Turn To Me

By Tom Reed

Most devotionals tend to be "happy," Hallmark card, feel good writings with little to no Scripture foundation. There is nothing wrong with these, but if you are hungering and thirsting for daily devotionals saturated in the Word, then Turn to Me is that kind of daily devotional book. These daily devotionals are almost like mini-sermons to fill in your day with the Word of God. Turn to Me is a turning to God's timeless Word and letting it shape your life today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645697404

Tom Reed

Tom Reed lives and writes on a small farm with his wife, Judy, in rural West Tennessee, shared with an abundance of critters. Prior to writing, he retired from a career in health care management and was active in community organizations. This is his tenth book. [Use photo from previous two books published by you.]

Book preview

January 1

365 Devotionals

Abide

John 15:4

Abranch does not bear fruit by struggling to capture all the sunlight it can from the sky. The branch does not make a mighty effort to suck up the moisture from the ground. The branch is simply connected to the vine, which provides the necessary nourishment to bear fruit. The branch quietly awaits the time to bear the fruit while the vine does the majority of the work.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. (John 15:4)

If you feel your life is fruitless and not making an impact, look at Moses. God prepared him for about eighty years before he was ready to lead the enslaved chosen people to the Promised Land. David, the shepherd boy, giant slayer hero, was anointed king, but the throne was still occupied so he had to wait and mature for fifteen years before he was ready to lead the people. Paul, as you know, got knocked off his horse to get his attention. Before he was able to start the church building work, he spent three years retreating in the desert.

Then there was Jesus. Jesus spent 90 percent of His life in obscurity. For thirty years, he was tucked away in a tiny village doing manual labor as a carpenter. Only the three years of His ministry are recorded for us.

So if you think your life, up to this point, is fruitless, do not worry. Instead, abide in Him. Be that patient branch; focus on the vine. The waiting and preparation period is a time to stay in the Word and prayer. Quietly build the relationship with the vine.

Being always comes before doing, especially if you are to do the will of God and not your own.

Do not be impressed by what you see others do. God has His special plan for you and your job is to prepare yourself by abiding and opening your heart to Him. You will be fruitful and reap all the joys of the fruit of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… (Gal. 5:22)

January 2

Carry

Mark 15:21

Luke 9:23

Imagine that you are a typical tourist. You also are a Jew from the northern African country of Cyrene who traveled to Jerusalem to observe the religious days of Passover. There are other tourists, in fact a big crowd, and you are just one person standing there on a dirty street.

While your thoughts are on the religious holiday and probably where you are going to eat that day, there is a bigger drama and larger story being played out at the same time. This man, named Jesus of Nazareth, has been tried by Pontius Pilate and condemned to death. He has been severely beaten, and now is being lead to the place of His crucifixion at what is called Golgotha. You happen to be standing along the same street where this death march is passing by. Jesus is weakened by the beating and can barely carry the heavy cross He will soon be nailed upon. Now, you the tourist, are called into action:

They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, to bear His cross. (Mark 15:21)

This man, a tourist from the country, is plucked from the crowd. He is no longer anonymous. He is Simon from Cyrene. So this Simon has picked up the cross and is now following behind Jesus to a place where they will kill the Son of Man. Simon is another one of those one-time people in the Bible we briefly hear about, and then are gone to the dust of time. He plays a bit part, but an important one, in the Grand Story. He demonstrates that each of us should always be prepared and ready to pick up the cross and follow Jesus regardless of the cost. Simon did it literally.

We are challenged daily to choose the way of the world or the way of the Cross. It doesn’t have to be a random command. It is more of a daily choice.

And He was saying to them, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

January 3

Alone

Matt. 11:28, 29

John 8:16

The recent widow or widower, the orphan, the homeless. These people understand the depths of what it means to be alone . Loneliness is deadly. Being alone is scary and brings out all the imaginary demons possible. The weight of the world is on those alone, and it is crushing. Jesus knew this and said:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt. 11:28, 29)

Jesus, Himself, felt the weight of the world at times and the crush of the crowds. He knew that it was important to center Himself in solitude and communication with the Father. He often went into the desert, wilderness. or mountains alone.

After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. (Matt. 14:23)

Jesus was not really alone. When He was praying in anguish in the Garden, by Himself, before His arrest, He was not completely alone. Neither are you.

