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Romancing the Soul
A daily devotional of God’s unfailing love
Ray Bentley

May 1
John 7:53-8:1
“And everyone went to his own house.  But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.”

It was the end of a controversial day.  On the last day of the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacle, Jesus stood up and invited all who believed to partake in “living water.” That caused a lot of discussion and elevated His reputation as troublemaker among the religious leaders.  At the end of such an exhausting day, everyone went home to sleep in their beds—and Jesus went to the hills.

Once Jesus left the comfort of His home with Joseph and Mary, He became a homeless person.  He traveled the countryside, preaching, teaching, ministering, and He often found His way back to the Mount of Olives, where I believe He spent many a night, huddled under an olive tree, often in the cold.

When an enthusiastic scribe told Jesus he would follow Him anywhere, Jesus said to him,  “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20).

Just as Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and distribute it to the poor, Jesus is reminding this man that,  “If you want to follow Me, you will have to give up the comforts and security of this world.” 

When I think about Jesus, the Savior of the world, curled up under an olive tree, sleeping alone, I realize that He willingly gave up His security and comfort as an example to us that we can do it.  We can let go of what this world has to offer, keep a light touch on it all, and allow the Kingdom of God to take precedence.  That’s a tough assignment in a culture driven by material need and greed.  But He taught us to pay attention to the poor, the hungry, the needy, because He understood their plight. “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me,” He said.  He also said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.”

Jesus spent His last night on the Mount of Olives, praying for the strength to finish what His Father had sent Him to do.  His disciples fell asleep, so once again He was alone.  Once again, He identified with those who struggle, as He wrestled with what was to come.  He could have commanded an army to save Him.  He could have said, “Enough!” and gone to find a nice home and live a “normal” life.  But He didn’t. He stayed, and He prayed to His Father, “Your will be done.”

 “It is impossible for a man who is warm to understand one who is cold.” —Alexander Solzhenitzyn

May 2
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ...the Father of mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in our tribulation...”

The Greek word used for tribulation here is literally translated as pressure.  It’s the sensation you would experience if someone pressed down on your head and tried to push you into the ground.  You’d feel the strain in your neck and your shoulders.  The tension would permeate your whole body. 

Sound familiar? 

Paul wrote from the heart of experience.  He understood trouble.  “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered,” he wrote.  “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death” (2 Corinthians 1:8).

Paul knew that his fellow believers were dealing with more than skinned knees or a bad day at the office. He knew about life and death situations.  He knew about losing loved ones, about painful relationships, about setbacks in his life’s work.  He knew about pressure.  He knew what it meant to “despair even of life.

When he spoke of comfort, it wasn’t in nice religious platitudes.  The word he used for comfort comes from the Latin word “fortis,” meaning strength.  He knew that his fellow believers would have to grow strong in their faith, if they were to survive the pressures they faced.

One of our first reactions when pressure bears down, is to become overwhelmed by our circumstances and to start asking, “Why?”  It’s as if we forget that God is there.  We stop worshiping and praising Him and fail to realize that trials are a part of life for one of three reasons.

First, trials come simply because we are human beings living in a fallen world where things are not perfect. Secondly, trials afflict our lives when we are disobedient.  There are consequences to deliberately going against the will of God.  Thirdly, the truth is, trials come because God permits them.

What?  God allows these things into my life?  Yes, and Paul explains why: “In our hearts we felt the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God...On Him we have set our hope....”

When the pressure comes bearing down and we cannot cope, God wants us to know that there is no place to turn but to Him.  He wants us to realize our weakness, so that we will set our hope on Him and Him only.

“When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light,” —Oswald Chambers

May 3
John 8:7
"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone…”

Adultery is terrible sin. It dishonors God and His plans for your life.  It destroys relationships.  It almost always involves the worst and most sordid lies.  It hurts spouses, harms children and brings spiritual and emotional damage to those who engage in it.  It will devastate a person’s personal relationship with God!

Given all this, the ancient Jews dealt harshly with adultery.  A woman caught in this worst of sins was stoned.  So when the religious leaders of His time brought a woman to Jesus, caught in the act of adultery, they were setting a trap. They knew He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes rather than the religious elite, the rich, and famous.  They expected Jesus to turn her loose and break the law of Moses.  But instead, Jesus forced them to turn her loose, by leaving her judgment in their hands.

After the Pharisees dragged this woman to Him, the Scriptures say that, “Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger.”  What would you give to know what Jesus wrote?  Look at what the prophet Jeremiah said long ago: “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water” (Jeremiah 17:130.

Jesus looked them right in the eye then spoke these famous, heart piercing words:  “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”  These words stabbed their conscience and left them speechless and stunned. Jesus did not let the woman go as they had expected!

To paraphrase, Jesus said, “You are right.  She must be stoned.  Now, let us appoint qualified executioners.  Which of you is qualified?  All we need is one sinless person and we can carry out the law.”

