Christian daily devotionals | At Water’s Edge

Walking in Darkness

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Betsy

The Gospel of John makes great use of dark and light imagery. John beautifully weaves metaphors of night and darkness with sin and death. Light becomes a symbol of Christ and hope. Even at the end of Judas’ betrayal story, John writes that Judas got up from the warmth of the supper in the upper room and went ”into the night.”

As we quickly approach Christmas this week, our neighborhoods, our trees, our banisters, and even our tacky sweaters are encased in light. We do this as a celebration of the Christ-child, who was born to be the ”Light of the World.” On Christmas Eve, we will finally light the Christ Candle in the center of our Advent Wreaths and proclaim that Christ is a Light that can never be extinguished. Amen!

John 8:12 says this: ”Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; whoever follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

The Light of Life. Think about it! Following Jesus means that we have access to a light that will illuminate our path no matter what tragedy, temptation, or trial encumbers us. Like a flashlight, all we need to do is turn it on and point it toward the darkness.

Isaiah also wrote beautiful words about darkness and light. In the ninth chapter, we discover this passage, which tells us exactly why the Light of the World came:

Isaiah 9 (New Revised Standard Version)

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
    on them light has shined.
³You have multiplied the nation,
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as people exult when dividing plunder.
⁴For the yoke of their burden,
    and the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.
⁵For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

And now for the Christmas part:
⁶For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷His authority shall grow continually,
    and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
    He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Jesus came to light up your situation. He came with so much power and might, there is no force of darkness you can encounter that could dull his wattage. He is the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace, who brings endless peace to the world.

Do you lack peace right now? Turn on the Light.

Rescue Me

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Betsy

As you look at this picture, you will instantly notice that something has gone very wrong. A shrimp trawler named Bald Eagle II, traveling north from our neighboring town in Wanchese, lost its engines a week ago and drifted onto the shoals of this sandbar that we live on. The tide carried it right to the water’s edge, where it remained stuck on our beach for days.

Our heroic Coast Guard performed a dramatic rescue of the four crew members, pulling them from the dangerous boat one by one, by helicopter. Four men were saved. Then came the arduous task of having to carefully remove over 6500 gallons of fuel and an additional 1000 gallons of a watery oil mixture.

Think for a moment of the difficulty of saving this boat. Look at how it sits on the sand. Now think about how difficult it was to save humanity. The prophets remind us that people had fallen into sin and darkness beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden. This darkness overcame the world, and we needed a miracle to save us.

Today’s lectionary passage is a pre-Christmas reminder of why Jesus came to save us. In this Psalm, God is portrayed as both the Shepherd of Israel and the One whose face shines “so that we may be saved.” It is a good prayer for us as we slowly approach the birth of Christ and recall once again why he came. Christ was born to rescue us … because we could not rescue ourselves.

Psalm 80 (New Revised Standard Version)

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
²    before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
    and come to save us!

This is a psalm of Asaph which is thought to be written after the separation of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judea. The references here make it clear that the psalmist is asking God to save Israel, and so it is believed to have been written prior to the Assyrian take over in 721BC.

³Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

When God’s face shines, darkness and despair are obliterated. When Jesus came, he was described as the ”Light of the World,” dispelling darkness forever.

⁴O Lord God of hosts,
    how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears,
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
⁶You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
    our enemies laugh among themselves.

Asaph knows that the apostasy and sin of the people have brought about their predicament. He senses God’s anger in what is about to happen, as Israel will fall into the hands of the enemy.

⁷Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

I am happy to report that the story of the Bald Eagle II has a much better ending. A small tug boat was dispatched, and it was able to move the trawler at high tide, taking it out to sea to a safe harbor where it can be repaired. Don’t you just love a happy ending?

You can have a happy ending, too. God is waiting for you to be fed up enough with your own darkness to cry out for rescue. Are you stuck in bad habits, inappropriate choices, or just plain out of hope? Call out for Jesus to come and rescue you. Your savior is on the way.

“Chesed”-Love

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Betsy

Today’s devotional won’t feel very Christmassy until the very end. Promise me you will keep reading until you get there!

