#dailydevotionals

Start your day with morning coffee and a devotional.

Live Oaks

Posted on by Betsy

Live oaks are common trees in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Their majestic crowns can spread to over 150 feet and they provide shelter and food for many animals, including birds, wild turkeys, squirrels, black bears, and deer. Found primarily in the south, live oaks grow well in salty soils and in the shade. My community of Colington Harbour is surrounded by these beautiful trees, some of which are hundreds of years old. For centuries, live oaks were the preferred timber for shipbuilding due to their incredibly strong wood. In fact, the U.S.S. Constitution was constructed with live oak timber and earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” when her hull survived repeated canon fire in the war of 1812. There is a stunning live oak at the end of my street. The sun sets behind it and people walk down the street in the evening every day to take in the beautiful scene.

Our beautiful psalm today speaks of a tree planted by the streams of water. This tree bears fruit and its leaves don’t fade. The psalmist uses this word-picture to encourage us to choose a path of righteousness that would make us like these trees. This path is one of reading, reciting, and meditating on God’s word.

Psalm 1 (Common English Bible)

1 The truly happy person
    doesn’t follow wicked advice,
    doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,
    and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful.
2 Instead of doing those things,
    these persons love the Lord’s Instruction,
    and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!
3 They are like a tree replanted by streams of water,
    which bears fruit at just the right time
    and whose leaves don’t fade.
        Whatever they do succeeds.

By contrast, we also can choose the path of the wicked. This path results in dust that the wind simply blows away. The psalmist reminds us that sinners cannot enter the assembly of the righteous. This path has no joy or hope and ends in destruction.

4 That’s not true for the wicked!
    They are like dust that the wind blows away.
5 And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—
    neither will sinners
    in the assembly of the righteous.
6 The Lord is intimately acquainted
    with the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked is destroyed.

Verse 1 offers a warning about the progression of sin. Notice the movement from walk to stand to sit. We can imagine the path that temptation takes in this verse. When we are tempted we walk toward something we should not have, stand for a moment of decision, and then choose to sit into it. The righteous don’t do this. They remain truly happy by setting healthy boundaries around themselves lest they fall into temptation.

If you think about it, we have that choice to make every day. We can refuse to associate with the wicked and disrespectful and choose to follow God’s instructions. We can read and meditate on God’s word. The psalmist assures us that this will result in happiness and success.

I think I would prefer to be a live oak, planted by the waters rather than dust. How about you?

Live Oak on the Sound

The Overfed

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever seen someone in a position of popularity, wealth, or power and thought, “How can you have so much?” I think that every time I see Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, who are the richest men in the world. How did they get there? Whether it’s the NFL’s highest paid player, a musician like Taylor Swift who rakes in millions with every concert, the highest paid actor, or any of the rich politicians who dominate our news feeds with their own brand of nonsense, people at the “top” and their prosperity can surely make you scratch your head. The person running your local food pantry, the young pastor who lays awake at night worrying about his church, the volunteer firefighter spending the night at the station away from her family, the underpaid nurse who loves her patients … these folks do their jobs quietly without the celebrity and fanfare of those others. It is easy to envy the wealth and popularity of the rich, but you have to wonder, does God bless their prosperity?

When ungodly people prosper, it is normal to wonder where God is.

Psalm 73 was written by Asaph, the great singer and musician of David and Solomon’s eras. He began with the confident assertion that God is good to those who have a pure heart but then confessed that his confidence nearly slipped when he observed the arrogant, wicked people and noticed how well off they are.

Psalm 73 (Common English Bible)

Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those who are have a pure heart.
2 But me? My feet had almost stumbled;
    my steps had nearly slipped
3     because I envied the arrogant;
    I observed how the wicked are well off:
4 They suffer no pain;
    their bodies are fit and strong.
5 They are never in trouble;
    they aren’t weighed down like other people.

You can almost hear his unspoken question. God is good, but if the wicked prosper, what is the good of being good? The overfed, in their privileged positions, speak against heaven. Where is God?

6 That’s why they wear arrogance like a necklace,
    why violence covers them like clothes.
7 Their eyes bulge out from eating so well;
    their hearts overflow with delusions.
8 They scoff and talk so cruel;
    from their privileged positions
    they plan oppression.
9 Their mouths dare to speak against heaven!
    Their tongues roam the earth!
10 That’s why people keep going back to them,
    keep approving what they say.

