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June Devotionals/Romancing the Soul
Ray Bentley

June 1
John 14:12
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

What a promise, to be able to do things greater than Jesus!  While He walked this earth over 2000 years ago, He fed 5,000 people with a few fish and loaves of bread. He turned water into wine, He healed the blind, the lame, the sick.  He brought people back from the dead.  How can we possibly, realistically take this promise seriously?

Jesus knew this His time on earth was deliberately limited in time and earthly scope.  He never traveled outside of Israel.  Within His lifetime, neither Europe nor Asia heard the Gospel.  He had never seen an immoral city like Rome. Even His opponents in Israel were religious men, trying to live moral lives, in spite of their stubborn legalism and the hypocrisy that lurked in some of their hearts.

It was not in Jesus’ lifetime that Christianity broke out of Israel to permeate the world.  In terms of numbers and the influence of Christianity in the world, not until hundreds of years later did the Gospel impact most of the known world.

In the days of His flesh, Jesus was limited to Palestine, but after His resurrection, He was liberated from earthly limitations and sent His Spirit to work mightily throughout the world, in us, and through those who call themselves followers of Jesus. 

“You can hear Jesus uttering these words [about this verse]:  ‘The work that I do you are doing and you’re doing it greater than I did it because thousands are greater than one. I could only love one person face to face at the time. But there are thousands, yea, millions of you now and each of you at any given moment can love someone intimately and powerfully in my name.’"  —Tony Campolo

June 2
Psalm 27:4
“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.”

People try to live apart from their Creator.  But inevitably, circumstances arise, things happen, and Life brings us to a screaming awareness of our incompleteness and inability to live “abundantly” without God.  The Holy Spirit works in us, through us, and around us, to drive and compel us to desire the Lord, and to pray for what David sought: the beauty of the Lord.

At a time in my life when I began to deal with God about some personal issues, I began to hunger for and realize the presence of God.  I began to long, as David did, to behold the beauty of the Lord.  Yes, beauty.  Not as the world defines it, but the kind of beauty that reveals God’s handiwork, that enables us to live in this world but not belong to the world.

My soul began to thirst for God, to need Him in a way that transcended all my efforts to preach or teach.  And I wanted to impart this hunger and thirst to others, that they might desire to be in the presence of the Lord.

No amount of spiritual posturing, religious rituals or even ministry work—nothing can replace the raw humanity of a believer pouring his or her heart out to God, being honest, real, and letting God take all that pain and sorrow—all the messiness of life— and transform them into His blessing, His healing, His life lessons, His plan of redemption for our lives.

June 3
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

That’s a very bold statement.  We can ask for anything and God will do it?  Doesn’t that sound too good to be true?  There is no catch – just one condition.  “In My name.”  Can you pray for personal revenge, personal ambition, selfish desires, lusts of the flesh…or any cause that goes against God’s Word in the name of Jesus?

The prayer that can be legitimately said “in the name of Jesus” is one that in the end says, “Your will be done.”  That prayer is always answered.

June 4
Genesis 18:1
“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.”

The Lord did more than make an appearance as you can see if you read the rest of the chapter. The Lord and two angels came to Abraham’s tent and made themselves right at home!  They even enjoyed a meal and a private conversation with Abraham.

On the other hand, the Lord did not go to Sodom to visit Abraham’s nephew, Lot.  He sent two angels instead. The Lord did feel at home with Lot like He did Abraham!

Lot and Abraham were friends and spiritual brothers as well as being physically related. Abraham was Lot's spiritual father. When he left his country in obedience to the Lord, Abraham told Lot all that God had revealed to him and invited Lot to join him. They walked together for years following God's will. But they had a falling out. They were both believers, but a disagreement now separated them.  Now they fought over water and grazing rights!

Abraham gave Lot the opportunity to choose his land, and Lot, motivated by greed and with no regard for Abraham, chose the rich plains of Sodom.  He pitched his tent toward Sodom, and eventually became a citizen of that infamous city.  But his greed and lust for riches, his willingness to part ways with the uncle who had mentored him and given him an opportunity to serve the Lord, cost him everything in the end.  His life took an entirely different turn from Abraham’s because he was willing to compromise and walk away fro the Lord. 

Lot survived by God’s grace.  In spite of his lack of communion with the Lord, God snatched him away from Sodom before tragedy struck.   He gave him a second chance.  The Lord allowed Lot this crisis of faith; He brings us all of us to a crisis of faith to do a greater work, a deeper work in or lives.  He wants to be at home with us. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me,” Jesus says (Revelation 3:20). 

