Latest Posts

Too Heavy to Carry

for Sarah, and all whose bag is too heavy to carry. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  Matthew 26:28   Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders. Deuteronomy 33:12   There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the… Read More

Stay Near

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. Psalm 32:9 I met a remarkable horse I called Lovey recently. She was clearly trained to draw near and stay near when called. She looked me in the… Read More

Waiting is a Weapon

...after you have done everything…stand. Stand firm then… Ephesians 6:13-14 Standing is a kind of waiting, and waiting doesn’t feel very victorious in the middle of a fierce battle. It certainly doesn’t feel like a weapon.  Armor does. Belts and breastplates and shields do. Helmets and swords sure do. Recently I visited castles and towers famous for battle, filled with armor and weapons. The imagery is strong in my mind. But waiting? What kind of… Read More

Crushed

Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere. Song of Songs 4:16   But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death… Read More

Impatience is an Indicator

By your patience possess your souls. Luke 21:19   But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:4   Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7 Impatience is an indicator. It reflects my soul like a mirror reflects a face. What does my indicator show me today? I have been given my answer in prayer. I can’t see it yet, but I… Read More

The Song of the Well

Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!— Numbers 21:17 We have spent two weeks in the place of springs, the valley of weeping and affliction that bears that beautiful invitation to spring-making and spring-naming. Today, we shall sing, for there is another secret to springs in the valley: they become wells. In Numbers 21 we find the Israelites on the way to the Red Sea, going around the land of Edom.… Read More

The Discipline of Spring Naming

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose hearts are the highways of Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs. Psalm 84:5-6 In our last devotional together we examined the cost of spring-making. Psalm 84 prepares the pilgrim for two realities on the Way: the reality of weeping, and the reality of refreshing. [bctt tweet="Jesus paid the cost of spring-making, and because of that,… Read More

The Cost of Spring Making

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose hearts are the highways of Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs. Psalm 84:5-6 The desires of our heart, the ones originating in God’s heart, then planted in ours by His hesed love, often come at a cost. To make the Valley of Baca a place of springs is a noble desire. There is much talk… Read More

Let’s Begin Again

I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.  Isaiah 42:8-9 St. Francis of Assisi loved the tau symbol of the cross. As the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it signified for him not merely an ending, but an… Read More

Until He Does What He Said

I’ve posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. Day and night they keep at it, praying, calling out, reminding God to remember. They are to give him no peace until he does what he said, until he makes Jerusalem famous as the City of Praise. Isaiah 62:1,6-7, MSG She stared up at a straggling strip of plastic trapped in the barbed wire along the top of the gate. Faded birthday balloons once bright and colorful danced… Read More