• Heartbreaking Soul Shaking

    Day 251

    Isaiah 1:1‐2:22; 2 Corinthians 10:1‐18; Psalm 52:1‐9; Proverbs 22:26‐27

    Heartbreaking Soul Shaking

    Isaiah receives a word from the Lord that immediately connects with the hearts of so many parents: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.”

    God was speaking about His children Israel but perhaps Isaiah knew from his own personal experience, or from extended family, how heartbreaking it is to raise rebellious children. Every criminal we read about in the newspaper, or whose story is on the evening news, is someone’s child. It goes even to a deeper place when the parents seem to be good, solid, God-fearing, and grace-filled people in their own right. Surely their hopes and dreams for their children include them becoming like verse 8 in the Psalm: “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.” But something goes wrong. Rebellion takes them away from their parents’ hopes and dreams. All of us who are parents can relate to that special pain – if we allow God’s Spirit to connect us.

    On another level, it is all of our stories. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). All of us are rebellious children, until we invite Jesus into our lives to live as Lord. Then, under His lordship and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we begin to give up our right to rebel, replacing rebellion for discipleship. Again, from the Psalm, verse 9: “I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good.” Even as a loving parent never gives up hope, so, too, does God never give up on us.

    The Rev. Dr. Richard Bordin

  • One Great ROI

    Day 250

    Song of Solomon 5:1-8:14; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Psalm 51:1-19; Proverbs 22:24-25

    One Great ROI

    I will never forget the day I learned the acronym “ROI.” I was in middle school and my father had just taught me the concept of a Return On Investment (ROI). I made a vow to invest all I had and everything else that I would earn until the age 21. I kept that vow for a month. The return was too small and slow. I had short term vision and was completely focused on me, myself, and I.

    In Paulʼs letter to the Corinthians, he uses imagery of a farmer planting seed. If the farmer plants much seed, he will stand to harvest a huge crop. However, if instead he plants little, he will harvest little. In this agricultural metaphor, Paul is telling the church at Corinth to sow with huge generosity. When we sow seeds in the Kingdom of God, sometimes we reap material benefits, at other times the benefits are spiritual, and other times both. All we are promised while on earth, however, is the Holy Spirit.

    Our giving should come from an outflow of our response to the generosity of Godʼs blessings on us. In other words, our generosity should imitate the abundance of blessings which God has showered on us as His beloved. As we give more, He enables us to increase our sowing. It is His delight that we are cheerful in our devotion to giving.

    As the sower gives generously God guarantees that the gift will increase and the Kingdom of God will benefit. That is One Great ROI!

    Todd Hare

  • The Silence of God

    Day 249 

    Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16; 2 Corinthians 8:16-24; Psalm 50:1-23; Proverbs 22:22-23

    The Silence of God

    “When you did these things and I kept silent… you thought I was exactly you…” (Psalm 50:21). In graduate school, I went through one of the darkest nights of the soul, so dark that at times I just wanted to denounce the faith. Divine explanations were clashing with daily experiences, and they just did not seem to mesh or reconcile no matter what I did, read, or prayed.

    I remember one of my professors pointing me to the meditations of Blaise Pascal, and his writings on the Silence of God. Saying that our God is a God who speaks, but He is also a God who is silent… and He alone reserves the right to choose either. I remember so many nights of agony, just wondering why He was being so silent when my doubts were screaming so loudly. I had confused His silence with my silence, or rather, with my experience of silence.

    You see, life had taught me that silence was what manipulative people did to get you to love them or do what they want you to do. Life had taught me that silence was what insecure people did when you weren’t performing the way they needed you to, and life had taught me silence meant abandonment. But that is not the silence of God… His silence is clever, loving, wise, patient, brilliant, purposeful, and redemptive.

    Pascal had a way of teaching me to “doubt my doubts,” to remember that my doubts were just that—doubts! They were not divine, they were not infallible, they were not inspired, they were not inerrant. They were as tainted as a cult trying to evangelize! So in the silence, I could doubt the doubts and cling to the Word, cling to the thing that was perfect and divine, and weather the storm.

    I don’t know where you are in this season of life, but let me encourage you that He is not like us… He is brilliant and mysterious. His silence is for a reason. If He never spoke again, if He never gave you anything again, would you trust Him? I had to learn the hard way that the Father was pursuing me through silence to make me stand in the road and scream, “I trust you even if you never speak, move, or give me anything ever again.” It was one of the most eye-opening seasons in my faith journey with Christ, and if you find yourself there, hang on… He’s not done, and He is not like us.

    Chad Turner

  • Heartbreaking Soul Shaking

    Day 251 Isaiah 1:1‐2:22; 2 Corinthians 10:1‐18; Psalm 52:1‐9; Proverbs 22:26‐27 Heartbreaking Soul Shaking Isaiah receives a word from the Lord that immediately connects with the hearts of so many parents: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.” God was speaking about His children Israel but perhaps Isaiah knew…

  • One Great ROI

    Day 250 Song of Solomon 5:1-8:14; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Psalm 51:1-19; Proverbs 22:24-25 One Great ROI I will never forget the day I learned the acronym “ROI.” I was in middle school and my father had just taught me the concept of a Return On Investment (ROI). I made a vow to invest all I…

  • The Silence of God

    Day 249  Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16; 2 Corinthians 8:16-24; Psalm 50:1-23; Proverbs 22:22-23 The Silence of God “When you did these things and I kept silent… you thought I was exactly you…” (Psalm 50:21). In graduate school, I went through one of the darkest nights of the soul, so dark that at times I just…

  • Is Life Really That Hard?

    Day 248 Ecclesiastes 10:1-12:14; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; Psalm 49:1-20; Proverbs 22:20-21 Is Life Really That Hard? In comparison to those living in third world countries, Americans, even the most impoverished of us, live like kings. It’s easy to get so caught up in the things that we don’t have that we forget all the blessings…

  • Our Great Lord!

    Day 247 Ecclesiastes 7:1-9:18; 2 Corinthians 7:8-16; Psalm 48:1-14; Proverbs 22:17-19 Our Great Lord! Psalm 48 was written by the descendants of Korah, who were temple assistants. It is a Psalm that claims the Lord’s blessings and protection over His holy city. The imagery of the great city is likened to the greatness of God…

  • The Futility of Selfish Ambition

    Day 246 Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:7; Psalm 47:1-9; Proverbs 22:16 The Futility of Selfish Ambition The Preacher of Ecclesiastes turns to a reflection on the futility of human beings’ pursuit of selfish ambition. This pursuit has led to bitter tyranny and oppression (4:1-6). Man’s envy is self consuming: “The fool folds his hands and…