We need to be aware that the riches and cares of the world can make us deaf to His knock, and cause us to miss the great blessing of communion and fellowship with the Lord.

June 5
John 14: 27
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Next to salvation and eternal life, peace may be the greatest gift God gives us.  Think of it—when you are at peace, you are healthier, happier, able to think more clearly.  Peace in Hebrew is “Shalom”—a word very special to the Jewish people, loaded with profound meaning that Jesus clearly understood. 

Shalom means more than the absence of stress or trouble.  Shalom means peace, health, security, completeness, wholeness, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord, and prosperity in the best sense.  

Not as the world gives, Jesus said. The peace He imparts is based on a relationship, not resources, not negotiations and truces, nor human efforts to find “inner peace.”  To be in a right relationship with God is to be at peace. But Jesus did more than extend an invitation know God.  He died to make that happen.  He died to give us peace.

Sar SHALOM, the Prince of Peace, is one of the descriptive names the Bible uses to indicate the ministry and purpose of the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6).  Jesus came, died, rose again, and lives today to give us peace.

In moments of anxiety, fatigue, heartache, and world weariness, we pray for peace in our hearts and minds. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said. But that can be so hard, Lord, when there is so much to worry about, so much that stirs up our hearts, from the daily news to events in our own families and lives.

“Do not be afraid,” He exhorts us.  I can’t do that on my own.  I may wish to not be afraid, but I need the assurance of the Lord to withstand the things that whisper in my mind and tell me there is indeed much to fear. 

When you pray, know that peace is exactly what God wants to give you.  In His love for us, He sends the Holy Spirit to comfort and soothe our hearts and He gives us the strength to handle what makes us anxious and afraid. He longs for us to know peace, as He invites us to "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

“Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but the truth.” —Matthew Henry

June 6
John 15:1-2
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

"Come now; let us leave,” Jesus beckoned His disciples, leading them from the upper room, where they ate their last supper together, down to the Garden of Gethsemane.  As they walked past acres of vineyards in the light of the Passover moon, I can see Jesus stopping to lift up a length of vine as He began to reveal the mysteries of spiritual gardening.

“I am the vine,” He began.  It starts with Him.  The Gardner is God the Father and believers are the branches of the vine.  There are only two kinds of branches: fruitless and fruitful.  Which means there are two kinds of believers: fruitless and fruitful.

One of the great principles of gardening is pruning the suckers. Vinekeepers cut off the sucker shoots, the cane like branches that produce beautiful leaves, but bear no fruit.  If they remain, they will sap the life of the vine and reduce the amount of water and nutrients that reaches the fruit.  Everything suffers.

Pruning directs as much water and nutrients as possible to the branches bearing fruit, increasing the quantity and the quality of the harvest.
The analogy is not hard to see. Within the church body, as well as in our private lives, pruning is necessary.  Sometimes it’s painful.  Sometimes it is a relief!  God will remove things from our lives that we simply don’t have the courage or strength to remove ourselves.

Remember, even fruitless branches can bear deceptively beautiful foliage.  Just because things look good and sound good, doesn’t mean they are part of the heavenly Gardener’s plan for your life.

God may be pruning something out of your life at this very day. Let it go.  Trust Him. Don't fight it. Welcome it, for His pruning will ultimately enrich your life.  Jesus said that He came that we may have life, and have it “more abundantly.”  He came to give us rich, full, productive lives that are not distracted, weighed down, diluted, or hindered by activities, relationships, or unnecessary obligations.   He waters, nourishes, weeds, and carefully prunes our lives to allow our gifts and talents to flourish so that we can be a blessing to others and glorify God.

June 7
Job 14:14
"If a man dies, will he live again?"

Good question. Our church has experienced an unusually high number of funerals and memorials services lately. While any church is accustomed to tending to the end of life, it's been hard lately to see so many grieving families. So, we think about death and all that it means.

I remember when my Grandpa Bentley was stricken with cancer. This good, solid man had lived his life as a faithful husband, father, and grandfather. He was a man of the earth, who had spent his life working in agriculture. His own back yard was filled with fruit trees. As children we loved to visit and walk with him through the trees that bore the fruit of his labor.

He was warm, loving, masculine. He sent his family off to church every week, and respected the faith of my grandmother, but he never made it himself. He believed in God, but had never made time for a personal commitment.

