Devotion | Pedestrian God

Because of God’s Faithful Love

Jun 27 2018

In Psalm 6, David cries out to God for mercy. Actually, he’s begging for mercy. He’s crying out that he is weak, his bones are shaking, and his whole being is shaken with terror.

In verse four, he begs, “Turn, Lord! Rescue me; save me because of your faithful love.”

This cry is a strong reminder of David’s understanding of the Lord’s faithfulness. He doesn’t ask the Lord to rescue him so that he, David, could escape his pain and fear. He doesn’t ask for rescue because of how many tremendous battles victories he had won.

He asks for rescuing based solely on the fact that God’s love is faithful.

David knows that God would keep His promise. He also knows that he, David, is unworthy. There’s nothing that he had done or could promise to do that would change God’s plan.

We should approach God in prayer the same way. When we are in distress, we should turn to God – not to worldly comforts like food, entertainment, or relationships.

Don’t be afraid to cry out to God. Tell Him exactly how you feel. And say out loud that you trust that He will be true to His faithful love.

Ending Disputes

May 08 2018

I don’t often find myself in quarrels. That’s not because I’m some incredibly selfless, patient, understanding person. Rather, it’s because, at my core, I’m a people pleaser. I want everyone to be happy – and not just happy – but happy with ME at all times.

So Proverbs 20:3 makes me chuckle when I read it:

Honor belongs to the person who ends a dispute, but any fool can get himself into a quarrel.

How true! There just seem to be some people who go looking for arguments. They get angry over the smallest matters. Rather than explain themselves or make a kind request, they jump straight to the attack.

Just like last Friday. I was trying to accomplish a task for a local nonprofit when someone began to yell at me when I asked for help. When I say “yell,” I mean all-out-angry-you’re-not-better-than-me type words. I was completely caught off guard. Without going into details, I can confidently say that they were being the foolish one. But at the same time, I can’t say that I was gaining honor.

Because even in that situation, I didn’t seek to end the dispute. Honestly, I just waited in stunned silence until the phone call was over. I didn’t provoke the situation and yet I didn’t seek reconciliation either.

Lessons from Prepositions

Apr 30 2018

Over the past two months, I have been slowly memorizing Ephesians chapter 1. I’m trying to get every word perfect. But the prepositions are killing me!

A preposition is a word that is usually before a noun or pronoun that expresses a relation to another word in the clause. They are words like “about,” “before,” and “in.”

Paul, an apostle OF Christ Jesus BY God’s Will, TO the faithful saints OF Christ Jesus, AT Ephesus

So many prepositions! Why couldn’t he just say, “From Paul to the saints?”

The entire chapter is written like that. Paul is constantly adding prepositional phrases like “For He chose us IN Him, BEFORE the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless IN love BEFORE Him.

His prepositions teach us a lot about God. Paul repeatedly uses the phrases “In Him” or “In Christ” to emphasize Jesus’ role in our salvation. He reiterates that everything is being brought together in Christ. That everything centers on Him.

And everything is done in love – not just ordinary love – but love so perfect that you and I are brought back to a right relationship with God because of it.

I’m thankful for these prepositions. I’m thankful that I’m IN Christ. That He chose me to be holy and blameless IN love. If you haven’t read Ephesians chapter 1 in a while, I encourage you to read it now – and pay special attention to the prepositions.

I’d love to hear from you – how has memorizing Scripture brought special attention to examples like this in your life? How do you best encourage yourself to make Scripture memorization a habit? Comment below or contact me on social media.

Sin’s Cycle

Apr 18 2018

Have you ever read a passage and Scripture and thought, I’m pretty sure I’ve read this somewhere else?

That happened to me the other day when I was reading Psalm 7. I found a verse that felt really familiar.

Psalm 7:14 says, “See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil, conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.”

It took a couple minutes for my brain to kick in. And then it went – hey, I know that example! The idea of evil conceiving and giving birth? The cycle of sin that progressively gets worse? James uses that same language!

Here it is from James 1:15: “Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.”

Don’t you love when you find places like that in Scripture that you hadn’t connected before?

It makes sense, after all, James was raised with a knowledge of the Old Testament. It’s likely that he learned the pregnancy metaphor from Psalm and continued it in his writing.

Walk to The Cross

Mar 26 2018

Have you heard that Pedestrian God has a new outreach through Amazon Echo? It’s called Daily Devotions for Women and it’s available as a Flash Briefing. Check it out! Each day this week, I walk through Jesus’ activities the last week He lived on earth.

I’ve gained a lot by reading through the gospel accounts of this week. Easter Sunday takes on a new meaning as I reflect on Jesus’ final days on earth.

I want to encourage each of you to do the same this week. You can use the daily Flash Briefing to provide an overview if you like. Then study and meditate for yourself.

Don’t rely on me or anyone else to interpret Scripture for you. Read the Bible for yourself. I highly recommend starting in Mark 11. Then start again in Matthew 21. Keep in mind the setting. Remember that Jesus knows that this is His last week on earth. Read His parables in light of the fact that these are some of His last teachings.

Create a day-by-day outline as your read. Jot down notes about where Jesus is. What He’s saying. Who is around Him. And how they are interacting. Always be mindful of the fact that the betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion was not a surprise to Jesus.

Pay special attention to the words in bold. Bold letters are usually the Bible editors’ way of letting you know that these words are quotes from other passages in Scripture. Look them up. See for yourself how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament promises and prophecies.

Research why churches have traditionally “nicknamed” days of this week. Learn about “Palm Sunday,” “Spy Wednesday,” “Maundy Thursday,” and “Good Friday.”

Attend Biblically-based church services this week. If you are a believer, participate in communion together this week. Sing corporately together about the cross. Meditate on the cross together. Then, when you come back together Sunday, sing your hearts out as you celebrate the resurrection!

Don’t let Easter week slip by you this week. I’d love to hear how you keep the cross at the center of your thoughts this week.

Category - Devotion

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