November 2 (Galatians 3:3)

Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  (ESV)

If you have grown up knowing how to swing a bat, hit a golf ball, or perform any other athletic feat, only to have a coach or trainer instruct you in a new and better way, two things will happen.  You will experience success with your new method and at first, and then you will start to perform poorly and not know why.  You may find yourself frustrated, but your coach will quickly spot the problem.  You have reverted to your old way of doing things.

This is true of anything, including our walk in faith.  Our natural tendency is to rely on our own strength.  We hear the call of Jesus and begin to walk by faith.  We are in step with the Holy Spirit, and then all of a sudden, we find ourselves weak, exhausted, and frustrated from trying to move mountains with our own two hands.  We have gone back to living life on our own terms.

Or maybe I am the only one who does this.  I will have days where it seems I am floating, just flowing through life in the smooth grace of God, and the next moment I am swinging away like King Kong swatting at the planes that buzzed his head.   Oh, you, too?

Jesus, I really do not want to live by my strength, which is nothing more than weakness compared with the power of Your Spirit living within me.  Help me to slow down and get back in step with the Holy Spirit, Who guides me as You promised He would.  Amen.

Copyright © 2014 by Steven R. Perkins

October 26 (Romans 10:11)

For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”  (ESV)

What things shame or embarrass you?  It is usually something like realizing you have gone out with two different socks, calling someone by the wrong name, or thinking that the party you are supposed to plan for your friend is next weekend only to look at your calendar and see that is in ten minutes.  In other words, we are embarrassed when some aspect of our life for which we had responsibility has fallen apart.  We have dropped the ball, and there is no one else to blame for it.  Blush!

Paul tells the Romans that if they will trust in God, they will not be ashamed.  No matter what happens as a result of the decision to trust God, shame and embarrassment are not among the consequences.  We can trust Him, absolutely and without qualification.

When was the last time you trusted God like that?  Come on, now.  You are not at church.  There is no need to put on your Perfect Christian mask.  It is just you thinking about your life.  So when was it?  Yeah, I can’t really remember the last time, either.

Father, I want so much to trust You.  In my head, I know the words of  Scripture about Your faithfulness are true, yet it feels like jumping off a cliff with no parachute.  Strengthen my faith so that I can live a life of confident abandon, trusting really and truly in You.  In the name of Jesus, Who trusted You in all things, I pray.  Amen.

Copyright © 2014 by Steven R. Perkins

October 19 (Romans 1:16)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes….  (ESV)

It is a simple story, really.  God loved the people He made in His image so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to them.  Jesus revealed the true nature of God and went on to stand in the gap between life and death for us by dying in our place.  He rose again to prepare a place for us with God our Father.  Oh, and He sent the Holy Spirit to live within us, reminding us of all this and constantly redirecting us to Him.  What is there to be ashamed about in a story like that?

“Well, you just don’t understand.  I have co-workers who aren’t religious.  Some of my relatives have been hurt by the church.  Who am I to say that my private faith has to apply to everyone?  I don’t want to push my religion off on someone else.”

Sigh.

Lord Jesus, do not let me get caught up, swept in, and pulled under by misguided human reasoning.  Help me remember the simple, yet world-transforming power of the gospel.  May my life and my words at every moment of every day in every situation with every person I meet reflect the love of God that You have shown me.  Amen.

Copyright © 2014 by Steven R. Perkins

October 5 (Joshua 1:9)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  (ESV)

When we encourage someone, it is often like a Dixie cup of water offered to a parched marathon runner.  When God encourages someone, it is like a shot of nitrous oxide to a muscle car on the drag strip.  We want to encourage, but we don’t want to be too forceful.  We tell our friends to hang in there and not to worry, but we may as well add “pretty please” for as much power as our words sometimes carry.

Now look at how God encourages Joshua.  In nine verses He repeatedly tells Joshua to be strong and courageous.  He tells him what is going to happen and the specific things Joshua needs to do, and then God ends this encouragement with a reminder.  “This is not an option,” He tells Joshua.  “I have commanded you.  This is an order, buddy.  I am not suggesting that you not be frightened.  I am flat out telling you, and the reason is that I will be right there with you the whole way.”