Jesus, in that Garden, was praying to his Father. God is always near.

F or I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. (John 8:16)

Even in our saddest, loneliest, darkest moments when we feel completely alone. We are not. We have the Creator of the Universe right by our side.

Prayer brings us out of the dark and into the light of comfort. The invitation from Jesus still lies before us:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt. 11:28, 29)

We can’t be alone with a hand outstretched like that.

January 4

Sow

Gal. 6:7, 8

Afarmer does not put his cotton picker out in the field before he plants the seed and gives it time to grow. There is a time to plant and a time to harvest. There is a time to sow and a time to reap.

A time to give birth and a time to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. (Eccl. 3:2)

There is a proper time for everything under the sun. But alas, we want things on our time line, and under our control. Ask any farmer about Who controls the weather. The farmer controls what he can. He makes sure his equipment is ready for the field; he mixes herbicides and pesticides to the exact requirements. He plants (sows) on the right schedule, then he waits. He waits for the plant to sprout roots, mature and bear the fruit for the harvest. Even if the farmer does everything perfect, his crop, can be a failure; wasting all of his money and hard work if the temperature is not quite right during the fragile times and if the rainfall is either too little or too much at critical times in the plants’ growth cycle. Man cannot control those variables. Only the One who created it all in the first place can do that.

A farmer and God know another truth: you reap what you sow. Don’t plant cotton expecting to harvest corn. Beyond farming, this goes for our behavior too. Don’t lie or steal and expect people to trust you. The list of sins is long, and the list of consequences is just as long.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Gal. 6:7, 8)

Take a lesson from the farmer, and God. Be sure you sow good seed so that your harvest will be bountiful and eternal.

January 5

Ambition

2 Cor. 5:9

Where do you aim? What is your goal or ambition? Where do you seek affirmation? Too many try to please the one in the mirror rather than the One.

Paul advised differently:

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (2 Cor. 5:9)

Paul is telling us that our aim, goal, and ambition should only be what is to be pleasing to Him.

In order to be successful in meeting Paul’s challenge, we must make an intentional decision to listen to and follow God’s will for us, and not stubbornly plow ahead with our own self-serving plans. This is not easy on two fronts: the first is that we are accustomed and comfortable following the path of our own plans and will. The second is that we can’t hear or don’t know God’s will for us, so we default back to self.

This journey takes time and effort. It takes a regular examination as to which path you are following, who you are pleasing, and whose approval you are seeking. Paul doesn’t let up:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)

In order to accurately handle the word of truth, you must spend time with it. Spending time with the Bible, in meditation, in prayer, and away from the noise of the world is the path to hearing the quiet voice of God gently leading you to His will for your life. Submission, emptying yourself of self is also part of the process.

This process requires determination and discipline. A Spanish priest who also was the founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius of Loyola, created a model for anyone to examine themselves on a daily basis.

Ignatius, or as his name implies, ignites or the fiery one suggested that a person should "examine each day—really hour by hour—to determine if his thoughts, words, or actions were in line with and pleasing to God or if some actions were not.

There are areas to explore in more depth, but the tools are there for those serious in this part of the journey.

We select goals that tend to please ourselves. Our ambitions tend to reward our egos and pride. But in the end, our puny goals and ambition is nothing compared to what we should have done all along:

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (2 Cor. 5:9)

Almost three thousand years ago, King Solomon toward the end of his long and wise life told us:

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

Vanity of Vanity! All is vanity.

What advantage does a man have in all his work which he does under the sun?

A generation goes and a generation comes. (Eccl. 1:1, 2)

All is vanity unless our ambition is to be pleasing to Him.

January 6

Anxiety

Phil. 4:6

Historians might label this time period as the age of Anxiety . The entire planet seems to be on edge. Terrorists roam the globe seeking soft targets killing civilians. Politicians are just as vicious grinding governments to ineffective halts while the governed suffer. Friends, neighbors and families disagree on just about every topic while labels of liberal, conservative, this and that phobic, racist, or intolerant are shot out at each other as bullets. Sexual orientations have multiplied. Public bathroom policies become court room and living room debates. Even the family dog is depressed. Anxiety escalates on every level.

The topics may change over time, but human nature and the approach to anxiety does not change as radically.

