Christian daily devotionals

Running on Empty

Posted on by Betsy

The classic rock song, ”Running on Empty” by Jackson Browne, was written as a result of his daily grind and daily commute to a music studio when he was recording his hit album The Pretender. According to an interview he gave to Rolling Stone magazine, he lived close enough to the studio that he never bothered to fill up his tank with gas. But then there were those days when that caught up with him, leaving him running on empty AND running behind:

Everyone I know, everywhere I go
People need some reason to believe
I don’t know about anyone, but me
If it takes all night, that’ll be all right
If I can get you to smile before I leave

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don’t know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
Look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes, I see them running too

Running on (running on empty)
Running on (running blind)
Running on (running into the sun)
But I’m running behind

We’ve all been there. If we don’t stop long enough to fill up our emotional and spiritual tanks, we can suddenly hit a wall and realize we’ve run out of ”gas.” This happens when caregiving, working late, the loss of a loved one, parenting, helping a friend through an emotional crisis, raising teenagers, etc. gets overwhelming and we don’t allow for enough rest and refill.

If that is you today, take a look at this wonderful story from the Old Testament about a widow who was running on empty in every sense of the word:

1 Kings 7 (Contemporary English Version)

8 The Lord told Elijah, 9 “Go to the town of Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve told a widow in that town to give you food.”

10 When Elijah came near the town gate of Zarephath, he saw a widow gathering sticks for a fire. “Would you please bring me a cup of water?” he asked. 11 As she left to get it, he asked, “Would you also please bring me a piece of bread?”

12 The widow answered, “In the name of the living Lord your God, I swear that I don’t have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour and a little olive oil. I’m on my way home now with these few sticks to cook what I have for my son and me. After that, we will starve to death.”

13 Elijah said, “Everything will be fine. Do what you said. Go home and fix something for you and your son. But first, please make a small piece of bread and bring it to me. 14 The Lord God of Israel has promised that your jar of flour won’t run out and your bottle of oil won’t dry up before he sends rain for the crops.”

15 The widow went home and did exactly what Elijah had told her. She and Elijah and her family had enough food for a long time. 16 The Lord kept the promise that his prophet Elijah had made, and she did not run out of flour or oil.

This story comes to us today as a reminder of God’s provision. There is one source where we can go to get everything refilled … our personal resources, our family’s needs, the things lacking in our communities, and especially our spiritual emptiness.

The problem is that we try to fill ourselves with things that only end up emptying us farther: drugs, alcohol, inappropriate relationships, over-eating, over-spending, temporary distractions … useless nonsense that the secular world offers in the absence of a meaningful relationship with God.

But we know better.

If you are running on empty today, STOP RUNNING. Sit in the silence of your room and wait on the Lord. Rest in his grace, rest in his POWER, and fill yourself with his presence. Ask God to fill up your cup, and fill it up to overflowing.

The Lord keeps his promises! You can never run out of his grace.

Reflections of Grace by Kathy Schumacher

Forswunk

Posted on by Betsy

I came across a new word on Twitter the other day, and now I am trying to use it as much as I can. The word is forswunk. It harkens back to the 13th century and it means to be exhausted from overwork. Holy cow, people! There is a NAME FOR IT. Raise your hand if you are forswunk! The poster went on to make a marvelous joke: being ”forEswunk” is to be exhausted before you even begin. I don’t know who Susie Dent is, but this got an immediate follow from me. She is my soul sister when it comes to having fun with words.

I have been both for- and fore-swunk. The recent push to publish a book, writing these devotionals, plugging away on a huge writing assignment for Cokesbury, attending my alma mater’s Alumni Association Council meetings for several days in Pennsylvania … in addition to my usual church and family responsibilities …I am forswunk! How about you? Are you forswunk? And as Halloween approaches in two days, are you realizing how quickly Christmas follows … so now you are feeling foreswunk as well?

What can we do when forswunkness overtakes us??

Stop.

Breathe.

Reevaluate.

Prioritize.

Then take things OFF our lists.

Jesus never used the word, but he certainly understood what it was like to be exhausted by overwork. Here is his counsel for you and for me:

Matthew 11 (New Revised Standard Version)

28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Come to Jesus. Lay down your burden, lay your head in his lap, and rest. When he invites us to take his yoke rather than the heavy burden we are carrying, it is a reference to how a young ox is paired with older, stronger, more experienced ox. The older ox carries the weight of the yoke and guides the younger ox along. It is only in Jesus that we will find rest for our souls.

