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Romancing the Soul
daily devotional
Ray Bentley
APRIL

April 1
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. —Exodus 20:8

April 2
Genesis 20:9
"What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done."

Abraham, who lied and tried to pass off his wife Sarah as his sister, was rebuked by a pagan king for being unethical.  Abraham, who represented Yahweh, the one true God, was caught lying!  The king who caught him was pretty indignant.

In another passage of the Old Testament, the prophet Amos, describing the state of the nation of Israel, said, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people. ‘They do not know how to do right,” says the Lord’” (Amos 3:9-10).

How did the outside world see God’s people?  The pagan king saw Abraham lying, and suffered, firsthand, the consequences.  Amos revealed how the world saw Israel in a state of “great unrest and oppression.”  It is a sad state of affairs when the wickedness of God’s people surpasses that of the heathen, and the heathens are the ones who bear witness against believers!

Have you ever considered that in a way, God is watching His people, sometimes through the eyes of unbelievers?  We aren’t saved by works, I know.  It’s all about God’s grace.  But if all that unmerited love does not result in changed lives, then e have to ask: do we really believe?  Do we really have a relationship with the Lord?

If all the Gospel means is an unchanged life plus a lot of religious words, then who needs it?  And what does this say of the Holy Spirit’s power to change us?

The only true witness for Christ is the witness of humbled, repentant believers who confess their sins and seek the enabling of God’s grace to do His will.

"We were chaff, now we are wheat;
  we were dross, now we are gold;
  we were ravens, now we are doves;
  we were thorns, now we are grapes;
  we were thistles, now we are lilies;
  we were strangers, now we are citizens;
  we were harlots, now we are virgins;
  hell was our inheritance, now heaven is our possession;
  we wer children of wrath, now we are sons of mercy;
  we were bondslaves to Satan, now we are heirs of God
  and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. "
                 —James Bisse

 
April 3
Romans 12: 10-15
“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.”


I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic lately for a time in my life when revival broke out all around me, and I was part of a mighty move of God’s Spirit, during what is now called the Jesus Movement of the 60s and 70s.  Chuck Smith and others like him reached out to the disillusioned, rebellious hippie elements of society, and a great work of God happened!

It was exciting, wonderful, and awesome to see the Lord work!  I remember hearing about how one day Chuck Smith listened as members of his congregation complained about barefoot and often unwashed hippie kids coming into their nice church with its new, green carpet.  His response?  “Tear out the green carpet!”


In the movie, The Godfather, when the mafia families were ready to go to war they said, “It’s time to go to the mattresses.”   Well, I think it’s time for us to go to war – except, unlike the mafia, this is a spiritual war against the evil that seeks to destroy our kids.  Our call to battle just might be, “It’s time to love the outcasts of societies, or the people searching for truth, no matter how they look, what they wear – or what they have done with their lives.”  Not everyone is going to look like a poster child for evangelical Christianity.  Some people just may look more like the ragtag group of men that King David took in, who later became David’s “mighty men” – or the disciples that Jesus collected and empowered to become apostles and prophets. 


I am grateful to pastor a successful, thriving church that God has blessed, but I don’t ever want to become the church that Jesus rebuked in the book of Revelation:   “I know your works, your labor…you have persevered and have patience and have labored for My Name’s Sake.  Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Revelation 2).   Our first love should be Jesus.  When He is first in our lives, then our love for others pours out of our lives like living water, and we become more like the church Paul described in verse above in Romans 12.

A church like that can’t help but reach people of all kinds—especially the next generation.  Our faith is encouraged and strengthened as we stretch beyond our comfort zones and learn to look beyond exterior appearances.  Behind every long-haired, tie-dyed clad hippie who wandered into a Jesus Movement church in the early 70s, was a lost soul needing the truth.  Inside every street smart, tattooed, pierced young person, struggling with sex, drugs or whatever—is a heart that needs to know love, truth, and life.  How can we do less than love them and welcome them in?

Your comments: media@maranathachapel.org

April 4
1 Timothy 1:12-16
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
But for that very reason I was shown mercy…”

The apostle Paul never had the feeling that he had chosen Jesus, but rather that Jesus chose him.  I don’t think Paul believed he was capable of recognizing his Savior on his own. It was as if, when heading straight for destruction, Jesus Christ laid His hand upon Paul and stopped him in his tracks.  While Paul was busy throwing his life away, the Lord intervened, brought him to his senses, and turned his life around.  For this, Paul was forever grateful.

I’ve known a lot of people in my life who fit that exact description.  In fact, in one way or another, doesn’t that describe all of us?  Some are just more dramatic about it!  While some get saved out of a horribly destructive life of drug abuse or sexual abuse or suicidal behavior, others get saved from a life of boring, desperate complacency—which can be equally self-destructive when it leads to depression and general frustration with life.

It was an amazing thing to Paul that he, the arch persecutor of the early Church, was chosen by God to be the most recognizable missionary for Christ in the world at the time.  Paul was so grateful, not just that Jesus had forgiven him, but now the Lord trusted him with the most important job in the world!