Be anxious in nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. (Phil. 4:6)

The wise advice is to be anxious in nothing, but in everything by prayer… But we worry and wring our hands, bringing our blood pressure close to the boiling point. It is not healthy for us. Jesus knew this and advised:

And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? (Matt. 6:27)

So we are advised not to worry and earlier to pray for everything. This is repeated as a reminder here:

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit… (Eph. 6:18)

We might be in the Age of Anxiety where the world appears to be splitting apart from its seams. We do not need to fall into the trap of worry and become part of the world and its problems. We should pray at all times and have trust in God. If it is the will of God, then this age of anxiety will also pass with the world spinning and the sunrise appearing yet again tomorrow.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5, 6)

January 7

Forgiveness

Luke 23:34

Jesus taught us lessons throughout His entire ministry. Just as His first words were very important (repent), so were His last. In pain and unthinkable suffering, the Son of God gave us one last lesson as He uttered some of His final words captured in the Books of Luke and Matthew.

"Father forgive them…" (Luke 23:34)

Stephen, the first deacon, echoed similar words as he was being stoned to death.

Lord, do not hold this sin against them. (Acts 7:60)

Several early martyrs followed suit with other words of forgiveness at the times of their deaths. That’s all pretty dramatic.

Could we also be so forgiving?

Repentance and forgiveness were important concepts to Jesus. He taught His disciples and us to "Follow Him." We are to Imitate Christ and live out these concepts.

Repentance and Forgiveness are the necessary stepping stones to Love.

How about forgiving a son who just partied through his inheritance? This son blew all your hard work and good name on sinful play after he ran away from home. Is forgiveness the first thought that comes to your mind? The famed story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11 has many lessons for us.

Then what would your reaction be to an adulteress caught and brought before you? Punishment or forgiveness? Look to chapter 8 in the Gospel of John.

The point here is not to overlook and ignore sin, but to focus on the redeeming qualities of the sinner.

Jesus also taught us to pray, and in that prayer are the words: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Each of us has been forgiven much, so we should be prepared to forgive.

God gave us the supreme gift of forgiveness by offering His Son as a sacrifice in return for all of our sins.

The Cross is a reminder of that gift we should keep in our minds and hearts.

Forgiveness was and is important. If we are unwilling to forgive, it becomes a burden we carry around with us affecting everything else we do in life. This lack of forgiveness evolves into the burdens of anger and resentment.

Jesus wants us to have happiness, peace, and joy. None of this is possible if we carry around various hurts and angers either at others or ourselves.

Let it go.

Forgiveness, for us is really a process. First it is a decision, a choice. Sometimes we have to do it over again and again to get the pain out of our system. Jesus tells us to start that process and keep forgiving seventy times seven until you are free of the burden.

One of His followers posed the question of how often we should forgive. Jesus answered, Seventy times seven. The point is to keep forgiving. If we try to keep a count of how often we forgive a specific transgression, then somewhere along the line of seventy times seven we will lose count or it doesn’t matter and we reach forgiveness.

Let it go.

Forgive is the message Jesus consistently tells us starting in His ministry, continuing with the Lord’s Prayer, and ending on the Cross until still today… Forgive.

I know, it ain’t easy, especially when you believe you were wronged. But being right is not always relevant. Receiving an I’m sorry is not really necessary.

If we harbor that anger it becomes a cancer eating at us and filling us up inside, and then we are using all the space we need for the Trinity to fill us. Let it go. Forgive.

That anger, inside of you, also becomes its twin—resentment. Someone said, Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Resentment and anger eat away at our joy. They are thieves that must be removed from the premises of our hearts.

But there is forgiveness with you. (Ps. 130:4)

Inner peace, happiness and no obstacles between God and us are what are important.

Jesus tells us to let it go with no conditions. Simply forgive. There were no forgiving conditions that He demanded on that day of suffering on the Cross. He simply forgave, let it go, and cleared the path between himself and the Father.

Jesus wants us to have Joy. God wants to be the center of our lives. Joy and love, not anger and resentment should be the focus of our daily lives. The Apostle Paul gives further advice:

Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you. (Eph. 4:32)

January 8

Prayer

"Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord

My soul to keep…"

For some of us, this is as far as we get in our prayer lives. We didn’t grow up, and we didn’t get any farther than the memory of our parents turning on the nightlight and turning off the big light. Our relationship with God also got stuck in childhood and did not mature.

