Christian Devotionals and Scripture Applied to Everyday Life

The constant and all-encompassing presence of the Lord is so comforting - or is it? This would seem an odd question for those who love and obey the Lord. To them, His presence brings eternal blessing and joy. These obedient followers desire to live in the light of His presence continually experiencing His salvation, His strength, His protection, and His goodness. They cannot even imagine a better place to be than under God's watchful care and they would despair at the thought of separation from the One they love and need so desperately. But there is another group of people. For this circle of individuals, God's constant presence is very uncomfortable. They may even be Christians, ones who belong to God, but who desire to keep parts of their lives from His control. They do not like the idea that there is no secret place where they can go to hide from God's all-seeing eyes. Deep down they know that their words and actions are not pleasing to their Creator. But rather than revise their ways, they seek to do their deeds in a secluded place where they think that no one will notice. Though they may be able to pull the wool over the eyes of even those closest to them, there is no private place that is hidden from the Lord. His presence fills the heavens and the earth. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5)."  He is Francis Thompson's The Hound of Heaven, Who will never stop seeking them.

Beauty is breathtaking! Every so often I stumble upon something that just stuns me. It happened the other night as the sun sank behind the horizon. The sky surrounding our house was transformed with a blend of colors from peach to pink to purple. It seemed that our whole property was enveloped in a coral glow like the insides of a conch shell. Preparation for dinner halted numerous times as we gazed at the awe-inspiring artistry of God's creation. The view from the kitchen table. It's in times like these that I am overwhelmed with the beauty of our God. The Master Designer of our universe has revealed a glimpse of His exquisiteness in the mirror of His creation, and those who recognize it must take a moment to gaze upon it and worship Him. As the writer of Psalm 27 voices his confidence in God during times of difficulty, he also expresses his desire to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord by seeking Him in His temple. His deepest longing is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. He has seen God's goodness and longs to experience His presence continually.

What are you afraid of? Come on, now, everyone is afraid of something! It may be that you're afraid of meeting a scary stranger while trying to find the car in a dark parking lot. Or maybe you fear failing a big test. Possibly you are afraid of rejection or of receiving bad news from a recent medical test. Everyone is afraid of something. I love to take walks, but sometimes, depending on the time of day or the place, I am afraid to go by myself. Usually, I will take Cherokee, our black German Shepherd, with me. Though she is such a sweetheart, she can look mean and I believe she would protect me if I got into a dangerous situation. I feel much safer when she is with me. Moses, the great leader of Israel had just died, and Joshua, his aide, was taking leadership of the children of Israel. He was assigned the task of bringing the nation into the land that God had promised them. This was not going to be an easy job because there were very strong and violent inhabitants already living in the land. They were not going to take kindly to this group of nomads coming to take their lands. 

"Follow your instruments and not your sight." These words from an official who was being interviewed caught my attention as I was getting ready for work the other morning. I was rushing around with the usual bed making, hairdressing, & makeup applying when the words were spoken on the TV news show. During a very foggy evening flight, a US military Black Hawk helicopter had crashed into the Santa Rosa Sound. Unfortunately, four National Guardsmen and seven Marines were missing following the accident. The man on the newscast expanded his statement by explaining that when a pilot is flying through the fog, it is very important to rely on the aircraft's instruments instead of the captain's eyesight. Dense fog is very deceptive and one's eyesight is not reliable. Though it takes an act of faith, one is best served to trust the instruments to give the best guidance as to how to proceed. How true this is in our daily lives! When our circumstances land us in a deep fog, it often becomes unclear how we should respond. It is so tempting to react according to our feelings. Yet usually our feelings are unreliable. We may think we know what someone else is thinking or why something has happened, but if we respond according to our faulty perceptions it may cause us to crash and burn. We will be left with wreckage of a relationship or an unfixable problem.

Perspiration trickled down his dark skin as he sat in the chariot squinting into the sun. The vehicle joggled slowly along the desert road while he wiped the dampness from his eyes and again focused on the ancient words in front of him. His mind was reeling with questions regarding the things he was reading. There was something there that touched a wounded place in his heart but he just didn't understand the meaning. Bitter memories of days gone by floated across his mind. He remembered so clearly all the  physical indignities he suffered in the past - the humiliating experience that had made him a eunuch. It was supposed to be an honor to serve Queen Candace of Ethiopia and, in fact, he was a very high and well-respected financial official in her court, but there was still a deep wound that oozed in the very core of his being - an empty hole in his spirit that needed to be filled.

I sat in complete shock as the leader of my Bible study group made the announcement that one of our members had passed away that week. I was devastated at the loss of someone so young, but the truth was that my greatest hurt was personal. I had been part of this group for the better part of a year. Though we had met weekly, certain privacy rules hindered our opportunity to know each other deeply. Even though we prayed for each other, the requests were carefully worded by the leader who had contacted each participant during the week. Often the real meaning behind the request was lost in the interpretation. When the leader asked us to pray for this dear young woman who was ill, I had no idea how sick she really was. For all I knew it was a cold that persisted through the frigid months of winter.