Devotions By Jan

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Price Tag

IMG_20130124_111941Scripture for Today:  I Corinthians 6:20  “For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Shopping in France is very different than shopping in the States.  In France, there are only two times in the year when a retailer can put on a store-wide sale; January and July.  Those stores who choose another time of year will have to pay a fine to the government.  So sales here are a long-anticipated event.

Retailers will announce the words, “Prix Choc!” which translates, “Price Cut.”  But my mind always goes to the other meaning of “choc” and I am shocked at the price still being so high!    One good thing about shopping here is that the tax is always included in the price listed.  Even so, I always need to translate the euros into dollars to know what I am paying.

Our verse for today talks about a price that God paid for me.  The price He paid for me was enormously high and shocking!  On that cross He shed blood and died for me.  He paid for me the debt that I owed for my own sin.  It cost Him everything.

My body and spirit rightfully belong to Him.  I am not my own.  Because of His sacrifice I am His.  So then, I am to honor Him in all I do.  I do not always do a good job of it.  Thankfully, He does not go to “Returns” because I am defective!  He did not purchase me because I was worth it.  He purchased me to give me worth.  It is amazing that He would think I could be worth loving, worth holding.  But He does.  He created me to be His.

I am forever His and He is forever mine!


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Fog

IMG_20121209_084146IMG_20130123_114751Scripture for Today:  II Corinthians 5:7  “For we walk by faith and not by sight.”

The fog was so dense today.  The normal view from my window was completely obscured by it.  The tower of our beautiful cathedral was no longer visible.  It was an eerie feeling to know something was there but not to be able to see it.

Even though the fog lingered for most of the day, it never occurred to me to doubt whether the cathedral was still there.  I did not see it but I had no problem believing it was still there.

In the spiritual realm nothing can be seen with our physical eyes.  But there are things that are very much spiritually seen.  We see with eyes of faith.  We walk by faith which according to Hebrews 11:1 is the “substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”

I cannot literally see the Lord.  But I do see Him with eyes of faith.  There is sometimes the fog of doubt or discouragement, but I know He is there.  Nothing has changed except my perception.   His Word remains true and His promises continue to be valid, regardless of how I may be feeling today.

Everyone has faith in something.  But faith in and of itself is worthless without the object of our faith being true and worthy.  And He is.  I am thankful that the fog lifts and He reassures me of His presence and care.

As I write this, it is dark.  The fog has completely lifted and the cathedral is bathed in spotlights.  One day, there will be no more need for faith as I will be walking by His side.  My prayer echos these lyrics; “And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight.”


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The Pits

Scripture for Today:  Psalms 40:2  “He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.”

January can be the pits.  The hoopla of the holidays is over, the days are dark and short and the sun is reluctant to put in an appearance.   The next vacation time seems to be an eternity from now.

Sadness can seem like a deep dark hole like the one pictured here.  When I indulge my negative thoughts and feelings, I can make that hole even deeper and quite quickly.  Believers are to always be joyful, regardless of the circumstances.  So let’s call the miry clay of our verse the guilt one can feel for being sad.

I am thankful that David was so expressive of his feelings in his Psalms.  When he was feeling discouraged and down, he said it.  When he was feeling abandoned, he said it.  When he was feeling despair, he said it.  When we as believers answer the question, “How are you?” we usually do not say it.  But David was honest with the Lord about his feelings.

David cried to the Lord in this passage.  The Lord listened and heard and drew him up out of his despair.  He also gave David purpose and direction , placing his feet on rock. The pit for David did not disappear.  He is no longer in it, but it still exists.  There is always the temptation to return to the pit of sadness and self-pity.  Even after a miraculous rescue, we sometimes turn around and climb back in, especially when our circumstances do not change.

Thank you, Lord, that when I am in the pits, you hear my cry.  May I, like David, continually praise You.


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Proud as a Peacock

Scripture for Today:  II Corinthians 10:17  “But let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

It seems that the peacock has a right to pride!  His plumage is gorgeous and of course he knows it!  After all, he knows instinctively to strut his stuff in attracting the pea hen!

We once stayed at Casa De Fruta near San Jose, CA. and the peacocks had the run of the grounds.  They were beautiful but the cry they made was like a cat being strangled!  They would have been more attractive to me had they kept their beaks shut.  But then, I am not a pea hen.

Boasting according to Scripture is allowed, but only in a very limited way; only in the Lord.  The only boasting that makes any sense is to boast in the Lord.  HE is the source of anything we have to boast about.  I Cor. 4:7 says, “…What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not.”

It is easy for me to slip into an attitude of boasting.  Anytime I take credit for something, whether in my thoughts or in front of others, then I am boasting in myself.  Paul preferred to boast in his weaknesses so that others would recognize that any and all strength in his life came from the Lord.

God has gifted me with different talents.  I am often in front of groups of people and it is important to do and be the best I can.  Just as the peacock should not hide his feathers, neither does Christ want me to hide my God-given gifts.  But I never want to be guilty of boasting for something He has given.

May ALL glory and praise go to You, Lord!


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Smell

Scripture for Today:  I Corinthians 12:17-18  “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?  If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?  But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”

I am not such a big fan of onions, although my husband is.  I do understand their health benefits and even how they can spice up a dish.  But I am annoyed when their odor makes me tear up or when my hands smell.

When we lived in Germany we helped our German friend cut pounds and pounds of onions for the “flammkuchen” or onion pizza sold at the village fair (Budenfest)  We found that after several hours of cutting, there is no more smell and no more tears!

Our verse for today talks about the sense of smell being important for the body.  In this chapter the Church is likened to a body made of differing parts.  All parts are needed for good health.  Each member of the body has an important role to play.  God is the One who decides what member we are and what role we are to play.

Some members of the body seem to get more recognition than others.  We look at each other and feel it unfair that the role of someone else is more visible.  But in fact, if we all had the same function in the church there would be chaos.  We need each other.

If I am a nose rather than the eye or the hand, than I need to be satisfied with that.  I want to serve Him faithfully in the role He has given.  Lord, keep me from an attitude that would “cut off the nose to spite the face!”