[Friday's Devotional] - What now, what next, where to?

What now, what next, where to? 

I do not understand why the Lord led me to a work situation that made me feel so ill and inadequate, questioning my own abilities, but I do not see the bigger picture. I handed in my notice after 6 weeks - totally out of character for me - my shortest period of employment being 3 years and my norm being 8 - 10 years.

Often when we are having difficulties we feel we are under attack, but I believe we give the enemy far too much credit!  It’s more likely that the Lord wants to do work within us.  We all have a spiritual dimension to our nature which is ‘below the waterline’ of our consciousness (like Joshua’s 12 rocks) and can stand in the way of our discipleship journey.  As we allow the Lord to identify each area of sin and disorder in our lives/spirit (often unknown to us consciously) we grow into greater wholeness.  

 

Like the Levite priests preparing to carry the Ark across the Jordan, it should be our life work to become more sanctified – the inevitable consequence is to flourish in the Fruits of the Spirit, “But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these”. Galatians 5:22-23 [GNT].

The Lord (and my husband) told me not to seek another job until after Christmas. The downsized home the Lord provided for us in April (via some wonderful friends in Christ) has enabled me to take this sabbatical – God saw this season coming! It is ‘playtime’ with my heavenly father and the different reactions I’ve received have been interesting, including my own.

In this season amazing things, both spiritually and physically, have taken place which would have been impossible before. In many areas there has been incredible redemption as the Lord has delved below the waterline.  As we each stand at the edge of our own river Jordan, how deep will we go with the Lord?

“May God, our very own God, continue to be with us just as he was with our ancestors - may he never give up and walk out on us.  May he keep us centered and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors”.  1 Kings 8:56-58  [The Message]

I know the Lord still has an ACE up his sleeve!

 

Dawn Milward

[Thursday's Devotional] - That Which is Unseen...

That Which Is Unseen ….. 

So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.  Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.  Joshua 4:8-9 [NIV]

On first reading this passage it’s easy to overlook the second monument that Joshua built to the Lord in verse 9.  In many translations it sounds like the same 12 stones collected for the monument on land at Gilgal, to honour God’s faithfulness, but here is the Living Bible translation.

Joshua also built another monument of twelve stones in the middle of the river, at the place where the priests were standing; and it is there to this day. Joshua 4:9

So what about the rock pile in the river? No one could see it but God! I believe it stood as a monument to the faith of the people. When you face a time of trial, others are often guilty of misjudging your motives and actions, however, only God knows the truth about your heart. Even though Israel couldn't see it, they knew the monument was there! They remembered that they had believed God and it had worked. This was a monument in their hearts. Interestingly, in a season of drought when the riverbed dried up, these rocks would be seen.  Especially in times of drought we need to remember the great things God has done.

As I ventured into my ‘ACE’ job hoping to redeem time and a balance in my working life, the opposite happened.  After 6 weeks of working until 7pm (I should have finished at 4pm) having no lunch break and little sleep, I was on the verge of a breakdown and recognised the signs from 16 years ago. Feeling absolutely demoralised (but with a possible understanding for why the previous office team had all left) I stood in church sobbing my heart out. I was drowning, unable to go on, confused as to why God would lead me to such a point. An elderly gentleman approached me and hesitantly asked me a question……“Where did you get your mulberries from?”….. I wept !

He was the Lord’s messenger that day (and I told him so) yet he had no idea of the significance of the question he faithfully asked. In my season of drought God had reminded me of my mulberry pie, my spiritual marker that his promises are true, in the midst of confusion and despair, we are still at that place of promise.

Dawn Milward

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Rolling Stones

Rolling Stones

Yesterday we read how the Lord told Joshua to collect 12 stones for a memorial (to be built at Gilgal) and Joshua obeyed…

So Joshua called out the twelve men whom he selected from the People of Israel, one man from each tribe. Joshua directed them, “Cross to the middle of the Jordan and take your place in front of the Chest of God, your God. Each of you heft a stone to your shoulder, a stone for each of the tribes of the People of Israel, so you’ll have something later to mark the occasion. When your children ask you, ‘What are these stones to you?’ you’ll say, ‘The flow of the Jordan was stopped in front of the Chest of the Covenant of God as it crossed the Jordan—stopped in its tracks. These stones are a permanent memorial for the People of Israel.” Joshua 4:4 –7 [The Message]

Israel was now on the other side of the Jordan - in the Promised Land.  But what is life in the Promised Land like?  Was it one glorious vacation time after another?  No; for Israel it was a place of battle, but most of all, it was a place of trust - they knew they had to trust God with every thing they had, because the challenges only got bigger in the Promised Land - but so did the blessings.

Most of us would have wanted to rush on and take care of Jericho - why not take advantage of the time when they are all afraid of you?  But God is never in a hurry; and He knows that beyond us ‘doing’ something, we must ‘be’ something for Him - so He takes time out to conquer Israel spiritually before they can conquer Jericho physically under His guidance.