Well, God is where you can always go when you are seeking his presence. God is in the sanctuary, where we meet and encounter eternity. God is in our praise and our worship. God is faithful to the pure in heart and will not abide those who are far from his will and his word which all people are called to obey. God is in us. Those who are far from God will perish.

15 If I said, “I will talk about all this,”
    I would have been unfaithful to your children.
16 But when I tried to understand these things,
    it just seemed like hard work
17     until I entered God’s sanctuary
        and understood what would happen to the wicked.

So the next time you encounter a person’s earthly wealth and status, remember this: the heavenly reward for your righteousness will far exceed any temporal advantage the people at the “top” enjoy here on earth. God indeed is good to those who are pure in heart.

His Bill Can Hold More than his Belican by Michelle Robertson

Big Daddy

Posted on by Betsy

I have just returned from a wonderful family weekend where we celebrated my father-in-law’s 94th birthday. That is not a typo, folks! 94 years of life on this earth, working, loving, laughing, and providing for his family as a Naval officer for over 30 years. Our time together was kind of a replay of the life my husband’s family lived. There were jokes, stories told again, joy, mayhem, and a feeling of connectedness that was bred into them by their parents. Everyone came together with a helping hand and a happy heart. Even Muffin the cat had a great time getting extra ear rubs.

We often use familial language when referencing our relationships with our church and the larger body of Christ. We call one another brothers and sisters and refer to God as our Abba, a beautiful Aramaic word that best translates as “Daddy.” This word signifies the close and intimate relationship of love and trust between father and child. You may remember that Jesus called God his Abba Father. In Mark 14:36, Jesus called out to his Abba in a moment of agony and asked if perhaps the cup of suffering (the impending crucifixion) might be taken from him if it was Abba’s will. This alone should give us permission to cry out to our Abba Father in any moment of hurt, confusion, and deep distress. Both Paul and Jesus related to God as their big Daddy who will rush to their aid, fix any problem, and never leave their side.

Romans 8 (Common English Bible)

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it isn’t an obligation to ourselves to live our lives on the basis of selfishness. 13 If you live on the basis of selfishness, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. 14 All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 

15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.”16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.

Paul wrote Romans while in Corinth as he wintered there during his third missionary journey. He had been a preacher of the Good News of Jesus Christ for 20 years. Romans is a sophisticated and well-articulated theological statement of faith that is incredibly timeless. If you have time today, read the whole book. Unlike his other letters where he addressed issues that were being faced by each church, Romans focuses on God’s plan for salvation.

This beautiful father-child relationship that Paul described in this passage comes with an obligation to live by the Spirit. The Spirit of God leads us in all paths of righteousness and away from the selfishness of being led by the flesh/body. Fear has no place here: We are children of God and have nothing to fear, even suffering. The cup that our Lord took on our behalf ensures that we need not fear death, for his death brought us life. As Paul said, we can “also be glorified with him” (verse 17). So even in our suffering, we are assured that there are better days ahead.

Think about your relationship with God. Do you experience God as Abba, Father, or as a harsh judge? Do you know him as your trusted Daddy, or do you fear his wrath? God desires to sit at our family birthday parties and share the joy.

Won’t you let him in?

Heirs by Michelle Robertson

How To Be Happy

Posted on by Betsy

A few days ago I sat down to write and nothing happened. I stared down Psalm 112 and it just stared right back at me. I mean, it’s a lovely psalm, but for some reason, nothing was coming to my mind. I looked at the seagulls, went for a run, ran errands, and returned in the afternoon to resume our blinking contest.

It didn’t blink.

In the midst of my writer’s block, I got the most unexpected phone call from a friend who started the conversation with “That opening sentence that you wrote this morning was one of the funniest things that I have ever read.” I was completely startled and a little scared. He went on to say that he thought about it all day and was still laughing. Because I write and schedule my devotionals several days out, I actually had no idea which opening sentence he was referring to. That was embarrassing!

He encouraged me to keep writing and told me he enjoys reading my online devotionals every day. He could not have known how timely and much-needed that phone call was. I have taken on an additional assignment from my Cokesbury publisher that has a short due-date (the original writer suddenly dropped out) and I just needed that boost of support that his phone call gave me. This happy voice with a happy message from a pretty happy fellow was good medicine.

When I went back to Psalm 112, I suddenly realized that it was talking about this man, and the people in our lives who shine in the dark and are truly good people. He indeed is a man who honors the Lord, adores God’s commandments, and is one of the happiest people I know.

