“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18, ESV) The tormented Man “As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore — not even with a chain — Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” (Mark 5:2-5, CSB) Legion was a broken, tormented man. The Bible doesn’t tell us his background prior to his life among the tombs.…
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8, NKJV) Recently four of us met for lunch. We do it fairly often, and it has become a great time to relax and catch up on what’s happening. We have our own special corner of a nearby fast-food restaurant where no one minds us just sitting and chatting for a while. Our conversations can go anywhere and everywhere—new recipes, gardening tips, church news, prayer needs, childhood memories, latest travels. What does not happen is constantly staring at our phone screens. We actually talk to each other. This particular day, before we knew it, four hours had passed. Four hours of personal interaction, not a digital connection. Someone once described what we did that day as “sharing the gift of presence.” Online platforms cannot give us that human connection that we all need. As we shared, we were open with each other. We laughed, we empathized, we shared our hearts. It’s difficult to do that when tapping out a short text message. Many aren’t even complete sentences, much less a deep sharing of thoughts and feelings. We all need connections with others. They are important to our overall…
“Our LORD, I will remember the things you have done, your miracles of long ago. I will think about each one of your mighty deeds.” Psalms 77:11-12 CEV There is an old song titled “Count your blessings, name them one by one” and the scripture above brought it back to mind. Sometimes, especially in the midst of chaos, we need to remember past miracles. We are absolutely surrounded by confusion and weariness right now, and it’s so easy to become consumed with all the wrong things. It’s so beneficial for us to take a few minutes each day and remember all God has done for us. Even though it may seem like evil has won, He is still the same miracle working God that He has always been. What has God done for you? Remember it, tell it, write it down and declare it. Absolutely no one or nothing can steal your testimony from you, and it’s a powerful weapon we have been given. Prayer: God, I’m choosing to remember all that You have done for me. Every blessing, miracle and provision. Thank you for always working on my behalf.
“But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence” Luke 11:8 NLT The previous verses to this one tell us the parable of a man who went to a friends house at midnight to borrow a few loaves of bread. He had a surprise visitor show up and apparently had nothing to feed him, and I guess three loaves of bread would have done the trick! Now, if someone came to my door at midnight asking…
“Here’s what I want: Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil. For who on their own is capable of leading your glorious people?” 1 Kings 3:9 MSG Right before Solomon made this request, God appeared to him in a dream and asked him (Solomon) what He (God) could give him. I can’t even imagine being asked that question, and I truly don’t know what I myself would ask for if God woke me up and asked me the same question. I like to think though that I would have the same desire as Solomon, to receive a God-listening heart so that I could lead others well. What a humble and selfless request. He could have asked for anything in the world, yet he chose wisdom so that he could better serve others. In this day and age we need wisdom and discernment more than ever. Solomon recognized this need for God, and asks the question “for who on their OWN is capable of leading your glorious people?” We are very limited in what we can accomplish on our own. But when we become consumed and filled with God’s…
“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” Psalms 147:3 I have a two daughters who love band-aids. We go through boxes of them because they “need” a band-aid for every boo boo. If one of them stubs her toe, band-aid. If the other bruises her leg, band-aid. And of course every little scratch and scrape, because they definitely require an extra large band-aid. But I also love the thought of a band-aid, and I’m in my thirties. If I get a paper cut, a band-aid seems to heal it up quickly and makes the pain disappear. I guess the idea of covering our boo boo’s never really goes away. No matter our age, we will all require healing at some point in our lives. And there are some healings that require so much more than a simple bandage. Wounds that cut so deep, you wonder if you will ever find the end of them. We can be hurt so tragically in this life, but God promises to heal our broken hearts and bandage our wounds. Isn’t he such a kind and gentle Savior? That He would take the time to meet with us and carefully mend what was broken.…