No one was qualified. No one was better than her, no one had the right to condemn her and throw the first stone.  We are not told what Jesus wrote, but it has been suggested that whatever He wrote was so convicting, that one by one , the accusers slunk away.  When no one could stand up to condemn her, Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."  It is as if Jesus said, “I know you have made a mess of things, but your life is not finished yet; I am giving you a second chance, to start over, brand new!”

This is the Gospel.  Jesus is not merely interested in what you have been. He is even more interested in what you can be—if you will let Him give you the chance to begin again, brand new.

May 5
John 8:12
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

Once when I was camping up in the Sierras we slept out one night under the stars. I knew we were pretty high up in the mountains, but it was so dark when we settled in that I didn’t really quite know where we were.  The sun woke us up in the morning, and as I reached my arms out to stretch, I discovered that one of my arms was hanging over the edge of a cliff!

Walking around in the dark is dangerous.  But all of us, before we met Jesus, were in the dark, teetering on the edge of life.  Thank the Lord that He is the Light and that He shines His love upon us, even in our darkest, most dangerous states.

Darkness is a symbol of sin, ignorance, and evil in the world. But light is s symbol of God and His holiness and goodness.  Sometimes I think most of human kind is walking on that hidden edge which is obscured in the shadows, waiting for us to stumble and fall. But even in the most evil, black-as-night place in your life, the smallest glimpse of truth, the tiniest flame of Light in Jesus’ name can shatter the darkness, dispel the evil, and bring hope and light back into your life. Isaiah, prophesying the coming of Jesus said, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

“The light that shines from the Crucified is a light…which both illuminates the obscurity of being and overcomes the darkness of nonbeing.” — Nicolas Berdyaev

May 6
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Faithful in prayer. The key to a deep relationship with God.

Prayer is first of all, part of worship.  People often ask me, how do I worship the Lord when I’m by myself trying to seek Him?  We associate worship with singing in a congregation.  But worship begins by simply becoming aware that you are in the presence of God.  Open your spiritual eyes, and realize that when you cry out to God, “Father!” or “Lord!” or “Help!” you immediately enter into His presence.

The first step of prayer is to realize you are not alone in this world.  When Jesus came to earth in the form of man, the chasm between heaven and earth was bridged. 

A wonderful way to begin praying is to turn to the Psalms and as you read, take into your heart and mind the praise, the worship, and the acknowledgment of who God is.  In Psalm 19:1-2, David the psalmist was rejoicing over what he realized is the glory of God’s creation:  “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech, night unto night reveals knowledge.”

Look at Psalm 25, another psalm of David.  “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  O my God, I trust in You.”  By the time you finish this psalm, allowing these words to reach into your soul, you will indeed know you are in the presence of God.  As you meditate daily on these Scriptures, prayer will pour out of you as naturally and easily as breathing.

May 7
Luke 12:5
“But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”


Any honest discussion of God’s pursuing love, has to include talk of hell. I wish this wasn’t true because I’d rather dwell on the love of God.  But God’s love is based upon truth and hell is a reality.

For many, hell has lost its meaning.  People speak of a “hellish” situation.  Or they talk about “all hell breaking loose” or describe someone as being “hell on wheels.”  But they don’t think of the very real place which the poet Dante described so graphically in the “Inferno” and of which he wrote, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.”

Do you know that Jesus spoke more about Hell than almost all the other prophets combined?

I am told that an Indiana cemetery has an old tombstone which bears the epitaph: “Pause, stranger, when you pass me by.  As you are now, so once was I.  As I am now, so you will be, so prepare for death and follow me.”

An unknown passerby read those words and scratched underneath them this reply:  “To follow you I’m not content, until I know which way you went.”

Hell was never meant for human beings.  Hell is for the devil and his demons.  But we have a choice. To follow God or follow Satan.  Hell is basically separation from the presence of God  — a choice we deliberately make when we reject the saving grace of Jesus.

I agree with what Dwight Moody said:  “When we preach on hell, we might at least do it with tears in our eyes.”  If we took the reality of hell more seriously, it might awaken a deeper love for our fellow man.  Like seeing imminent danger and wanting to protect those we love.

I believe God always thinks of hell with tears because Scripture says that He desires that none should perish. Hell is the absence of everything God represents and He works in a myriad of ways to invite, coerce, push, love, and drag us away from hell and into His Kingdom, because He loves us too much see us lost.  He loves us so much that Jesus died to save us from terrors of hell.

May 8
John 8:28
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.’”

“When you lift Me up,” Jesus said, the people will know His true identity.  But while most people think of being “lifted up” as being elevated to a place of honor and prestige, Jesus knew it meant the Cross.  He knew that the cost of being recognized and one day honored would be sorrow, loneliness, pain, humiliation, and death.