Are you tired? Have life, relationships, work, worries, and the troubles of the world got you down? You are not alone. Jesus longs to walk beside you and carry that load for you.

You don’t have to stay forswunk. Jesus is able! Just come.

If you are looking for a way to stave off foreswunkness as your mind turns toward the busy-ness of Christmas, consider this Advent devotional resource. It was deliberately written to encourage all of us to slow down, minimize, re-focus, and appreciate Christmas for what it is … the greatest gift we could ever receive.

Excerpt from ADVENTuring to the Manger:

I wonder what Christmas would look like if we had kept it as just a birthday party for Jesus, instead of the giftpalooza-partypalooza-spendtoomuchpalooza-shoptilyoudroppalooza that it has become. Imagine it: we would wake up, talk about how wonderful Jesus is, plan a nice meal, bake a birthday cake, have the celebration, blow out the candles, and call it a day. And it would truly be just about him. How can we make Christmas just about Jesus again?

But for today, stop, breathe, reevaluate, and prioritize. Jesus’ yoke is easy and light. Come!

Stopping to Rest by Michelle Robertson

Listen!

Posted on by Betsy

I have always loved the Olympic Games. It is fun to watch all the the media attention that is given to the athletes prior to the first competition. While listening to the promos and background stories one day, I discovered an acronym that threw me off for a minute. I may be the last person in the world to know what it meant. When Simone Biles was described as the “goat” of women’s gymnastics, I was a little offended on her behalf. How could that commentator have possibly compared this incomparable athelete to a barnyard animal? The next day I saw it in print, and I realized that it was spelled G.O.A.T. And of course you already know what I had to learn from Google: G.O.A.T. stands for “greatest of all time.” I guess we didn’t recognize G.O.A.T.s in the marching band when I was growing up. At least not that kind of goat.

Jesus was once asked about which of the commandments was the G.O.A.T. In the twelfth chapter of Mark, he encounters a legal expert who is hoping to trip him up with a trick question. The people around them are leaning in to hear which of the Ten Commandments Jesus will pick. But watch what Jesus does:

Mark 12 (Common English Bible)

28 One of the legal experts heard their dispute and saw how well Jesus answered them. He came over and asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

29 Jesus replied, “The most important one is Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord, 30 and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

Jesus responds by quoting the ”Shema” from the book of Deuteronomy. The word ”shema” means to listen. There is a special meaning in this: not only does he give them the traditional faith prayer of his people, which commands them to listen, but he is also instructing the people around him to listen as he clarifies the greatest commandment. Here is the full text of the Shema:

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 New Revised Standard Version).

Jesus instructs them to listen up! First and foremost, love God with all your heart, and soul, and strength.

Then he continues:

 31 The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”

Jews familiar with Scripture would hear the echo of Leviticus:

 Leviticus 19:18; “Forget about the wrong things people do to you. Don’t try to get even. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (ERV)

Jesus’ response is a beautiful rendering of the Ten Commandments in two statements. The first statement blends the first through the fourth commandments, which address our relationship with God. The second statement combines the fifth through the tenth commandments, which instruct us on how to act toward one another.

Even the legal expert was impressed!

32 The legal expert said to him, “Well said, Teacher. You have truthfully said that God is one and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love God with all of the heart, a full understanding, and all of one’s strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is much more important than all kinds of entirely burned offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered with wisdom, he said to him, “You aren’t far from God’s kingdom.” After that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

In the end, loving God with all that you have and loving your neighbor with all that you are pretty much covers everything. These commandments truly are the G.O.A.T. and we are called to live by them every day.

What can you do today to share your love of God with someone? Where is God calling you to reach out to a neighbor in love and service?

Wherever God leads you, go and do it. Then you can be a goat, too.

Dolphin Tales by Michelle Robertson

Rule Forever

Posted on by Betsy

Several years ago I was blessed to travel to Israel. I will never forget this trip of a lifetime. Some of my wonderful memories include watching the sun set over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and riding a camel. By the way, camels are mean! I also remember watching faithful Jews praying at the Western Wall. This historic location is the site of the temples in Jerusalem up through Jesus’ time. It is a space that is shared by Muslims, Jews, and Christians. All three of these religions have significant history there.