In Joshua chapter 2, we encounter Rahab, the pagan prostitute from Jericho, whose heroic actions save two Israelite spies from capture by her own king. The king confronts her, and she flat out lies:

Joshua 2 (Common English Bible)

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Then she said, “Of course the men came to me. But I didn’t know where they were from. ⁵The men left when it was time to close the gate at dark, but I don’t know where the men went. Hurry! Chase after them! You might catch up with them.” ⁶But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the flax stalks that she had laid out on the roof. ⁷The men from Jericho chased after them in the direction of the Jordan up to the fords. As soon as those chasing them went out, the gate was shut behind them.

Rahab sets terms

⁸Before the spies bedded down, Rahab went up to them on the roof. ⁹She said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land. Terror over you has overwhelmed us. The entire population of the land has melted down in fear because of you. ¹⁰We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Reed Sea in front of you when you left Egypt. We have also heard what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites on the other side of the Jordan. You utterly wiped them out. ¹¹We heard this and our hearts turned to water. Because of you, people can no longer work up their courage. This is because the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.

Rahab saved the day for the nation of Israel, but not in a typical hero fashion. She had no special powers and was not by any definition a “mighty warrior,” yet she used what she had to defeat the enemy. And what did she have? Words. Rahab accomplished her heroine’s mission by simply employing words to their full advantage. She shaded truths, boldly negotiated, and offered a deal to the spies that they simply could not refuse … and in doing so, she saved her entire family from the destruction of Jericho that wiped out the king, her creditors, and the rest of the population.
Let’s take a look at one particular word which Rahab used like a weapon. In the twelfth verse, she says,

“Now, I have been loyal to you. So pledge to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal loyally with my family. Give me a sign of good faith.”

When we dig into the Hebrew word for loyal in this sentence, we find Rahab’s secret power: she used the word chesed. Chesed is a type of loyal, loving-kindness that is part of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. It is a word that cannot be sentimentalized, but speaks to the strength and steadfastness that stem from that covenant relationship.^[1] It is a reminder to the spies of their God, whose love for Israel was so great that God would never let them go, despite their actions. By choosing the word chesed, Rahab establishes her own covenant relationship with these men, relying on their understanding of what that truly meant. And in the end, her household was saved not only from death, but from the debt that had forced her into prostitution. Clever girl!

The connection to Christmas is obvious. There can be no greater expression of God’s chesed love for us than to send his only son to be born in a manger, walk among us, and die on a cross for our sins. Our ability to participate in Jesus’ resurrection is the finest example of loyal, loving-kindness we could ever hope for.

On Christmas morning, God filled the humble manger with an offering of covenant renewal that was given to both Jews and Gentiles alike. This gift of chesed is the world’s saving grace. And all we have to do is open it. Are you ready?

^[1] A Theological Word Book of the Bible, by Norman H. Snaith (New York: MacMillan, 1951), pp.136-137.

I Just Can’t Wait to be King

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Betsy

“I’m gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware!
I’m gonna be the main event, like no king was before!
I’m brushing up on looking down, I’m working on my ROAR…
Oh, I just can’t wait to be king!”

I’m sure many of you recognize the lyrics to Simba’s theme song in the Disney production of “The Lion King.” This is the story of a young lion cub who desperately wants the fame, fortune, and attention that comes with being the king. Simba succumbed to the temptation of wanting praise and adoration for his bravery, and the seduction of knowing what was in the forbidden land. This information would give him superior knowledge over all of the animal kingdom, and he wanted that power. Simba’s ambitions set a series of events in motion that resulted in his father’s death and the young cub’s exile from Pride Rock. (Don’t miss the double meaning of Pride Rock: A pride is a collection of lions, and it was pride that led to Simba’s downfall.) Eventually Simba returned after a long period of humility and isolation that resulted in a realistic understanding of what kingship entails. He became a good king, and the story has a happy ending.

In our Scripture today, King Solomon’s story had a similar trajectory, but without the happy ending. Like Simba, Solomon succumbed to his temptations, ego, and ambitions. Pride was also a factor here, as were the seductions of wine, women, and song that attended a king of his stature. Solomon’s fall from his own “Pride Rock” was dramatic and devastating, resulting in the invasion of stronger armies, the fracturing of the Kingdom of Israel, and ultimately their exile from the very land God had given them.

