Out In the Deep

Archive for December, 2011|Monthly archive page


A Better Way To Fight

In Devotional on December 21, 2011 at 7:57 pm

“Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53)

This isn’t a victimized Jesus who found himself caught in the snares of the enemy. This was a man who could have handily wiped out His foes and walked away unscathed. Yet, He embraced a horrific future so that the prophetic Scriptures remain true. We’re going to fight this thing, said the disciples drawing their swords. No, we are going to do the will of the Father, so said Jesus. Obedience trumps raw power.


Calamity In The City

In Devotional on December 21, 2011 at 2:38 pm

“If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?” (Amos 3:6)

When calamity strikes, our natural (though not necessarily sound) reaction is: Where was God? Was He asleep at the wheel? Have we ever thought the more likely scenario that the great events that affect so many lives are God trying to speak to us – a world that has stopped paying attention? I don’t hope calamity on any city but when we do see disaster in the news think of it as God’s megaphone calling us to reaffirm His power and our complete dependence on Him.


He Is Willing

In Devotional on December 20, 2011 at 8:40 am

“Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’” (Mark 1:41)

I never questioned whether or not God could answer prayer. I’ve often questioned whether God wanted to answer mine. Why should He with so many more important and worthy concerns? And isn’t it wrong to be so selfish to be bothering Him about my needs? Yet Jesus reaches forth not merely to show His power but to express His willingness. The fact that the King is able is assumed. The fact that He is willing is astonishing.


Knowing Ourselves

In Devotional on December 19, 2011 at 7:39 am

“But Peter declared, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’” (Matthew 26:35)

If the Bible teaches us anything, it teaches us that we don’t know ourselves. We naturally assume we are the spiritual ones, the ones who have gone deeper and the ones who will be faithful to the end. Trials are God’s means to show us that our spiritual journey has been mostly a conceptual one with little to show by way of substances. It is here we learn God’s grace moving from mere architectural sketches to actually beams and mortar in our lives. Over time (if we cooperate, learn humility and not lose heart), who we really are in Christ begins to emerge. It is painful work to get there but God is the master builder.


Following Other Gods

In Devotional on December 18, 2011 at 9:25 am

”Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made” (Jeremiah 25:10)

False gods are easily accessible and meet our immediate needs. People gravitate to them because they are handy and provide a quick fix. The harvest god will feed the family. The river god will get the goods to market. Today, our sophistication fools us to think we are above all that. Nevertheless, false deity assumptions come down to meeting our own needs in the quickest possible way without concerns for laws, practice or doctrine. Unfortunately, this is a slap in the face to the true God who has designed us and knows far deeper what His eternal plan (and we in it) requires.


Why this Waste?

In Devotional on December 17, 2011 at 8:39 am

“Why this waste?” (Matthew 26:7)

In the home of a former leper, the woman poured upon Jesus the costly perfume. The beauty was lost in the economics. The senselessness of an act that did not further the mission was analyzed and was deemed improper. Yet amidst failed ministries, wasted resources, and dead ends in life, the true disciple senses a truth that is hard to grasp and difficult to explain. It is in the loss that substance is born. It is in the giving up of self for Christ’s sake that the true self is found. It is in what many might deem a failed folly and a waste of the resources of life that the gospel seeds take hold to blossom forth in an unexpected way.


God Is Great

In Devotional on December 16, 2011 at 5:21 pm

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised.” (Psalm 48:1)

A man has a right to be an atheist if that is what he truly and honestly believes – though such a one’s honesty is certainly questioned considering the attractive prospect of having no higher, moral law to have to bother with. Nevertheless, I always thought the title of the book “God is Not Great” crossed a line of decency. Its in-your-face brazenness always gave me chills. The author, having died yesterday, is in a place where he knows the folly of his book title. If God be indeed true, he is experiencing firsthand the greatness of God’s righteousness and splendor. Or, perhaps, due to a move of grace by God Himself, the author is being astonished at the greatness of God’s mercy and forgiveness. One may wander. One may be deceived. One may stop believing. But deep down we can never shake the self-evident truth – God is great.


God Came Unawares

In Devotional on December 16, 2011 at 12:16 pm

“While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:6)

Much is made of the frantic, unwelcomed couple and the poor accommodations they found themselves in. This view makes us guilty of looking at the story through modern eyes. In actuality, Joseph and Mary were not looking for a hospital or a Hampton Inn. The roof over their head was not such a step down from the common, communal inns of that day. The point is, that Jesus was born a common man – nothing special and without fanfare. He was not expected. No one, but a few, saw the entrance of God into human affairs. No one thought to celebrate or to make special preparations. They were another night’s rent for an inconvenienced inn keeper. When the world expected God to arrive with a great display of splendor, God came unawares.


The Temple of Mixed Emotions

In Devotional on December 14, 2011 at 7:38 am

“And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.” (Ezra 3:11)

There were mixed emotions. There was a great shout of joy because the restoration of the temple had passed a major milestone. There was weeping because it fell short of the memories of Solomon’s temple. It was a definite restoration but it fell short of expectation and the glories of former years. Christ, on the other hand, is the perfect representative Israelite, the true Temple in which all expectations will be fulfilled and the glories of the past will be surpassed.


The Cost of Impatience

In Devotional on December 13, 2011 at 5:19 pm

“But let patience have its perfect work.” (James 1:4)

I was angry at the traffic in the city. I didn’t have to be anywhere in particular but the constant stopping and waiting irritated me. Inching towards rage, I finally got on the onramp and saw the cause of the problem – a young woman on the shoulder struggling to change her tire. By the time it dawned upon me that I could help, it was too late. My car was already too far unto the freeway and there was no place to stop or turn around. The sin wasn’t in failing to stop – that was logistics. The sin was being too filled with darkness that I was unable to recognize the opportunity for God’s blessing until it flitted by. I can live in resentful impatience if I wish. But there is a cost.

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