Job 14:1-2 – “Man, that is born of woman (human) is of few days (compared to eternity) and full of trouble.  (Life and aging are not easy.)  2 He comes forth like a flower, and others fade away; he flees like a shadow and continues not.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God, a reality gripped my heart from the Book of Job.  The words of Job 14:1-2 prompted me to meditate on life, aging, and eternity.
The young are seemingly invincible, strong, and filled with vigor and vitality.   They have smooth skin, strong muscles, and are agile, flexible, and active.   But time marches on, and soon, the evidence of age manifests itself, and we begin to wither.

That could be, and is, a morbid reality for many.   I have traveled the road of life for many decades.   My youthful vibrance has given way to the painful reality that my body cannot do what my mind can conceive.  Time marches on!  Facing that reality would be horrifying and depressing without several anchors and answers to several questions.

Job 14:14 – “If a man dies, shall he live again?”   The rest of that verse is never read – “All the days of his youth, he waits till old age comes.”   Job answered the question in Job 19:25-27.   He spoke of death and said, “In my flesh, I shall see God.”

Paul addressed this in 1 Corinthians 15.  He revealed that we have hope beyond this life because Jesus rose again, and so shall we.  (v.19).   He took a natural event to give a spiritual truth.  We die like naturally planted seeds, then spring into real life.  (vv 42-44).  In (v. 52), he gave that anchor to which we cling:  “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…we shall be changed.” Life out of death, immortality out of mortality.  Renewed youth out of agedness.

We are temporary sojourners on Earth.  We wear out physically, even if not mentally.  We never wear out in our spirits.  Therefore, whether we are young and flourishing physically or in the sunset years, we are valuable and have a function, a commission, and a purpose.  But this is all temporary.

Two closing thoughts: Stay focused on the destination and cherish every day.  Life is for living, and living is for life.  Do not waste the time you have.   Do not live in a way that produces regrets.   I have always used Moses as my inspiration.   At 80, when most retire and lose the fire, he had just begun.   At 120, he went home, and it says, “His strength was not diminished, nor his eyesight lost.” Even if that cannot be said about us physically, let it be a reality spiritually.

Jesus is coming, and I believe it will be soon.  Live every day to the fullest.

Keep looking up, our help and hope are on the way!

Esther 4:14  – “For if you altogether remain silent this time, the relief and salvation shall arise to the Jews from another place; but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed; who knows whether you have been called to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 

As I read, prayed, and contemplated the Word of God today, something from the book of Esther captured my thoughts.  Esther was the Queen, and her ethnicity was unknown within the palace.    Mordecai had changed her name to Esther to hide her Jewish lineage.

Haman had convinced the king to let him have the Jews killed.   Mordecai called out to Esther for help, but she resisted, citing the kingdom’s protocol.   If she went to the king unsummoned, it could mean death. 

Mordecai grasped the gravity of the matter and said in Esther 4:14.  The thing that leaped out at me was in Mordecai’s words – “If you do nothing, God will use somebody else.”    Wow!    We sometimes forget we are not His only option.    Our participation will benefit the kingdom, but it will benefit us!   The incredibleness of God giving us the privilege of participating is amazing and humbling.

Esther’s response was, “Okay, fast and pray with me, and then if I perish, I perish.” 

Another reality gripped me.   Haman planned destruction for the Jews and, in particular, for Mordecai.   He built a gallows 50 cubits tall.   That was for show.   He was hanged on his own gallows.   The plans of evil against God’s people will come back to bite you.  The wicked will fall into their own pit.   Psalm 91 is our covenant promise.

There is a reward for obedience, and the weapons formed against us will turn on those devising plans against us if we walk in obedience.   That includes the devil.  He will suffer for his plans of evil.

Our life is not our own.   We have been purchased by Christ’s blood.  Therefore, even if we perish in the flesh, obedience has great reward!  We are kept! 

Embrace God’s call and enjoy His victory!  Today is your day to rise up in victory!  Embrace the Call.

Romans 12:4-5  – “For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, ⁵ so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, one thought was superimposed over all else: The Body of Christ.   The question arose in my mind, “Are we truly a body, the Body of Christ?”   We are ‘Living Stones’, which indicates individuality. However, each stone is to be subject to the builder of all things to be fashioned together into a building.  That building is a Body, the Body of Christ.

Romans 12 opens the understanding of this truth.  The foundation required is verses 1-2. Transformation comes through enlightenment, which flows from the renewal of the mind.  That new mind or way of thinking enables us to discern God’s will.

Verse 4 presents the vital truth that we are part of a multi-membered body, the Body of Christ.  But do we truly see ourselves as a body?  Where is our focus?  If our fleshly bodies operated like the church (universal and local), we would die physically.

The natural body does not wait for the hurting or needy part to ask for help.   The parts that can help automatically, without hesitation, respond to the need.   The strong parts do not begrudge the weak parts the help they need.  They do what is needed when it is needed, as long as it is needed.  We tend to be unaffected individuals, unaware or unmoved by others’ needs and struggles.  We say, “I will pray.” James addressed that.  It’s not words but actions that meet needs.

Romans 12:4-16 provides a guide to Body Life.   Romans 13:14 provides an incredibly powerful directive: “(You) clothe yourselves with our Lord Jesus Christ and disregard the lusts (inward focus) of the flesh.”   Then Romans 14:7-8 is a reminder, “None of us lives to (solely focused on) himself, and none of us dies to himself.”