1 Kings 11:4-13 (Common English Bible)

⁴As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods. He wasn’t committed to the Lord his God with all his heart as was his father David.⁵Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes and wasn’t completely devoted to the Lord like his father David. ⁷On the hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a shrine to Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and to Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹The Lord grew angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from being with the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰The Lord had commanded Solomon about this very thing, that he shouldn’t follow other gods. But Solomon didn’t do what the Lord commanded.¹¹The Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done all this instead of keeping my covenant and my laws that I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.

Clearly, God ain’t playin’. It had always been the plan that God would reign as king, and the people of Israel would live together in peace and harmony. But after a series of prophets and judges overseeing them, they grew restless, hostile, and jealous. Finally they demanded that the prophet Samuel give them a king ”so that they could be like the other nations.” (1 Samuel 8:5). These stories remind us that we reject God at our own peril. Was there ever a time in your life when you rejected God? I bet it didn’t go well.

Even still, God’s amazing grace, his unfathomable mercy, and his unconditional forgiveness are offered to Solomon:

¹²Even so, on account of your father David, I won’t do it during your lifetime. I will tear the kingdom out of your son’s hands. ¹³Moreover, I won’t tear away the entire kingdom. I will give one tribe to your son on account of my servant David and on account of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

God preserves a part of Israel and the lineage of David in spite of Solomon’s sin, and that lineage led us to Jesus.

Christmas is a time to consider kings and kingship. Who is your king? What is on your throne? Have the foreign idols of celebrity worship, the blind following of popular politicians, hours upon hours of screen time, and reading more social media than your Bible become the things that you worship?

We are called back to the manger to worship the King of Kings, who is the Lord of Lords. Jesus is our one and only king, and he deserves our complete attention and obedience. To do anything less will result in danger and exile.

It is never too late to turn your heart back to God. Only then will you receive the blessings of the Prince of Peace.

King and Queen of the Animal Kingdom by Mark Poblete

An Attitude of Gratitude

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Betsy

I have been the blessed recipient of some very gracious expressions of appreciation lately, none of which were deserved, but all of which are deeply appreciated. A friend sent a check in my honor to be used for something close to my heart at my church as a thank you for officiating her husband’s funeral. A thank you card for teaching a class in another church contained a gift of money that was totally unnecessary, and touched me deeply. My dog sitter left a mason jar of flowers with a Disney princess balloon in my living room to wish me a happy birthday. My cousin sent a flower arrangement that was so magnificent, I could hardly carry it up the stairs. All of these things caught me off guard and have truly humbled me. Expressions of kindness such as these can be like a long drink of water for a thirsty traveler. These folks will never know how much their gestures meant to me.

In our passage today, Isaiah writes a hymn of gratitude to God for his deliverance. He reminds us that God is our strength, our might, and our salvation:

Isaiah 12 (New Revised Standard Version)

Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord God is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.

³With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

What a beautiful word-picture this presents! Drawing water from the wells of salvation is something God invites us to do every day. Are you thirsty? Do you need to be saved? Come, and drink.

And Isaiah reminds us that we should show God our deep appreciation for all that he has done for us:

⁴And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
⁶Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah believes that the Holy One of Israel deserves our praise and thankfulness. He also says that these expressions of thankfulness should be public. We are to make God’s deeds known in all the nations, and make his name known in all the earth. We are invited to shout aloud! In other words, share your testimony with someone. That is today’s challenge.

So the question is, what has God done for you lately? Make a list, and offer a gift of gratitude and witness in his name.

I thank my God for all of you today. Thank you for reading!

Thankful for Sunrise by Michelle Robertson

Teach Me

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Betsy

Today’s Psalm needs no introduction or commentary. It is a beautiful tribute by David to the God that he loved. In this writing you will find words of dedication, gratitude, trust, submission, and TRUTH. In a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the truth, David’s words bring a refreshing change. Listen as he plainly states the many reasons why we should trust God and learn about his ways every day of our lives:

Psalm 25

I offer my life to you, Lord.
²    My God, I trust you.
Please don’t let me be put to shame!
    Don’t let my enemies rejoice over me!
³For that matter,
    don’t let anyone who hopes in you
        be put to shame;
    instead, let those who are treacherous without excuse be put to shame.

