Deeper Still by phil mccallum

Press the arrow to listen to Natalie Grant’s song, “Our Hope Endures” while reading where hope comes from.

Scripture

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Observation

Where does hope come from? Hope is a fresh scent of good things God is cooking up for us. It is the sun that makes us get out of bed in the morning. It is a song in our mind that wakes us up in the night. Hope is what keeps us looking long after the posse went back home. Hope is what keeps us praying longer than is reasonable.  Hope is not a superfulous, expendable extra in life like the cherry on a sundae. Hope is mission critical.  In the toughest conditions, hope is what makes the difference between those who survive and those who do not

We need hope. But where does hope come from? Thankfully hope does not come from us, but from God. Hope somehow doesn’t feel hopeful when we have to talk ourselves into it. But when hope comes from heaven it enables us to believe more than we could ever do so on our own. Hope is a gift from God that keeps us walking forward when the road runs out.

How do we get new hope? Romans 15:13 is full of exciting possibilities of hope. God’s last name is apparently “hope”. With hope come the children of “joy” and “peace”. Hope can get out of control as it abounds in tough places. Hope is power that comes from the Holy Spirit, a power that others do not have to rise above their circumstances. Hope is totally of God. There is only one word in Romans 15:13 that is up to us as human beings. Our responsibility is “believing”. If we will use faith then God will give us hope.

Application

If I will believe, God will give me more hope. No matter how discouraging the circumstances, there is always something we can believe for, no matter how small. We as Christ followers are to be defined by what we are believing for. We are to live from “faith to faith”. We should be believing for something. Though my nose may be bruised from the crush of doors slammed in my face, yet I will continue to believe. In that resolute faith I will have more hope.

Prayer

Father, today you see what I’m believing for. I pray that you would shovel hope into my life. I need this power of anticipation that the Holy Spirit can give to me. Amen.

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Press the arrow to listen to Jeremy Camp sing “There Will Be a Day” as you read today’s devotion about the challenges of new opporutnities.

Scripture
“…the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it, and to its farthest borders it shall be yours….” Joshua 17:18

Observation
I cried most of the day of my 25th birthday. Just two months into my first pastorate, the pincers of a divided church had pierced through to my heart.  In my prayers I imagined that I had been dropped off on the shore of an island covered with sharp thorn bushes and it was my job to clear the land.

The Lord has no problem giving us opportunity. But we have a problem with what stands in our way. It may be a forest to clear, or hard leadership calls to make, debt to clear, conflict to resolve or paint to scrape before we can experience all that God has for us.

Opportunities can discourage us when God gives them. There is always an obstacle he deliberately puts in our path. Why does he do that? Is he against us? No, the challenges are proof that he is for us. He knows that these obstacles will bring the best out of us.

Application
I served long enough to see the thorn bushes in my first church pulled out by the roots. In time a new church building was built and the the congregation multiplied five times in size. I am glad that my ministry started the hard way, for that past endurance gives me today present strength to dig up the thorn bushes God has put in front of me.

Prayer
Father, help me to claim all of the land you have intended for me. Amen.

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Press the arrow to listen to Don Moen sing Rescue while you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
he saved me from all my troubles. Psalm 34:4-6

Observation
Fear is paralyzing. Like a spider’s bite that immobilizes the victim, so the Enemy can use fear as a way of manipulating us. Satan cannot change reality, but he can alter the way that we perceive what is real. Small finger movements become huge wall shadows of frightening monsters. These illusions are not authentic, but they feel real. That emotion is all that Satan needs.

How can we escape fear? We can elude fear when we make the choice to pray through to the other side of fear. The other day I flew into snowy Denver. The pilot warned us that a blizzard awaited us below, but while he gave the forecast, brilliant sun and blue sky poured through my window. His words seemed so out of touch with reality. To those living on the ground, it seemed like the sun had disappeared. But my flight reminded me that sun still shines. The cloud cover was so thick, that we saw the land just as the wheels touched the tarmac. The fog and snow were depressing but not debilitating, because I knew where the sun was.

Prayer melts through fear to find the smiling face of God on the other side. There are two things we are to pray for when we are afraid. The first, is to see the Father’s face, so that our hearts will be filled with joy. The second, is for the Lord to release us from our troubles.

