Deut. 19-22; Acts 28

“When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he is giving you, you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes. Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the Lord your God is giving you…And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised them, you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all the commands I have given you – if you always love the Lord your God and walk in his ways.)” Duet. 19:1-9 NLT

Many who came to these cities were literally running for their lives and God gave them a place to go. Where/who do I run to? I hope that I am running to the Lord. He is my shield and hiding place. But, when I run to other things he is always there welcoming me back with open arms. I think on the picture of the sparrow safe in the Lord’s hands. That is where I want to be and know that I am.

“When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you! When you prepare for battle, the priest must come forward to speak to the troops. He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out and fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or trouble before them. For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!” Deut. 20:1-4 NLT

Like the Israelites, I sometimes feel overwhelmed and defeated. God told them that he was always with them & already reuscued them from potential danger. It comforts me to know that he is not just with me, but he goes before me. Paul understood this. He continued ministering to others even when he was a shipwrecked prisoner.

“In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, the rest of the island who had diseases also came and were healed. They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.” Acts 28:7-9 NLT

Dear Father, I am so grateful that I can run to you. Thank you for your patience and mercy. Your are my safe place. I pray that I can share with others from the confident trust I have in you. Amen.

“For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.” Acts 28:30 NLT

Amy(amyctanner)

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Numbers 15-18; Acts 18; Ps.90

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “When you finally settle in the land I am giving you, you will offer special gifts as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. These gifts may take the form of a burnt offering, a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, a voluntary offering, or an offering at any of your annual festivals, and they may be taken from your herds of cattle or your flocks of sheep and goats.” Numbers 15:1-3 NLT

Lord, I desire to offer my life to you in worship. “Let it rise like incense, my whole life a fragrance. Every ounce here broken at Your feet. Every breath an offering. My heart cries, these lungs sing over You. My worthy King of Kings.” -Alabaster Heart, Bethel Music & Kalley Heiligenthal.

“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.” Acts 18:9-11 NLT

I went to a Wednesday night service at my church. There was a simplicity to it that drew me in. I sat and listened to God. And I realized how distracted I have been lately. I pray that I stay quiet enough to hear your voice. I pray for more boldness & courage. I am thankful for examples like Paul. Thank you that You are still speaking Lord.

“Lord. you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you have formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Psalm 90:1&2 ESV

Dear Father, Help me to order my days to seek after you. To do what you have called me to do. Thank you for your faithfulness. Amen.

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom…Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Let the favor of the Lord God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” Psalm 90:12-17 ESV

Amy(amyctanner)

Acts 19-20

I keep reading about boldness.

⁸ Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

Acts 19:9-10, NIV, emphasis added

Paul’s life shows me what it looks like: Boldness. Intention. Purpose. Movement. I take note that he spoke, and when he met with resistance, he just moved on. He wanted to reach as many people as he could.

When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia. ² He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, ³ where he stayed three months. Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

Acts 20:1-3, NIV, emphasis added

The uproar was that what Paul was teaching threatened the business of an idol maker and reputation of Artemis. Paul’s faith and message left a reaction and a wake wherever he went. (In chapter 19, I note this as well. Look:

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

Acts 19:13-16, NIV, emphasis added

Did these men get beaten because they were working on Paul’s faith and not their own?)

I notice his commitment and use of time.

⁷ On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

He knows it won’t be an easy road for him. What he says is packed with perspective and purpose.

¹⁷ From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. ¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. ¹⁹ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. ²⁰ You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Acts 20:17-24, NIV, emphasis added

And he knows that when he leaves, someone will want to follow after him and undo his efforts. He warns again, even after doing so for three years …

²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. ²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Acts 20:27-32, NIV, emphasis added

Lord, there is so much to learn here about faith, perseverance, intention, commitment, and purpose. When I think of Paul, it’s what I know of him through Scripture. I think of faith, boldness, and resilience. He knew and didn’t know what lay ahead of him, but he trusted you. Lord, I don’t want to be like the men who may have wanted to walk in faith, but walked in the faith of someone else. Help me to remember the times you built my strength through pressure and testing–God, you are always with me. This was such a rich reading and has me thinking long on challenges, effort and faith. Help me to steward my responsibilities wisely.

Courtney (66books365)

2 Chronicles 6:12-42; 1 John 5; Habakkuk 1; Luke 20

I love Solomon’s prayer when he dedicated the temple to God once it was completed.  Full of passion, his body  language denoted humility before an almighty God.  I find myself falling on my knees and raising my hands in prayer more often these days – probably an act of surrender acknowledging to God that more and more I need Him in my life.

Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven. – 2 Chronicles 6:13

Over the years, my “prayer batting average” is pretty low. I have prayed for the salvation of people who have not gotten saved. I have prayed for the restoration of sinning Christians, who have not repented and been restored. I have prayed for the reconciliation of many Christian marriages that have broken up.  I have prayed for physical healing for those in need and they have not been healed.  You would think that I might just give up.  I did once, when I was fourteen, and God showed up so tangibly that I will never lose my confidence that He is working everything out in His own time.