Do you have people in your life who stop what they are doing to speak a good word into your faltering afternoon? Are you the kind of person who reaches out to friends who are feeling low? What a gift you are!

Psalm 112 is an acrostic poem, which means that the first word of each line follows the Hebrew alphabet. Writers liked the order and convention that this form gave their poetry. There is also a sense of completeness, as the psalm goes A to Z … or Alef to Tav, actually.

Psalm 112 (Common English Bible)

Praise the Lord!
    Those who honor the Lord,
    who adore God’s commandments, are truly happy!
2 Their descendants will be strong throughout the land.
    The offspring of those who do right will be blessed;
3     wealth and riches will be in their houses.
    Their righteousness stands forever.
4 They shine in the dark for others who do right.
    They are merciful, compassionate, and righteous.

5 Those who lend generously are good people—
    as are those who conduct their affairs with justice.
6 Yes, these sorts of people will never be shaken;
    the righteous will be remembered forever!

Verses 7 and 8 speak of the hearts of these righteous people. Their hearts are steady, trusting, firm and unafraid. In contrast, the wicked will disappear to nothing.

Like Psalm 1, Psalm 112 offers us the choice of pursuing the path of righteousness which leads to happiness or wickedness that leads to nothing. Pretty simple, yes? Well, not always. Heartache, circumstances beyond our control, betrayals, and other life disappointments will come our way and interfere with our happiness, but it certainly gives us something to strive for.

7 They won’t be frightened at bad news.
    Their hearts are steady, trusting in the Lord.
8 Their hearts are firm; they aren’t afraid.
    In the end, they will witness their enemies’ defeat.
9 They give freely to those in need.
    Their righteousness stands forever.
    Their strength increases gloriously.
10 The wicked see all this and fume;
        they grind their teeth, but disappear to nothing.
    What the wicked want to see happen comes to nothing!

Are you looking to increase your happiness? Read Psalm 112 again. It’s all spelled out from A to Z.

Happiness by Michelle Robertson

Help Along the Way

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever started a project, journey, mission, or endeavor with a single goal in mind, only to be completely and utterly redirected to a brand new frontier, one you hadn’t even considered before? I have. I once visited a church member’s son in the county jail at her request and ended up doing prison ministry for the next five years. Never in my life would I have guessed God’s redirection would land me there! But there was a guard at the jail who was a good Christian man, and he kept inviting me back to meet with new inmates who needed pastoral care. Every time I went, this man made sure I was ushered quickly into the clergy room and was offered a cup of water to drink. His hospitality in that cold and disarming place was part of the reason I returned for so long.

Something similar happened to Paul. In our reading today, he expressed his desire to preach the gospel in places where people have never heard of Christ. His immediate plan was to go to Jerusalem to extend the hospitality and the contributions of the Christians in Macedonia and Achaia to the Christians in Jerusalem. He wrote to the church in Rome that as soon as this mission was accomplished, he would return to them to receive their hospitality on his way to Spain, where the Gospel hadn’t been heard yet.

Romans 15 (Common English Bible)

20 In this way, I have a goal to preach the gospel where they haven’t heard of Christ yet, so that I won’t be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Instead, as it’s written, Those who hadn’t been told about him will see, and those who hadn’t heard will understand.

Travel plans to visit Rome

22 That’s why I’ve been stopped so many times from coming to see you. 23 But now, since I don’t have any place to work in these regions anymore, and since I’ve wanted to come to see you for many years, 24 I’ll visit you when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while I’m passing through. And I hope you will send me on my way there, after I have first been reenergized by some time in your company.

Hospitality was vital to the growth of the early church. Paul had to depend on the welcome generosity of the churches he had founded in order to make his way from Rome, his base of operations in the western part of the empire, to Antioch, his eastern base of operations. He relied on them to “send him on his way” after a time of being reenergized by their company.

25 But now I’m going to Jerusalem, to serve God’s people.26 Macedonia and Achaia have been happy to make a contribution for the poor among God’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were happy to do this, and they are actually in debt to God’s people in Jerusalem. If the Gentiles got a share of the Jewish people’s spiritual resources, they ought to minister to them with material resources. 28 So then after I have finished this job and have safely delivered the final amount of the Gentiles’ offering to them, I will leave for Spain, visiting you on the way. 29 And I know that when I come to you I will come with the fullest blessing of Christ.