His sorrow began in the Upper Room, when He foretold the betrayal of one of His disciples.  The loneliness began in the garden of Gethsemane, where He sweat tears of blood and prayed alone. The humiliation came with mocking and thrusting a crown of thorns upon His head. The pain began with binding, beating, scourging, and carrying the weight of the Cross upon a back already bleeding and aching from open wounds.  He endured the horrors of a crucifixion, the lonely hours upon the Cross.  The darkness. The pain.  The terrible thirst.  The cry of abandonment, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

What do we think of when we think of being recognized, honored, lifted up as a success among our peers?  The pain and hardship that Jesus endured is what He had mind.  He knew the price—and the blessing—of sacrifice.

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.” John 15:13

May 10
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

The last part of this passage is often quoted.  “The truth will set you free.”  But what we need to see, in context, is that Jesus isn’t just saying that once someone tells you the truth, you’ll instantly recognize it and be free.  He is encouraging us to live it – to test it, to experience Truth.

You will never find true freedom until you examine for yourself the evidence for the claims of Jesus.  He is not afraid to be tested, tried, or scrutinized. “Stick with this, living out what I tell you,” He said.  Then, “you are my disciples for sure,” and you will know that this is the Truth.

Don’t reject Jesus because an atheistic professor sneers at Christianity in a classroom.  Don’t reject Jesus because some strange cult distorts or misrepresents Him.  Don’t reject Jesus because a prominent evangelist falls.  Don’t judge Jesus based upon what others say about Him.  Judge Jesus on the basis of His own words and actions!

Then put what He says into practice.  Test the truth of Jesus’ teaching in the laboratory of life.  Find out for yourself, does it work?  How?  By DOING it! By following what Jesus taught.  By trusting Him with your life.

Find out what He says through His Word.  The Truth of His words will take you through all the illusions, the dreams, and wishful thinking. His Word will expose all the lies, distortions, and half-truths.

Get into His Word, live it, test it, and experience freedom!

“The New Testament does not say, ‘You shall know the rules and be bound by them,’ but, ‘You shall know the turth, and the truth shall set you free.” –John Baillie

May 11
2 Kings 5:13
“Naaman's servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, “Wash and be cleansed” '!"


Naaman was a powerful man, the commander of the king’s army in Syria.  His story is told in the Old Testament in the book of 2 Kings, chapter five.  Right away we are told that he was honorable, respected, powerful and looked upon as a man “of valor.”  But he was a leper.

Leprosy was a dreaded, highly contagious, and incurable disease that turned a person into a social outcast and eventually resulted in disfigurement and death.  It is often used as an allegory for sin in the OId Testament.  So the phrase, “but he was a leper,” completely undermines Naaman’s list of achievements and accolades.

Naaman’s wife had a young servant girl who was an Israelite.  The girl told her mistress about a prophet from Samaria who could heal Naaman of his leprosy.  Eventually, through a letter to the king of Israel, Naaman was invited to visit this renowned prophet, Elisha.

And what did Elisha do with this man of great importance?  He sent his servant out to him with a simple message:  “Go and wash in the Jordan [river] seven times and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean.”

Naaman was furious.  Not only did this so-called prophet not even bother to come out and greet him personally, but he gave him these ridiculous instructions.  Naaman went away complaining to himself, and anyone who would listen, I thought he would at least come out and greet me.  I thought he would call on the name of the Lord and wave his hand over me and heal my leprosy...  I thought.  I thought.

Naaman was trapped in a mental wrestling match.  He questioned the instructions, afraid of looking foolish.  His pride was wounded.  After all, he thought, why the muddy Jordan River?  The whole thing didn’t make sense.  Aren’t there better rivers I could wash in and be clean?  “He turned and went away in a rage,” the Scripture says.  He came perilously close to missing the blessing God had for him, because his mind was stuck on, “I thought....”

Finally, one of his servants came to him and tried to reason.  “Hey, what have you got to lose?  If the prophet had asked you to do something great, would you not have done it?  Why not try this one simple thing?”

So Naaman, a desperate man, finally gave in.  But I can imagine the mental turmoil churning through him with each dip in the water.  An intense spiritual battle was being waged in his mind.  He fought humiliation and no doubt the urge to get up and forget this foolishness.  Finally, when he was done, after the seventh plunge, he came up and “his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

What was his first public declaration?  “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel...” (2 Kings 5: 15).  Oh how angry Satan must have been!  Naaman was healed, and more importantly, he came to know the One True God. 

Just think how close he had come to allowing one thought to bar him from a miracle.  One thought almost shut the gates of healing.  One thought almost kept him from the goodness God.  Yet, one thought of obedience led to the release of God’s miraculous power in his life.

May 12
2 Peter 1:3
“His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue…”

Peter is telling us that the more we grow in the knowledge of God, the more we gain what is important for life.  I believe that our happiness in this life comes as a direct result of growing in our relationship with Christ.  When our will is subject to His will, our spirits will soar under the wings of His love.