On the Jewish side, there is access to the wall itself, and visitors are invited to place rolled up prayer requests between the ancient stones and pray there. We watched as Jewish families prayed, with men and women separated by a thick curtain. One striking feature of the prayers was how people stood as they prayed. They bowed continuously from the waist with hands clasped and heads lowered, murmuring their prayers in a low, harmonic hum. As I stood there placing the prayers that I had carried from my church in the mortar cracks, I closed my eyes and listened to all of the many languages that were being lifted up. I had a strong conviction that this is what heaven sounds like. Watching the faithful Jews lined up and facing the wall as they bobbed and weaved was a marvelous sight. The sound was even better.

The origin of this practice is found in an interpretation of Psalm 146, which encourages us to praise the Lord with our ”whole being.” So rather than sit in a passive attitude thinking their prayers, these men and women gathered at the wall were engaging their ”whole being” in a physical expression of moving through the prayer.

Psalm 146 (Common English Bible)

    Let my whole being praise the Lord!
2 I will praise the Lord with all my life;
    I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

Now pay attention to this next part, and remember that it was written thousands of years ago in a much different political environment than the one we live in today:

3 Don’t trust leaders;
    don’t trust any human beings—
    there’s no saving help with them!
4 Their breath leaves them,
    then they go back to the ground.
    On that very same day, their plans die too.

So maybe the political environment thousands of years ago was not that much different than today! Truth is truth. God’s truth will always abide … the rest is just fleeting breath and temporary manmade plans. The only way to find help is through God. The only way to find happiness is by resting your hope on the Lord. Human beings will let you down all the time, but God gives justice to the oppressed, bread to the starving, and freedom to the prisoners.

5 The person whose help is the God of Jacob—
    the person whose hope rests on the Lord their God—
    is truly happy!
6 God: the maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever,
7     who gives justice to people who are oppressed,
    who gives bread to people who are starving!
The Lord: who frees prisoners.
8     The Lord: who makes the blind see.
    The Lord: who straightens up those who are bent low.
    The Lord: who loves the righteous.
9     The Lord: who protects immigrants,
        who helps orphans and widows,
        but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!

10 The Lord will rule forever!
    Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!

Today, make your prayers active prayers. Move around, take a walk, pray out loud. Let your WHOLE being praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Maker of Heaven and Earth by Beverly Mineo

Job Satisfaction

Posted on by Betsy

I truly dislike doing the laundry. I am that person who waits until the hamper is full, and then I finally and begrudgingly haul it down two flights of stairs to process it through the washer and dryer. Too often it ends up in the dryer for a day, requiring it to have to be fluffed again to de-wrinkle the load. Then I fold it all and haul it back upstairs, where it sits neatly folded in the laundry basket for several more days. When I need the laundry basket again, I finally put the last of the clean clothes away and start the process all over again. Like I said, I dislike doing the laundry! Why? BECAUSE IT IS NEVER REALLY FINISHED. It just goes on, and on, and on … wash, rinse, repeat. The same goes for housework, grocery shopping, cooking … there is no such thing as job satisfaction with any of that nonsense!

Before Jesus came, the people of Israel had the same problem with all of their ritual sacrifices and offerings. Just as they would complete one, it needed to be repeated. Remember the time when Jesus turned over the money lenders’ tables at the Temple in Jerusalem? They had set up shop to provide animals for the yearly altar sacrifices that were part of the annual pilgrimage to the Temple. Making these offerings was something that was never really finished … wash, rinse, repeat every year.

Jesus did more than turn over the tables … he turned over the world. He replaced the priests and their offering systems. He replaced the offering. He became the once and for all sacrifice that never needs repeating, because he is the holy, incorrupt, innocent, and ultimate sacrifice for our sins:

Hebrews 7 (Common English Bible)

23 The others who became priests are numerous because death prevented them from continuing to serve. 24 In contrast, he holds the office of priest permanently because he continues to serve forever. 25 This is why he can completely save those who are approaching God through him, because he always lives to speak with God for them.

The supremacy of Christ as the mediator for our sins is cleanly laid out in this chapter. What a marvelous gift! He is the only one who can save us, and he lives to speak with God for us. What do you wish he would say about you right now? What intercession do you need Jesus to make on your behalf as he and his father are chatting today?

26 It’s appropriate for us to have this kind of high priest: holy, innocent, incorrupt, separate from sinners, and raised high above the heavens. 27 He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests, first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people. He did this once for all when he offered himself. 28 The Law appoints people who are prone to weakness as high priests, but the content of the solemn pledge, which came after the Law, appointed a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Jesus is the one and done, the end all, the be all, and the real deal. When he sacrificed himself for the sins of the world, the need for us to keep repeating the same useless burnt offerings to cleanse our sins ended forever. The only offering we need to make now is our repentance.