What would it be like to receive that kind of encouragement from God Himself?  Because the words of Scripture are living words, we are in fact receiving the same encouragement that Joshua heard.  Of course, that can be a sobering realization.  Since God Himself is telling us to get up off the mat and face the world with Him at our side, we really do not have much choice but to do it.

Father, I often feel overwhelmed by the world around me.  I would say thank you for these strong words of encouragement, but I know You well enough to know that You do not just want to hear my words of gratitude.  You want me to get out there and live, strongly and courageously, with You.  That is what I am going to do.  Amen.

Copyright © 2014 by Steven R. Perkins

September 28 (Psalm 38:5)

My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness.  (ESV)

King David has increasingly become one of my favorite people in the Bible.  He does great things and sins mightily, often from one minute to the next, and lays everything, both good and bad, before God.  How brutally honest is this verse?  No wonder God called him a man after His own heart.

Tired?  Beat down and stressed?  Fearful, filled with anxiety, or overwhelmed with worry?  Be honest for a moment and ask yourself just how much of all that is the result of your own foolishness.  I know half…okay, scratch that, seventy-five percent…oh, whom am I kidding, darn near all of the stress and pressure in my life I put there myself whether through sin or foolish lack of faith in God.

So what does David do in a situation where we all find ourselves sometimes?  He confesses his fault to God.  He lays it right out there and begs for help.  Read the rest of this psalm and you will get an idea of how a flawed man after God’s own heart lives a faithful life.

Jesus, I am worn out with the stupid way I live my own life.  I live foolishly and, yes, I yield to sin time and again.  Restore me, Lord.  Heal me.  Grab hold of my head and turn me to face You.  Truly, You are all I ever want.  Amen.

Copyright © 2014 by Steven R. Perkins

September 14 (Exodus 3:14, John 8:58)

“Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”  (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”  (ESV)

Pulitzer-winning author and professor of cognitive science Douglas Hofstadter has spent his career exploring analogies.  He has observed that all of our thinking comes down to saying this is that.  He and many others have determined that when we look out our window, we do not just see tall, brown, and green.  Our brain processes these visual inputs as a tree.  Nothing ever just is.  Everything is always something.

This is indeed how you and I process our world.  It is central to who we are, and for that reason, these two verses about God are all the more extraordinary.  While it is true that God is loving, powerful, and good, at His core He simply is.  In this life I must identify myself as something.  I am a husband, a father, a teacher.  God is.  I am an American and I am a writer.  God is.  I am a Christian.  God is.

Do you see the difference?  We add more and more adjectives and nouns to our description, striving to get close to an identity.  God simply is, and for this reason, I can worship Him.  To worship anything else is idolatry.

Father, I cannot begin to comprehend You.  I can only accept You as You are, and when I do, I fall on my knees in joyful adoration.  You are, and I am Yours through Jesus, Who with You and the Holy Spirit, simply is.  Amen.

Copyright © 2014 by Steven R. Perkins

September 7 (Revelation 3:15-16)

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”  ESV

Statistics indicate that 25% of Americans fall into a category that makes no sense.  It is the category of casual Christians, those who believe in God, but consider faith a private issue.  Family and happiness are the most important things.  The culture around them shapes their morality more than Scripture or the Holy Spirit.

The phrase “casual Christian” is in fact a contradiction.  It is as logical as “hot ice” or “dry liquid.”  God was quite clear throughout the Old Testament as was Jesus during His earthly ministry, and He echoes that truth in these words from Revelation.  Be hot or cold, in or out.  Follow Him or don’t.  Just don’t deceive yourself into thinking that you have your spiritual life together by rolling into church now and then and wearing a cross around your neck.

It is easy to look at others and see them as lukewarm in their faith, but this is not about other people.  It is about you.  It is about me.  Your resume may show that you do some things for the community and that church is a part of your life.  God does not look at our resumes.  He looks at our hearts.  What does your life look like there?

Lord, I want to be sold out, on fire, passionate, engaged, 100% involved in Kingdom life with You.  I do not want to live a half faith, one that goes no deeper than the cover of the Bible I want people to see me carrying.  As the hymn says, “Take my life and let it be always, only, all for thee.”  In the name of Jesus, Who lived that better than anyone, amen.

Copyright © 2014 by Steven R. Perkins