when the Bible is read adherents want to know how their founder would have interpreted the verse rather than how the Holy Spirit is speaking to them today. It’s petrified wood.
In another scenario, a trend setting pastor discovers the secrets of bringing large numbers of unchurched people to Christ and into the church. There are conferences, books, magazines, DVDs, podcasts and more. Young leaders immerse themselves in the right blogs and imitate everything from preaching to hairstyles. The magazine graphics look cutting edge, but it is petrified wood because group think has replaced the Holy Ghost.
Application
How can I keep the fibers of my relationship with God fresh and alive? How can I keep my ministry from calcifying? The answer is simple: keep close to the source. Be careful not to marinate too long in anything other than the Bible. Read the writings of great historical figures. Enjoy the expansive thoughts of contemporary thinkers. But always keep close to the source. The more we nourish what God is growing in our hearts with what is fresh from the Lord the less likelihood we have of replacing good wood with stone.
Prayer Father, I’m not sure I can see the petrified parts of my relationship with you as Jesus can. While he was on the earth he could see what no one else could. Give me eyes to see it now in my own life. 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.
Press the arrow to listen to worship while you read today’s entry.
Mandisa God Speaking
Scripture “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.” (Hebrews 3:13, 15)
Observation
What would happen if I used last week’s paper to forecast today’s weather?
After all isn’t it a weather report and isn’t it printed in a newspaper? Isn’t that enough?
Of course it isn’t. To know whether I need an umbrella or sunscreen I need today’s report. Conditions change from wipers to swimsuits depending on the current forecast.
What if I based my spiritual journey today on last week’s journal or even last month’s sermon? The word is true enough, but it might not be the word for today.
Application
If I am not in daily contact with the word I will be deceived. In fact if I am not in contact daily with growing believers who are also in the word I can get off track. I am liable to be deceived by degrees. I will be hardened slowly.
Prayer Father, keep me daily in the word and in the company of those who hear you better than I do. Don’t let me be deceived. Amen.
I'm Phil McCallum, a husband, father and most of all one of the people Jesus loves. I'm privileged to serve Evergreen Community Church in Bothell, Washington as Senior Pastor where people love enough to believe "it's all about relationships." In 1982 I made a vow to read God's word daily and apply it to life. Each day I write out my reflections. Some days I post those on my blog. It's a little personal but it's my hope it will stir you to go deeper still. Learn how I do my devotions. These are my thoughts and not necessarily those of the ministry I serve. By the way check out the computer study Bible Glo. I highly recommend it.
Babies being born all over Evergreen Community Church. Congrats to Pastor Josh & Jamie for Jayden. Also Eric and Deanne for Ian. Lots more. 5 hours ago
My 2009 Favs
These devotions have been most important to my 2009.