We sometimes forget the past great works of God thinking that the best days of our Christian experiences are behind us, however if we remember them as a point of faith we can trust God for greater works in the future, and the future of our children, because we have seen and experienced the faithfulness of God.

In the same way that the Israelites gathered stones from the Jordan for their spiritual marker, my husband and I ‘ate pie’ on our special ‘courting days’ bench on the banks of the Thames..… and I was going to need to cling on to that place of promise in the weeks to come.

Take time today from your ‘doing’ to just ‘be’ and let the Lord remind you of that place of victory amidst the troubled waters.  

Dawn Milward

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Memorable Pie

Memorable Pie

I shared yesterday that ‘getting our feet wet’ can be scary and in my summer ‘Playing Card’ themed devotionals I wrote:

“I am following God’s lead, after waiting for so long I finally ‘heard the sound of going in the Mulberry tree’ (2 Samuel 5:24) outside my office window last November and God jokingly said “When it’s time to say goodbye, you’ll be eating Mulberry pie!”  I leave work this Autumn, I am so looking forward to ‘eating pie’ - the fruit of obedient waiting, and positioning myself to roll with the unforced rhythms of His grace.’

Well, did the Lord have an ACE up his sleeve for me as I stepped out with no job in sight?  Did I eat pie … and why?

On Sunday 1^st September my husband and I sat by the river and ate the pie I had baked with the mulberries from the tree outside my old office window - and it tasted darn good! The next day I was to start a new job the Lord had led me to at Ashford Church of England Primary School – affectionately known to the children there as ACE! … the unfolding of the Lord’s plan seemed remarkable.

Why Eat Pie?  Often in our fast paced world we can easily forget moments when God has revealed Himself, His faithfulness, His will, or His calling to us in a significant manner. It’s important for us to make time to establish spiritual markers… and God thinks so too.

It always makes me smile recalling how God parted the Red Sea to let the Israelites ‘out’ of Egypt (Exodus 14) and then (after their stiff-necked wanderings) parted the Jordan to let them ‘in’ to the Promised Land.

‘When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”  Joshua 4:1-3 – [NIV]

Looking back at spiritual markers often gives us a better perspective on what God has done in the past, what he wants to do in the present and His direction for the future.

Ponder some examples in your own life where God has done a mighty work, how have you memorialised it and used it in your relationship with God?

Dawn Milward

[Monday's Devotional] - Getting Your Feet Wet

Getting Your Feet Wet 

This week we’re going to ‘get our feet wet!’ I don’t know where the phrase originates from but it relates well to this week’s passage. The Israelites, in sight of the Promised Land, reach the banks of the Jordan with the ark and the priests get their feet wet at the water’s edge.

^“So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.  Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”  Joshua 3:14-17 – [NIV]

I find it incredible that God chose the most unlikely time (flood season) to cross his people over the river, ensuring His power would be demonstrated. We all have our own Jordan to cross and God always has a grander plan and a bigger promise for us on the other side of the river, but how can we cross our Jordan?

There are three steps that are recorded in Joshua Chapter 3.

STEP 1: Follow God (even if it’s hard) and you will know which way to go. The moment you see God move in your life, pack your bags and follow. “When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile—be sure now to keep your distance!—and you’ll see clearly the route to take. You’ve never been on this road before.”  Joshua 3:3-4 – [The Message]

STEP 2: Consecrate yourself -“And Joshua said unto the people, sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”  Joshua 3:5 – [KJV].  Because this would be a spiritual battle, Joshua required that the people had a spiritual preparation. Separating ourselves from everyday things and old ways to focus on the Lord will work wonders!

STEP 3: Stand in the river (even if it’s scary) and you will cross on dry ground. (Joshua 3:17)

Is it time to cross your Jordan and claim your Promised Land?

Dawn Milward

[Friday's Devotional] - Growing by Obedience

Growing by Obedience

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.  Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.  For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.  Romans 6: 11-14 [NIV]

We face a constant battle over where our allegiance lies. Although we are dead to sin and alive to God, we sometimes don’t believe that and because we don’t believe it we fail to resist sin and end up being obedient to sin and disobedient to God.  When talking about building up treasures in Heaven, Jesus said we can’t serve two masters (God and Money).

Action: Who are you obedient to?  Is there something that is “master” of your life in place of God, today?  Turn around and face the right direction.

Lord, help me to be obedient to you – keep me from being a slave to sin. I offer myself to you and I thank you for your amazing grace, Amen.

Dave MacLellan

[Thursday's Devotional] - Growing by Outreach

Growing by Outreach

We cannot grow spiritually if we remain isolated from those who don’t follow Christ.  A relationship with God and our brothers and sisters is a good thing, but we have the “great commission” – the words of Jesus after his resurrection and before he ascended into Heaven:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28: 16-20 [NIV]

When you hear good news are you not itching to share it?  If you see someone heading for a disaster, won’t you warn them about it?  If not us, who?  If not now, when?

Action: Take an opportunity today to be natural about your faith with someone you spend time with today.

 

Prayer: Lord, I want to tell people about my relationship with you.  Help me to overcome fear and to be open to respond to the opportunities you instigate today, Amen.