Need to get something off your chest today? Go to Jesus. He and his father are listening.

Burnt Offering by Michelle Robertson

Boundaries

Posted on by Betsy

Hurricane season in 2021 began in June and is forecast to end on November 30th. Living on the coastal waters of the Outer Banks in North Carolina, I pay attention to this. We continue to have ”red flag days,” where swimming is prohibited due to dangerous surf conditions brought by passing off-shore storms. The key part of that sentence is ”off-shore storms.” It is not over yet, but we are beginning to exhale just a tiny bit as the season winds down with no direct impact this year. (Please Lord, make it so.) Our friends in Louisiana took a double portion of hurricanes this year, and I know that they are also anxiously awaiting the end of hurricane season.

People in other parts of the country probably think that the worst devastation from a storm comes when it makes a direct hit on the shore. I spoke with a woman from Michigan last week who thought it would be safer to live on the sound than the beach. In truth, there can just as much devastation when the west-side sounds flood as a result of the hurricane’s ability to displace tons of water in a short amount of time. When the sound returns, it returns with a vengeance.

Today’s Psalm offers a word of comfort for those times when we feel a storm coming and we fear for our safety. Those storms can be weather-related or situational. Storms of anger, betrayal, depression, confusion, and hopelessness can feel just as damaging to your spirit as a full-on Cat 5.

The psalmist begins with beautiful praise language:

Psalm 104 (Common English Bible)

 Let my whole being bless the Lord!
    Lord my God, how fantastic you are!
    You are clothed in glory and grandeur!
2 You wear light like a robe;
    you open the skies like a curtain.
3 You build your lofty house on the waters;
    you make the clouds your chariot,
    going around on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers;
    you make fire and flame your ministers.
5 You established the earth on its foundations
    so that it will never ever fall.

Let the image of God wearing light like a robe and going around in a chariot of clouds sit with you for a moment. Isn’t that beautiful? Breathe it in.

6 You covered it with the watery deep like a piece of clothing;
    the waters were higher than the mountains!
7 But at your rebuke they ran away;
    they fled in fear at the sound of your thunder.
8 They flowed over the mountains,
    streaming down the valleys
    to the place you established for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross
    so they’ll never again cover the earth.

This is where I find comfort. God set a boundary for the waters that they cannot cross, so they’ll never again cover the earth. Even when the worst storm is raging, God is still in control. Even when the winds of change are assaulting us and the waters of despair are rising, God is still in control. Even when the husband leaves, the baby gets sick, the business fails, the job is lost, the parent dies … even then, God is still in control.

I hope this brings you comfort today. God has set a boundary around your life and has wrapped you in a robe of eternity. The resurrection guarantees that no storm can permanently harm you, even when you are in the midst of one and it feels like there is no way out.

There is. His name is Jesus.

Stormy Weather by Michelle Robertson

On Your Feet

Posted on by Betsy

When I was about four years old, I had an accident that almost cost me my sight. My mother was cleaning the wall oven in our kitchen with an Easy-Off product that was very caustic. She was applying it to the open door of the oven with the brush-in-the-lid applicator when I quietly came around the corner and startled her. The brush flicked a gob of oven cleaner straight into my eye, burning my eyeball in an instant.

Mom was amazingly good at thinking on her feet, and grabbed the glass of water I had in my hand and flushed my eye. She then ran me to the tub and flushed out the eye even more, amidst my howls and screams. I think I may have been in more danger of drowning than losing my sight at that point. Then she wrapped me in a towel and ran five blocks with me to our local GP. My father had taken our only car to work that day, and the doctor’s practice was located in an addition to his house.

He filled my eyes with some kind of dye to assess the damage. This is my only memory of the event … the rest of it is only known to me through hearing the story told. I have a clear memory of sitting on his examination table in the dark with my eyes closed. Naturally I had kept them shut as much as possible during the entire ordeal, with my right eye feeling as though it was on fire. They had to cajole me into opening them, and when I finally did, the darkened room was a lovely shade of blue, due to the dye. The doctor was using an ophthalmoscope, moving it back and forth to assess the damage. As I looked at my mother’s anxious face, haloed in blue, I said to her, ”Mommy! You are so pretty in blue!” Thus they knew that my sight had survived the ordeal. I got my lollipop and we walked home.