Sometimes we forgive people who have made mistakes or been guilty of certain sins.  We might even work with them —but somehow we make it very clear that their past sins make it impossible to ever trust them again.

But God not only forgave Paul, He trusted with most precious work in the Kingdom—to be His ambassador to the world.  What sweet grace!

April 5
Luke 19:41-42
“As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

The week before Resurrection day, a few days before His crucifixion, Jesus stood over the city of Jerusalem, looked out upon His people, and openly wept. It was the second time in a week that Jesus cried tears of sorrow amongst His friends. The first time was at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35).

Jesus knew what Jerusalem’s future held.  He knew that the salvation He would offer them would be rejected.  But He loved them, and wept with the lamentation of one mourning the dead.

Why was He so emotionally moved?  Because He knew that they would put their faith in political will and power.  He knew they would not know peace, because they were looking in the wrong direction.  He knew so much, and He loved them so much —and He knew He would die to make that love real.

Jesus cries for us as well, each of us individually.  How does He cry for you? If you are His friend, He cares about all that is hurting your heart today.  If you don’t know Him, He weeps because you are ignorant of who He is.  Because when He came as the Lamb of God you missed Him—like so many of the children of Israel.

Many missed Him because He did not wield political or military power.  He came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  He came as a servant, who was ready to lay down His life to usher in His Kingdom – because He knew that was only way.

He came to humble Himself and give Himself.

“To be crucified means, first, the man on the cross is facing only one direction; second, he is not going back;  and third, he has no plans of his own.”  —A.W. Tozer

April 6
1 Corinthians 15:54-57
"Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The adventure called life can be glorious.  But sometimes it is dimmed by a long shadow, cast by a constant, dark cloud, full and ready to pour out its cold splash of tears.  The cloud blocks the light and dampens our days, and is called by some the ultimate fear:  death.

I don’t think we’re all afraid to die, but we struggle over the process.  I fear a lingering disease, or an accident that takes someone I love, or watching someone I love suffer.

Believers celebrate Christ’s victory over death, proclaiming, “He is risen!” with great joy.  But God never asks us to be dishonest.  We don’t have to be afraid to admit that death affects us, and even frightens us. God promised to be with us in the “valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23), because He knows that we will be frightened and hurt and will need a loving hand.

When C.S. Lewis mourned the death of his wife, he wrote, “It is hard to have patience with people who say ‘There is no death.’  There is death.  And whatever is matters…I look up into the night sky.  Is there anything more certain than that in all those vast times and spaces…I should nowhere find her face, her voice, her touch?  She died.  She is dead.  Is the word so difficult to learn?”

My brother Glenn was hit and killed by a car on a dark street.  He was still young, and his death felt untimely.  It hurt us.  We miss him.  There is an irreconcilable void in our family gatherings. Death takes us through deep waters, and dark, shadowy valleys.  Death is a thief and robber, and takes from us the very thing God bestowed upon us —life.  It is a reality we must face.

People used to believe that the sun revolved around the earth, until a man named Copernicus published a controversial book in 1543 asserting that the earth and other planets circle around the sun.  He changed everyone’s perspective of the universe.

This is what Jesus did to the world’s perception of death.  He turned it upside down!

Without the promise of eternal life, death is indeed something to fear.  But when Jesus died for our sins, taking them all upon Himself, then rose again on the third day, He made eternal life a reality.  Death had been conquered! The robber had been robbed.  Life was taken back when Jesus died and rose again!

“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so…
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”
                       —John Donne, poet,1572-1631


April 7
1 Corinthians 15:50-51
“What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever. But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed.” (NLT)

This life truly is a short journey, merely preparing the way for something greater.  If we could just get that idea into our hearts and minds, it will change our whole perspective.

When Paul got it, great mystery had been solved in the apostle’s mind. The realization of what the Resurrection of Jesus means hit him. Flesh and blood cannot inherit a spiritual kingdom.  We can’t move into a perfect realm in our current state of being.  Our perishable, corruptible bodies have to move into an imperishable, incorruptible state. Our mortal lives have to be transformed into immortality.

That’s when Paul said (and you can almost hear the excitement in his voice), “Death shall be swallowed up in victory!”  He went on to cry exultantly, “Death, where is your sting? Where is your victory?”

The purpose for Jesus’ death was clear now! Paul understood.  He couldn’t wait to tell others.  It really is good news!

For me, especially after experiencing the loss of people I love, this was a wonderful revelation.  When I, like Paul, came to know Jesus and finally grasp the power of the Resurrection, life took on new meaning.  This life truly is a short journey, merely preparing the way fro something greater.

I don’t know if anyone has ever described he transition from this life to the next better than C.S. Lewis in the closing paragraphs of the “Chronicles of Narnia.”

Aslan the lion, who symbolizes Jesus, has just told the children in the story that they have been in a railway accident. “You father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands—dead…the dream has ended; this is morning.”

Lewis continues, “For them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world…had only been the cover and title page; now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.”1

Jesus taught us, “I am the way, the truth and the light.”  He also said, “I am the light of the world.”