Now he faced eternity. And those of us who loved him, and knew the Lord were concerned. One the day the pastor of the little church my grandmother had faithfully attended for years, walked with Grandpa out in his orchard and asked, "John, don't you think it's time to get right with the Lord?"

My grandfather replied, "Yeah, I think probably now is a good time." As they walked and talked, among the fruit trees my grandfather had so lovingly nurtured, John Bentley committed his life to the Lord.

Not much later, now in an extremely weakened condition, my grandfather was in his bed and Grandma suddenly felt compelled to check on him. When she entered the room, he was sitting up with his hands raised. He was smiling and speaking softly as if he was greeting someone. He spoke the names of old friends and relatives. My grandmother remembers a light, which seemed to shine from his face. Then he smiled, lay down, and went to sleep.

God had greeted Grandpa at the door of eternity. The door had opened enough to let the light of heaven shine through for a brief moment. My grandmother saw a glimpse of eternity as her beloved husband was carried home by angels to be with the Lord.

Someone once said that our lives can be summed up in the little dash between two numbers that represent the years we lived! Then what? "If a man dies, will he live again?"

The answer to that question was answered when Jesus died to give us eternal life, then rose again from the dead to prove it.

I am so thankful that my grandfather met the Lord before he died. God is faithful. He answered my grandmother's prayers. Grandpa's beloved fruit trees bore rich, plentiful fruit that blessed us all. But I know he was thankful for the loving, kind prayers of his beloved wife, which bore the greatest fruit of all.

"Salvation is of the Lord." —Jonah 2:9


June 8
Ephesians 5:18
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit…”

The Holy Spirit is a controversial issue, as I have discovered right in my own church.

Recently I was approached by a man who asked, “Isn’t this supposed to be church that believes in the gifts of the Holy Spirit?”

I replied, “We do!” He said, “Well, I didn’t hear anyone speak in tongues or anything.”  I explained that the gift of tongues is only one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that there were other gifts in operation:  the gift of prophecy because the Word of God was taught; the gift of wisdom, because there were things I had not prepared in my sermon notes that the Spirit inspired as I was teaching; the word of knowledge.  All these gifts were being exercised.

Just five minutes later someone else came up to me and said they didn’t know if they could handle going to this church because it’s so charismatic!  Some people had raised their hands during worship.

Our desire is to worship in “Spirit and in truth” and the truth, I believe, lies somewhere in between two extremes.  One extreme denies the work of the Holy Spirit and the gifts operating today, the other side goes to excess.

We need the power, the charisma of the Holy Spirit. That’s why Paul told the believers in Ephesus not to be “drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit.”  He contrasted being filled with the Spirit to drinking wine, which is often done to relax, to cope and is often used in excess.

Pastor Chuck Smith explains the differences between the two extremes this way:  “Charisma is a beautiful, natural anointing of God’s Spirit upon a person’s life, enabling him or her to do the work of God.  It I that special dynamic of God’s Spirit by which a person seems to radiate God’s glory and love.  Charismania is an endeavor of the flesh to simulate charisma.  It is any effort to do the work of the Spirit in the energies and abilities of the flesh…it is a spiritual hype that substitutes perspiration for inspiration.”1

Let’s pray for the real thing.  No substitutes, no pretending, no hyping.  Just the Spirit of God, falling upon us, filling us, empowering us to live for Him. 

1. Smith, Chuck, “Charisma vs. Charismania,” (Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 1983), pp. 9-10.



June 11
John 15: 9
“…abide in My love.”

I visited a friend in the hospital recently who probably ended up there due to self- neglect.  Tests she put off, recurring health problems she chose to deny. For all her Christian service and care for other people, she saw no need to take care of herself.  Like so many people, her past is checkered with episodes of loss, abuse, pain, and heartache. Somehow, through the years, she came to believe a subtle lie that made her believe that she just isn’t important enough or worth enough to take the time to care for herself properly.

So many people I’ve met or counseled feel worthless and like their lives are meaningless.  They are insecure, unsure of who they are.  Too many feel rejected and unloved by society or even the close people around them—often in subtle ways.  The woman at the office who never gets invited to anything, but puts on a brave face everyday.  The man whose wife left him and he never quite knew why.  People struggling with loneliness, difficult relationships, afraid of being hurt and rejected again…and again.  The world can be hard on our hearts!

That’s why it hurts us to look for love in all the wrong places, as the old song goes.  Jesus invites us to live in His love.  We don’t need to run from His love, be afraid of it, or fear the consequences. God didn’t just express His love from a lofty throne high up in the heavens.  He came to earth to live among us, to care for people, to weep over their heartaches, to suffer and die.  He showed us the power and hope of life everlasting.  He showed us how to love one another.