⁴Make your ways known to me, Lord;
    teach me your paths.
⁵Lead me in your truth—teach it to me—
    because you are the God who saves me.
        I put my hope in you all day long.
⁶Lord, remember your compassion and faithful love—
    they are forever!

Did you need to be reminded today of God’s everlasting and faithful love for you? Do you know that there is nothing you can do that would permanently separate you from God, thanks to the love of Christ Jesus on the cross and the forgiveness of sin? And even better, God does not hold our former wrongdoings against us:

⁷But don’t remember the sins of my youth or my wrongdoing.
Remember me only according to your faithful love
for the sake of your goodness, Lord.

⁸The Lord is good and does the right thing;
    he teaches sinners which way they should go.
⁹God guides the weak to justice,
    teaching them his way.
¹⁰All the Lord’s paths are loving and faithful
    for those who keep his covenant and laws.

Now go back and read that first line again. ”I offer my life to you, Lord.” Is God calling you to make the same commitment (or re-commitment) to him today?

David’s confidence in a saving, redeeming, and forgiving God can be our confidence as well today. We are blessed to have a go-to God who guides and leads us in his truth every day, if we are willing to yield to his teachings. Are you willing? When we commit our ways to following God’s covenant, we are never alone. Only there will we find justice, peace, hope, and truth. Teach us and lead us, oh God!

When God Says ”No”

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Betsy

I have a friend who is going through the last months of a decades-long marriage that has dissolved. Her husband has left the family for another one, and she has prayed fervently over the last several months that God would change her husband’s heart. His heart has not changed.

She told me last week that she feels that God isn’t listening to her. I kindly responded that perhaps it is she who isn’t listening to God. I don’t believe there is ever a time when God doesn’t hear our prayers, though it certainly can feel that way when we don’t get the answer we are desperate to receive.

When disappointment, illness, tragedy, or hardship comes, do we ever lose our enthusiasm for God? Do we ever feel rejected by him when we don’t get the answers we want?

Proverbs 3 brings us into the heart of the matter. We are not to lean on our own understanding when things happen, but rather trust in the Lord with ALL our heart:

Proverbs 3 (New International Version)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Sometimes, God will say “No” to our prayers.

But remember this: sometimes God’s “No” is not a rejection, but a redirection.
Sometimes God’s “No” is not a punishment, but a preparation.
There are times when God’s “No” will bring greater glory to his kingdom.
And God’s “No” can start us on an adventure with him.

One thing is sure … God is more interested in our character than our comfort, and that is often reflected in his response to our prayers.

God even said “No” to Paul when he asked for his “thorn to be removed,” and then gave him special grace to carry on. And pretty much everything Christians know about grace comes from the letters of Paul.

So can we find comfort in God’s wisdom when he says “No”? Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But we can try to live into God’s grace, knowing that he always works for our good, and always listens to us when we reach out to him. Always.

So in all your discouragement and disappointment, submit to God, and he will make your path straight…straight back into his arms.

The Heart of Worship

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Betsy

What is at the heart of worship for you? Is it the beautiful stained glass windows, the prayers, the music, the message … where in worship do you connect with God? Sadly, a lot of folks walk through church doors without any expectation of meeting God there. Church can become a duty, a ”check in the box,” or worse, a see-and-be-seen social event, indicating that our hearts for true worship have grow cold.

Matt Redman’s song “I’m Coming Back to the Heart of Worship” serves as our text today. It dates back to the late 1990s, born from a period of apathy within Matt’s home church, Soul Survivor, in Watford, England. Despite the country’s overall contribution to the current worship revival, Redman’s congregation was struggling to find meaning in its musical outpouring at the time.

“There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing,” he recalls. “He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away.”

Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?” Read more here.

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All I have is yours
Every single breath
I’ll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart

And I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus.