If I should die before I wake…

School, jobs, family, stress, fatigue all got in the way, and became the priorities. Prayer and God dropped down the list, and could wait, and wait.

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Then, at some point, you thought about prayer and chose to start it up again. Most of us are lost, right here: how do you start something you never really did in the first place? How do you shift from the world to the Spirit? How do you talk to God?

All good questions, but most answers you get will be poor. You can watch me eat a dinner, but it won’t satisfy you or fill you up. You can drive by a church, but you won’t experience anything other than the road. This prayer journey is really yours alone and unique to you. It is your own experience.

Here are some paths: Jesus answered this same question from His disciples when they asked Him how to pray. Jesus first says,

When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matt. 6:6)

Jesus continues to advise them not to use many words and meaningless repetitions like the Gentiles of the day. He counsels the intimacy of privacy too.

So then He gets closer to the heart of the matter:

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matt. 6:8)

Please join me (slowly) in what Jesus then taught His disciples in verse 9 when He said,

Pray then in this way:

Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day, our daily bread.

And forgive our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.]

Amen.

This prayer has so many components. We usually rush through it quickly on autopilot, but I urge you to slow down and examine each line and word.

It starts with an invitation into a relationship: Our. We define this to not be our worldly father because we define His location, Who is in heaven. There is reverence. Hallowed be your name.

The announcement of wonders in Your kingdom come. For three dramatic, world changing years, Jesus was with us, the kingdom walked among us. That kingdom remains through the Holy Spirit within each of us.

Then we are reminded of something very important back then and even today: Thy will be done. Note: not our will, or our self-interest, but the will of God.

Jesus then offers the opportunity of remembrance when He continues On earth as it is in heaven. When we take communion, we are to "remember Him. When we pray daily we are involved in this remembrance.

Now we have a petition. We are asking for something, but it is also a recognition. Give us this day, our daily bread. It is our petition or asking for food, sustenance, to keep us alive. But it is also a recognition that we rely on God and not ourselves for basic needs, and in fact, all needs.

We can’t go too far with the Triune God before we run into forgiveness. It isn’t an add on item in this important prayer. It is a vital component:

Jesus continued to teach forgiveness at every opportunity. Repentance goes hand in hand here.

And forgive our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

We get back to a dose of everyday reality too.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Sometimes there is confusion here about the God of perfect love tempting us with sin or leading us to sin. Translations over the centuries have clouded the true meaning of that line. The original Greek from the first Hebrew writings say, do not allow us to enter into temptation or do not let us yield to temptation. This is our action and seeking God’s help to keep us away from evil.

The prayer ends with praise:

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

If you do nothing but slowly and thoughtfully say the Lord’s Prayer daily, it is a step toward establishing that relationship and communication with God.

Many people as they start their daily prayers find either an empty mind or a full shopping list. Let’s look at the list first. Too often we think God is there to simply give us stuff. Like, Dear God, please give me a new John Deere tractor and I also need a new truck and my wife wants a new sofa, and on and on… Remember in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to ask simply for our daily bread, nothing more. God knows what we truly need. God is not a gift card.

Then we come to that other possibility on the opposite end of the spectrum: the empty mind.

Dear God. Nothing. Your mind is a total blank. You might be vaguely aware of your own breathing, but that’s it. Now what? Hello, God?

The Apostle Paul has you covered there in the book of Romans. Paul is telling us how the Holy Spirit will help us in our lives. Listen to Paul:

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Rom. 8:26, 27)

Paul is telling us that it is okay not to know how to pray. Just do it, even if it is an honest, sincere groan and the Holy Spirit will take it from there and intercede on our behalf.

Over time, your prayers slowly shift from that wished-for truck to asking help for your sick neighbor down the road or protection for your child. The focus moves from you to others. Your prayer process is slowly moving you to your true nature. Your authentic, made in the image of God, self begins to emerge. The siren song of worldly self quiets so that the loving whisper of God can be heard. The whisper or nudge to go help that neighbor motivates you to bring food to a shut-in on chemotherapy. You might find yourself in a line feeding the homeless.

Now the communication channel and relationship between the created and the Creator is wide open with no static. You have a clear channel and fast Wi-Fi.