He is the way—the only way—to heaven.  He is the truth that exposed death as powerless, defeated enemy. He is the light that can push away he clouds.  In Him we can be free of fear.  In Him we can find the peace that passes understanding.  In Him we can truly live.

1.    C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle, (The Macmillan Co., 1956).

April 8
"He has risen, just as He said." —Matthew 28:6

April 9
1 Peter 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

I think most of us like to think of ourselves as loving people. We try to do good and think charitable thoughts. But there are those people who just bug us...or hurt us...or make our lives uncomfortable. Them we would just as soon live without. But—and if you read today's verse, I think you know where this is going–that's not possible if we wish to have a relationship with God. As we truly worship an incarnate God, we learn to humble ourselves enough to love one another.

The quality of our spiritual life is no better than the quality of our human relationships, and the way we connect with people is a picture of our connection to God. God is love, and in knowing Him, we cannot escape the people He puts in our lives—as much as we want to at times!

Part of the process of being born again into God's Kingdom and becoming "a new creature in Christ" is about how we relate to people. The apostle Peter correlates "obeying the truth" not to rules and regulations or church rituals, but to "loving one another, deeply, from the heart."

"Your life may be morally sound and you may be a good churchgoer with all the right theology, but if the result is not a clean, free conscience overflowing with pure love, then something is wrong," writes Mike Mason.

I preach the Gospel every week. I've prayed over the sick and officiated at weddings and funerals of people I know. But I have to confess, I don't always find it easy to love hard and difficult people. Then I ask God to fill me with His Spirit, to help me see people through His eyes. I think of the words of Peter – that living in the truth results in sincere love—and I know there is hope for my heart because of God.

April 10
Luke 22:27
“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”

Jesus came to establish an upside kingdom.  He made puzzling statements like “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all,” and “”whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…”

These ideas were revolutionary, and probably a disappointment for the early disciples who were expecting a politically powerful messiah. Jesus used the word “servant” to express His radical idea of human relationships as a mutual serving of one another, involving self-sacrifice.  His words are often quoted in sermons and Sunday School lessons, but if we were to truly compare our lifestyles and even our church activities to His words, most of us would fall very short. 

“The principle of being servant to all is devastating to chains of command and to systems where submission is upward.  Many religious structures are carbon copies of the flow-charts of giant corporations where the ‘lording’ system is pyramid shape. In the kingdom of God, the power pyramid is reversed, upended, so that the authority is on the bottom, not the top.” 1

Jesus sat with His disciples at their last Passover supper together, and reminded them that the rulers of the Gentiles “lord it over them…but you are not to be like that” (Luke 22:25-26).  And then He reminded them that He came to serve, knelt, and washed their feet.

The King had come to serve.  If only, in the church which bears His name, we would treat each other like Jesus treated His friends, then the world would look at the church and say, see how they love one another!  (John 13:35).

1. Irwin, Gayle, “The Jesus Style” (Ronald N. Haynes, Publishers, Palm Springs, CA), 1983.

April 11
Ephesians 3:15
"His whole family in heaven and on earth."

We all come from some sort of family – some great, warm and loving. Others, harmful, hurtful. Some of you may feel abandoned by your families, others may feel smothered and need to break out. Most families try to love each other as best they can, but all families are made of flawed human beings – and most of us have at least one quirky, weird, or funny character in our family tree.

When Jesus said, "you must be born again" as the criteria for salvation, He created a new order of things. He gave us a new family. Not to abandon our biological families, but to embrace the new "family of God," intended to provide you with a group of family members committed to loving the Lord —and you.

Membership in "the family of God" does not come by natural birth, but by new birth. You can't earn your way in or get invited by a parent or pastor. There's only one way.

But once you are a believer in Jesus, you have a family that crosses cultural and racial barriers, and includes people of all backgrounds, education levels, financial status, and yes, psychological make ups. God puts a high priority on your biological family, on relationships, and dedication to parents and children. But He puts an even higher value on your spiritual family. "The New Testament world is unable to imagine living out a healthy family life apart from the context of a healthy church life," writes Peter Scazzero. "The local church becomes the place where I am, in a very real sense, reparented."1

Don't be afraid to live in this family. We are meant to love one another, to strengthen one another, to reach out when someone is hurting or scared or struggling. Pick up the phone and ask for prayer. Go to your church and seek counsel. Be there for someone in need – and when you are, look at this person as a brother or sister, a member of your family, someone you will spend eternity with, and who just might be there for you when the need arises.

Like I said earlier, families are full of flawed, quirky characters who may drive you nuts at times. But God never gives up on them. In fact, He just might use you to reach out and love them...and in return, you'll know the joy of a family where everyone loves one another, despite our imperfections.

"I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God."
— Words and Music by William J. Gaither © 1970

"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts." ~Author Unknown

1.    Scazzero, Peter, The Emotionally Healthy Church, Zondervan, Grand Rapids Michigan, 2003, p. 99."

April 12
1 Timothy 1:1
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope…”

The Message translation of this verse says that Paul is “on special assignment for Christ, our living hope. Under God our Savior's command…”

Paul considered himself to be on assignment, under a royal command. In the ancient world “apostle” actually meant an “envoy” or “ambassador.”