At the heart of Christian worship are awe, praise, reverence, yielding, and adoration. Worship ignites the human spirit as the spark of God touches our souls. In Exodus 25:22 God says, “And I will meet with you there and talk to you….” And so we should strive to commit to a return to pure and true worship this Advent, where we communicate heart-to-heart with our Holy God.

Community worship experiences bring the corporate body into concentrating on God. The same principle holds true in individual worship, as our center of attention is focused on the living God. Did you make it to church last Sunday? Check in the box! But what is your plan for the rest of the week?

Worship is an attitude of putting God on his throne every day as you acknowledge his reign in your heart. And may we offer God our finest first fruits, the best of our resources, and the full tithe of our harvests. Then we will truly be worshipping God as he deserves.

The Heart of Worship by Michelle Robertson

And So It Begins

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Betsy

Today we celebrate the first week of Advent. Advent is our four-week season of preparation for the nativity of Emmanuel, God-with-us. The first week is always spent talking about the prophecies that foretold Jesus’ coming, and today’s passage is one of those prophecies that leads us straight to Jesus. We begin with a word of warning from John the Baptizer:

Luke 7 (New Revised Standard Version)

⁷John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits worthy of repentance.

John’s startling appearance at the beginning of Advent always reminds me of someone’s weird Uncle John who shows up 4 days late for Thanksgiving and disrupts the tryptophan-induced coma that the family has been comfortably enjoying. He looks strange, he dresses oddly, and he eats some weird kind of keto-paleo-whole 30-vegan diet that only consists of locusts and honey. He barges in with a loud message of repentance and warns about the judgment that is coming. He interrupts the football games and calls the family a “brood of vipers” … basically killing the mood as you’re trying to get ready for Christmas. Yeah, John is a total buzz kill. John’s message was hard to hear then, and it is hard to hear today. What does he mean by bearing fruits that are worthy of repentance?

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” ¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

Did you get that?

Share your resources with people in need.

Practice integrity in your work.

Treat people fairly.

Don’t cheat anyone.

Only speak the truth.

Be content with what you have.

And repent and return to God with your whole heart.

John’s “Getting Ready for Christmas List” was long, complicated, and had nothing to do with decorating, shopping, buying, and waiting for Amazon deliveries. Getting ready for Christmas really involves getting our hearts and minds ready to worship the Christ child in the manger, and bowing down our expectations, disappointments, hopes, ambitions, frustrations, and every other part of our selves before his throne.

How will you get ready this Christmas? May we heed John’s words and share what we have while we adopt a life of Christ-like integrity. This is the best way to prepare for the birth of the baby king. Are you in?

Something God Alone Can See

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Betsy

Time is truly a valuable commodity. Time that is squandered is time that is lost forever. We live in a culture that prizes busy-ness as a status symbol. In our rushing around and trying to get things done, are we ever guilty of neglecting to take time to be holy? God calls us to be good stewards of this gift of time, and we will be held accountable for how well we spent our days here.

Ecclesiastes 3:17 (Common English Bible)

¹⁷I thought to myself, God will judge both righteous and wicked people, because there’s a time for every matter and every deed.

Ecclesiastes 3 steps into our time this week as a reminder that while everything changes all the time, God brings order to it all. We are meant to experience everything that God does as a token of love. Ecclesiastes brings us a word of encouragement to look to God as the only answer to our longing for purpose in every season of like. (Look back at Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Without God, we can’t make sense of life, death, or life beyond death. Acknowledging God allows us to interpret everything through God’s lens of time. Our man-made reasoning will never make sense of what God is doing. Only through the wisdom of Christ will we ever hope to understand the heart of God.

In our United Methodist Hymnal, we find a lovely summary of everything we have been talking about this week. Often sung at funerals, Natalie Sleeth has captured the mystery and beauty of God’s timing in our seasons of life in this Hymn of Promise:

“In our end is our beginning
In our time, infinity
In our doubt, there is believing
In our life, eternity
In our death, a resurrection
At the last, a victory
Unrevealed until its season
Something God alone can see.” (UMH, 707)

Are you taking enough time to be holy? What could you change in order to spend more time with the Lord? You indeed are a creation of God that is still unrevealed, and God alone can see you for who you are. May we spend this season of life discovering who God is, and Whose we are as his children.

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Rahab sets terms

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