He came to prove more than a theology or found a religion.  He came to teach us how to live in His love.  To care for one another.  To allow our hearts to embrace love without fear.  To commit to love without holding back. 

Dr. Karl Menninger once said, “Love is the key to the entire therapeutic program of the modern psychiatric hospital.”  Just think.  If we all would abide in the love of Jesus, how much healthier and blessed we would be.

“Joy is love exalted; peace is love in repose; long-suffering is love enduring; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action; faith is love on the battlefield; meekness is love in school; and temperance is love in training.”
—Dwight L. Moody


June 12
 John 13: 34-35
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

The kind of love Jesus proposed was radical, as were His actions.  He said this to His disciples right after washing their feet.  He taught His disciples to love and accept people, dirty feet and all.  If only we could realize how freeing this kind of love is!  We are set free to obey Jesus with abandon, because we are not hindered or inhibited by stopping to scrutinize and judge people.

To live a life of godly love, we need to let people be themselves.  We love them, and let God do His work in their lives.  “If you want to be free, set others free,” says Mike Mason.  “Give everybody lots of rope, even if they try to use it to hang you. Set people free to complicate your life, embarrass you, affront your standards, step on your toes.  Don’t be a doormat, but neither be scandalized when people act human.  The more you reel others in and try to squeeze them into your mold, the less you’ll enjoy them.  To love people is to enjoy them truly, warts and all.  Give everyone the freedom to be imperfect.  The American slaves were not set free because they were jolly good fellows, but because they were human beings.”1

Jesus certainly did not set us free because we are such models of human perfection.  “While were still sinners,” He died for us, the Scriptures tell us (Romans 5:8). His love transcends our annoying imperfections.  His love is what fixes our brokenness, turns us from sin, and makes us beautiful in His sight.

We all know people who bother us – either because they really are in sin and need help, or because they just don’t think and act like us or meet our standards.  Jesus didn’t give us the option of ignoring them or judging them. He simply commanded, “Love one another.”

1. Mason, Mike, “Practicing the Presence of People” (Colorado, Waterbrook Press, 1999), p. 187.


June 13
John 15:11
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Do not settle for a lack of joy in your life! “Joy is the serious business of heaven,” wrote C.S. Lewis.  Joy?  Serious?  Don’t the two concepts contradict each other? 

Not at all.  Not when you look at the emphasis God puts on joy being a part of the believer’s life. Much of what God teaches us and does for us is for one expressed purpose: “that your joy may be full.”

In his book “Jesus Man of Joy,” Sherwood Wirt describes joy this way:  “Joy is more than…earthly pleasure, more than what we call happiness.  Joy is the enjoyment of God and the good things that come from the hand of God… For many, pleasure and happiness are but fleeting experiences. Goethe at the age of seventy-five admitted that he had known only four week so of happiness.  There are Christians, some of them victims of life long suffering, who could say the same.  But joy! Now we move into a different dimension…Joy is not happiness, it is the joy of salvation, the exultation of God’s Spirit in men and women, ‘good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.’ Joy becomes the ecstasy of eternity in a soul that has made peace with God.” 1

Joy is not mere happiness, for joy is often accompanied by a recognition of the lack of joy in the world, and the haunting notion that we are but passing through this world, pressing toward something greater than ourselves.  But joy is what makes gives us the strength to truly enjoy life, even in the midst of hardship.

Jesus didn’t create joy to be half-hearted, partial, or merely wished for.  He went to the cross “for the joy set before Him” (Hebrews 2:2) so that our joy “may be full.”

1. Wirt, Sherwood E., “Jesus Man of Joy” (Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991).

June 14
John 16:20
“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”

Joy is costly.  Joy is not a mere moment of happy feelings, but the result of a transformed life. To know real joy, is most likely to have known some sorrow, some loss, some grief.  Why?  Because part of what holds back the tide of joy with which God wants to flood our lives, are things we are holding onto that hinder joy, or that harden our hearts from receiving it.  We have to lose what is wrong with our lives to make way for what is right – true joy. The grief of loneliness can give way to the joy of God’s presence or the joy of becoming part of God’s people.

Notice that Jesus did not say, “your grief will be replaced by joy.”  He said your grief will be turned into joy.  The process is not easy. A woman who has given birth knows that the same baby that caused her so much pain is also the source of tremendous joy.

