January 14


Asking for Directions


Teach me Your way, LORD; I will walk in Your truth.

Psalm 86:11 (NAS)


So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

John 8:31-32 (NCV)


I was in the Portland, Oregon area last week, and I hate to admit it, but I got lost. Where I thought I was going was not where I needed to be. As a typical male, I tried to figure it out on my own and, you guessed it, I got even more lost! It wasn’t until I got tired of my own floundering that I stopped and asked for directions and learned how far off I was! Soon, I was headed in the right direction—thank God!

In life, it is God who is faithfully standing by, waiting for us to ask for His help. When we do, He shows us His truth: we are lost, but it’s going to be okay. He loves us and has a great plan for our lives. He has directions for life—for now and for the future. He offers us great hope and incredible peace.

You know, I was glad I finally stopped for directions last week. I just wish I would have stopped sooner! If you are looking for directions in life, God says, “the time is now!”


Lord, help us see we need Your help. Amen.

January 13

More to This Life


God said to Abraham, 'Leave your country and your relatives, and go' … So Abraham left….

Genesis 22:5 (NCV)


If you don’t go all the way with me through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look out for yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself, and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.

Matthew 10:38-39 (The Message)


… whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 16:25 (NKJV)


It’s not about me. It’s not even about my vote. That’s hard to say in America during campaign season, but, still, it’s true.

Abraham, that great man of faith, gave in to God easily, quickly. God said, “Go,” and he went. God said, “Offer up your son,” and what did he do? He considered it an act of worship. He was willing to sacrifice the one thing dearest to him, Isaac, his beloved child. He did it, because God directed it. That’s all he needed. He lost his life. And he found it. And so can we.


Father, thank You for this assurance: there is more to this life than the things I crave. There is life with You. Give me this life! Amen.

January 12

Who’s Will?

I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 5:30 (NAS)


The first Adam failed. The second Adam succeeded. Adam sought his own will, but Jesus, the second Adam, sought the will of the Father. So who’s will will I seek? Mine or God’s?

I am over 50-years old now, and unfortunately, too many of those years were focused on me. Too many times my thoughts centered on, “What do I want?” not “What does God want?” Too often it was, “What will make me happy? Not “What will please God?”

And then there’s the reality—in these pursuits I found failure—my failure instead of His success. Sometimes it was subtle, like Joseph asking Pharaoh’s cupbearer, “Make mention of me to Pharaoh” and then waiting an extra two years in prison. Perhaps that’s the hardest thing—resisting the urge to wiggle myself into position or to posture myself for success. But now, I've come to hate my will. Quite frankly, it scares me. Ultimately, it brings failure. Though I may revel in my minor success, it soon flies away.

But God’s will is supreme and so worth pursuing. His hand ensures His success and this is what I want: His hand on me. Even though His will may seem difficult and even though I may experience pain—physical, emotional, mental or spiritual pain—it’s worth it.

How do I know?

It was the greatest person who ever lived who said it: “I do not seek My own will….”


Father, I crave Your will. Help me find it. Keep me in it. Keep me close to You. Amen.

January 11

Jonah Four: the Challenge of Attitude

The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

Jonah 4:4 (NLT)


When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? … let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)


Jonah was challenged in so many ways. He was challenged to go where he didn’t want to go and to do what he didn’t want to do—preach to Nineveh. But his greatest challenge was to think the thoughts he didn’t want to think, to come off his spiritual high horse and see that God has a love for all people—even the vilest and cruelest sinners in that day, the Assyrians.

Jonah Four is his real wake up call, and I believe Jonah learns the lesson, because he writes it all down for us and … he lets God have the final word, “Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”
Attitude is everything and God makes His point. “See life my way,” He seems to say. “Be more like me.”

We have His example. We have the lessons of Christ. The first step in following is to change our thinking, to be transformed by letting Him change the way we think. It may seem an insurmountable challenge to some, but as the apostle said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He changed Jonah’s attitude, and He can change ours too!


Father God, help me to be more like You. Make Your thoughts, my thoughts, and Your ways, my ways. Amen.

January 10

Jonah Three: Lessons of the Second Chance

Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message of judgment I have given you. This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large it took three days to see it all.

Jonah 3:1-3 (NLT)

What I want to do, I will do.

Isaiah 46:10c (NCV)


Our God is the God of the second chance. It was true for Jonah and it was true for Nineveh. Both were recipients of God’s mercy, and both received a second chance.

In reading the book of Jonah it becomes so obvious, God is patient with mankind. The story is full of examples. God’s work with Jonah, his 40-day warning to Nineveh and His gracious response to their repentance as well as His thoughtful talks with Jonah at the end of the book—they all show how much God bends in our direction. He gives us chance after chance to listen, to change and to do things His way. Too many times, we fail to listen, but in the end, one way or another, God does get His way.

I see two lessons here. This story speaks volumes of how we should respond to such a kind, compassionate and loving God, but it gives us more. It shows us how we should behave toward each other: with grace and mercy, with forgiveness and love.

While Jonah learned the first lesson and responded to his merciful God in obedience; it would be awhile before he would see his need to extend the same grace to others. Jonah had forgotten that though the Ninevites were terribly imperfect … so was he!


Father, help me learn these lessons: to love You and to love others as You do! Amen.

January 09

Jonah Two: Coming Clean

I sank beneath the waves.... The waters closed in around me.... When I had lost all hope. I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

Jonah 2:5, 7 (NLT)

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Psalm 51:10, 12 (NLT)


On the David Letterman show they play a game where objects are placed in a tank of water, but beforehand, people have to guess if the object will sink or if it will float. The egg? It sinks! The can of spam? It sinks too. The bottled water? Ah, that one floats!

It’s a fun diversion, but it reminds me, when it comes to life, there are times we sink and then there are those times we float—those better times when we rise to the occasion. Buoyed by God’s presence, He lifts us from the deep, from the pit and into something so much better—the fresh, clean air of righteous, obedient living.

This is the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10. It begins when we come clean with God and others, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and … rise!


Lord, cleanse us, fill our hearts and let us rise in Your good will! Amen.