Tag: God's Word

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Done Talking

Daily Reading

Amos 6-9

Daily Thought

Amos did not ask to be a prophet, especially a prophet to neighboring Israel. “I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel’” (Amos 7:14-15). God said go, Amos obeyed, and the people of Israel should have listened, but they refused, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel” (Amos 7:12-13). Israel should be careful what she asks for.

My dad could lecture, “I’ve talked to you and talked to you.” We knew we had more time. Dad could talk; truly an artist at work. “I’ve talked to you and talked to you until I’m blue in the face.” This was the high point of the lecture. He really did turn blue. Still, no worries, as long as he kept talking. “I’ve talked to you and talked to you until I’m blue in the face, and now I’m done talking to you.”

Uh oh.

God had talked and talked to Israel. Amos cries, “Thus says the Lord,” eight times in the first two chapters (Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). Each of the next three chapters begins with God speaking to Israel, “Hear this word.” 

Israel did not. She will wish she had. 

If you stop listening to God, it is bad, but if God stops talking to you, it is over. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land–not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). God was done talking. “They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it” (Amos 8:12).

As long as Dad was talking, he was still trying to straighten us out. There was still hope. When the talking stopped, hope vanished. Then came judgment.

Daily Prayer

Lord God, thank You for Your Word. It guides me in life, leading me down the right path.

Too often, though, it may appear that I’m not listening to You. Probably because I’m not. I take You for granted, or I follow some silly notion that I have a better idea about life than You do. Please, God, do not give up on me. Thank You for Your patience and endurance. I need Your Word. Keep speaking, and I will develop the heart of Your Son, who said He does not live by bread alone, but by every Word You speak.

Amen

Daily Question

How can someone tell that you take God’s Word seriously?

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The Performance

Daily Reading

Ezekiel 31-33

Daily Thought

“If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned…” ~Ezekiel 33:6 

Ezekiel was that watchman for the house of Israel, with the duty to speak what God has spoken. The people have a duty, as well–to listen and respond. “And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain” (Ezekiel 33:31). The people failed at their duty.

It was Rickey’s first time in Big Church. He watched everything his dad did and copied him. When Dad stood, he stood. When Dad sang, he sang. When Dad put a bill in the offering, he gave a quarter he’d brought from his bank. When Dad opened the Bible, he pulled his out of his pocket. 

The service ended, at last, and now for the weekly review on the drive home in the family van. “Sermon was pretty good today. Got lost in the middle.” “Music was okay, except for the last song. That was bad.” “I liked the solo.”

“All in all,” chimed in Rickey, “you gotta admit, Dad, it was a pretty good show for a dollar.” He’d watched everything. 

“You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it!” ~Ezekiel 33:32

The church is to gather on Sundays, not as an audience, but as actors prepared to perform, to listen to God and respond with a grand offering of worship and willingness.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, everyday You give me a gift. A new day. May I open it each morning with anticipation, use it with joy, and thank You when I lay down at the end. May my life be a wonderful offering to You.

I pray that Sundays will not be the day of worship, but the weekly culmination of 7 days of worship.

Amen

Daily Question

What are some examples in your life that you listen to God?

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Simple Certainty

Daily Reading

Jeremiah 38-41

Daily Thought

Jeremiah’s prophetic warning is summarized in one proclamation: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day’” (Jeremiah 39:16). 

That day arrives and Judah at long last falls to Babylon. 

It is recorded in a perfunctory cadence, “In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city” (Jeremiah 39:1-2). 

There is no joy in judgment, but a simple certainty that God is true to his word. The same applies not only in judgment, but salvation as well: “But I will deliver you on that day” (Jeremiah 39:17), declares the Lord to Jeremiah, short and sweet.

And there is found the joy, a simple certainty that God is true to his word.

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up. ~1Thessalonians 5:9-11

Trust God–it’s that simple.

Daily Prayer

My God, thank You so much for salvation, saving me from the judgment I deserve. The future is certain, but whether certain of judgment or salvation is up to me and Who I follow. I choose You.

May my life lead others to follow You, as well. God, Your Word is true, and it is good.

Amen

Daily Question

Why did you choose to follow Jesus?