Joy is never the result of a substitute for what hurts you.  A new car, new relationship, new house, new job can’t fix what’s wrong.  Joy is not the result of a change of circumstances, but of a transformation of the heart.  We can’t mature emotionally or spiritually is someone is always replacing our broken toys.  We can only know joy when Jesus becomes real to us and we know the power of His resurrection in our lives!  The early disciples learned that the sorrow of crucifixion is transformed into the joy of resurrection – because a radical change in the order of things took place in the universe!

C.S. Lewis said so accurately, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea.  We are far too easily pleased.”

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” —Psalm 30:5


June 15
Job 3: 25-26
“For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes."

Ahhh!  Our worst nightmare come true.  “What I have dreaded….” Poor Job.  He was honest in his despair.  He struggled to find peace and to reconcile all that happened to him with the steadfast faith he had in his God.  Ultimately he declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”  How do you do that?  How do you deal with your worst fear come true, and still say from your heart, that even if the Lord allows you to die, you will trust Him?

Contrast Job’s admission of a disturbed mind with these promises from Jesus: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid…In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 14:27 and john 16:33).

Which mindset best describes you?  Job’s initial lament or Jesus’ promise of peace?

Peace, and the joy that accompanies it, is not the absence of trouble. The peace that Jesus promises is a sense of security, confidence, and love that strengthens us in the midst of trouble. Trouble is inevitable. Jesus didn’t paint an unrealistic, rosy picture when He promised peace and joy.  He said flat out, “You will have tribulation.”

Joy, peace of mind, and the quiet confidence that results, cannot be found by escaping trouble. The world offers many, many ways to escape, but too often, after the “escape” is over, you’re worse off than before.  Jesus encourages us to face our troubles then put our trust in Him.

Someone who takes you by the shoulders, looks in your face, and says, “Be of good cheer!” when you are in the midst of the hardest trials of your life, is either incredibly insensitive…or He is God, and He knows the future, He knows the outcome, He knows the power of His love, and He KNOWS that He will never leave you nor forsake you, and that His strength will overcome!

“The Christian has a deep, silent, hidden peace, which the world sees not, like some well in a retired and shady place…What he is when left to himself and to his God, that is his true life.” —John Henry Newman, 1843.


June 17
Father Day

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.” Psalm 103:13

"A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society." 
-- Billy Graham

"We are given children to test us and make us more spiritual." 
-— George Will, U.S. Journalist

“A father to the fatherless…is God in His holy dwelling.” Psalm 68:5

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." 
-Mark Twain

"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.

"~ Bill Cosby

"A wise son maketh a glad father.
"
~ Proverbs 10:1

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

"~ Henry Ward Beecher


"Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later...that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life.

"~ Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities


Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." – Deuteronomy 1:29-31

"Fathers do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."—Ephesians 6:4

"Be strong and courageous." —Joshua 1:9

"I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity ..."— 1 Chronicles 29:17

June 18
Song of Solomon 4:6-9
“Until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. You are all fair, my love…Come with me… from Lebanon, my spouse…Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lion’s dens, from the mountains of the leopards.  You have ravished my heart…”

Mt. Senir, Mt. Hermon, the mountain of myrrh, the mountains of leopards…King Solomon wrote these words to his beloved shepherd girl.  He wants to take his beloved to the mountaintops!  Come away to the top of the world!

Mountains in the Bible represent a place of privilege and beauty, and our spiritual journeys.  God longs to take each of us by the hand and lead us up, above the wasteland and barrenness of this earthly life. 

God planted the Garden of Eden on a mountaintop.  He crowned His Creation with a beautiful home for His beloved Adam and Eve.  Then they sinned and were banished.  Translation:  We left the garden paradise, stumbled down the mountain, and found ourselves in the howling wilderness, a barren and empty land, blighted by fear, loneliness, and the ever-present specter of death.  The story of redemption, from Genesis to Revelation, is the story of God taking us from the lowlands back up to the mountain of paradise.

Over and over, throughout the Bible, God led His people to mountain tops:  Abraham to Mt. Moriah; Elijah to Mt. Carmel; Moses to Mt. Sinai. The children of Israel to Mt. Zion; finally, Jesus to the Mount of Olives. 

God wants to take each of us hiking, back up the mountain.  That’s the story of His heart, woven throughout the Scriptures.  Unfortunately, some people don’t want to go.  They hold back, timid and afraid to trust the Shepherd.