An ambassador represents one’s country, and becomes the connecting link between his own country and the land to which he has been sent.  The primary assignment given to of Christian is to be that “connecting link” between the people we encounter every day and the Kingdom of God.  And what we offer is the only real hope in the world, a relationship with God, through Jesus.

A friend of mine says he considers him a “translator” between the two worlds—someone who translates the spiritual world to the earthly.  A person who translates from one language to another has to understand both languages.  Paul did this effectively.  He didn’t walk around with a superior, hyper-spiritual attitude. No, he said we have to connect to people, as Jesus did. You can’t translate truths from the spiritual realm into the culture unless you make an attempt to understand the culture and people’s lives.

Jesus walked the countryside meeting people, speaking to them in parables that made sense to their culture.  He ate in their homes, taught in their towns and on their hill sides.  He washed His friends’ feet. Paul said, “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some”  (1 Corinthians 9:22). He chose to find ways to relate to people on their levels, which means not just regarding them as another statistic for the Kingdom, but caring about their lives, getting to know them, and being willing to become that connecting link between two worlds.

“Life can never be dull again,
When once we’ve thrown our windows open wide
And seen the mighty world that lies outside,
And whispered to ourselves this wondrous thing,
‘We’re wanted fro business of the King!’” —William Barclay 1


1.Barclay, William, Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, first published by St. Andrew Press. Edinburgh, Scotland, 1956, p. 17-18.

April 13
Proverbs 2:9-10
"Wisdom and truth will enter the very center of your being, filling your life with joy.” (Living Bible).

Those who live with “wisdom and truth” at the very center of their beings are the true realists in this world.  Christians are sometimes accused of using religion as a crutch or a false hope.  But the big lie is actually that the world of sexual confusion, abandoned babies, substance abuse, wars, pain, and suffering is “real.”  This is not the world God intended for His children, but because we have to live in it everyday, our perceptions tell us that this is indeed reality.

When Jesus walked on the earth, those who walked with Him were amazed by the miracles He performed.  The supernatural world had broken into their lives, astounding them, opening their eyes to new possibilities, to new ways of thinking.  Miracles were regarded then, as they are now, as a temporary suspension of reality.

But the opposite is actually true.  The miracles of Jesus were moments of reality breaking through into the unreal world. 

You see, what seems miraculous and unnatural to us is normal for the Kingdom of God!  Solomon wrote in his later years, that God “put eternity” in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  We are supposed to live with an understanding of His eternal Kingdom and to experience His supernatural power.

Reality is obscured every single day, every time we reject or deny truth.  When our perceptions are rooted in God’s Word and His perception of who we are, wisdom and truth bring joy into our lives.  When our vision gets skewed, when we look at life without God’s perspective, then we start seeing things a little differently— and after awhile they begin to look ”normal.”

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”  Why?  Why would the truth make us free?  Knowing the truth is hard.  Sometimes knowing the truth can be a burden. But Jesus wants us to know the truth as it is defined in the Kingdom of God.

“Seek first the kingdom of God,” He said.  “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done,” He prayed.  Get your priorities in order.  First the Kingdom.  Reality.  Then God’s will and His blessings will poured out upon you as live in His kingdom.   

Every day, every one of us needs to make a conscious decision to meditate on God’s Word and to choose to live in the “real” world. 

April 14
Revelation 2:4
“…you have left your first love.”

A friend of mine started waking up every morning depressed.  He rose before daylight, pulled on his construction boots and work jeans then crept quietly downstairs.  Leaning against the kitchen counter, he would stare out the window and wait for his coffee to brew, then leave before his family woke up.

He knew that every morning nowadays his wife pulled the covers up close around her neck as soon as he eased out of bed.  She kept her eyes tightly closed as she listened to his morning ritual, and waited to hear the door shut and his truck engine chug to life before she rose.  He saw her watch through their bedroom window as he drove away.  There was a time when he would never have left without a kiss or hug.  But then, she used to get up with him most mornings.

They would sit together, drink their coffee and watch the sun rise.  In quiet voices they discussed the day's plans, the kids, bills.  Sometimes they prayed, sometimes they just started the day together.

When he knew she had been up at night with a sick child or finishing up a project, he would whisper for her to stay in bed, then be sure to make enough coffee for both of them.  He liked her to come downstairs to the aroma of brewing coffee.  But all that stopped.  Now, he left the coffee pot empty and she never got up. 

My friend came in to talk to me one day, wondering how things got so messed up.  He used to pray.  He used to be thankful for the blessings of work and family.  "I used to love my life," he exclaimed one day.  Slamming his fist on the table, he spit out bitter words.  "Now all I do is pay bills, argue with my wife, argue with my kids, go to work everyday and do the same ___thing over and over. Nothing means anything any more.  I feel dead inside."