Dave MacLellan

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Growing by Fellowship

Growing by Fellowship

When I was helping to clear out my Father’s house a few weeks ago, I came across various pieces of paper with quotations and cuttings from various magazines or newspapers, which my parents had kept.  This one made me smile and nod my head, as I recognised the sentiment:

To dwell above with saints we love, 
That will be grace and glory. 
But to live below with saints we know; 
Now, that's another story!

I smiled because I know that although we recognise that Heaven will be a place where we will be in perfect fellowship with other believers – life on earth is somewhat different and some of our brothers and sisters (and if we are honest, ourselves) are not yet fully made perfect and can tax our patience and ability to love unconditionally. 

When we love others, we know that we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God.  But even if we don’t feel at ease, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.  Dear friends, if we feel at ease in the presence of God, we will have the courage to come near him.  He will give us whatever we ask, because we obey him and do what pleases him.  God wants us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to love each other. This is also what Jesus taught us to do.  If we obey God’s commandments, we will stay one in our hearts with him, and he will stay one with us. The Spirit that he has given us is proof that we are one with him.  1 John 3: 19-24 [CEV]

Fellowship and unity with our brothers and sisters are important aspects of growth.  Our love for others is a measure of our love for God.  If there is a “blocked line” in our communication with God, then it is likely it will show up in our unease in relationship with others.

Action:  Is there a problem in your relationship with one of your brothers or sisters?  Go and be reconciled with them, that way makes for peace and unity.

Lord, reveal to me what I can do to have closer fellowship with my brothers and sisters.  Forgive me for my sinful attitudes and restore me to peace with you.  Amen

Dave MacLellan

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Growing by Prayer

Growing by Prayer

Prayer is the primary method for us to talk and listen to God.  You may have heard of, and perhaps read, the book Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels.  Whether you ever read the book or not, the title is a great piece of advice from the author.  The busier we are (and busyness doesn’t seem to be going out of fashion), the more we need to spend time listening and talking to God, in prayer.

If you are a busy person – take a look at your schedule.  Perhaps you will find that most of the pressure and deadlines are self-created?  Sometimes we take on things we should “say no” to – sometimes we try to get things done quicker than they need to be so that we can move on to the next thing. 

If we force things to happen at a slower pace, backed up by prayer and listening to God, we might find that some issues we worried about, outcomes we planned, contingencies we made and things we talked through endlessly with colleagues have sorted themselves out.  Many times, the result of prayer is a God-incidence which makes our path smooth and something that happens at the opportune time, the Greek word “kairos” is sometimes used in the bible to denote things happening according to God’s perfect timing, rather than “chromos” which refers to the linear and one-dimensional time of our human experience.

Jesus needed to spend large amounts of time (time his disciples might have thought he didn’t have) in earnest prayer with his Father God.  I feel sure that if he needed to do this, we need it even more!  Listen to one of his prayers for us:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  John 17:20-23 [NIV]

Action: Pray about your priorities today.  Surrender the things that are causing you stress or worry to God.  Allow him to work, slow down to listen and talk with him now.

Lord, help me to make time to converse with you.  Keep me from busyness and hurry, give me a glimpse of your perfect time.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Dave MacLellan

[Monday's Devotional] - Growing by the Word

Growing by the Word

Our relationship with God our Father is central to our spiritual growth.  Knowledge of the Word of God (the Bible) is one way in which we can set our compass, to keep moving forward in the right direction:

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12 [NIV]

The Bible is a rich resource for following Christ and knowing something of the mind of God.  It is sharp like a sword – it cuts through to the core, illuminating and separating, aiding understanding and our right-thinking.  Soaking a little in the bible every day will help us to discern good and evil and guard us from wrong-thinking or allowing evil thoughts to grow and detract from what we know we were created to be.

As a reader of these devotionals, I hope you get at least 5 biblical doses of the word each week.  Do you also have other times to study the bible?  I went for years without reading the bible regularly – one of the best encouragements I had was the Walk Through The Bible events – if you have not come across this organisation click on the link above.  Small Groups are also a great place to learn from the bible together.  Are you a member of one? 

It could be that you would benefit from a bible reading plan – or gaining a better overview of what the bible is all about?

Knowledge of the bible is a key part of our defensive armour – and a good way to promote growth in your spiritual life.  Last year our church family was surveyed to take a snapshot of the status of aspects of our spiritual lives.  One of the outcomes was that nearly 20% of those surveyed said that they were “stalled” spiritually or “weren’t really going anywhere”.  More than half the people surveyed had stalled at some point within the past 2 years.  If you are in this position, why not decide this week to take your foot off the brakes and move forward in step with your Heavenly Father?

Action:  Is there someone you know who appears to be stalled spiritually?  How might you help? Is there something you can do to delve deeper into God’s Word today?

Lord, help us to have a passion to listen to you, to read your words, to learn from the experience of those who have been before – and to remember the words and actions of Jesus as a role-model for our lives, Amen

Dave MacLellan