Paul was a prayer warrior; he was always encouraging his churches to pray. Listen to him again

Rejoice always

Pray without ceasing;

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 5:16–18)

January 9

Dirt and Love

Mark 4:3–9

Many of you have a garden or a field that you plant. And if you have a garden, then you have weeds mixed in with those prized tomatoes and squash. You see the weeds choking out the sunlight on your beans.

Back in the time of Jesus, everyone had a garden or grew something in their fields, so He used soil, seeds, and weeds to make a point. This was the time before green John Deere tractors that can plant in perfectly straight lines for miles. Sowers had a bag slung over their shoulders and tossed seed over a freshly hand plowed field. The seed was randomly strewn on the ground.

His story begins in Matthew 4:3.

Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow.

Right away, He is grabbing our attention. Listen to this! Behold…"

The story concludes 6 verses later in verse 9.

And he was saying, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The six verses in between have been dissected, interpreted for two thousand years. Some seeds fall by the road and never get planted, birds, or perhaps the devil came and ate them. Some seeds fell on rocky ground with no depth of soil and then quickly withered. Some seeds fell among thorns and weeds and the fragile new plants were quickly choked out. Finally some seeds fell on good fertile soil and gave a good yield. Books have been written interpreting this parable. Here is one more stab at what Jesus wanted us to hear.

Yes, we should prepare our soil, or prepare ourselves to be ready to receive God or God’s word depending on the interpreter. If our soil or ourselves are good and fertile, then we will be capable of a good yield and harvest. We have to wonder what this harvest might be?

If our soil is rocky or full of weeds, then the seeds have little success of producing this unknown harvest.

Let’s look at this angle. We are told in Genesis that we are made in the image of God. So perhaps our soil and each of us begin perfectly. God or God’s word represented by the seeds are, by definition, perfect. Now we have perfect soil and perfect seed ready for this perfect harvest. Remember we are also told in 1 John that God is love. So perhaps this yield and harvest we achieve is love.

Good. We have perfect soil, perfect seeds, perfect harvest, and perfect love. But what about all those weeds and thorns and rocks found in those six verses?

Perhaps that great gift of free will given to us, we are the ones that corrupt our own field by allowing the world to enter our field and our lives thereby choking out the light and space necessary for those perfect seeds to thrive. And because of Adam, we are also born into sin, so we must be vigilant about giving space, time, and attention to those weeds.

Pride and ego hide the light; other priorities wash away the soil revealing rocks. We get so distracted by the world that we allow the birds to steal our perfect seeds. Yes, the devil is eating at the edges of our field and our lives. As the world invades our field, and us, our harvest dwindles.

Okay, so we become vigilant. We get a scarecrow and shotgun for all pesky birds, we turn away from the world and keep our lives and soil healthy. God is good. We receive proper rainfall and sun, and our field prospers. We have a tremendous yield. Jesus said in verse 8, They yielded a crop thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

Wonderful. We started out with good soil, protected it, received perfect seeds of love, and now have an abundant harvest of love. What do we do next? What do we do with is crop of love?

It is actually very simple. Jesus hoped we had, ears to hear. He told us and showed us. With this abundant crop of love; we give it away. He said,

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (John 14:34)

Our challenge is that we keep our soil—our lives—fertile and prepared for those perfect seeds. We should be alert to anything that diverts our attention from this task because the birds, weeds, and thorns will move in quickly. If we do our job the way Jesus is asking us to do, then we should have an abundant yield of a hundredfold crop of love to simply give away in the name of Jesus.

January 10

Coincidence?

Luke 19:4

In the book of Luke, chapter 19 we learn that Jesus was traveling through a village. Word of his impending arrival created big crowds to see Him. One eager resident was a short man named Zaccheus, who was also the very unpopular tax collector.

As Jesus approached the village, the crowd grew and little Zaccheus was pushed to the back where he could not see a thing. We see in verse 4 what he did:

So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a Sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. (Luke 19:4)

Yes, this short tax collector climbed up into a tree to get his view of Jesus. The rest of the story in Luke focuses on Jesus and the unpopular tax collector and how Jesus went to this man’s home. We lose sight of an important detail.

The tree! It had been growing in that spot for years, isolated along the path leading to the village. Who pays attention to such a minor detail? God does. It is no coincidence that God intended a tree to be there to help Zaccheus to see the Son of Man walk by and be used in the Grand Story. There are many other examples within the Bible and in your own lives where small incidences have significant meanings.