David would go on to face moments more fearful than this. But never again would he have anxiety attacks. From that moment on he would use fear to leverage himself into a more secure place in God.

Application
Why pray when you can worry? Oops, I think it is supposed to be the other way around! The answer is obvious and my choices are plain.

Prayer
Father, show me the other side of fear today and help me to live in rainy days as if the sun were shining around me because it is within me. Amen.

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Press the arrow to listen to Chris Tomlin sing Amazing Grace while you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?

Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” Judges 6:13-14

Observation
The greatest obstacle to answered prayer can be me. The problem is not with God. He wants to rescue. The problem instead is with my skewed view of reality.

Gideon had a head problem. He had a faultless chain of logic that was totally wrong but made perfect sense. Bad things were happening, therefore he assumed that God was against his people. The difficulty of his logic was that it exonerated Gideon from attempting anything to challenge the status quo. He felt perfectly justified to hide like a fugitive in his own land, choking on chaff dust, because God was against them all.

We too block answers to prayer when we see God as the source of our problems instead of the beginning of our solutions. If we think life’s problems are God’s fault why try to change things?

There is a higher, heavenly perspective that the angel brought into Gideon’s life. This heavenly logic is like a gust of fresh air in a stuffy room. Here’s the new logic: assess your personal strengths and use them and God will use you. The presence of potential in Gideon’s life was proof that God was with him. He later proved himself as a leader, strategist and warrior. Once unpackaged the problem was solved.

Application
Answers to prayer require as much a change in my heart as in God’s heart. We must exchange faulty thinking for fresh perspective. Instead of asking, “What does God have against me” we should instead ask, “What do I have going for me?” The answer to prayer is not external, it is internal. Inside of me God has placed the potential for the answer. I have to change my outlook so God can use what he has given me to change the world around me.

Prayer
Father, give me a clearer and clearer understanding of what you have invested into my life so that you can work through my life. Amen.

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Press the arrow to listen to this worship song while you read today’s devotion.

Vineyard UK All Who are Thirsty

Scripture
Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.” Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother, Kenaz, was the one who conquered it, so Acsah became Othniel’s wife.

When Acsah married Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What’s the matter?”

She said, “Let me have another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. Joshua 1:12-15

Observation
This little real estate story from the life of Caleb is an odd bit of trivia to record in the Bible. It is listed for us twice, both here in Judges as well as in Joshua. Like so many other places in the Bible, I find myself wondering why it is given so much page space. I come to the conclusion yet again that if God repeats soemthing, then the story must be significant for us to learn from.

Caleb was the weathered old warrior who kept a dream alive for 45 years until he saw it fulfilled in his retirement. But this story shows us another side of the geriatric general. Caleb was a gracious man too. He gave away generous rewards to those who shared his zealous heart. To the one who fought a battle he gave precious land. To his daughter he gave a gift even before she asked. Caleb had not only remained passionate he had also managed to remain compassionate as well. Passion and compassion are an outstanding combination.

Acsah was a determined daughter. She took a risk to ask for more. She and her husband had been given land, but it was dry land. Like a good wife who wants her husband to succeed, Acsah wanted her man to have all that he needed to excell. She astutely perceived the need for water. What was more, Acsah had the courage to go to her father and do the ask. Others may have tried to survive in the desert on a few scattered raindrops, but she asked for refreshment in the desert place.

Application
When I read this story, I see something of God in Caleb and us in Acsah. The Lord is a generous God, especially to those who share his heart of adventure and risk for things that are eternal and significant. There are times God gifts to us the desert place. There is room to live, but nothing to drink. Too often we are content with that, when the Lord would give more if we would but ask. That is where our faith comes in to ask the Lord for more. We should not be reluctant, for he wants to generously give to us. There is a freedom for us to ask for water to be added to our dry desert. I want to ask more of the Lord, for he is more kind than I could understand.

Prayer
Father, today thank you for desert places, for it is here that desire is created. That would not happen in lush environments. You have give to us land in the desert, now give to us springs of water as well. Amen.