Personally, my whole life and ministry seemed to start when God revealed His heart to me and said, “Son, walk with Me, I’m taking you to the mountain tops. I want to reveal Myself to you, and I want to take as many people as I can with Me.  I’m going to do everything I can to get you there quickly and safely, to raise your sights, lift your vision, to help you see from the top.” 

Are you willing to follow the Shepherd?

June 19
John 17:18
“As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

Earlier, Jesus said to His Father, “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one.”  We don’t get to escape this world until the day Jesus takes us home.  I know it’s hard to be here sometimes, when life is hard and overwhelming.  Think of how King David of ancient Israel must have felt when he wrote, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest!’ (Psalm 55).  If you read the whole Psalm you’ll see that he was really hurting and would have loved to escape this world.

But we can’t.  In fact, one of the subtle dangers of being a Christian after awhile is that we can become isolated, surrounding ourselves with only Christian people.  God never intended for us to live in a Christian subculture.  Or, to become “rabbit hole” Christians—the kind who merely pop our heads out once in awhile but live in fear underground the rest of the time.

Jesus told us “You are the salt of the earth.”  Salt seasons and preserves.  It adds flavor and zest to food, but it also works as a cleansing and preserving agent.  Jesus wants to use us in the same way—but we can’t be salty if we stay in the salt shaker!  So He sends us out—not to conform to the world but to challenge the world with Truth.  And we don’t do that by being critical and judgmental. We do it by being part of a community and serving others. 

Walk with a neighbor, become a little league coach, smile at the grocery clerks and genuinely thank them when they carry your groceries out. Make friends with your local coffee barista, join the PTA, play softball in a non-Christian league (and demonstrate good sportsmanship!). Take the time, like Jesus, did, to get to know individual people and their stories. Be salt, sprinkled everywhere, inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit to show the love of Jesus to the world.

“A Christian is not one who withdraws but one who infiltrates.” —Bill Glass

June 20
Galatians 6:7
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

One minute Paul the apostle was a hero in the city of Iconium, the next he was the victim of hatred and persecution.  He and Barnabas had been preaching about Jesus, upsetting the Jews who did not believe.  Finally, “some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead” (Acts 14: 19).

I can picture this frenzied crowd, hurling stone after stone at Paul, until they dragged his limp and bleeding body outsides the gates, leaving him for dead.  The irony of it is, that Paul taught them to do this.  Just a short time before, he had ordered the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the Church.  He later wrote those words to the Galatians, “A man reaps what he sows.” I think he was speaking from personal experience.

That’s kind of harsh you might say.  After all, now he was a believer preaching the Gospel.  True, but even after we are converted, there are consequences to our actions. Sin and unhealthy behavior leave their marks. There are laws of nature that God set into motion.

Thank God for His grace!  Though we face the results of our rebellion and sin, God promises us in Romans 8:28 “that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  He will continually work in our lives through the circumstances we have sown. 

Poor Paul.  He took some hits. But he also survived his pride and arrogance, and continued steadfastly to serve his Lord, growing in humility, service, and in love.  He may have reaped trouble from the trouble he sowed, but he also reaped the blessings of a life surrendered to his Lord.

June 22
John 18:1
“When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.”

The garden referred to is on the east side of the Mt. of Olives, where Jesus often went, sometimes with His disciples, to pray, rest and meditate (Luke 22:39).

Human history began in a garden.  The first sin was committed in a garden.  The first Adam disobeyed God and was kicked out of the garden, bringing the curse of death upon humanity.  The “last Adam,” Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:45), obeyed by entering into the garden and surrendering to God’s will, restoring life to all of humanity.

I believe there is a longing in our souls to return to the Garden where God created us and made us His.  He gave us love for His creation, and a need to be restored by the beauty of nature.  Most of all, He gave His life through Jesus so that we can once again walk in the cool of the evening with Him, as Adam once did, restored to fellowship and finally at peace.

“We are God's garden, the planting of the Lord. Singly we are unique flowers, together a garden. I pray that He enjoys visiting His gardens on Sunday mornings. And I hope He whistles in His heart to the songs we are singing to Him.” —Ralph Wilson

June 23
John 18:1
“Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)”

We never hear of Malchus again, but I have to wonder what it was like to be him that night.  Suddenly a zealous disciple of the “criminal” he came to arrest, Jesus of Nazareth, lops off his ear.  Then Jesus reaches over, touches his bloody wound, and says, "No more of this!"  Instantly, the ear is back in place and completely healed.