God knows everything from the beginning to the end, and, this is subtle; He knows the end from the beginning. So it is no surprise that this sycamore tree was just right where it was needed. It is no coincidence.

Often the obvious we take for granted, and ignore its greater purpose. A well in the desert was not unusual; it provided water for nomadic tribes. But this common well became a focal point of another uncommon story where Jesus encountered the Woman at the Well. How many, common, everyday things do we pass by all the time and ignore them? How many people do we pass and ignore too?

Jesus walked by each future disciple and simply said, Follow Me.

An unknown stranger came into these twelve busy, ordinary lives and changed their lives forever, then changed the world.

God is at work in the common, everyday things that we take for granted too.

We fail to see because we don’t have the eyes to see. Mainly we have become accustomed to see only the world, and have pushed God to the outer corners and out of focus. We fail to appreciate the gifts of a sycamore tree and well. Worse, we fail to appreciate the people that God has placed in our lives. The disciples were given a wonderful gift by being chosen as a disciple. God places people in our lives just as Jesus chose or placed those twelve into His life and mission.

These are not coincidences. Each point is part of the Grand Story known from the beginning to the end and known from the end to the beginning.

Coincidences are happening all the time in your life if you will switch your attention from the world to God, and begin to "see." These coincidences are not accidents at all, but stepping stones in your life moving you along on your eternal journey.

Today think about the people and incidents, good and bad, which have touched your life and see where they have pointed you. You might see the hand of God behind many of these coincidences.

January 11

Gratitude

Luke 17:11–19

Johnny gets a shiny new bike for Christmas. It is blue, just the right size, streamers flowing from the handlebars and a horn. It is a perfect gift. The weather is warm for December, and he hops right on it and rides off leaving his parents waving in his wake.

Suzie has a birthday. She opens the door to her bedroom and finds a huge dollhouse. It is her dream house all decorated and ready for play. A new doll is sitting next to it. Her beaming parents are happy to see her surprised and glowing in delight. Suzie closes the door and begins to play, shutting out her parents.

Do you notice a common omission? Gratitude. Neither child said, Thank you. They were excited about their gifts and forgot the gift giver. Then they thought only of themselves and went off to enjoy.

We, unfortunately, fall into this same pattern of behavior, every day. We have God given gifts around us everywhere, every day. And yet, we focus on the gift, and not the Giver. Then we focus on enjoyment and ourselves.

This pattern is so frequent and so subtle that we are unaware of it. The pattern shows that we are of the world. We are drawn to the material and not to the Spirit. Too often we are not grateful for our gifts.

There is a story in the Gospel of Luke found in chapter 17, verse 11–19. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem when he is confronted with ten lepers. Jesus heals them all, and continues on His way. One follows to say, Thank you. One out of 10.

The omnipotent, all-powerful Creator does not need our puny thanks. But we need to be mindful to offer it often. Giving our gratitude for our many blessings accomplishes several things.

First, it recognizes Who is in control of our lives. Giving thanks reminds us that we cannot control the heavens, stars, weather, traffic, illnesses, cancer, accidents, earthquakes, wars, and famines. Too often we turn to God for help, after ignoring Him, and His gifts.

We turn to God for help when all else fails. When the EMTs have left an accident scene or when a family member, or you, are wheeled into ICU. We first pray for medical science until the grim faced lab coat comes through the swinging doors to say the outcome is not good. Science, medical knowledge, has run its course. Hope is thin. So when all else fails we find ourselves turning to a Stranger, someone we have neglected, but have always remained there beside and within—waiting patiently for us. Now we heap on the gratitude and clumsy prayers.

Giving thanks reminds us that God gave us our blessings: homes, food, heat during the winter, money in the bank to pay our bills. Yes, you might have a job or a business that generated that money, but God gave you the talents and skills necessary to function in those jobs.

The Lord is my strength and shield;

My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart exults,

And with a song I shall thank Him. (Ps. 28:7)

Gratitude and thankfulness are good ways to recognize Who is in control in your life and paths to a closer personal relationship with God. This path is blocked by our ego and pride. Gratitude opens the road toward the grace of God. Paul was thankful in his writings and urged prayer:

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God, which was given you in Christ Jesus. (1 Cor. 1:4)

Be anxious in nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. (Phil. 4:6)

It need not take a crisis to force us to say, Thank you. Daily, we should take the time to be grateful. Daily this gratitude should take form in prayer. This is a process, which will lead to a lesser you, a smaller ego a shrinking pride, and a growing relationship with God. As you shrink, He will grow within you.

