Faith & Family

I remember when two excited grandchildren had their first sleepover at my house.

At bedtime, I was privileged to choose the book to read—a book with one-page Bible stories and illustrations. Our evening reading included how God made Eve from Adam’s rib. I didn’t realize how attentively they listened until the following morning when they wanted me to climb into the sofa bed to snuggle. Although my right hip was not very cooperative, I eventually made it. The six-year-old piped up, “Maybe God could take out your bad hip and give you a new one!” Wouldn’t that be lovely? I thought. Someday, I’ll have a whole new body. Meanwhile, ibuprofen is my friend.

Human bodies do wear out. Illness and disease are a reality. We pray for healing and recovery. Many times, God honors those prayers with wholeness. In most cases, it comes with surgery, medical intervention, medicines, and physical therapy. Occasionally, we see God’s miraculous hand for a more immediate cure. But to our minds, it doesn’t happen often enough, and we wonder why.

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. Jesus’ response to the woman indicates His compassion. It wasn’t just in that moment when He complimented her faith or granted her request. The waiting in the moments before was not due to a lack of compassion. Instead, it created space for contemplation and developing that woman’s faith. She showed the strength of her commitment, allowing her to demonstrate her belief in Him through worship. And it allowed Jesus to make a grander statement in the end. His healing of the child had a more significant impact, cracking the door to ministry to those outside of the Jewish faith.

Our faith can still increase when we or those we love suffer. We can still worship Jesus as Lord and Savior and open our hearts to Him. Be eager for that day when, as one He’s redeemed, you experience your brilliant new body. Believe He has a plan for your heavenly healing.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Anemone123.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)

Fred was dead.

Fred was a Boston fern that had survived ten years happily beautifying our front porch in the summer and then wintering in the house hanging in a window. In the past decade, Fred and his companion Fran, also a Boston fern, had grown to a luxurious size. Neither had shown any previous problem wintering in the house.

Fran was still very much alive—bright green and a forest of leaves. But poor Fred had not made it through this past winter. My wife Charlotte, who has the green thumb in the family, had scoured for signs of life, going down into the roots and looking for even a hint of green. All she found were the brown and brittle remains of a once-thriving plant.

What was the difference between Fred and Fran? Fran had wintered in my office window. She received daily misting, weekly watering, and a couple of fertilizer boosts. She was perfectly happy.

On the other hand, Fred had spent the cold months in our grandson's bedroom, hanging in an east-facing window. Despite Caleb's being given a misting spray bottle and a watering can, poor Fred quickly fell to the bottom of his priority list. And then fell off the list altogether.

Now, in Caleb's defense, he is a live-at-home college freshman who also works nearly twenty-five hours a week serving fast-food burgers. He has plenty on his plate, and, except for poor Fred, he balances it pretty well. Still, fifteen seconds a day of misting and a couple of minutes a week of watering doesn't seem like it would be all that overwhelming. Fred would probably agree.

Actually, in a way, I'm just like Fred the fern. My Christian heart and mind also need daily misting and watering, except mine comes from the Word of God. I desperately need that daily immersion in God's perfect Word. I need the misting of God's love in my spirit and the watering that comes from the Lord's constant, never-ending presence. Like poor Fred, without it, my proverbial leaves, stems, and roots will become brown, brittle, and dead.

Open the Word and renew your heart and mind today.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and inonoyazy.)

A very ancient movement exists today, a movement to worship Mother Earth.

Hoping to have a heightened spiritual experience, people try to connect with spirits they believe inhabit trees and animals. They see all life as having value, feelings, and intelligence, and they worship it, not the One who designed and cares for it.

In contrast, some believe animals are dumb beasts, simply useful for work or experiments in science. This makes me sad. But others are fascinated by the wildlife God created. They study and film birds, butterflies, lions, giraffes, gorillas, and monkeys. Some dedicate their lives to rescuing abused, abandoned, or unwanted cats, dogs, donkeys, horses, and even sheep. I know a woman who lives in near poverty because she cares for a dozen cats in her trailer home as a foster mom until someone adopts them.

One thing is true: God loves His animals. He rebuked Job with testimonies of His passion for caring for the creatures He created. He praises another for allowing the sparrow to nest by God’s altar, and Jesus declared that not one sparrow falls outside the Father’s care.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” This verse in Revelation delights me. At a time when many mock and despise Jesus, the creatures He created sing forth His worship. Let’s join them.

Think of some ways you can show appreciation for God’s creatures. 

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and susannp4.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)

One day when driving to visit my mother, I watched a simple four-hour drive turn into a fiasco.

Pouring rain hit near Portland—one of those gushers where you can hardly see in front of you. Maybe that’s why I missed the usual turnoff to avoid traffic. Several wrecks then slowed driving to a snail’s pace. I was thankful to be safe but anxious to be on my way.

Unfortunately, by not changing lanes in time, I headed for downtown Portland. Following the signs, I drove and drove without finding the freeway. After asking directions, I turned around and found an on-ramp in minutes.

Thirty minutes later, I breathed a prayer of thanks. The following two hours were uneventful. It was already dark, but I would be in my mother’s living room in forty minutes. The first North Bend sign came up, and I anxiously awaited the exit—but for some reason, drove right past it. (Should I blame the audiobook I listened to?)

I was just about to give it all up for a good cry, but a full moon loomed overhead. At least that made the night a little brighter, and I felt less alone with the moon smiling down on me—laughing, perhaps. But I knew I was not alone. God was with me and looked out for me. I prayed for safety and pulled off the freeway to turn around. A few minutes later, I once again headed for Mom’s, this time taking the correct exit.

Occasionally, we all do something that makes us feel stupid, frightened, or uncertain. But one thing is sure—we are never alone.

I wasn’t alone on that dark, rainy night, but I had to remind myself of that fact. I am not alone today, sitting at the computer or when temptation strikes or a challenging day discourages me. To doubt God’s presence is to mistrust God and call Him a liar. God's promise to Joshua is His promise to us.

Take some measured steps that will help you take God at His Word.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and 453169.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)

My four-year-old granddaughter followed closely behind me one afternoon as I pulled weeds from my flower beds. Her small hands grasped the ugly nuisances right along with mine. After we had gathered a small pile of weeds to throw away, Selah asked, “Nana, why do you pull the weeds?” Although I’m retired, the teacher in me came out. This was a teachable moment.

I described how rapidly weeds grow and how they can get so big they will choke out the pretty flowers. I also explained how flowers look prettier without the weeds hanging around them.

“Selah, did you know our hearts are like flower beds and get weeds too?”

She frowned. “No, what do you mean, Nana?”

“Well, when our hearts are full of love, kindness, and obedience, they are like a pretty flower garden for God. But when we say bad words, don’t tell the truth, or disobey, we grow weeds in our hearts. It’s just as important to pull the weeds out of our hearts as it is out of Nana’s flower beds.”

I smiled when Selah took her hand and felt her heart under her shirt as if she wanted to pluck heart weeds right then and there. Ahh, the innocence of a child.

Adult weeds might be bitterness, hate, selfishness, deception, gossip, entitlement, or complacency. The spiritual weed list is quite lengthy. Even so, the more we cultivate our heart gardens by eliminating sinful attributes, the more our spiritual flowers of love, forgiveness, grace, patience, and hospitality will grow lovelier, and the peace of God will rule in our hearts.

What spiritual weeds do you need to pluck from your heart?

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and summa.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)