Paul’s desire to make his way to Spain turned into an unexpected imprisonment in a jail in Rome. But there, he had the unexpected opportunity to preach to the emperor of Rome, as told in the last several chapters in Acts. He did deliver the offering to Jerusalem, and eventually made his way to Spain, but obediently followed God’s redirection in the meantime.

We learn two valuable lessons here. First, we are called to extend hospitality to others who are traveling through our town, beginning at home when people enter our churches for the first time. Is your church hospitable to newcomers and the surrounding community? Second, we see by Paul’s example that things don’t always go to plan. But when we allow God to direct our feet on the paths of God’s own choosing, we will never go astray. Thanks be to God!

Come on In! The Water’s Fine.

Heaven Opens

Posted on by Betsy

What do you believe happens in baptism? Your answer will likely reflect your denomination’s beliefs on the subject. In the United Methodist church, we believe this about baptism:

Christ constitutes the church as his body by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13, 27). The church draws new people into itself as it seeks to remain faithful to its commission to proclaim and exemplify the gospel. Baptism is the sacrament of initiation and incorporation into the body of Christ. (United Methodist Church Book of Discipline, paragraph 216, page 156.)

So, we understand the sacrament of baptism to be a beginning point, or an “initiation” into the household of God, from which we will grow in our understanding of God, increase our faith, participate in the life of the church, and confirm our hope for the kingdom of heaven as it is on earth.

In our passage from Luke today, we observe Jesus’ baptism, which was also an initiation point for him. His ministry began in that moment. Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him with power and purpose:

Luke 3 (Common English Bible)

21 When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”

Immediately the Spirit led him straight into Faith Formation Bootcamp, where he had the opportunity to grow in his knowledge of God and have his strength and purpose defined by his battle with the devil there.

Jesus’ temptation

4 Jesus returned from the Jordan River full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

After completing his cross-fit strength training, he immediately went about the task of telling the people who he was, and more importantly, whose he was.

Jesus announces good news to the poor

14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside.

Are you baptized? For what purpose? Are you actively engaged in your own Faith Formation Bootcamp, or are you ignoring your mission and allowing others to do the work of the kingdom?

All of us are called to God’s purpose, which is confirmed through our baptism. Heaven opened up the day you were baptized! God looked upon the baptismal waters and claimed you by saying, “You are mine. In you, I find happiness.”

Like Jesus, we have work to do. Let’s get to it!

Come to the Water by Colin Snider

Dependence

Posted on by Betsy

Can dogs tell time? I think they can. Every evening at exactly 6:00 my very large Labrador Retriever named Georgia arises from her nap and stares me down until I get up and feed her dinner. Exactly at 6:00! Georgia and I have a mutually dependent relationship. I depend on her for her unconditional love expressed through tail wags, and she depends on me for everything in her life: her health and well-being, her sustenance, her shelter, her playtime … just as I depend on God for these things. The first line of Psalm 104, attributed to David, says it all. “All your creations wait for you to give them their food on time.” David was a keen observer of the nature that surrounded him. This verse made me laugh, thinking of how our pets know it’s time to eat. Does your pet do that?

Psalm 104 (Common English Bible)

All your creations wait for you
    to give them their food on time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled completely full!
29 But when you hide your face, they are terrified;
    when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to dust.
30 When you let loose your breath, they are created,
    and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.

A better translation of “on time” in verse 1 is “in God’s timing.” This alludes to the fact that we are completely dependent on God to provide for us, and it only happens in God’s time. That is an important concept to understand as we mature in our faith. Our daily bread will always be offered to keep us going, but there are other things that we need to wait on God to provide, such as resolutions to our conflicts, answers to prayer, and receiving provision only when we are able to manage it. And sometimes that provision comes in ways we didn’t expect. In those moments we must allow God to be God and give us what we need rather than what we want. When we pray for healing and it comes in the form of death, this is a bitter pill to take. When we pray for help with a marriage that is falling apart and God delivers us through divorce, we have to accept God’s wisdom. When we pray for things we can’t handle, God’s withholding is for our own good.

Verse 28 reminds us that when God provides, we are called to “gather it up.” Like chickens in the barnyard who scatter at the farmer’s feet to receive the corn, we have to come to God in an attitude of humble gratitude for whatever God sees fit to provide. We need both wisdom and effort when it comes to receiving our Lord’s merciful gifts, knowing that everything we are being given comes from God’s goodness and God’s wisdom, which is much higher than our own.