Sight, in all of its many forms, is a precious thing.

Today’s passage tells the story of a blind man who is healed by Jesus, Son of David:

Mark 10 (New International Version)

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

This an interesting detail that Mark thoughtfully included. This entire community knew the man. He sat in the same place every day, begging for enough coins to sustain him. And yet the minute he has a chance to be healed, they shushed him.

Sometimes society likes to keep its status quo by silencing those who sit at the bottom of the class structure . The hungry, the poor, the disabled, the homeless, the immigrant, the mentally ill … aren’t we guilty of looking the other way and just wishing they wouldn’t bother us?

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

This is exactly what we are meant to do as well. Call over the ones who are hurting. Call over the ones who need help. Call over the ones who need JESUS.

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

Again, Mark blesses us with detail. Don’t you love it when they say to the blind man, ”Cheer up!”? What a happy moment. They know what is coming. They know the next part of the story. They know what their savior can do.

Do you?

And don’t miss the detail of the man throwing his cloak aside. It is very probable that this is this man’s only possession. Think about that! Would you be willing to give up every thing you owned to have an encounter Jesus? The rich young ruler couldn’t. (Mark 10:17-31)

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Perhaps the greatest teaching in this passage is found in the newly-sighted man’s response. The minute he finally saw Jesus, he followed him.

Can you see Jesus actively working in your life? Do you need to be healed? Would you give up everything to follow him?

As we ponder these things today, may God grant us wisdom and insight into everything he is doing in our lives.

Open your eyes! Jesus is calling.

Miracles Around Us by Bev Mineo

Are you looking for a Christmas devotional book? Check this out!

Where Were You

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been put in your place? Has a moment of brash talk ever resulted in someone “setting you straight”? It hurts, doesn’t it? I’ve been there and felt that. In hindsight, it was not so much a punishing experience as it was a learning experience. These moments of correction are painful, and often necessary. But we have to be open to their instruction … that’s the trick.

In today’s passage we find God giving Job the ultimate moment of instruction. Wowzers, this is a doozy. God begins by calling Job a “darkening counsel” and says that Job’s words lack knowledge:

Job 38 (Common English Bible)

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

2 Who is this darkening counsel
    with words lacking knowledge?
3 Prepare yourself like a man;
    I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me.

Yikes. But as you read this next part, see how God describes all of his omnipotent power in a way that is reassuring, even as Job is being rebuked:

The establishing of order

4 Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?
    Tell me if you know.
5 Who set its measurements? Surely you know.
    Who stretched a measuring tape on it?
6 On what were its footings sunk;
    who laid its cornerstone,
7     while the morning stars sang in unison
        and all the divine beings shouted?

Can you issue an order to the clouds
    so their abundant waters cover you?
35 Can you send lightning so that it goes
    and then says to you, “I’m here”?
36 Who put wisdom in remote places,
    or who gave understanding to a rooster?
37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds,
        and who can tilt heaven’s water containers
38     so that dust becomes mud
        and clods of dirt adhere?

If you needed to be reminded of who is in control, this is it. God sends lightning and wisdom alike. He counts the clouds, tilts heaven’s water containers, and gives understanding to the rooster. Can you do that?

Lion and raven

39 Can you hunt prey for the lion
    or fill the cravings of lion cubs?
40 They lie in their den,
    lie in ambush in their lair.
41 Who provides food for the raven
    when its young cry to God,
    move about without food?

Job is a righteous man who experiences a humbling lesson. So should we. But rather than receive these words as a chastisement, as Job had to, may we embrace them as a beautiful reminder that God is God … and we are not.

Thanks be to God!

Smart Kitty Hawkers

Descriptions

Posted on by Betsy

Online shopping has taught us to be very careful about reading descriptions. Size, color, texture, weight, and even other people’s reviews are all helpful as we are trying to discern what a product is actually like. If you have ever ordered something without paying attention to the description, this may have been part of the learning curve for you. It was for me!

In the beginning of the pandemic, I panic-ordered hand sanitizer from an unfamiliar source and failed to look at the description closely. Where the picture (and the price!!) was indicative of a large bottle that would sit by your kitchen sink for family use, the actual product was a very expensive pocket-sized container. Thank goodness I ordered two!