If you feel as if your spirit is broken, and your will is out of control, then I’d like to suggest three things:

• Humble your spirit and begin to worship God.  Seek Him with your whole heart, purpose in your heart to have a personal relationship with Him.  Spend personal time with Him in devotion to His Word and prayer.  Seek His will and ask Him to break you and fill you with His Spirit.

• Educate your mind.  I don’t care how many degrees you have or what you’ve graduated from.  Life is a long process of learning and growing. If you stop learning, you become BORING!  If you have ceased to be curious and to ask questions, then you need to start again, like a child.  Jesus said about children, “of such is the kingdom of heaven.”  Don’t be satisfied with where you are now with the Lord.  Feed on His Word, educate your mind and your soul.  Grow.

• Dedicate your body to active service. Romans 12:1 says,“...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

A doctor from Seattle recently left a successful practice with a six-figure salary to help deliver babies in a run-down maternity ward in Moscow.  She is using her own money to improve the ward and run it.  Though she is rapidly depleting her savings and risking her financial security, she says she has never been happier in her life. 

Stories abound of people who want to know that their lives are making a difference in this world. They are finding happiness in service by working through churches, Red Cross, scouts, Sunday schools, home fellowships.  Wherever God puts you, He will bless you for giving of yourself.

We are all looking for a mission in life, and I believe that God has the greatest mission of all.  He has commanded us to love Him, to love our neighbors, and to go into the world to preach the Gospel, sharing His love. 

Through God’s divine power we have ALL things that are important; all that will satisfy, all that will give us abundant life —everything we need for life and godliness, as we grow in our relationship with Him.

May 14
John 9:1-2
As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

A blind beggar sitting by the road, known by his community as the man born blind, did not seem to elicit much compassion from the disciples.  Perhaps the man had been sitting there for so many years, and was such a common sight, that they had lost their capacity to sympathize with him.  They saw him as more of an abstract theological discussion than a lonely, needy human being.

Human need can be very intimidating.  Sometimes it just feels too painful to be pulled into.  We fear the time it takes, the emotional commitment, and what someone else’s need might stir up in our hearts. Painful reminders of our own hurts and neediness.

 Another Bible character, Job, had the same problem when his life fell apart and his friends came to help him.  At first they sat there exuding support and sympathy.  Then they opened their mouths.  They began to analyze him, much like the disciples did with the blind man.  “Feeling overwhelmed, and scrambling to get a better fix on the problem, they will do the only safe thing:  they will pull back and assume the stance of objective analysts,” says Mike Mason. “Naturally they will go about this with in a very warm and godly way with the best of intentions.  Yet, without realizing it, by their clinical theorizing, they are effectively withdrawing their human affections, their very friendship, at a time when intimate friendship is most needed.”1

While the disciples mulled over the blind man’s condition, Jesus acted with compassion.  The man was born blind so that God can be glorified, He said.  Then He proved it. He spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and smoothed the mud over the blind man's eyes. He told him, "Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.”  The man went and washed, and came back seeing!

It would have been much easier for Jesus to spend all His days analyzing the state of the human race.  I’m sure He would have (and did) come up some brilliant insights. But in the end, He did something about our dilemma.  He healed people. He touched people, and He went to the cross.  He laid down His life, and set an example for all of us of love in action.

1. Mason, Mike, “The Gospel According to Job” (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1994).


May 15
Acts 26:19
"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”

Helen Keller was once asked what would be worse than being born blind.  She quickly replied, “To have sight and no vision.”

She was a wise woman.  Though she was physically handicapped by being born both blind and deaf, she had discovered one of the secrets to a successful life. 

There have been others who knew the importance of vision—then lost it. 

When Alexander the Great had a vision, he conquered nations; when he lost it, he couldn’t conquer a liquor bottle.

When David had a vision, he conquered Goliath; when he lost his vision, he couldn’t conquer his own lust.

When Samson had a vision, he was known as a strong man who could easily defeat his enemies and serve as a judge for his nation; when he lost his vision, he didn’t have the strength to resist Delilah.

When Solomon had a vision, he was the wisest man in the world; when he lost the dream, the vision God gave him, he couldn’t control his passion for power and gold. 

When King Saul had a vision, he was a mighty King; when he lost it, he was consumed by his own jealousy.

When Noah had a vision, he built an ark and saved the human race; when he turned from that heavenly calling, he got drunk and was humiliated.

When Elijah had a vision, he called down fire from heaven and was a mighty prophet on the mountain top for God; when he lost his vision, he ran from the wicked queen, Jezebel, and fell prey to fear and depression.

A vision, a purpose, and a calling on your life are important!  “The glory of God is man fully alive,” wrote Irenaeus, a second century theologian. 