Malchus, the victim of Simon Peter’s impetuous bravado, had an encounter with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  I suspect that this may not have been his first encounter, since he was a servant of the high priest, Caiaphas.  Those who plotted to arrest and kill Jesus reported to Caiaphas, so it’s not hard to imagine the priest using his servants as spies to follow Jesus around and find out exactly where He would be that night.  Malchus may have known a great deal about Jesus; what He taught, who He claimed to be.  He must have believed what Caiphas and the others said— that Jesus was a blasphemer and deserved to die. 

I can’t help but wonder, how did this encounter change Malchus?  Was he still eager to see Jesus betrayed?  Did he regret his part in Jesus’ brutal torture and ultimate crucifixion?  Did he ever come to know the truth about Jesus?  Did he ever believe the words he may have even heard Jesus say, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, but by Me"?

In the midst of this painful betrayal, Jesus reached out to help one of His enemies.  “No more of this,” He said. No more resisting what is meant to be.  He had made peace with His impending death when He prayed to His father, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”

He could have left it at that; calm Peter down, and let events unfold. But He stopped to heal an undeserving stranger, then let everyone present know exactly what was happening:  “This is your hour and the power of darkness,” He said to the priests and soldiers, including Malchus.

Jesus went to the cross for all of us – those who believe, and those who betrayed Him.  I can only imagine how that one touch from His hand astonished Malchus and left him with a memory that either haunted or blessed him for the rest of his life.

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” —Romans 5:8


June 25
The Cup
John 18:11
“Jesus commanded Peter, ‘Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?’"

While Peter brandished a sword, Jesus reached for the “cup” of His Father.  Peter wanted to save Jesus.  He feared what was ahead, but Jesus was ready to drink the cup offered Him.  Peter struggled against the will of God, Jesus surrendered His will to let His Father’s will be done.

In Scripture, drinking of the cup is a symbolic picture of suffering and sorrow. “Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of His wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger,” Isaiah the prophet said to his people.  Then he spoke this promise from the Lord: "See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again” (Isaiah 51:17-23).

We will never drink the “goblet of my wrath” again because God gave His Son to drink it for us.  When Jesus asked His disciples to break bread and drink from a cup to remember Him, He held up His cup, saying, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many” (Mark14: 24).

To “drink the cup” means to be willing to go through a difficult experience, to swallow it all.  Have you heard the phrase “not my cup of tea”?  It’s a way of refusing what is being offered.  The fact that trophies are so often in the shape of a cup again symbolizes someone who has “swallowed” much difficult testing and training.

Life does indeed often pour us a cup that is hard to swallow. Sometimes it’s a brew of our own making.  Sometimes it is handed to us.  But whatever it is, we can trust our heavenly Father.  Jesus drank the cup given to Him because He knew his Father had prepared it and that His love would overcome the bitterness. The cup may taste like awful medicine, but ultimately, God will use it to transform our lives and heal our souls. 



June 26
Song of Love
Song of Solomon 8:7
"Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it."

I often find myself turning back to the Song of Solomon for inspiration—and for the sheer joy of it. It is such a beautiful description of love on so many levels.

"The average person goes to his grave with his music still in him," wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes. That's actually a rather tragic statement. But Solomon, his music flowed out of him, prolifically. He wrote some three thousand proverbs and over a thousand songs (1 Kings 4:32), one of them being this beautiful Song.

Called the most misunderstood book in Scripture, the Song of Solomon is also one of the most beloved. The love story between Solomon and the Shulamite girl has intrigued readers for centuries.

Jewish rabbis once debated whether Solomon's Song could be legitimately included in the canon of Scripture because the language is so earthy, sensuous and graphic. The early Jews would not allow their young men to read the book until they were thirty years old. (I guess the rating system actually started centuries ago!)
In the original Hebrew, the language can make you blush. Even in today's permissive world, we are unaccustomed to explicit sexual language in a religious context. But the Hebrew culture didn't separate spirituality and sensuality the way we do—Solomon certainly didn't. God gave us five senses to see, hear, taste, touch and smell, and when these senses are used in harmony with God's revelation, this too can be part of our spiritual experience.

Some friends recently attended a funeral service at a traditional Greek Orthodox Church. A young wife and mother had been tragically killed in an auto accident; the family's grief was nearly unbearable. My friends were struck by the style of mourning. Wailing and crying out loud, moaning, and passionate, verbal expressions of sorrow punctuated the otherwise formal ceremony. Neither the family members nor the priests were at all disturbed or surprised by the continuous wailing.
Indeed, it became the background music for a ceremony of sorrow.

