May 28


The Call


To all of you ... whom God loves and has called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:7 (NCV)


God who has called you ... is faithful.

I Corinthians 1:9 (NCV)


Two nights ago, my 9-year old son Alex told his mother he missed someone. It was a classmate of several years who now went to another school. This young girl was still in the area, just going to a school closer to home. So he called her.

I wasn’t home at the time, but my wife Kris said he called Olivia and told her something like, “I’ve been thinking of you a lot lately. I really miss you.”

Though Kris was probably five feet away from the phone, she heard Olivia’s high-pitched excitement. “Oh, my gosh!! Oh, my gosh!! Really??” or something like that. You get the idea. They talked for almost half an hour, and how I wish I could have listened in to their conversation!

Alex’s phone call reminds me of a greater call. The call God puts in to each of us. He loves us incredibly, and too many times, we move away and forget about our precious relationship.

Perhaps it’s time to reconnect with God and develop the love He has placed deep in our hearts. Perhaps it’s time to follow the directions He gave Jeremiah:

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)


Father, how exciting to know You have called us. Speak to us and show us Your wonders. Amen.

May 27


The Call to Stronger Families


Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.

Proverbs 24:3 (NKJV)


Jason sat across from my desk. His clear blue eyes drilled into my own as his voice carried an intensity I rarely heard. “You can’t even imagine what it’s like.”

I shifted in my seat and focused on what he was saying. “I know every marriage has its rough spots, and I realize you’ve struggled some and been through marriage counseling, but it’s not the same. Not even close."

I stared at the wall as Jason continued, "If you’ve never been divorced, you just don’t understand. You can’t. There’s no way to describe the pain.”

I believed him. Jason went on to describe his life for the last year and a half following his own divorce, and I knew he was right. Listening to him gave me a sense of his emptiness, but I just couldn’t imagine the suffering.

Well, maybe I don’t understand, and perhaps you’ve never experienced divorce either, but it’s all around us, and it threatens every marriage. This is a battle we must win.

Billy Graham says the family is the most important institution in the world—God’s idea, not man’s. He points out this is where integrity and character are formed, values made clear and goals set. Billy goes on to say Satan is attacking the family as never before and then points out the best defense. Our best defense, he says, is the Word of God.

“Read the Bible together as a family. Have family devotions. Pray for one another daily by name. Be on guard against the forces that tend to pull families apart today. And most of all commit your marriage to Christ, and make Him the center of your home—and your life."

This morning three champions have spoken: Billy Graham, my friend Jason, and the author of Proverbs 24. Each of them a messenger to show God’s better way. Each encouraging us to live in His greater truth.


Father, help us to live in this truth, “It takes wisdom to have a good family, and it takes understanding to make it strong.” Proverbs 24:3 (NLT) Amen.

May 26


Paul’s Big Demands


In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus. ... he ... made himself nothing ... he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God.

Philippians 2:5,7,8 (NCV)


Paul sets a really high bar for us. He tells us to not only act like Jesus, but to think like Him too! So while we may serve others in kindness by our good deeds, we need to do it with the right attitude—humility. Paul stresses the mind and the thought life are just as important as our lifestyle. In reality, our thinking should drive our Christ-like acts. Paul commands us all to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), he tells us, we have the mind of Christ, which is the Word of God (I Cor 2:16). But there's more. This truth goes beyond us. It is a lamp for our feet, a light for our path (Psalm 119:105).

Having this light is a tremendous thing, but walking in it, obeying it, this is the better thing Paul calls us to. But Paul takes us a step further, again, by telling us to obey fully. This is the spectacular thing. Most of us can obey some things, some of the time, but all things, and at all times? But is just this thing, full obedience, that gets noticed by God and occasionally by others. And this is the thing we wrestle with in our day to day walk—doing the right thing consistently, constantly.

Let's face it, being like Christ is costly. But then ... look what He did! So, let’s dream big. Let’s consider what great thing He might do in humble lives bowed before Him ... our humble lives ... our obedient lives!


Lord, help me obey fully. Let Your Word permeate my mind and make a difference in me! Amen.

May 25


Finding My Heart


At night I have a song and I pray to my living God.

Psalm 42:8 (NCV)


Last night I found myself on a dark and difficult road. I couldn’t help but reflect on a day where not much got accomplished, and a weekend that fell well below expectations. For the last three days, I spun my wheels—activity without results.

As the drizzle descended, I realized I was too into my agenda and myself. There was only one way out, or at least one way out came to mind. Take it to God. Take it all to God—every bit of it for as long as it takes.

It took three hours.

For three hours, I listened to praise and worship music. I sang it. I prayed it. The inside of my car warmed by the rock and thump of Contemporary Christian music. The winding forest road outside a quiet, black contrast—brought to life by my blazing high beams.

I began my drive in a drizzle. It turned colder. Fog appeared and then a spot of ice, but then much later, somewhere deep into the Cascades, it started to snow. Small snow and then more snow until it dumped the white stuff and the road disappeared. The wipers hammered at my windscreen as the music turned soft. I slowed the car and somehow managed to keep it on the road.

For three hours I drove, I sang, and I prayed. What had started as vertical, gray ugliness turned into horizontal, white loveliness. And somewhere along the way, I found my heart.


Father, thank You for the gifts of nature, music and time with You....

May 24


Another Pathway to Joy


Speak, LORD, I am your servant and I am listening.

I Samuel 3:7 (NCV)


John Ortberg says, usually when people are asked when it was they grew the most spiritually, they come back with the same answer: it was when they were suffering. It happened when they were caught in the grip of circumstances or personal challenges.

Haven’t you been there too?

I still face challenges. I still have my struggles and I’m finding they can be a cause for joy (James 1:2-3) and growth. I’m also reminded of a song we used to sing. It says something like, “I’m trading all my sorrows ... for the joy of the Lord!” The Scripture and the music help me gain perspective and they encourage me to ... well ... grow.

I’m also learning that when I’m in the midst of something bigger than me, there’s a reason. And my BIG God knows that reason. And usually, He’s willing to talk to me about it, teach me, and take me through it. So, instead of bellyaching or throwing a fit, I need to settle down and open my ears.

Samuel, the little boy left by his mother Hannah to live with the priest Eli, was far beyond us when it comes to hearing God. We could take a lesson, I think. If we would stop whatever we’re caught up in, slow down and start listening, perhaps we would get a better sense of where God wants to take us, and in the process, discover another pathway to joy.


Speak Lord, for I am listening.