My friend was a man who appeared to be winning at the game of life, but was in reality desperately losing everything —because he had lost what is most important.  He had fallen out of love with the Lord, and as a consequence, with life.  I once knew him to be a man filled with the Holy Spirit, on fire with a passion for the Lord.  God had richly blessed him.  But he ultimately threw it all away by destroying his marriage, alienating his kids, and wrecking his life with affairs and drinking, and a bitter heart.

Robert Frost captured this great human dilemma with these well-known lines:

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
        Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

One part of the speaker would like to stop and enjoy the adventure of entering into the dark and lovely woods —there's a little mystery there, a little of the unknown perhaps.  Something new and enticing.  Something different from daily life.  But the other part of him recognizes the larger responsibilities owed to others; promises he made—perhaps wedding vows— that need to be kept.

For believers, the dark woods are the temptation to give up and give in to sin and despair.

When the blessings of God replace our relationship with Him in our hearts, then the joy of the blessings is dulled.  Nothing seems so great anymore.  Life doesn't even seem worth living — not our lives anyway. 

Thank heavens God will pursue us, even down those dark, wrong roads, and call us back to our first love.

April 16
TUNED TO PRAISE
Romans 1:8
"First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world."

There are people whose tongues are tuned to praise, and others whose tongues are tuned to criticism. There are eyes that focus only on the faults, and there are eyes that choose to see virtues. What do you think love does?

Paul had a lot to say to the church, and Romans is one of his most defining, revolutionary epistles. But before he got down to business, he wanted to tell his readers just how much he loved them. So he began with a compliment. Paul simply told them he was thankful for their faith, which all the world knew about! He didn't thank them for being great spiritual giants. He was simply thankful for the faith they possessed and lived.

People are far more encouraged to excel, to remain faithful, and to keep trying when they are praised than when they are criticized. We can bring out the best in others when we can see the best in them!

Paul practiced what he preached. He also wrote, "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13: 6-8).

Love always wins out, when practiced with unselfish simplicity, with no ulterior motives, and with a desire to help, encourage, and bless whomever you encounter today. Love, demonstrated by encouragement, does not just change people. It transforms people. God is love. So when we love and encourage others, we do His will.

April 17
Romans 1:10-12
“I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong--
that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.”

How often have you found yourself praying, and suddenly that nagging little doubt worms its way into your thoughts.  Is anyone really listening?  Do these prayers matter?  Will they change a thing?

Both my grandmothers were praying grandmas.  One had a plaque in her house that said “Prayer Changes Things.” I always wondered, does prayer change things or people? I’ve concluded that perhaps prayer changes us more than ”things” so we can become the kind of person God uses.

Think of Paul writing those words.  I don’t think he was the most gracious person in the world—at least not in the beginning of his ministry.  In fact, at one time he was a cruel persecutor of the church.  Even after becoming a Christian he argued with Barnabas and struggled over many issues.  But he matured, and grew into a man who understood love and grace—and the power of prayer.

“The affect of prayer is union with God, ”wrote Gregory Nyssa in the fourth century AD. “If someone is with God, he is separated from the enemy.  Through prayer we guard our chastity, control our temper and rid ourselves of vanity.  It makes us forget injuries, overcomes envy, defeats injustice and makes amends for sin.  Through prayer we obtain physical well being, a happy home, and a strong, well-ordered society.”

Paul prayed for a safe trip to Rome, and God answered.  Paul arrived “safely” after having been arrested, slapped in the face, shipwrecked, and bitten by a poisonous snake!  Perhaps Paul’s many hardships softened him and made him more responsive to the work of the Holy Spirit in his life. 
We know that he believed in the power of prayer, and prayed faithfully for himself and those he loved.

Does prayer change things or people?  I think BOTH.  I know He has used my prayers to change me, and for that I am grateful.  When I pray for someone faithfully and fervently, I find myself loving that person in a way that is non-judgmental, genuine, and less selfish—for how can we be otherwise when we are in the presence of God?

“God always answers us in the deeps. Never in the shallows of our soul.” —Amy Carmichael

April 18
1 Corinthians 16:21, Colossians 4:18,2 Thessalonians 3:17
“I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.”

Paul wrote letters.  Personal, hand written letters to people he loved.  As William Barclay said, “Of all forms of literature a letter is the most personal,” and because Paul wrote so many of them, we feel like we know him after we’ve read the New Testament. 

Think about the piece of writing we call the Book of Romans.  It was actually a letter to the Roman church—a very personal, heartfelt letter that became one of the most powerful and influential pieces of writing in history.

This particular letter to the Roman believers is behind some of the most powerful conversions in church history:  St. Augustine, Martin Luther, John Wesley (who felt his heart “strangely warmed” while reading Luther’s preface to Romans), and John Bunyan, who was so inspired by what he read in Romans while imprisoned in a Bedford jail, that he wrote the classic “Pilgrim’s Progress.”