I would say that the apostle Paul was “fully alive.”  His passion for God motivated him to preach the Gospel at any cost; to risk his life and to pour himself into the lives of others.  He wrestled with his own problems straight on.  He cried out to God, “Oh, wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me...?”  He answered his own question by submitting himself, spirit, soul and body, to the Lord.  He was never afraid to live for God, to love, to hurt, to plunge into this life to which God had called him— and , as he stated so boldly to a king, he obeyed the vision God had given him, a gift from heaven,

As the Lord to give you a vision for your life.  Seek it.  Expect it.  Then follow it!

“When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.” —Charles Swindoll



May 17
Mark 4:1-2
"Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. There was such a large crowd along the shore that he got into a boat and sat down and spoke from there. He began to teach the people by telling many stories..." (NLT)

Jesus was a storyteller. He knew how to impart lofty ideas, important truths, grand theological concepts, and spiritual revelation through the simple telling of stories—parables and tales that relate people's to lives.

In fact, if you think about it, the stories of people are how God chose to reveal Himself to us, starting with Adam and Eve all the way through to the dramatic revelation that recounts the end of the world as we know it.

When I typed "Bible stories" into the internet search engine, most of the sites that pop up are about children's books. I wonder why. Story telling is far from a childish, immature art or technique. In fact, Eugene Peterson contends that while the Bible certainly carries other literary forms like sermons and prayers and poems and proverbs, story telling is what puts it all together. Moses told stories; Jesus told stories; the Gospel writers told their personal stories.

Why are stories so important? Because, writes Peterson, "Life isn't an accumulation of abstractions such as love and truth, sin and salvation, atonement and holiness; life is...names and fingerprints, street numbers and local weather, lamb for supper and a flat tire in the rain. God reveals Himself to us not in a metaphysical formulation or a cosmic fireworks display but in the kind of stories we use to tell our children who they are and how to grow up as human beings...Story is the Gospel way. Story isn't imposed on our lives; it invites us into its life...The Holy Spirit weaves all this story telling into the vast and holy literary architecture that reveals God to us
as father, Son, and Holy Spirit...to get this revelation right, we enter into the story." 1

The Gospel is true. It's about real people, real lives. And every day, in a myriad of ways, Jesus invites us to step into His story, walk with Him, talk with Him, and listen to Him tell us the true story of life.

"I love to tell the story
    of unseen things above,
    of Jesus and His glory,
    of Jesus and His love.
    I love to tell the story,
    because I know 'tis true;
    it satisfies my longings
    as nothing else can do.
I love to tell the story,
    'twill be my theme in glory,
    to tell the old, old story
of Jesus and His love."
(Text: Katherine Hankey, 1834-1911
Music: William G. Fischer, 1835-1912

1.    Peterson,Eugene, "Leap Over a Wall" (HarperSanFranicisco, 1997).

May 18
John 9:6-7
“He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.”

Why clay?  Why didn’t Jesus just touch the man and pronounce him healed?

Clay is the primary symbol Jesus used in this story of a blind man healed, a living sermon. In Genesis we are told that God formed man from the “dust” of the earth.  We are made of dirt!

Jeremiah tells us that God is the Potter and we are clay, waiting to be molded and shaped by His loving hands.

And the Apostle Paul likens believers to clay vessels in which God stores the treasure of His presence: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

We’re dirt!  Clay is not a very valuable or very powerful substance.  It’s common and fragile, and throughout Scripture symbolizes human weakness.

When Jesus chose to smear clay on the blind man’s eyes, He was demonstrating that something was hindering the man’s vision—physically and spiritually.  The clay of his humanity was a hindrance to seeing spiritual truth and reality.  Jesus was not singling out this man as being spiritually blind.  In truth, this man is a symbol for all of us. 

We are in these jars of clay – and we need to be spiritually born again in order to know and see the truth and to discover the great treasure of God’s love, housed in such simple, common vessels.

“I was blind but now I see!" —John 9:25

May 21
John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

“Abundant life” is a phrase thrown around by motivational speakers and preachers a lot.  But do we really know what that means?

Jesus offers us a radical contrast.  He gives us a choice.  He says, you can come with Me, and I will give you a rich, abundant life, or… you can live for the devil, and he chooses to be a thief who comes to steal our joy, to rob of us our peace, and to kill or faith.

God gives us a choice in how we live our lives. Faithfulness versus emptiness.  Purpose or meaninglessness.  Life or death.  Heaven or Hell.

A Roman soldier came to Julius Caesar with a request for permission to commit suicide.  He was wretched and miserable, lacking in vitality. The story records that Caesar looked at the man and said, “Man, were you ever really alive?”

“He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you,” wrote the apostle Paul (Romans 8:11).  It is the Lord who gives us LIFE -- and not just existence.  And he longs for that life to be full, rich, emotionally satisfying, mentally challenging—abundant! 

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live…”(Deuteronomy 30:19).

May 22
Matthew 26:42, Luke 11:2
“Your will be done."

Those can be hard words to get out.  Even Jesus struggled before He prayed to His Father, “Your will be done” in the Garden of Gethsemane.