And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. – 1 John 5:14

I am still learning today the same lessons I did then as I face different situations in my life.  I still cry, still tell Him what bothers me and I have given God exactly what He needs to do to solve the problem – oops – He still is ignoring my solutions.

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?  Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? – Habakkuk 1:1

I know there is a temptation for me to abuse prayer, to fake it and to tell everyone how pious I am in my prayer walk.  Pretty sure I have not fallen to the level of the scribes in Jesus’ time.

They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation. – Luke 20:47

Father, as I kneel before You with my outstretched arms, I do it knowing that as I come before You, it is to acknowledge that You reign in my life.  I yield my life before You and as Solomon consecrated the temple, I consecrate myself to You again this day.  As Jesus taught us to pray – I acknowledge You as my Father  –  I worship You today.  Be glorified in my life.  If that comes through answered prayer – that would be a blessing and encouragement to me – if it comes from Your hand another way, I am so thankful that You are still listening to me.  For Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory for ever – Amen. 

evanlaar

Exodus 1; Luke 4; Job 18; 1 Corinthians 5

When I was 18 years old, like many people my age, I packed up way too many of my “precious” belongings, stuffed them inside my family’s slightly beat up and wearied minivan along with my two parents and I and moved two states over for college.  I had always prided myself on being an adventurer, a strong, independent woman not afraid to travel all over the world and brave enough to go on many journeys (long and short) alone, so I expected a measly move from Maryland to New Jersey to be a piece of cake.

Boy, was I wrong.  From the moment I stepped on campus, I was smacked in the face with some very real social anxiety and fear of letting people in.  As a freshman, I spent much time in my room alone, afraid of letting the people just outside my door in to my life and my heart.  By the time I graduated four years later, I had grown in ways my freshman self would have shuddered to think about.  I was able to form many friendships that were deeper and richer and more beautiful than anything I had ever experienced all because I took many (often small) steps in boldness.  God used my time in college to teach me boldness and bravery in areas where my comfort zone was very – well – comfortable.  I learned that while being bold may look like many different things, it always means taking a step out of my comfort zone and towards God.

¹⁵ Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: ¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver.^[c] If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” ¹⁷ But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.

¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?”

¹⁹ “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.”

²⁰ So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. – Exodus 1:15-20 (NLT)

Woah. These midwives actually defied the orders of the Pharaoh.  They stood up for what is right with incredible boldness and were a part of God’s incredible plan for the Israelites.  And the best part?  God blessed them with families of their own because they were obedient to Him.

Lord, teach me to follow you boldy, even if it means doing the terrifying thing. 

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,^[a] 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

³ Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’^[b]”

⁵ Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. ⁷ I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

⁸ Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’^[c]”

⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
¹¹ And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’^[d]”

¹² Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’^[e]”

¹³ When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. – Luke 4:1-13 (NLT)

This is crazy!  If I were tempted in the ways that Jesus was, I would not have been able to resist.  In fact, I know I have faced these same temptations and given in to them.  Yet, Jesus boldly refuses the taunts of the devil and decides to do the less glamorous, least satisfying, and most unexpected thing and turn down the (probably incredibly enticing) offers from the devil.

Lord, give me the boldness to turn down the daily (and often easy and inviting) temptations of the devil. 

I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.^[a] 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

³ Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit.^[b]And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man ⁴ in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church.^[c] I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. ⁵ Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed^[d] and he himself^[e] will be saved on the day the Lord^[f] returns.

⁶ Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? ⁷ Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.^[g] 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread^[h] of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread^[i] of sincerity and truth. – 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 (NLT)

You know when your friend is behaving in a way that you know they shouldn’t, but you don’t say anything for fear of facing their wrath or a rift in your friendship with them?  Well, that is exactly what is happening here except, instead of not saying anything, Paul boldly calls out his brothers and sisters in Christ for their sins.  He does not do so to put them down, but he does so with a bold love that could only come from being in fellowship with Christ.

Lord, teach me to boldly love my brothers and sisters enough to call them out when I see them stumble. 

God has taught me time and time again that often if I take a step forward with even the teeniest bit of boldness, he will grow me in leaps and bounds in ways that I could never have imagined.  God gives us so many examples of boldness and bravery in His Word and these examples inspire me and push me to grow.  Boldness looks different for everyone; for me it might look like saying hello to someone that I would not usually be brave enough to talk to.  For the Hebrew midwives in Egypt, it looked like refusing to obey the orders of the Pharaoh to kill all the male children that were born.  Whatever this boldness may look like, God uses it as a part of his perfect plan and that is incredibly exciting.

 

Emma (emmakumpf)