The scriptures are full of descriptions of Jesus. John 3:16 gives the most concise description: ”For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” (I did that from memory … the King James Version was all the rage when this kid was in Sunday School.)

When I was researching scripture for ADVENTuring to the Manger: 25 Devotionals for Christmas, I stumbled upon a great explanation for the ”why” of Christmas in the book of Titus, of all places:

Titus 3 (Contemporary English Version)

God our Savior showed us
    how good and kind he is.
5 He saved us because
    of his mercy,
and not because
of any good things
    that we have done.

God washed us by the power
    of the Holy Spirit.
He gave us new birth
    and a fresh beginning.
6 God sent Jesus Christ
our Savior
    to give us his Spirit.

7 Jesus treated us much better
    than we deserve.
He made us acceptable to God
and gave us the hope
    of eternal life.

Reading the description makes us much more aware of the qualities and special aspects of the subject. Titus beautifully describes the grace that was involved in Jesus’ coming.

I don’t think anyone would argue that some of the best descriptions of Jesus come from the book of Isaiah. This Old Testament prophet had a working knowledge of the suffering servant that was yet to come. His description came with no reviews, as he was describing something that hadn’t even happened yet. Unlike the eyewitness accounts of the Gospel writers, Isaiah only had prophetic visions to rely on … and yet he provided some of the most accurate and beautiful language about our Savior:

Isaiah 53 (Common English Bible)

It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
    and our sufferings that he bore,
    but we thought him afflicted,
    struck down by God and tormented.
5 He was pierced because of our rebellions
    and crushed because of our crimes.
    He bore the punishment that made us whole;
    by his wounds we are healed.
6 Like sheep we had all wandered away,
    each going its own way,
    but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes.

7 He was oppressed and tormented,
    but didn’t open his mouth.
Like a lamb being brought to slaughter,
    like a ewe silent before her shearers,
    he didn’t open his mouth.

11 After his deep anguish he will see light, and he will be satisfied.
Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant,
    will make many righteous,
    and will bear their guilt.

He was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed because of our sins.

He bore the punishment THAT MADE US WHOLE.

By his wounds we are healed.

Ponder that today. Who is Jesus to you? If you were to write a description of him, what would you say? How would you describe our Wonderful Counselor?

Do this today … and write it on your heart.

Cloud Mountains by Scott Brown

The Helpers

Posted on by Betsy

I cannot imagine going through life without helpers. I am blessed to be married to a man who knows how to fix things, how to cook amazing dinners, and he always remembers where I left my shoes. Not everyone is so lucky … after all, he’s married to me.

There is an interconnectedness of life that was intentional in God’s design. We were made to live in community. God’s plan was for harmony in his creation, so when discord breaks out, it truly grieves him. We are given to one another in order to help, support, build up, and encourage. Families, groups, churches, sports teams, institutions…every basic unit of life functions better when acceptance is given, help is available, individuals are lifted up by the group, and the strong look out for the weak. None of us is meant to go it alone. This is why twelve step groups like AA, NA, and Al Anon are so successful.

Everyone needs a helper.

Our need for others was built into us from the very beginning:

Genesis 2 (New International Version)

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Is God telling you to offer help to someone today? Or has he shown you that you need to reach out to a friend and ask for help? This is a game where we all take turns. Sometimes you give help, and sometimes you need help. When we participate in a community of helpers, we experience the genius and the blessing of God’s creation.

A friend has recently been going through a very hard time and she has been emailing me through the process. I can see in her emails that the act of talking through things and then listening to my supportive responses is helping her. What she may not know is that it is helping me, too. To come alongside someone in a challenging life-moment is a blessing that is shared. As I see her making good decisions and moving on with her life, I am relieved to know that my friend is going to be okay. When we both look back at this time, we will be able to celebrate how much stronger our friendship became through this adversity. A burden shared is a burden halved.

And it’s really not that hard to be someone’s helper. I sent my friend a meme that said “Trust your hard work. It’s unlocking doors you can’t see yet.” A few weeks later she sent me a picture of her work computer. She had printed out the meme and taped it to her monitor as a daily reminder. It took me less than a minute to send it to her, and it is giving her encouragement every day. God works through the helpers!

Sometimes all a person needs is a kind text, a quick phone call, a casserole to be delivered, or a lovely card to be sent. You know how it feels to be on the receiving end of such kindness … so let us be about helping someone today.

God said it is not good for us to be alone. Be somebody’s somebody today.

The Birds in the Sky by Michelle Robertson