They’re hard because we’re afraid.  Afraid that even though we’ve fervently prayed over a certain matter, what we want is not what God wants—and it’s hard to let go of strong desires, especially when we are praying about someone we love or something like a life threatening illness.

One of the greatest challenges to our faith is when we feel like God has let us down.  Philip Yancey observes, “Some people lose their faith because of a sharp sense of disappointment with God.  They expect God to act in a certain way, and God ‘lets them down.’ Others may not lose their faith, but they too experience disappointment.  They believe God will intervene, that pray for a miracle, and their prayers come back unanswered.”1

Then we feel guilty and wonder, “What would other believers think of me if they knew I was disappointed with God or even angry with Him? Worse yet, what does God think?

He knows we are human!  Several stories in Scripture address this issue in various ways.  Mary and Martha were disappointed that Jesus didn’t come to them when He first heard their brother Lazarus was ill (John 11).  The desperate father of an ill son who was afraid to expect a miracle, cried, “Help my unbelief!” (John 9).  Elijah, after challenging evil and calling fire down from heaven, sat under a tree, depressed and praying to die (1 Kings 19). In each instance and others like them, the Lord responded to the need, often in ways that surprised those who prayed—not necessarily the way THEY thought things should go.  But every time, in answer to each of our prayers, God responds in a manner that draws us closer to Him, helps us mature, and causes us to grow deeper in faith.

Don’t ever be afraid to pray, “Your will be done.”  Even when it means something hard is ahead.  Jesus knew it meant the Cross – but He also knew the joy of accomplishing His purpose on this earth.  Never be afraid to commit an unknown future to the God who knows the future, who loves you and wants to bless you with an abundant, meaningful life.

1.    Yancey, Philip, “Disappointment With God” (Zondervan, 1988) p. 26.

May 23
Psalm 25:6
“Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses.”

A friend of mine, who is now in heaven, had a unique way of ministering to people.  She was in her seventies, and had been a part of our church since its beginning.  She lived on a boat when I first met her and she adopted me and my wife as her surrogate children.
 
If you visited her, she would often motion for you to follow her to the end of her boat, and invite you to step down into the little dinghy tied to the stern. Then with a pleasant smile, she’d settle in and begin rowing.  Your destination was somewhere out in the middle of the bay, where she’d usually pull up the oars, and invite you to say what’s on your mind.

My friend was a great listener, and heard countless hours of people’s problems and tribulations.  She was always sympathetic and concerned, but her advice, tempered by her age and experience, was often simple and direct.  I found myself in her little dinghy more than once, and remember her patting my hand, looking right at me, and saying, “You’ve got your eyes on yourself, instead of God.”

She was right.  Sometimes, at first, people would take offense. After all, all of us found her so easy to talk with, that we poured out our hearts, told her our problems and fears, and then she would always gently remind us of this same thing.  But after awhile, I almost always realized how right she was.

It’s not wrong to hurt.  It’s just that it hurts more when we focus on our circumstances rather than on what God wants to do, rather than remembering how much He loves us and wants the best for us.  My friend, whose own life was shaped by a multitude of hardships and heartaches, reminded us to stop and thank God and praise Him for all he has done for us.

Why should I praise God, you ask, when there is so much wrong in my life?  Because...He is God.  And because, if you believe in Him, then you are “beloved of God” (Romans 1:7).  He is, Paul wrote, “the Father of mercies.”  When the Hebrews used the term “father of” they meant the originator, the author of.  God is the originator of all mercy, and His mercy is “manifold” (Nehemiah 9:19) and “tender” (Psalm 25:6) and there are “multitudes” of His tender mercies for each of us (Psalm 51:1).  It is God’s very nature to comfort you, especially when life is hard.

I can’t tell you how many people took that little ride out into the middle of the bay with my friend Nancy.  But I do know that she would want each of us to remember that all blessings flow from the Lord and His love and tender mercy toward each of us.

May 24
John 11:21
“Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

If only…If only God had intervened in time, if only He had acted now and didn’t expect me to be comforted by some future promise of heaven…if only.

Martha loved her brother Lazarus, and had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was gravely ill.  But rather than hurry to His friend’s bedside, Jesus waited—and by the time He arrived, Lazarus was gone.  Martha was not so subtly chiding Jesus for waiting. 

Can you identify with Martha’s faith?  She had faith –in the PAST because she had witnessed what Jesus was capable of.  She knew He could have healed her brother based on previous experiences.  She has some faith the FUTURE, because she tried to comfort herself by acknowledging, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."  But she forgot that God also lives, moves and works in the NOW.

This is a lesson Jesus wants to press into our hearts.  In this instance, Jesus is ministering to some of His dearest friends, trying to take their eyes off the distant future, and trying to help them not live just in the past. He wants to bring them—and us—into an experience with God in the PRESENT through a relationship with Jesus personally.