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I Pray

Daily Reading

Psalm 1-8

Daily Thought

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night. ~Psalm 1:1-2

In front of my childhood home grows a towering redwood, 60 feet high. It is beautiful and strong, a majestic tree. We planted two of these trees on our front lawn when my family moved into the house in 1973. They were 6 feet high then, and over the summer we watched as one grew and one did not. One seemed to find water, soak it in, delight in it, and so it flourished. The other did not, dried up, and died. Today I can point to the spot the other tree was planted, but there is no trace it was ever there.

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away. ~Psalm 1:3-4

I was a teenager in 1973, and prayer was difficult. Speaking to someone unseen felt odd. I repeated myself a lot and talked like King James, “Thee” and “Thou.” One day I opened the Psalms and was surprised by the words. They were words for me, the expressions I longed for, “Give ear to my words, O Lord” (Psalm 5:1), and “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers” (Psalm 8:3), and “I will fear no evil for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4). I began to pray the Psalms, to walk with a Bible in hand and pray God’s Word back to him. God’s Word became my words, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10), robust words that declared my thoughts and desires. I learned to pray by praying the Psalms, to “delight in the law of the Lord, and on his law meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2). 

That man is described as blessed, a man who will grow like a tree planted by streams of water.

Daily Prayer

O Lord my God, early this morning I stop and wonder what this day will bring. What have You set before me? You prepare me to meet the wonders and challenges and opportunities and delights of this world as I read Your Word and delight in it. Fill my heart this morning with Your grace and truth. Give me wisdom, courage, and compassion so that all I do prospers me and those around me.

May I be strong in Your love today. Whether I meet friend or enemy, may my life express Your love. May I do what is good and right, may others be blessed, and may You be praised.

Amen

Daily Question

What are some of your favorite passages in the Bible and why are they favorites?

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That Voice

Daily Reading

John 9-10

Daily Thought

It’s the Price voice; you know it when you hear it. My four children are playing in the family room when the front door swings open, “Hello!”  Four heads in unison whip around toward the door. “Daddy’s home!”  Nope, it’s Uncle Drew, my brother. They run and hug Uncle Drew, then go back to playing. The front door swings open again, “Hello!” Four heads in unison whip around toward the door. “Daddy’s home!” Nope, it’s Grampa, my Dad. They run and hug Grampa, then go back to playing.

The front door swings open once more, “Hello!” Four heads in unison whip around toward the door. “Daddy’s home!” They run and leap into my arms. That voice. You can’t tell which Price it belongs to, but you know it’s a Price.

Jesus described himself as the good shepherd, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). That voice! Sounds just like his Father, and Jesus acknowledged it, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus was accused of blasphemy because of this, claiming to be the Son of God. His response: just watch me and see if I am not just like my Father; “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:37-38). Jesus has his Father’s looks, his mannerisms, his voice. It is impossible to tell them apart. We recognize our Father in the voice of his Son.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, I love to hear Your voice. The more I listen to Your Word, the better I know You, the more I love You, the closer I follow You, and, I hope, the more I sound just like You.

Thank You for Your Son because in Him I see You, and through Him, I have been adopted into Your family. My prayer, O God, is that I will sound like You, look like You, act like You, that when people see and hear me, they think of You and are glad.

Amen

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Truth

Daily Reading

Psalm 119:89-176

Daily Thought

There is a reason to pay attention to the law of God and follow his commandments, and it is not because they work. Well, it is not only because they work, because they do, and that is good, but it goes deeper than that. They work because they are established by the Creator, they serve his will and reflect his ways. When I follow them I reflect him. I become godly. They make me “wiser than my enemies” and give me “more understanding than all my teachers” (Psalm 119:98-99). Bottom line, they are the bottom line; they are true and they are Truth.

The Law begins with “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5), ends with “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), and everything in between reflects one or the other or both. No gods, but God; no idols; don’t use God’s name in vain; keep the Sabbath; honor your father and mother; do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not covet what your neighbor has.

I do not follow God because it benefits me, but it benefits me to follow God. I follow God because he is God. “But,” you ask, “isn’t that circular reasoning?” You bet it is, and God gets to do that. Truth is truth because it is. It does not have to defend itself; disobey it often enough and you will crash right into it. Obey it and you will know God.

Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day. ~Psalm 119:97

When have you mastered a foreign language? I’m told that you truly know a language when you use it until you no longer translate it, you simply read and speak and hear and do and even dream in the foreign language, which then is no longer foreign.

