“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.” Psalm 92:12,13

Praise be to you, Yahweh, the great I AM, the self-existent, eternal, unchanging, holy and perfect One—and paradoxically, the Lover of sinners. Your qualities of righteousness, holiness and justice dictated the necessity of judgment, condemnation and punishment of all sinners.

However,  you chose, through your own suffering, to have mercy triumph over justice, to have grace trump punishment, to have love topple wrath. You called us rebels to yourself, cleansed us, transformed us into new creatures and adopted us into your family, making us righteous in Christ.

You planted us in your courtyard, making us flourish, sprouting lush, green leaves of praise to shade those around us, and succulent, delicious fruit of the Spirit for others to taste. You make it possible for us to get our roots deep down into the wonderful water of your Word so even in drought we can remain green, bearing our fruit in its season, and being successful in whatever you call us to do (Psalm 1:3).

“I bow before you, Heavenly Father in admiration; I rise up in enthusiasm; I go forth to wholeheartedly worship you through obedience. May your name be honored today in all I think, say and do, my beloved God. Amen.”

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1,2

The situation here in the Middle East is always interesting—whenever you think it’s going to “settle down,” to a nice norm, some new problem or emergency arises. Such situations are fertile ground for growing spiritually, and lately there has been such a “growth” in me that I can’t begin to describe it. Perhaps “breaking” is a better word than growth. Certainly, it is God working as a result of others praying for us and of our meditation on Scripture.

Very simply put, it is an application of Col. 3:1-2 (see these verses at the beginning of this devotional), with God is teaching me to set my heart on giving the kind of response Christ would give, instead first of setting my heart on getting things done. This is a commitment to do what God wants instead of what I want: a surrender to obedience.

Each disappointment then becomes the opportunity to see where I’ve set my heart on something here on earth, so I can surrender that to God and praise Him for what He’s going to do. This incremental surrender to the inner working of the Spirit brings ever-expanding results:

• Barbara says I am much easier to live with, being more relaxed and less intense.
• More gets done, probably because I have less inner tension and have insight to cut out unnecessary, time-wasting activity.
• I have more energy.
• Things don’t get forgotten as much because my mind is clearer and the Spirit can get my attention to remind and guide me.
• The fruit of the Spirit is much more evident.
• And, as a nice side result, I’m a lot happier!

This life with Christ is really something:as He leads us down the road,  up and over the next hill, there seems to be no end to the breakthroughs He has for us as we meditate on His Word, deny self and obey Him!

“For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!” Psalm 92:4,5 ESV

You are marvelous,  Lord God, and we see this in your creation, with the dizzying array of size, shape, variety, color and texture in plants, animals and landscapes. You have shared with us your love of beauty, your graceful shaping, your wisdom in practicality, your intelligence in complexity.

I think about the million optic nerve cells in a developing baby in the womb; at one point, two sets of nerves grow simultaneously, one set from the eye and one set from the brain, joining at the right place, with each individual nerve finding and joining with its corresponding partner. This perfect weaving brings to our brains an exact image of what is before us. And all this is done in the way you designed.

You made our bodies to be so effective, so compact, so efficient, creating some parts to be amazingly multifunctional: mouths for speaking, tasting, eating, breathing, smiling and kissing. Legs for locomotion, lounging, lifting, lugging and loving.

You build into our being the ability to enjoy a wide range of experiences. You give us the joy of running, of relaxing, of sleeping, of walking in a snowfall, of feeling the warm sun, the crisp cold air, the tingle of frost, the drumming of rain.

Your sharing all this with us, when we don’t deserve it is a marvelous demonstration of your love. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all the good you do to and for us.

“I pray also for those who will believe in me….” John 17:20b

He glanced sideways to make sure no one else in the restaurant was near enough to hear what he was going to say. Then he leaned towards me, his face deadly serious. Only his eyes betrayed the excitement he felt as he spoke.

“Tell me, just where and how I can apply for this eternal life!”

My mind went back over the four or five long discussions we had had earlier, and knew that this man was serious in his questioning.

God had been preparing him for years for this conversation. He had been born in a remote, primitive village far out in the East where there was no possibility of hearing the gospel. But when he was five years old, while playing in the ruins of a church, he had asked himself this question, “I wonder, is the God of this church the same as the God of our Mosque?” Then he’d spent the next 29 years looking for an answer, and I was the first Christian he had been able to find!

At our initial meeting, I had given him the Gospel of Mark, which he read extensively, memorizing portions and asking me many questions. He knew he was a sinner–“I can’t take one step without sinning”–an unusual insight, evidencing a genuine work of the Holy Spirit.

He somewhat understood the price of persecution he would have to pay for being a Christian: in his excitement of learning about Christ, he had shared with his family and friends and had been strongly opposed. Yet he was eager to “put in his application” for eternal life, and he did, entering the Kingdom of Christ!

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night…” Psalm 92:1,2

Yes, Lord God, it is good to give thanks to you and praise your name, to note the many, many blessings you give us each day:

-salvation from Satan, self and sin;

-the gifts of sight, speech and sensations;

-hands that can do so much;

-feet that can carry us;

-hearts that beat faithfully thousands of times each day;

-a brain with millions of connections overseeing the functions of a multitude of organs without us having to give a thought to them.

And along with these, you daily give us

-beauty, like the tree in the picture,

-food,

-water,

-warmth,

-a bed,

-a home,

-family,

friends,

-a church family,

-work,

-transportation,-

-protection…on and on we could go.

You are so gracious to your children, giving us such good gifts when actually, in our old selves we deserve the exact opposite.

As we begin each day, we can declare your steadfast love, trusting you to do what is best, to bring to us what is good, to protect us from what is evil.

And in the evening, we can look back and praise you, noting God sightings, seeing how you protected, provided and guided, declaring your faithfulness to all around us.