Martha forgot that the name of God is not I WAS or I WILL.  His name is I AM, and He wants us to believe that everything He has done in the past, everything He has promised for the future, He can also do here, NOW!

"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Jesus asked His friends.  And then He raised Lazarus from the dead.

Let God enter your life now and believe that He cares about NOW, about what happens to you today, this minute. 

“God is ready to help you right now. Today is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2

May 25
John 12: 9-11
“When all the people heard of Jesus' arrival, they flocked to see Him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.” (NLT)

There are no recorded words of Lazarus in the Gospels.  And yet, because of him, many people believed in Jesus.  They heard what happened, that Lazarus was dead, in the tomb for four days, and now he was alive because of Jesus. 

Jesus did not really ever tell us to DO our witnessing.  Rather, we are to BE a witness of His love, His healing power, His ability to take a life that is spiritually dead and make us alive. I think of the words credited to both Mother Teresa and Francis of Assisi: “Witness all the time and when necessary use words.” 

Well, you might say, Lazarus was raised from the dead – that’s a pretty hard act to follow.  I can talk about my faith, but I don’t have anything that dramatic to show for it. 

But you do!  All of us were dead in our sins before Jesus became our savior!  Just as Lazarus was set free from the stinking grave clothes, so we have been set free from the stench of our sins and destructive behavior. All of us have a story to live and tell of Jesus and His love for us.

Lazarus was known as a friend of Jesus, even before his dramatic return from the dead.  I believe he was a respected member of his community—a nice person, with a good reputation. That’s important, as part of our witness.  But what really drew people to him, and what brought them to salvation, was the witness of his changed life and his relationship with Jesus. 

I’m sure that Lazarus was also eager to tell people about Jesus—it’s normal to talk about someone who has changed your life. The woman at the well who also had a dramatic encounter with Jesus couldn’t wait to tell everyone as she exclaimed, "Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?" (John 4: 29).

Whether our witness is verbal or through our actions, may it be laced with love and a genuine caring for the other person, as a true reflection of God’s love for us.

“Lighthouses don’t fire guns or ring bells to call attention to their light, they just shine.” —Sherwood E. Wirt

May 26
Ecclesiastes 1:2
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

How did Solomon, once the richest, wisest and perhaps most powerful powerful king in the world fall into such despair that his whole life seems vain and empty?  How does one who knows so much, sees so much, and receives so much from God end up in despair? 

How do strong believers who once tasted of the goodness of the Lord end up bitter, cynical and despairing of life?  I’ve seen it over and over again.
“OK,” you might be thinking.  “You’ve got me.  I’m jaded.  I’m cynical, and  I’m beginning to think Solomon was right.  It is all vanity and there’s not a lot I can do about it.  So eat drink and be merry….for tomorrow we really will die.”

A friend said that to me one day.  He quit pretending to be spiritually healthy.  He admitted his weaknesses openly and confessed that his soul was in despair. I appreciate his honesty told him what I have had to tell many people: look up!  I know that sounds like a cliché, but I’ve learned that there’s a spiritual, emotional, mental and even physical disciplined involved.  Turning our eyes, our hearts, and our minds upward, toward the Lord, is an act we have to ask the Lord for the strength to predetermine to do.

“Despair is a greater sin than all the sins which provoke it, “ C.S. Lewis said, making a strong point: while we cannot control the circumstances of our lives, we can choose how we respond.  “Oh yeah?” my friend countered.  “What if you’re so depressed you can’t choose?”

What if your despair is so heavy, that you cannot even think of looking up mentally or physically?  Cling to the Scriptures:  “O Lord, you have lifted me up…(Psalm 30)…“You, O Lord, are the lifter of my head…” (Psalm 3:3).  A cry to God, one move toward Him and He will answer.  The answer may be in the form of family, friends, or counselors, but He will do whatever it takes. God will give you strength to look up, to see again the person of Jesus, and to pray for a fresh vision of God and who He is!

May 28
Joshua 4:5-7
Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'  Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever."–Joshua 4:5-7

A memorial forever, Joshua said in the verse above.  That means that this day, when the Lord provided a miracle for the children of Israel and the people followed His lead, will be remembered for all eternity.

Today we stop to thank God for the men and women who have served our country, many giving their own lives for our freedom and safety.  In our fast paced world, we need moments to stop and think, and remember what’s important. Milestones in our lives, times when God answered prayers, people who impacted us, people who gave themselves for us.  If we don’t take the time to remember, we can easily fall into despair when things are hard, and forget who God is and how much He loves us.  We can forget the people He has given us to bless our lives – people we know, as well as strangers who lay down their lives for the good of us all.

Psalm 42 is a classic example of depression, disappointment and heartache being helped by remembering.  First the psalmist says, “O my God, my soul is downcast within me.”  Read the whole psalm and you’ll see that this was not just a mild case of the blues, but the story of a man drowning in sorrow, weeping in the night, despairing of life. “O my God, my soul is downcast within me; THEREFORE I WILL REMEMBER YOU…” he says. He stops to remember God’s goodness and mercy.  He begins to see light in the darkness.  He remembers.