Romans 15:1 verifies God’s desire and purpose – Body Life.   “We who are strong ought (are directed to and obligated to) bear the weaknesses of the weak and not seek to please ourselves.   I’ve heard believers say, regarding a fellow believer who was in a mess, “They made their bed, now they have to lie on it.”   The callousness of that destroys Body Life.

Again, I ask, “Are we the Body of Christ?”   Are we seeking ways to utilize our gifts, talents, and resources to benefit others?  Do we focus on our needs, wants, ambitions, desires, and plans, largely unmoved by the plight of our brothers and sisters?

Are we the Body of Christ?  Maybe we should rethink how the natural body functions and use that reality as our guide, spiritually. If the church learns to become the Body of Christ, we will see the power of God manifested beyond our ability to imagine.

We need to discover which Body member we are and thereby discover our gifts and responsibilities.   God desires us, and the world needs us to be the Body of Christ!  Together, we are unstoppable!   Victory is even more available than we think if we become the Body of Christ!

May you discover the power of unity and numbers in your walk with Jesus!

2 Chronicles 2:20 – “Believe God and be established; believe the prophets and prosper or succeed.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God, a reality captured my consciousness. In Ezra 6:14, we read, “And the exiles of the Jews did the work, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo…”

What was the reality that caused me to take note?  “They Prospered through Prophecy.”    If you remember, that is what Jehoshaphat said in 2 Chronicles 20:20 – “Believe God and be established; believe the prophets and prosper or succeed.”

In the Old Testament, they did nothing without a Word from God.   In the New Testament, they sought God but did not act until the Holy Spirit spoke.   Today, we don’t always pray, and too frequently, we don’t wait for a Word from the Holy Spirit.

Their cry was, ‘God, what do you want?’   Then they did that.   We make our plans, act, react, and pray, “God bless our plans.”  We then fret because of our lack of success and peace.

Walking in the Will of God is the pathway to success.   I fear we do not appreciate the need for a Word from God before we begin something.   We may quote Hebrews 13:8, that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but our actions often relegate that to a mythological status or theoretical concept.

If Old Testament Israel and the New Testament believers needed and sought a Word from God before they acted, what makes us think we do not need the same guidance?

We want God to bless our plans.  We lament when our plans fail to yield the success or peace we desire. If we want God’s blessings on our labors, we need God’s plan, timing, and process. “Forever, O LORD, Your Word is settled in Heaven.”   His Word does not fail.  The church has lost the prophetic voice because we do not value a Word from God as the Old and New Testament believers did.  

Jesus, our example, said, “I only do what I see My Father doing, and I only say what I heard My Father saying.” Are we better than Jesus?   We need a Word from God today! He speaks through His Word, His Spirit, and through the prophetic.

A problem has been that the self-proclaimed prophets have given flesh words, not words from Heaven.   The false has stolen the importance of the real. We need a Word from God Daily!   God is the speaking God. We are not always a listening people.

May the rich and bountiful blessing of the LORD flow to you and through you today!

2 Chronicles 33:1-9 – “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.  2 But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.  3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.  4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.  6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists.  He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.  7 He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.” 9 So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.”

I realize that’s a lot of scripture for a short devotional, but it’s necessary.  Today, as I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was encouraged to pray for those charged with leadership.   I was also encouraged by God’s incredible, immeasurable, and unfathomable love and mercy.

In 2 Chronicles 33, we have the life, acts, and progression of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah.   Manasseh became king at 12 years of age.   He reigned for 55 years.   In verse 2, we read that his beginning was wicked.  He rebuilt the altars Hezekiah had torn down.   He rebuilt the shrines and idols of the gods of the land.   He practiced worship of the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the House of God.  (v. 4).   He, therefore, defiled the temple and even built altars in the temple to worship false gods.

However, it worsened, as we see in verse 6.    He made his son pass through the fire (human sacrifice).    He practiced “augury and soothsaying and sorcery, and inquired of the Chaldeans and familiar spirits…”   He was the epitome of evil.

Then, in verse 11, something happened.   The king of Assyria came and captured him and carried him captive to Babylon.   In verse 12, we read, “But when he was in distress, he prayed before the LORD his God and reverenced greatly the LORD GOD of his fathers.” Trouble brought him to his knees.     In verse 13, we find that God listened to his prayers.  “And he prayed before the LORD, and he (God) heard his voice and his prayer and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom.  THEN Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.”

In verse 14, we read, “Now after this…”    In his transformed condition, he took action.  He began national restoration.  He built the outer walls of the city for national defense.   He took away the strange gods and idols from the House of God.  He built an altar to the LORD.

My encouragement was that if God changed Manasseh, the wicked king, he can change leaders today.   The Holy Spirit reminded me of God’s incredible love and mercy. Sometimes, it takes a dire situation to get our attention.  That is true individually and nationally.

God always hears prayers of repentance and grants mercy.   What we do with that mercy is up to us.   As some in Scripture, we can turn back to sin after God came through for them, or, as Manasseh, we can live differently and take righteous action.

I was impressed to fervently pray for those in leadership.  No matter how wicked, God’s grace can penetrate any heart.  God’s grace is immeasurable, and His mercy is everlasting!  We need to be careful not to cause Him to send distress to get our attention.  He invites us in now, so let’s surrender all now!

Let the peace of God that passes all human understanding fill your hearts and minds today!