Taking the time to sit down and prayerfully and thoughtfully communicate to a friend or co-worker or relative through the written word can open doors to communication, teaching, understanding, and sharing God’s love.  Whether you pick up a pen and paper, type a letter on your computer, or send an e-mail, take the time to write to someone and share your life. Maybe you just need to say thanks (Paul did that a lot) or encourage someone, or mend a relationship, or impart ideas, or bless someone with your expression of love or friendship. Paul and the other apostles did all those things through the letters they wrote —many of which became Holy Scripture, God’s love letter to us.

I am convinced that taking the time to write to others for whatever reason is an opportunity God gives us to minister to and love other people.  He set a wonderful example to us by making the written Word His chosen form of communication to us.

“More than kisses, letters mingle souls.”  ~John Donne


April 19
Romans 1:1
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God…”

Os Guiness calls it “the haunting question.”  The question through which we filter so much of our life: Do I have a purpose?  A calling?  A reason to live?  And if I do, how do I fulfill the central purpose of my life? 

Paul knew his purpose for living.  He was a “a servant of Christ Jesus” and he was  “called to be an apostle.”   Once he met Jesus and came to know Him, Paul accepted the call upon his life and never looked back. For him, the haunting question was answered.

Fyodor Dosteovsky observed in The Brothers Karamazov, “For the secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for.  Without a stable conception of the object of life, man would not consent to go on living and would rather destroy himself than remain on earth…”1  Not consent to go on living!  I can’t imagine a more terrifying and desperate sentence with which to condemn a man.

Remember that childhood song, “Hide your light under a bushel—no!  I’m gonna let it shine!”  God’s glory is once again manifested on the earth, only this time, the Temple is us!  “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?”  Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 6:19). 

  To paraphrase the great preacher, John Wesley, “I allow myself to be set on fire by the Holy Spirit then people come to watch me burn.  Another great preacher, Billy Sunday, said, “More men fail through lack of purpose than through lack of talent.”  Life gets boring and apathy and frustration set in when we don’t quite know what do with ourselves.  Norman Mailer, always stretching for the largeness of life, wrote, “I don’t think life is absurd.  I think we are all here for a huge purpose. I think we shrink from the immensity of the purpose we are here for.”

We shrink from our purpose because we don’t actually know what to do, why we should do it, and we are afraid to try.  Sometimes, we’re not even sure we should bother.
But to not bother is to be “haunted” throughout our lives, looking for a reason to accept life, hoping for significance, yearning for fulfillment. 

Paul never saw himself as one who aspired to a position of honor, but rather as a man who had been given a mission and purpose. He thought in terms of what God wanted him to do—and he did it.  His life had meaning, purpose, fulfillment, and joy.  It was the abundant life God intends for each of us.

1.  Dostoevsky, Fyodor, “The Brothers Karamazov,” first published, 1880.

April 20
Romans 1:7
“To all who are … beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I am a saint.  Wow.  That may sound ridiculous to anyone who knows me, but according to the Bible, God’s people, believers in Jesus Christ are saints.  They are referred to as such throughout the Old and New Testaments.

The important thing is, that we are saints because we are “beloved of God” and He has poured out a blessing of grace and peace upon our lives.

The grace with which He blesses our lives is almost incomprehensible, when you consider the general depravity of the human condition, compared to the pure, holiness of God.  But He sees beyond our sin and weakness, because He genuinely loves us!  It would be like you looking at your children, knowing their faults, their weaknesses and even their inclinations toward sin.  Yet you love them, you hope and yearn for the best for them, you long to make their lives full and rich and free of the burdens sin imposes.  Your view of them is filtered through your passionate love for them and your willingness to sacrifice your life for their well-being.

God is never unrealistic about us.  He knows us.  He see our hearts better than we can.  But His love for us chose to pay for the dark and wicked side of human nature.  When we are believers in the sacrifice of His Son, when we are cleansed by the blood Jesus shed on the cross, His view of us is filtered through His Son and His love, and He sees us as nothing less than saints.

The Bible is full of greetings to the saints, references to the “prayers of the saints,” the “hearts of the saints.”  Over and over the body of believers who followed Jesus are called saints.  But most of them never regarded themselves as such.  They just lived in the love and grace of God.  “A saint is never consciously a saint, “ wrote Oswald Chambers, “a saint is consciously dependent on God.”

“God creates out of nothing.  Wonderful, you say.  Yes, to be sure, but He does what is still more wonderful; He makes saints out of sinners.” —Soren Kierkegaard

April 22
Missing Jesus
Acts 13:27-28
"...because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets...And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death."

They didn't know Him. Centuries of prophecies were specifically fulfilled, right down to the town where Jesus was born*—and yet, when He came to the very people who expected Him, looked for Him, prophesied about Him, and prayed for a Messiah, they didn't recognize Him.

Why? Because they looked at Him and judged Him by human standards, rather than seeing Him through spiritual eyes.

Jesus was not recognized by His own people because they saw Him only as a carpenter's son, which meant poor. He had no money, no prestige, no special influence, nor standing in society. He had never been to their schools, was not educated by prestigious scholars, nor was He especially striking in appearance. So they wrote Him off and paid Him no respect. He did not fit the expected profile of the Messiah.