Daily Prayer

My God in heaven, You established the earth and all that is in it and all of it’s ways, You are my Beginning and my End. I have life because of You and live life for You. Your word expresses Your desires and delights; may they be mine, as well. I empty my heart of You when I sin; fill it again. Teach me to love anew because I spend too much time loving only myself. Teach me to love others like I love myself.

May I truly love You with all of my heart, all of my soul, all of my strength, all of my mind.

Amen

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Practice Makes Perfect

Daily Reading

Psalm 119:1-88

Daily Thought

“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” ~Philippians 4:9

Psalm 119 is the ABC’s of God’s Word. One hundred seventy-six verses broken into sets of 8, each verse of the first set begins with Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second set, the second letter, and so on. The psalm speaks of God’s Word in my life, a Word to be known, to be studied, to be mastered and to master me, to be lived and to be played like a beautiful instrument. “Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning” (Psalm 119:54).

If you have ever put a guitar in your hands or brought a horn to your lips, you get this psalm. “Practice makes perfect,” and the goal is to stop looking at your fingers on the frets, to forget even that you are holding a guitar, and just play; and there is no play without practice. 

Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways! ~Psalm 119:1-3

Daily Prayer

Wonderful God, With pleasure I call You Master. You are the Lord of lords. You are the Lord of me. You are the King of kings. I pledge my allegiance to You.

May I be a worthy citizen of the Kingdom of God, an ambassador of Your grace. May I live for eternity by sharing and showing Your love today.

Amen

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Listen

Daily Reading

Deuteronomy 3-4

Daily Thought

The verb shema: “to hear,” “to listen,” is used almost 100 times in the book we are reading right now, Deuteronomy. It shows up in our passage today, Deuteronomy 4:1, “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.”

Some translations use “hear” instead of “listen.” Have you ever discussed the difference, perhaps with your parents? For me, it began something like this: Me: “I heard you!” Them: “Yes, but I don’t think you were listening,” and for the next hour (it seemed) I learned the difference. When Jesus said (repeatedly), “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” he was speaking as a parent. “Listen!”

Jesus said, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14:21). That’s listening. Hearing and obeying, receiving what God has said to us and allowing it to penetrate and shape my heart and change my life. The words of God, “Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'” (Deuteronomy 4:6).

All I have to do to hear is be there when a sound is made. It takes no effort on my part. To listen, however, means I pay attention. I show up. All of me.

Daily Prayer

My God, thank You for talking to me, for writing me. Your Words give me life. They lead me into the future, they give me hope, they shape my character. They are good.

May I be one who listens, and may I prove it by what I do. May I let Your Word have its way in my life so that my life will be different, that my life will reflect You, that others will see in me Your glory, Your goodness, Your grace.

Amen

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Details

Daily Reading

Exodus 39-40

Daily Thought

Reading through Exodus would not take as long if Moses would stop repeating himself. He wrote God’s instructions, such as “make the ark of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, with four rings of gold and poles of acacia wood, to these exact dimensions” (Exodus 25:10-14), then he repeated the same instructions with the Israelite’s obedience, “We made the ark of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, with four rings of gold and poles of acacia wood, to these exact dimensions” (Exodus 37:1-5). Moses wrote how God wanted the tabernacle designed, then he wrote everything all over again when he described how they built it. All the details, over and over, repeating the same words. What God commanded and what the people did in response were the same. That is obedience.

Moses and the people of Israel were learning to obey God, down to the very details. “This Moses did; according to all that the LORD commanded him, so he did” (Exodus 40:16). Moses wanted this emphasized to the Israelites (and to us), so he repeated the details, because the details are important.  

Many centuries later, Jesus said, “”If you love me, you will keep my commandments”  (John 14:15). His final instructions to his disciples included, “make disciples …teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). One of his disciples, John, reminds us, “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” (1John 2:3). The details are important. 

Daily Prayer

My Lord my God, Your ways are so good. They take me the right direction in life. It baffles me why I don’t follow them always, because when I get off Your path, I find myself in trouble.  Help me keep my eyes on You. Remind me that I belong to Your Kingdom, not to this world.  

I pray, God, that I would shine Your glory into a dark world that needs the light. Like salt, that I would bring out the best and preserve goodness. To do this, Father, I must love Your Word and follow it. May I be as devoted to you as you are devoted to me already. May I delight in you as you delight in me already. May I love because you first loved me.

Amen