Category: Devotionals

What the Lord has been teaching us over the years.

Trusting His Methods

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John and Karen Bull have become good friends; they live in St. Pete with their four children.  You can learn more about them here and here.  This is a nice post by Karen that I wanted to share:

OK, this is really John’s revelation…but it was so good for me, that I had to write it.

Background:

I have often felt frustrated with “last minute” things that are done “by God.”  Sometimes, wondering—were they from God or did people just make it happen and it finally did.  OK, more than that, let me go even farther and say that I have chatted with the Lord(once or twice) about “why don’t you do things ahead of time and prove Your Hand is in things, instead of being so last minute—it does terrible things to “God’s reputation” when people think…well, you just have to wait for Him to act and it won’t happen til the end.”

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God’s Love in Action

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Olga and I have three young ladies from our church staying with us, Zhenya, Anna and Natasha.  I’ll post some pictures of our ‘new family’ soon.  Natasha works at Crimson Sails, a Christian children’s shelter.  Here’s one story of the way the Lord uses His people to save the lost. This is from Street Cry’s update —

Dasha (in the photo at left) was sent to this Christian shelter by her district police station officer.

Her alcoholic mom’s alcoholic boyfriend attacked Dasha with a knife.  She managed to escape almost without injuries with her grandmother’s assistance. With no time to even get dressed properly, and without a coat or boots, this young child ran through the snow and frost to the police for help.

As the police inspected Dasha’s home, they found a destroyed apartment, with almost everything sold in order to buy alcohol.  There was no food and not only Dasha did not have a desk to do her school homework but she did not even have a bed where she could sleep.  The court case began by denying Dasha’s mom parental rights.  While the case proceeded, Dasha was placed in the Christian shelter.

Very soon, she received Jesus and began attending Sunday school at our church.

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The Face in the Mirror

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More from Liz Hulley

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

James 1:23, 24 (NIV)

This verse came to shouted at me one morning recently as I finished up my Bible reading.  The cares of the world were already infiltrating my thoughts, and I felt as though I had been studying the Word in vain.  I had to approach the Lord all over again and ask for forgiveness.

What does it mean to forget what one looks like?

It’s absurd.  The only time I didn’t recognize myself was after I got contacts and looked at myself in the mirror the first time.  I had only seen myself in glasses for most of my life.  I think one would have to be literally blind to not know oneself.

It’s sad.  Being uncertain about one’s identity can be heart-wrenching.

It’s careless.  I am not promoting vanity here, but not being familiar with one’s appearance may say something about character.  Maybe it’s a lack of organization, lack of attention, or lack of purpose.

I believe that the Living Word often works in our hearts undetected.  We don’t always experience an emotional or otherwise conscious reaction.  Yet when we test our hearts, I believe we will find evidence as to whether or not the Word has taken hold.

The passage in James is talking about action.  Good deeds testify about one’s faith.  We could also talk about bearing fruit.  But there are also simple commands in the Bible such as casting all our cares upon Him.  Surely this also is an act of obedience, and a starting point for other acts of faith.  If I can’t emerge from my prayer closet with an attitude of trust, perhaps I haven’t paid attention very well to what I’ve just read in the Bible.

Where is home?

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The following was written by a friend (Kim) whose daughter (Katherine) suffered a severe brain injury.  Kim is traveling back and forth from her home in Georgia and her daughter’s home in California —

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One thing I’ve learned for sure living in Tinseltown is that all that glitters ain’t gold.

The “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

I used to be envious of those people with multiple addresses you’d read about in Town and Country. “Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Astorbutt of New York, Palm Beach, and Nantucket announce the engagement of their daughter Abigail to Mr. Gregory Q. Gottrocks, IV, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Q. Gottrocks, III of Washington, D.C., Martha’s Vineyard, and Paris, France.”

Or movie stars you’d read about in People: “Brangelina (or whoever) just purchased a $22.5 million villa on the Cote d’Azur.  They also have residences in Beverly Hills, New York, and a 2,500 acre spread in Wyoming…”

Well, Mrs. F. Brooks Arnold of Athens, Georgia, Los Angeles, and Pomona, California thinks they might be crazy.

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As is usually the case, the reality is far removed from the illusion. The vagabond life is not as carefree as it seems.  You can’t just call Mayflower and have the movers show up each time a change in locale is necessitated.  Personal belongings are strewn across the country. In this constant state of flux, just getting dressed in the morning poses a challenge.