Having conducted many funeral services, I've seen heavy, deep expressions of grief, but in our more reserved culture, we stifle our cries and attempt to shield those around us from the intensity of our emotions. In this Greek family, as in other cultures, passions, genuine and heartfelt, are allowed more freedom of expression, and no one—particularly the religious community—is shocked by them.

Similarly, Solomon had no trouble spelling out the fervency of his love and attraction to his beautiful Shulamite girl.

In his book, Jesus Man of Joy, Sherwood Wirt wrote: "Until one has absorbed the Song verse by verse, in all its exotic and erotic flavor and mysterious references, one cannot fully appreciate what it has to do with joy ... it radiates expressions of warm affection, using the imagery of flowers and fruits, gardens and perfumes, wind and water, fields and mountains, spices and jewelry ... the total effect is enchanting."1

As you read these passionate and tender expressions of love, read the words not just with your mind, but also with your heart. Allow yourself to be carried away by the poetry of language.

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine...." (Song 6:3)

"Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it ...." (8:7)

"Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountain of spices." (8:14)

I find great comfort and joy in God's celebration of love, both human and spiritual. God is love. Whatever else we think we know, we can rely upon that statement to totally and completely true. And one of our reasons for being alive is to know and experience that love.

1. Wirt, Sherwood, "Jesus Man of Joy" (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1999), p. 116.


June 28
When the Rooster Crows
John 18:27
"...at that moment a rooster began to crow."

Have you ever thought what it must have been like to be Simon Peter the moment that rooster crowed? Jesus had predicted not only that Peter would betray Him, but also that it would happen three times "before the rooster crows."

Peter was afraid. To be associated with Jesus of Nazareth was dangerous. Peter caved into his fear and denied knowing Jesus three times. He must have already felt sick inside, knowing what he had done. But the moment that rooster crowed, the moment he heard that piercing sound, Peter remembered Jesus' prediction, and Scripture tells us, he "went out and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:62).

The crow of the rooster was an invitation to Peter to repent. He wept in abject repentance, as his heart ached and he saw himself for the weak, frightened man that he was. But he did repent! Jesus had promised him that he would pray for Peter, and now His prayers were being answered as Peter humbled himself before God and cried tears of regret and sorrow. His breaking heart would soon be restored and he would emerge a far stronger man of faith than the brash, younger Peter, so full of bravado and self-confidence earlier.

Judas also betrayed Jesus, but his bitter remorse did not turn to repentance, but rather to self-destruction. He fell into the dark of night and committed suicide in his despair. For Peter, though he would not know it till later, the sound of the rooster crow caused him to repent, and ushered in the dawn of the new day.


When the "rooster crows" in our lives—when a warning, a reminder, a wake up call stirs our conscience and opens our eyes to the truth—we can choose to be a Peter, or a Judas. Life or death.

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter." —2 Corinthians 7:10-11

June 30
Acts 13:2
“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said…”

A group of believers in the early church at Antioch were spending time worshiping and “ministering” to the Lord.  While using their respective gifts, doing what God had equipped them to do, and sincerely seeking His will, the Holy Spirit spoke to them.

This is significant!  So many people think they need to go to a cave or isolate themselves in nature in order to hear the voice of God in a dramatic fashion.  Of course we have the examples of Moses and the burning bush, and Saul who became Paul’s dramatic encounter on the road to Damascus. But those encounters are the exception.  For most of us, most of the time, when God speaks to us it is while we are going about our daily business, exercising our gifts, and keeping our hearts open to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. But it is no less dramatic or significant! 

One of my most dramatic encounters with the Lord occurred during a difficult trial in my life. Frustrated and anxious, I went out to the back yard and pulled weeds, telling God I just didn’t know what to do anymore, that He would have to handle everything because I certainly couldn’t.  And He spoke.  He reassured me about my circumstances. He gave me guidance. Peace flooded my soul and I knew He was in control.  That was actually a very pivotal moment in my life and ministry.

These believers in the book of Acts were “ministering to the Lord.”  That means they were attending to the Lord, worshiping either through praise and prayer or through their deeds. They had fasted. Their hearts were eagerly seeking Him.  As we do the work God has set before us—whether it be a specific ministry, job, studies, or wherever He has placed us—we can expect to hear from God. 

How does He speak?  It could be through a prophecy spoken by another believer, through His Word, a message, circumstances, the small, still voice of the Holy Spirit—or any way He chooses.  Just be sure to listen.