...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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
This popular devotion originally appeared on audreyfrank.org in February 2021. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 It came in strange gift wrap, not at all what I expected. But the gift was right there inside. I turned it over in my hands, joyously held it to my heart, and wondered at the mad methods of my Lover. It is exactly what I asked for,… Read More
“Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Mark 10:46-51… Read More