Memorial Day is a day to remember those who served us, those whom God provided to give us freedom.  A day to help us thank God for our blessings, and to never forget.  A day for memorials so that we can tell our children about the sacrifices of others, and the goodness of the Lord.

May 29
John 12: 12-14
The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"  Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,  "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt."

Jesus made a radical shift here.  He went from a small, private dinner with friends in Bethany (Mary, Martha) to a very public display.  The traditional view of this event is that the people of Jerusalem finally recognized Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9: “your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt…”

But it was NOT the city of Jerusalem that welcomed Jesus that day as their king. Rather, it was the people from outside Jerusalem who had traveled to the holy city for the Passover Feast.  It was not the residents of the city who greeted Him, but pilgrims, outsiders, people from around Judea and Galilee and even foreign countries. Mathew’s gospel tells us that, “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’”

Lazarus had just recently been raised from the dead, and the Pharisees were not happy.  Jesus made this very public entry into the city to force their hand.  They wanted to wait and Him quietly after the Passover, but Jesus forced them to make their intentions public.

A lot of people who waved palm fronds and shouted “Hosanna!” that day, could very well have been in the crowd who cried “Crucify Him!” a few days later. A lot of people want Jesus in their life when it’s exciting and the looks like the popular and right thing to do.  But they’re looking for Jesus to be there on their own terms.  Too often, we give Him a little space, like one room, and pray the prayer, but in reality, we’re holding back. We ake the attitude, “Come in Jesus, here’s a little corner of my life where You can reside, but you can’t run my life.  Just be there to help me when I need it.”

Jesus’ love for us was expressed in a very public manner.  He played no games.  He wants our lives to be equally honest and forthright. " I say to you,” He said, “whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”

It’s easy to be faithful when the crowds are with you, raising hands, singing, having a good time.  But when Jesus went to the cross, even His closest friends scattered, unable to handle it. We can handle triumphant, but we can’t always handle dying to ourselves or acknowledging that a relationship with Jesus means everything, every part of our life surrendered and yielded.

“In every Christian’s heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne…We all ant to be saved but we insist that Christ do all the dying…” — A.W. Tozer1

1. Tozer, A.W., “The Root of Righteousness,” Christian Publications, p. 66


May 30
John 14:8-9
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."  Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

Jesus’ statement, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father,” may in fact be the most staggering thing He ever said.  To the Greeks of His time, God was “the Invisible.’  The Jews counted it an article of faith that no man had seen God at any time.  In the midst of a culture where religious views and spiritual truths were of the utmost importance, this was not only shocking statement, but one that risked the accusation of blasphemy.

Philip, like Moses centuries earlier, had asked to see God.  It was bold request.  God responded to Moses, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you…but," He said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33).

In the time of Jesus when people were fascinated by the “Transcendence of God” and by the difference and distance between God and man—they would never have dared to think that they could see God. 

But Philip asked, and to him and everyone around him, and to all of us, Jesus simply says, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  He also said, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

We can KNOW God, through Jesus.  Now that’s a staggering concept.

May 31
Ephesians 5:25-27
"Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."

I've often been asked about the concept of the "bride of Christ." This relationship actually began with creation.

Look at the way God created Eve.

Genesis 2:21 says, "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman and He brought her to the man."

There are two interesting points here. First, God put Adam to sleep. The Hebrew word for sleep, accurately translated, means a state more like anesthesia. It's as if God put Adam under anesthesia. and performed surgery on him. Secondly, "rib" is a poor translation. The same Hebrew or Greek word is used 35 times in Scripture, and in at least 20 instances it is more accurately translated as "side." It was from Adam's side that the woman was created. As others have noted, she came neither from the man's head to rule over him, nor from his feet to be inferior to him, but from his side, nearest his heart, signifying total equality and complete companionship.

But why anesthesia? Pain and suffering would not enter the human equation until after the fall, so this "sleep" was not necessary. Interestingly, the analogy of "sleep" is the same analogy Jesus used to describe death for the believer. Adam "died" to receive his bride.

Do you see a picture here of Jesus Christ and His Church? While Jesus suffered on the cross, a Roman

soldier took a spear and thrust it into His side; out of this wound gushed water and blood.

When Genesis says that God opened up Adam's side, from which He took flesh and blood and bone, the literal translation is that He "built" a woman. "On this rock I will build my Church...," Jesus said. His Church, His Bride.

Ephesians chapter 5 teaches us that the Church has a heavenly Bridegroom who went into a deep sleep of death, in whose body not a bone was broken but whose flesh was torn at the side. From the life of Adam God created Eve. From the life of Christ He built the Church, the Bride of Christ. Jesus was willing to lay down His life to demonstrate the greatest love of all.