Recognizing our dependance on God is a reason to sing. The Spirit is ready and able to create new things in us and for us with every breath. May we sing to the Lord as long as we live, and may our whole beings bless the Lord.

31 Let the Lord’s glory last forever!
    Let the Lord rejoice in all he has made!
32 He has only to look at the earth, and it shakes.
    God just touches the mountains, and they erupt in smoke.

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I’m still alive.
34 Let my praise be pleasing to him;
    I’m rejoicing in the Lord!
35 Let sinners be wiped clean from the earth;
    let the wicked be no more.
But let my whole being bless the Lord!
    Praise the Lord!

God Provides by Michelle Robertson

Last, But Not Least

Posted on by Betsy

Today we will finish our look into Psalm 63. You’ll recall that King David wrote this in a wilderness of despair, as he was fleeing from his son’s attempted coup. In this bleak situation, he sought God and was able to praise him despite his situation. Perhaps it was easier for David to do this because he had come to know God’s lovingkindness first hand:

Psalm 63 (Common English Bible)

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

The Hebrew word for lovingkindness in this passage is hesed. Hesed is one of the most fundamental characteristics of God, consistent with what we know about His covenantal nature. Hesed is “wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty–in short, acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty,” elaborates Bible scholar Darrell L. Bock.

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, we see hesed translated in a number of different ways; steadfast love, mercy, kindness, and goodness. While these synonyms develop our understanding, they only just skim the surface of this multifaceted, rich word. It isn’t a romantic kind of love: indeed it is love in action, love given to the undeserving, love that is loyal to the point that it will never leave you. 

David learned about God’s deep well of hesed for him over the many trials and tribulations of his life. This “man after God’s own heart” pretty much broke all the 10 commandments during his lifetime, including adultery and murder, and yet could say in this moment that God’s hesed/lovingkindness is better than life itself, providing a feast of marrow and fat in the barren wilderness. 

Hesed was a mark of the early church. In the early times, there was a growing recognition of the uniqueness of the church in the general population because of the way Christians treated one another. Tertullian, who is called the Father of Western Theology, said, 

“It is our care for the helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. ‘Look!’ they say. ‘How they love one another! Look how they are prepared to die for one another’ ”

It was the same reaction of the unbelieving Greek writer Lucian (a.d. 120–200) upon observing the warm fellowship of Christians: 

“It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator [Jesus] has put it into their heads that they are brethren.”

I have a question for you this morning. Do you think that the church is still known for its extreme lovingkindness today? Do you think the secular world looks at us and can see how we help each other, sparing nothing, acting like brethren ready to die for one another? Or does the world see our in-fighting, our angry, accusing social media posts, and our schisms instead? Would they know we are Christians by our love today?

Church, this is a challenge to pick up the mantle of lovingkindness that David was writing about. We have received the greatest gift of God’s lovingkindness in the form of Jesus, who poured out hesed on the cross so that we might receive his love and his forgiveness of sins.

That is who we need to be to the world.

Ready to Hatch by Becca Ziegler

Next Things Next

Posted on by Betsy

Our last devotional focused on Psalm 63, a “psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.” Scholars estimate that David wrote about 73 psalms, so in addition to his other gifts of shepherding, leading a country, slaying giants, and establishing Jerusalem as the center of religious authority in Israel, he also was quite a proliferate poet. This particular psalm is striking in that it was written after he had fled Jerusalem when his son Absalom organized a coup and tried to have him killed. David had been king of Israel for over 30 years at this point, but when Prince Absalom raised an army against him, he fled east from Jerusalem to the other side of the Jordan river and ended up in the arid desert.

This isn’t David’s first time in the wilderness. As a young shepherd boy, he would drive his flock in the spring to graze on the grass and flowers that grew there during the brief rainy season. It was in this wilderness period that David practiced his rock-slinging and his hunting skills. He also meditated on the beauty of God’s creation and practiced his poetry, penning such phrases in Psalm 23:

“the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside the still waters.”

His second time in the wilderness was when crazy King Saul was trying to kill him. He found protection and solitude there, writing in Psalm 57: 

Be merciful to me, O God; be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    until the destroying storms pass by.
2 I cry to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame those who trample on me. 
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.

So here he is on his third venture to the wilderness. He is totally cut off from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, where he longs to be. His need to worship makes his soul thirst and his flesh long for God’s presence in the sanctuary.  See verse 2:

Psalm 63 (Common English Bible)

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.