We do the same thing today. We look for people who reflect our opinion of what we perceive to be the spiritual man or woman, and to them we listen, pay attention, and give our respect and service. And yet, we just might miss the people God sends into our lives, because we're too caught up in our human standards, and fail to see what God sees. Even worse, we just might miss the Lord Himself.

Jesus said to His disciples, "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me" (Matthew 10:40). He also took the hand of a child and said, "Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent me. For he who is least among you all--he is the greatest" (Luke 9:48).

I wonder —if one of those scruffy disciples showed up in my church today, would we accept him and respect him? Do we truly look at the least among us and see greatness? Jesus told us over and over what to look for, and how to love. But we still too often miss Him.


"Do not consider his appearance or his height... The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

*Micah 5:1-5

April 23
Acts 14:14-17
“But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: ‘Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them…He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.’"

Some people might relish being worshipped, but not Paul and his fellow disciple Barnabas.  They had unwittingly stumbled into a scenario that rattled even Paul.  Paul had just prayed for a lame man, who instantly began to leap and walk.  When onlookers saw what happened, they began to call Paul and Barnabas Zeus and Hermes, two Greek gods. 

Paul and Barnabas instinctively tore at their clothes, a Jewish response to blasphemy.  Paul ran into the multitude crying, ”Why are you doing this?”  He was horrified! “We are men like you,” he shouted.  And then he began to speak.  Paul never lost a chance to share his faith.  It came instinctively, naturally, and from his heart. 

He was in a tough situation, fraught with cultural and political intrigue.  He could so easily have alienated the crowd, but he didn’t.  When I look at his example, I see three pieces of advice for effectively sharing your faith:

1.    Be passionate.  I think when Paul began to tear his clothes in response to being worshiped, people sensed the depth of his commitment to the truth. People don’t care about what you have to say until they know how much you care!
2.    Build a bridge. There was no synagogue where Paul preached that day.  He was out in the back country, away from his “turf” and definitely out of his comfort zone.  He was used to being able to go to a local synagogue where people knew the scriptures, prophecies and believed in God. They just needed to know about Jesus.  Now he was talking to a group of people whose thoughts and worldviews came from a totally different context.  So he needed to build a bridge.

 He talked about nature and creation. He spoke to them of the rain, and the crops, and the blessings of fruitful seasons, and food in abundance.  He connected with them in areas common to both cultures. He earned their trust and their interest, and he taught them of a God who loves them and provides such beauty.
3.    Be brave. You will face opposition from the enemy when you share your faith. Expect it.  You will face rejection from some people. Don’t let it scare you off.  Jesus was also rejected, but He continued on, motivated by greater forces than fear or humiliation.  He knew the joy that was set before Him.  His love for us and for His Father overcame rejection and fear.  It’s worth it to find the treasure of hearts prepared by God, eager to know more and to enter into His Kingdom.

When a group of disciples returned after being sent out by Jesus, amazed at what they witnessed and moved by the power of God, Jesus said (and I think He felt proud of them and touched by their joy), “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10: 18). 

Every time a soul gets saved, does a piece of Satan’s kingdom fall like lightening?

“What a hollow ring there is to evangelism when it does not overflow from a Christ-filled heart.” —Sherwood E. Wirt

April 24
Acts 13:22
"I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do."

Everything?  Did David really do everything the Lord wanted him to?  Apparently, or He wouldn’t have said it.  So I have to ask, looking at David’s record, what was it that God wanted Him to do that earned him the title “ a man after God’s won heart” and also gave him more space in the Bible than any other person—including Jesus.

So is David the role model to which we aspire?  Is his life something to emulate? The strength of David’s story, says Eugene Peterson, is that “David deals with God. As an instance of humanity in himself, he isn’t much.  He has little wisdom to pass on to us on how to live successfully.  He was an unfortunate parent and an unfaithful husband.  From a purely historical point of view he was a barbaric chieftain with a talent for poetry.  But David’s importance isn’t his morality or his military prowess but in his experience of and witness to God.  Every event in his life was a confrontation with God.”

Wow.  For some of us with kind of a hero worship ideal of David in our minds, that statement is a little harsh and disillusioning.  But we can’t skirt the facts of David’s life.  He did what he did, and that statement is accurate.  That’s what makes David so important!

John Calvin wrote of David, “Let us therefore remember that David is like a mirror, in which God sets before us the continual course of His grace.”

David did what God wanted him to do —he learned from his mistakes, repented of his sins—he paid for some of his sins dearly—and he always turned back to the Lord, always cried out to Him for mercy and strength.  He proclaimed, out of the depths of his heart, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart…” (Psalm 51).

David had it right.  He wasn’t much of a role model for life perhaps, but he was an example of loving God with passion, and of allowing God into his life, to love him and mold him into the man after God’s heart.


