November 17

Piercing the Darkness


Lord you know I am suffering…. Your words are what sustain me. They bring me great joy and are my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.

Jeremiah 15:15-16 (NLT)


… I’ll give you what I have …

Acts 3:6b (NLT)


Every week, I get at least ten to twenty donation requests from all kinds of organizations. Do you have that experience? Unfortunately, I find myself growing numb to the great needs of this world.

Yesterday, I yawned as I opened a plea from a well-known Christian organization. Then I read their letter. It reported an amazing increase in requests for Bibles from the closed nations of the Middle East. The letter revealed they received over 300,000 contacts a month—many requesting copies of God’s word. I read on.

They detailed case after case of spiritual hunger—stories of people, many of them women, desperate for the Good News of Jesus Christ. Then there were the testimonies. One person after another expressing great joy upon receiving the Scriptures, yet many would take the Bible handed to them and immediately hide it in their robe for fear of persecution.

These were touching stories and my yawn turned into a vacant stare as I recalled my own experiences in this part of the world. My mind drifted and recaptured the cloudless sky and the desert hue. I walked the dusty streets once again. The warm night smothered me as I roamed the city’s marketplace, but the streets had grown strangely quiet.

Like every night, the men were in their mosques. They gathered out-of-sight for their required religious activity while the women remained outside dotting the market alleyways. Covered in black abayas, they stood motionless in the still air, silent against the shop walls. As I sailed by, I noticed only their hopeless, straight-ahead stares—their eyes, glassy windows behind the dark folds. Like forgotten statues, they seemed unimportant, unnoticed and unloved. It was a hard thing to see—the outer manifestation of a greater bondage.

I pulled myself out of the memory, shook my head and searched the desk for my checkbook then opened it to see how much it held.


Father, provide Your light to the darkest places on earth. Bring joy where there is bondage and set the captives free! Amen.

November 16

Good or Great?


Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

James 4:17 (NLT)


In the book, Breakout Churches, Thom Rainer jolts us with his opening line, “It is a sin to be good if God calls you to be great.” Wow!

Rainer points out, God calls us to the Great Commission, not the Good Commission, and the Great Commandment, not the Good Commandment, and finally, we are reminded, “There are three things that endure—faith, hope and love—and the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13). We are called to all of these—especially to love. It’s a point worth thinking about. I mean, who among us thinks they are great? Who really thinks they have arrived? But, on the other hand, are we content with the status quo, the routine? Or are we truly hungering and thirsting for righteousness?

I am afraid Rainer has identified a central issue in the American Church. We are content with the safety and comfort of both our good lives and our good churches when what God calls us to is so much greater.

Our breakout moment comes when, no longer satisfied with good, we set out in passionate pursuit of God and His greater will. While we may not consider ourselves great, we can still begin the journey.


Father, You are great, not us, but You can do great things in and through us, in and through Your church. Help us achieve all You want. Amen.

November 15

Three Walls


“Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

Exodus 5:2 (NLT)


Pharaoh and his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died. Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron during the night. “Leave us!” he cried. "Go away, all of you! Go and serve the Lord as you have requested."

Exodus 12:30-31 (NLT)


The human will can be a very strong thing. It is a wall. The third and perhaps strongest wall within our hearts, it prevents action. Whether it is in trusting Christ, or mending a broken relationship, or righting a wrong, the will must be won over. This is the third wall, but there are others.

There is the barrier of emotion: “I don’t like you, so I won’t listen!” Then there is the intellectual obstacle: “That’s absurd! It doesn’t make sense.” Each of these can be a barrier as hard to overcome as stubborn Pharaoh. Interesting: the emotional wall is best scaled by relationship, the intellectual wall with reason and understanding, but to overcome the will requires freedom, time and perhaps an act of God.

For Pharaoh's hardened heart, the walls of emotion, intellect and will were all overcome one dark and terrible night. Horrible. Terrifying. Pharaoh accepted God’s will and took action only after God took a life from every Egyptian family ... including Pharaoh’s son's life. Think about what God wants you to do. Then consider this: what will it take to convince you?


Father, open our hearts to truth. Take away the emotional, intellectual and willful barriers in our hearts. Show us Your good will and help us take action. Amen.

November 14

Jesus, a Party Pooper?


Be careful not to spend your time feasting, drinking or worrying about worldly things.

Luke 21:34 (NCV)


Some people would read this verse and think, “Gosh, Jesus sure was a party pooper, wasn’t He?" Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jesus went to parties … and enjoyed them. He went to feasts; He attended banquets—held in His honor! He even attended the wedding party in Cana of Galilee where He worked His first miracle. He actually turned water into wine and kept the party going! He enjoyed these things.

But … He didn’t live for them.

His life wasn’t spent analyzing the chocolate mousse cake or the cranberry-apple tart or comparing a good Pinot Gris to an excellent Chardonnay.

No. Life for Him was and is about doing the work of God … at festivals or feasts, funerals, parties or prayer meetings. When walking into a raucous celebration or while walking along a quiet country road, He had balance like you wouldn’t believe.

According to Jesus, it’s all about the attitude—what’s in the heart—and being ready. Ready to do whatever, to go wherever, to be the people God needs us to be. And in that moment, to express His passion, His love for needy people—people who love to eat, who love to drink, who love to worry. And so many others….


Father, thank You for this reminder of what is important in life. Help my attitude to be what it should. Help me be ready to do what it takes to bring You glory. Amen.