2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

I have to say that when I read that verse, I was immediately reminded of how much we all longed for our sanctuaries during the pandemic. My church worshipped in a lot of weird places back then. Our first time worshipping over at an elementary school ball field parking lot was so hot, my cell phone stopped working and the live Facebook feed cut out. Then we moved over to the front lawn of our church and ladies wearing sandals discovered how many ant hills we have over there.

Probably my favorite non-sanctuary place was when the other pastor and I drove over to Island Farm on Roanoke Island, a working farm of horses, cows, and sheep. We filmed our Christmas Eve service there. I read a children’s story I had written for the service with the sheep gathered all around me, which was great until the handler worried that they were wandering out of the camera frame, so she threw some sheep food at my feet. Have you ever been rushed by 10 hungry sheep? On camera?? Boy was I longing for the Sanctuary on that day! And then there was the pre-dawn taping over in the creepy cemetery for the Easter Sunday service … suffice it to say, I missed the four walls of my church and I bet you missed your church, too. But those months taught us how to worship anywhere. David missed his sanctuary, and did you notice what he did? He immediately began to worship and praise exactly where he was.

This is something we all learn in the wilderness. Sometimes you experience a wilderness in your soul where joy and praise seem impossible. Some of you are in a wilderness right now. It may be a wilderness of confusion. It may be a wilderness of addiction. It may be a wilderness of extreme disappointment, physical ailments, loss of hope … we’ve all been in that dry desert at one point in our lives. But like David, you have to learn how to worship and praise exactly where you are.

I talked with a relative this week who is in a desert like this. Her 88-year-old parents are both suddenly failing. For months now she has been running from one hospital to another, from nursing home to hospice, and battling red tape and Medicare systems that offer no help. She is in a desert of despair. 

I spoke with one of my daughter’s friends who is struggling with a recent miscarriage and a life-long estrangement from her mother. She has no mother to turn to as she deals with her loss. She is in a desert of loneliness.

A former church member got in touch with me recently to seek advice about her crumbling marriage. Her husband struggles with an addiction to pornography that has completely eroded their intimacy. She is in a desert of mis-trust and insecurity.

David’s ability to worship in his desert is an inspiration and a challenge.

What is your wilderness today? Can you pause for a moment and seek God, even in the bleak dry place you are in?

Remember that God is even in your harshest moments. Just go find him.

Early I Will Seek Him by Faye Gardner

First Things First

Posted on by Betsy

I want to start today by taking a little survey. I am interested to know what the first thing is you do every morning. Not about multiple trips to the loo, but when you are finally up and about, what is the first thing you do?

I get coffee. My first act of the day is to tumble out of bed, stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition, then yawn and stretch and try to come alive. From that point I usually write for a few hours, walk the dog, go for a run, etc. but nothing happens until I have consumed that first cup of joe.

Apparently I am in good company. According to a survey done in January, over 73% of Americans drink coffee first thing in the morning. 51% purchase coffee from a coffee shop, 48% report that Starbucks coffee is their favorite brand, followed by Dunkin and Folgers. The survey also noted that 25% of people like to sip on espresso martinis, although maybe not first thing in the morning!! And weirdly, 16% of coffee drinkers prefer decaf, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. It’s like eating a reduced fat Oreo. Why?? Just why??

We’re talking about early morning habits this morning because today we are reading Psalm 63. David the poet-king clearly stated his early morning habit at the very beginning of this beautiful psalm. Early in the morning, David rises and seeks God:

Psalm 63 (NKJV) A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.

2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

6 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword;
They shall be a portion for jackals.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

This reference to seeking God early in the morning has made Psalm 63 a daily morning reading in the Eastern Orthodox Church for centuries.

I want to ask you something. What would your day be like if you sought God first thing every morning? Do you think the day might take shape differently? And what if those 73% of Americans reached for the Word of God first thing every day instead of coffee? What if we thirsted and longed for God the same way we thirst and long for coffee? Do you think that would make a difference in how people behave? I do. Perhaps we could be like our Eastern Orthodox friends and get up every morning and read this psalm aloud to start our day.

We’ll unpack this psalm over the next two devotionals, but for now, go back and read this psalm out loud. Perhaps we could make a practice of reading it out loud every morning and see how it shapes our day.

Are you in?

Early Rising by Michelle Robertson