Devotions By Jan

Category Archives: Hope


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My Wrestling Opponent

Scripture for Today: Psalm 13:2 “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?”

This is not a sport I normally watch.  But I have learned to appreciate it a bit more when learning about strategy.  Each move is calculated to pin the opponent on his back, shoulders blades touching the mat for at least two seconds.  Sometimes, no one gets pinned in which case the winner is the one with the most points doing the following: the Take Down, the Escape, the Reversal, and the Near Fall.  With the Reversal move you are on the mat but you come up from underneath and regain control.

Today’s verse has David wrestling with his thoughts.  He feels that God has abandoned him and is hiding His face.  His enemies seem to have the upper hand.  These thoughts are bringing David down to the mat with sorrow.  But by the end of the psalm David wins this wrestling match with a Reversal!  His thoughts have him on the mat but not for long.  David comes up from underneath his thoughts and regains control.  He does this by declaring the truth of God’s unfailing love and by rejoicing in the fact of his salvation!  Telling himself the Truth has given David the victory.

These days I feel as if I am having to wrestle with my thoughts.  My fears, doubts and uneasy reflections have often pinned me down in this strange time of self-isolation.  How long?  How long will I be sad?  But Reversal is possible when I turn to the Lord and His words of comfort.  Two seconds of Truth is all it takes to pin down those negative thoughts!

Thank you, Lord, for the victory Your Truth brings!


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C.O.V.I.D.

Scripture for Today: Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.”

“This too shall pass,” is a phrase I often heard from my Mother and I find myself repeating it during these unique times of self-isolation.  I am hopeful that one day we will look back saying, “remember when?”  We have lost loved ones and our hearts break for those experiencing financial hardship as well.  My husband invented his own acronym for Covid to help me gain some perspective, “Christ Offers Victory In Death.”

Today’s verse talks about the life Christ offers to those who are alive but at the same time dead in their sins.  Being dead, there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.  It is because of His love and mercy that He made us alive with Him.  The tomb could not hold Him nor will death have the final say for those to whom He has given spiritual life!  Death will no longer have the victory (I Cor. 15:55-57).  Believers are no longer dead in their sins but alive with Him both now and forever!

What a difference this makes for me!  The potential for death in any situation is devoid of “sting.”  My life continues with Him whether my body does or not.  I have been made alive and that life never ends.  I can face an unknown future with confidence.  I can live without anxiety and fear knowing my life is forever in His powerful loving hands.  I do not relish the idea of dying, who does?  But I do know that my true life is hid with Him (Col.3:3).

Thank you Lord, for victory even in death!

 


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The Easter Lily

Scripture for Today: Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Growing up, my Mother’s Easter table was often graced with this lily.  This beautiful flower is also called, “white-robed apostles of hope.”  There is symbolism in the white color representing the purity of Christ.  The trumpet shape of the flower brings to mind the trumpeting of the message of resurrection.  But what impressed me was that all this beauty could come from a dirty unremarkable bulb.  For at least three years its bulb stays underground in the dark before bursting forth to flower.

Today’s verse comes from a discussion Jesus had with the Pharisees asking for a sign.  Here, Jesus predicts the three days He will spend in the heart of the earth following His death.  Those three days were not unlike what Jonah experienced.  It was during those three days that despair was so keenly felt by all who had hoped in Christ.  It looked as if Satan had won.  All who had looked to Jesus to be their deliverer must have felt betrayed and defeated.

What a comfort to know that the darkest days I could ever experience are only a “momentary affliction” compared to the glorious future He has prepared for me! (II Cor. 4:17) Whether it is three dark days, three years or thirty, it is a time of waiting until I burst forth, flowering for an eternity because of His resurrection!  How amazing it is that because of His victory over death,  I can wait patiently with hope.  His resurrection changes me giving me new life, eternal life and life that can be abundant!

Lord, because of You I have hope!

 

 


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Encouraging Sign

Scripture for Today: I Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

This added homemade sign in Scotland says, “Keep right on to the end of the road.”  These are lyrics from a traditional Scottish song which goes on to say, “though the way be long, let your heart be strong.”  There is good reason to continue on.  This road leads to Kirkton Manor, an historic stone manor built into a wall.  Even the three-acre-country gardens there make the trip well worth the effort!

Today’s verse tells us to encourage each other by reminders of who we are and what is ahead.  In the middle of dark times we are children of the light and of the day (verse 5).  We have the hope of our salvation (verse 8) and we have an incredible future ahead in living together with Him! (verse 10)  It is these truths which encourage us to keep plodding on.  There will be an end to what we are facing.  There will be a destination that makes every heartache and trial worth it.

I do not like having disruptions to my routine or being inconvenienced in any way.  My comfort is way too important to me.  What small trials I face in comparison to those who are imprisoned for their faith!  But I can be encouraged that in the face of any unknown earthly future, I can choose to focus on the heavenly one!  I have no control over the current self quarantine that is being imposed.  But there is an end in sight.  There will be a point where I reach my destination.  And though the way may seem long, it is the Lord who keeps my heart strong!

Lord, encourage me and make me an encouragement to others.

Photo © Jim Barton (cc-by-sa/2.0)


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Through the Ages

Scripture for Today: I Corinthians 15:54 “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true; ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.'”

This image from the Imagerie d’Epinal, France hangs on our wall.  For me it brings back memories of our tour of the ancient time-honored printing process.  This image was done by François George in 1826 and depicts the stages of life.  Each stair step corresponds to an age of life from birth to death.  The first fifty climb the steps but after that it is all downhill!  Under the stairway is the supernatural showing both eternal destinations.

Today’s verse reminds us that the bodies we have are perishable and mortal.  But they will not always be so!  One day, believers will be clothed with another kind of body, one that will never perish and will be immortal!  Death that for now seems to have the upper hand, will one day be forever defeated.  Death will be swallowed up in victory! (Isaiah 25:8)  The sting of death will no longer be felt (verse 55).  It is for this reason that we can stand firm in our faith and give ourselves fully to God (verse 58).

It does not matter where I am on that staircase.  Whatever age I am and whatever my body is doing in its slow downward progression, I have hope of an amazing future!  He has promised me an eternity with Him and the best is still ahead of me.  Because of what Christ did on the cross, death and evil do not win.  No despair can erase this truth.  No tragedy nullifies my hope.  In Christ alone, there is “No guilt in life, no fear in death; This is the power of Christ in me.”

Thank you Lord, for Your promise!