Often the first step in this journey is a simple Thank you.

We are thankful for your blessings and grateful as Paul said :

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. (2 Thess. 2:13)

January 11

Lost and Found

Luke 2:41–48

2 Kings 22:2

Remember how it feels when you lose something important? I’m not talking about losing your car keys or misplacing your cell phone, but losing something really important. Remember when you went shopping that day and your child wandered off at the mall?

That awful feeling of losing a child in the mass of humanity knowing he or she must be scared to death is a terrible feeling. Think of that gut wrenching moment. As a parent, you think you have failed and you begin to imagine the worst scenarios for your child. Wallow in those feelings for a moment.

Joseph and Mary felt that same way. They were in a large caravan a day out of Jerusalem after the Feast of Passover. The parents thought Jesus, who was twelve at the time, and must have been an active boy, was somewhere within the ranks of the caravan with them. They looked, and inquired, and could not find their child. You can feel their panic over the centuries. The story is found in Luke 2:41–48.

Joseph and Mary decided to leave the protection of the caravan and return to Jerusalem and look for their child. Imagine that they called and looked up and down many streets, asking everyone they met about their lost boy. Then the trail gets warm:

Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening and asking them questions. (Luke 2:46)

When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, Son why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for You. (Luke 2:48)

Stop there a moment. Now in my case, if I had been missing for several days as a small child, and did not get on the caravan trip, my parents would not have been so calm as they found me. There would have been some hollering and maybe some violence. This may explain why Jesus turned out so good, and I have some improvements to make.

However, Jesus answered His mother’s question about where He had been.

He said to them, Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house? (Luke 2:49)

Jesus, the boy, was not lost. This boy, the child, Son of God, was indeed where He should be: in His Father’s house.

About six centuries before this event with Jesus, another story had played out with another boy. Josiah was eight years old when his father, king Amon, was killed. So this eight-year-old boy was crowned king and reined for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. Josiah was also a descendant from King David.

We hear in the book of 2 Kings that Josiah:

Did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father, David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left. (2 Kings 22:2)

So Josiah apparently was a good king, but he and Jerusalem had a problem.

The book of law or the Bible up to that time, which would be the five books from Genesis and up, or the Pentateuch, had been missing for many years. It had been lost during the reign of some bad kings and the people had drifted from God’s laws and many of their practices of worship.

Imagine losing your Bible and all the people having no compass as to what is right or wrong. Imagine a word where everything is "relative."

This is a world where anything and virtually everything can be justified because there is no foundation of what is right and wrong. Each individual determines his own set of ethics, or society swings in different ways allowing the once forbidden to become fashionable. Babies and old people are killed because they are an inconvenience. Today’s English terms are abortion and euthanasia. Sodom and Gomorrah grow and thrive. The unimaginable and unspeakable become acceptable. Good is called evil and evil is called good. In this environment a scribe does something remarkable.

In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, he sends a scribe to the house of the Lord.

Then Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan, the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. (2 Kings 22:8)

And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it and gave it to the king. The king, with the Word of God put the people back on track.

Jesus and the book of the Law, The Bible, were both lost, and then both found in the House of the Lord. Is that a coincidence? I think not.

We all get lost too sometimes. We hear the siren song of the world and follow it in confusion. That relativism back in 650 BC and even of today can become a narcotic.

What is the best thing to do when you are lost?

Get found. How do you do that? You do that by the simple examples in Luke and Kings. The examples of the child Jesus and the five books of God’s laws. Get found in the House of the Lord.

When you are lost, where do you find Jesus? When you are lost, where do you find the Word of God?

Right here: in the House of the Lord.

January 12

Sacrifice

Luke 9:57–62

Perhaps you have seen the news reports of the Yazidi tribe, an ancient group of Christians, clamoring up an isolated mountain fleeing slaughter from ISIS.

Christians were being killed in a desolate part of the world. What we did not see, and the cameras missed, was the quiet, secret huddling of individuals and families praying where they thought they could not be found in a hut. It was a big risk. They were potentially sacrificing everything for their belief and following Christ.

Now hop on a jet