“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned … Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. …You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart…” —Psalm 51, a prayer of David



April 25
John 6:27
“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you…”

We’re consumed with dieting and worrying about what we eat. You can hardly pick up a magazine or turn on the television without confronting your dietary intake. I’m all for taking care of ourselves, but too often in our obsession with physical food, we neglect the most important nutrition needed to sustain Life—food for the spirit. What we need is not just food for food’s sake, but LIFE.  Physical food sustains physical life, but Jesus gives us the food that gives us eternal life.

God desires to give us a feast!  “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” He asks. “Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance” (Isaiah 55:2).

The King James translation of that verse says “let your soul delight itself in fatness.”  Abundance, fatness—the meaning is clear.  God wants us to feast on spiritual food, to be filled, to be satisfied, to be strengthened to live our lives filled with His love and bearing the fruit of His Spirit. 

If you are not feasting on God’s Word, seeking Him daily in prayer, and fellowshipping with His saints, then you are starving yourself!  You will become spiritually malnourished and weak—and sadly, begin to lose your appetite.

And don’t take a meager portion, barely enough to get by.  God wants you to delight your soul in fatness!  He wants to bless you, strengthen you, nourish your soul and bring life to your spirit.  Meditate upon His Word everyday, without measuring it out or holding back, and you will enjoy the blessings of spiritual satisfaction.

April 26
John 6:44
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…”

When a man told me that there was no way he was looking for God – it was God who came hunting for him, I believed him.  It is God’s pursuing love that saves us. 

When Jesus says the Father “draws” us, He is using a very strong Greek word that means “compelled or dragged along” like the pull of a man’s inner life, like the current of a river.

Think of the story of John Newton, the converted slave trader famous for writing “Amazing Grace.”  He says of himself, “I went to Africa that I might sin to my heart’s content.  I was a wild beast on the coast of Africa till the Lord caught and tamed me.”  He wasn’t seeking salvation; the Lord pursued him.

All of us can look back and begin to understand certain things, why they happened, how they worked in our lives to bring us closer and closer to the reality of God.  There is process where our understanding increases, and our eyes are opened.  Sometimes the process is slow, sometimes it happens almost suddenly.  Often it’s painful, because pain gets our attention.

This process is not just for unbelievers who need to be saved.  Believers also go through a series of revelations in our lives, as God works to draw us nearer and nearer to Him. “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…” (Philippians 1:6).

So if we have to all be dragged with force and compelled to salvation and an intimate relationship with God, if we are all in a sense dragged into the kingdom kicking and protesting, then what hope is there for our stubborn hearts?

We are saved because what God uses to drag us to Himself is the overwhelming power of His love, mercy, and grace. We are compelled by His sacrifice on the cross, His patient lovingkindness, and the lengths to which He will go to draw us in. For that I am thankful.

April 27
John 6:35
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

When Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” He was not just coining a poetic phrase.  Jesus had just fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread, demonstrating His ability to miraculously provide for their physical needs.  He reminded His disciples of God’s provision to Moses and the children of Israel when manna from heaven appeared each morning on the desert floor and fed a nation.  Bread sustains life, and God provides.

But Jesus wants us to see beyond the physical need, to our spiritual need for sustenance.  We need to be fed, and Jesus offers Himself as the Sustainer of life.   

Author Charles Allen recounts the story of European orphans at the end of World War II. Many hungry and malnourished children were gathered up and placed in secure camps. They were well fed and cared for. Despite the best of attention and care, they had trouble sleeping. They seemed restless, anxious and afraid.  Finally a psychologist found a solution that was eventually adopted at other centers with war orphans.
Each child was put to bed at night, after a good meal, with a slice of bread. It was just to be held, not eaten. The children went to bed subconsciously holding onto the assurance that they would have food for the next day.  The results were amazing, as the children began to sleep restfully, feeling safe, and secure.  The bread gave them hope for tomorrow.1

The bread of Life, Jesus, gives us hope for the future.  Knowing that we can hold on to Him during the dark nights of our lives, and that He will be with us when we wake in the morning, to feed us, nourish us, and nurture us, is what will enable us to carry on.

“I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread …For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints…”  —David, Psalm 37

1. Allen, Charles, “God’s Psychiatry for the Troubled Soul” (Revell, 1984). P. 15-16.

April 28
Genesis 5:1-3
“This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son…”

The genealogies of the Bibl have a reputation for being the boring part, the section where your eyes glaze over and you move on to the next passage. But actually, God doesn’t waste a word in His Word. If you take the time to think about these people as real people with family histories, fraught with romance, danger, problems and joys, ordinary events, and sweeping events that changed the course of history, I think you will find the genealogies quite fascinating.

Take the first several generations from Adam to Noah – before there was Abraham, before there was a nation of Israel, when civilizations were just beginning to be established, and the world was already polarizing for and against the Lord.  Look at the meanings of the names of the first fathers:

Hebrew           English

     Adam             Man

     Seth             Appointed

     Enosh            Mortal

     Kenan            Sorrow

     Mahalalel        The Blessed God

     Jared            Shall come down

     Enoch            Teaching

     Methuselah       His death shall bring

     Lamech           The Despairing

     Noah             Rest, or comfort.

Now put it together: Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.1

Now put it together: Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but