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Jeremy Camp Let it Fade

Scripture
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
…Unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!
Psalm 32:8-11, selected

Observation
In my file drawer I keep a thick folder of stick figures drawn by my daughter, finger paints of my son and every encouraging note and email I’ve ever received. In fact that folder has turned into many volumes of scrapbooks I keep in storage for days when smiles come with more difficulty. The label on the top of the file reads “Joy File”. On sullen days I pull it out and chuckle again.

If we should recycle our garbage, should we not also recycle good things as well? Rejoicing is another word for recycling our joy, for this is a choice to re-joy life by smiling again over old things.

Rejoicing is more than something that gives me pleasure, it’s also something that gives God flexibility to improve my life. When I don’t rejoice I take my negative opinion too seriously. Without joy I listen only to my own narrow point of view. My neck becomes stiff and my heart becomes stubborn. The Bible word to describe me is something close to donkey, but not as pleasant. When I have not pursued the pleasure of re-joying I become like a stubborn mule. God can only lead me with the two-by-four of consequences. The best he can do with my life is to keep me under control. There is no willing following of him.

When I rejoice I become flexible to God’s direction and life becomes fluid as I move through his grace to his next plan for me. The question is: how can we rejoice when there is nothing fresh to take joy in? The answer is: recycle past joys and be happy again about them. Joy never wears out, it can always be used again.

Lilly Bailey was the most optimistic human being I’ve ever known, best of all she was my aunt. There were many downbeat moments in her life. She lost a son to a fever and a grandson was tragically run over by his own mother’s car. She outlived three husbands, becoming a widow three times. Yet at 96 she was as chipper as ever. She could always find the positive in anything. We were once driving through a depressing part of town with dilapidated houses. Of course, Aunt Lilly didn’t see all of that, instead she pointed to an upper window and exclaimed, “See those pretty flowers!” In the midst of the slum was a vase filled with red roses. When asked the source of her jubilant spirit she explained that her father was something of an ogre, a negative man. She made a choice as a child to say something positive or nothing at all. Joy is a choice, and with that joy God can move anything forward in our lives.

Application
The psalm writer said, “Unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.” There is much joy along the road of my journey if I will look for it and use it to speed my way. The world’s largest royal palace is the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. There I saw a slab of stone probably 90 feet long intricately carved with dragons and phoenixes. The sign explained that the slab came from a quarry miles away, yet without modern transport, the stone was delivered in one piece on the building site. The workers moved the stone in the frigid winter. Along the roadway wells were dug at intervals. Water was drawn and poured over the dry roadbed. Allowed to freeze overnight, the mud became like a luge and the stone like a bobsled shuttling toward Beijing. There is much joy along our journey, no matter how heavy the load may be, for we are surrounded by the unfailing love of the LOrd. Our joy and the choice to rejoice and recycle our joy makes it possible for the Lord to move things that no one else can budge. What is in my joy file today. It is time to rejoice.

Prayer
Father, through out this day let my mind reflect over the thousands of happy moments you have invested into my life. Let me live on the reruns of joy this day. Amen.

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Worship as you read this devotion by pressing the arrow.
Song: Michael Card Listen

Scripture
On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. Mark 16:3-4

Observation
Sometimes the best way to deal with a problem is to walk away from it and to leave it in the Lord’s hands. Without brooding over our worries, our absence gives God room to do his work on our needs. The Friday night before the women had left their grief behind and traveled home to rest. On Sunday morning they returned and found their problem solved. Sometimes we do need to take a trip away from our troubles in order to thoroughly leave them in the hands of the Lord. It is not the choice of abandonment, for we will return. Rather it is the decision to release and to give the Lord the space that he needs to work.

How silly the women must have felt when they thought back on their talk in transit to the tomb. They fretted over the stone, that huge slab of hopelessly heavy rock that none of them could budge. Little did they know they were driving into the headlinghts of the resurrection. There was a miracle ahead. Perhaps it is when we leave our problems that we imagine that God comes with us and leaves our worries behind. But this is not the case. When we release our troubles the Lord not only goes before us but he also stays behind to solve the matters we cannot reach. We should not be surprised to return to find the door opened that we thought was sealed tight.

Application
Journeys change us and they change our home conditions; it is my prayer that my journeys will be the same.

Prayer
Father, you have my journey today. Use it for your glory. Amen.

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