Throwing on a pair of pants in Athens, I realize that the only belt that works with them is still in Pomona.  The shoes with the right heel height are in LA. In LA, I get dressed for church on a cold day, and go to grab my coat before running out the door.  No coat in that closet.  God only knows where the lipliner that matches that shade of lipstick is hiding.  Probably in a purse in the pile on the closet floor in Georgia.  And forget keeping up with little things like glasses and phone chargers and checkbooks. Continue reading →

Words of Truth

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Olga and I have been considering new opportunities in Estonia, and a friend in the US, who will move to Russia soon with her family, sent the following note.  We are blessed to have friends who consider so deeply the things of God and share them so freely to encourage us.

I’m not sure these thoughts will be of relevance for you guys, but it’s what I have to offer!   Continue reading →

Word study

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Here’s another good post from Liz Hulley —

In a recent series on dealing with habitual sin, our pastor mentioned that “to confess,” in the original, means “to say the same thing.”

Today I was trying to translate a passage from John 1 (with the help of a dictionary), and I ran into a Greek word I did not know.  The first part was “homo” (same).  The second part contained “logos” (word).  Same word?  I could not think of a verb that would correspond in meaning. Continue reading →

Too Late

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Here is a good article by Liz Hulley,  a friend and long-term missionary to Russia who is currently in the US.  It’s from her blog, On Life in St. Petersburg:

I was searching for something non-trashy to watch on television and paused on PBS. A drama was on and I could see rolling hills and 19th century costumes. I hoped it was something uplifting like Jane Austen, and not Tess of the D’Urbervilles which seemed to be on each time I chose this station.

The tv guide described the movie playing as something like, “A girl struggles to improve her life after sorrowful circumstances.” That sounded hopeful.

As the film continued, however, I knew it had to be Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Yet I hadn’t read it since college, and hoped that the ending was happier than I remembered. Perhaps I just wasn’t remembering correctly. Continue reading →

Purity

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I have been thinking about purity of heart and a few scriptures have come to my mind.

Matthew 5:8 — “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Psalm 24:3,4 — “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?  Who may stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.”

Psalm 51:10 — “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

I believe that purity is related to holiness.  Hebrews 12:14 says  “. . . without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

Someone who is pure in heart is a person whose thoughts and motives are blameless,  someone who does not just do right things but who is also far from anything that defiles.

I also think of a pure diamond: when it is clean and pure, it can reflect light and cast around all kinds of color.  When we are pure, then the light of God, when it shines on us, will be reflected in us and shine forth and all will see it and glorify the Lord.

The Love of the Lord

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The book of Revelations starts with messages to seven churches.   And the very first message really touched my heart.   It was to the church of Ephesus.

It said, “I know your deeds, your hard work and perseverance.   I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.  Yet I hold this against you:  You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.” (Rev. 2:2-5a)

As I was reading this I could almost see the Lord saying these things.  And I imagine how lovingly He said it.  The Lord says:  I know everything.   I see your tears and your sufferings.  I see your efforts.  I know life is not easy for you.   I know the things you have to go through to still go on.  I know it all, and I suffer with you and feel all the pain that you have.  But let Me help you. Remember the way you loved Me when you first met Me?  Remember the time of your first love to Me, when everything was so simple, when there was nothing you would not do for Me?   Remember the joy we have shared?  Please, don’t walk away from it.

To me it seems that the Lord is more concerned for our love to Him.   He knows everything we face, and He knows how hard our lives are.  And He is there to help us through, to lead us and encourage us.

But then He looks us right into the eyes and says:  Please, could you just love Me the way you did it first?   Could you again do the things you did first?  I love you.

This life is not easy for us; we do have to endure many things.  And it would seem funny that the Lord asks us not to forsake our first love.  I don’t really know how to say it; the Lord does not rebuke us for doing all those things, He encourages us to go on.  But He knows the right way to go on.  And this is the way of love.  Love should tell us what to do.  If we don’t have love, everything else is not important.  The Lord gently tells us:  Come back to your first love, this is the only way to continue.

Trust

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While in America, soon after our marriage in Russia, we wanted to obtain an American marriage certificate in addition to a Russian one. Kent Reynolds, the pastor of St. James UMC in Athens, signed our marriage license. Talking with him and his wife, Sandy, was one the highlights of that trip for me.

We talked about a lot of things concerning service and being a disciple of the Lord. One thing we touched on was that God has a plan for each life. And we need to seek His face and ask Him what it is that He would have us do.

There are so many good things we could do on this earth, but the most important is to do the things God wants us to do. And it may be as small as going to your neighbor and offering a kind word. In God’s eyes there no small or big things, as long as this is what He told you to do.

The Lord may want you to be put aside for Him or used by Him. Whatever it is God is laying on your heart, trust Him and don’t be afraid to make a step. He will be there for you.