Feb 20 - Possibilities

It is importnat to note regarding today's devotion that 1) preceding the
passage in Mt. 17:20 'nothing shall be impossible unto you' are the words 'if
you have faith.' Faith is a requirement for possibilities. It is
also important to note here that 2) Jesus is speaking to his disciples
concerning the use of spiritual gifts (in this case the casting out of a
demon). He is not saying if you name that 'Lexus' as your own and have
faith, you can claim it. The 'name it and claim it' thinking of some
Christians misses this mark. That kind of thinking is being 'of the world'
instead of 'in the world.' When you read the Divine Possibilities as
listed here by H.C.G. Moule, you see that what is in sight far exceeds a 'Lexus'
or any other material gain. It is the treasures of the Spirit that are
possible for us to possess.

My pastor puts it this way,

"Moving a mountain is a hyperbole, and "nothing will be impossible for you" should not be though of as Christians becoming super-heroes or gods themselves. There are damaging effects of those who interpret these
types of sayings in the Bible (John 14:14 "If you ask anything in My name, I
will do it" being another example) as if this means God will respond to our
every whim or every prayer with a glowing affirmative.

All of these promises are in the context of a mission of redemption.
The 'moving of the mountain' and the 'nothing will be impossible' are in the
context of overcoming death and the evil one in the world. The kingdom
of God will prevail and the Christian's labor in the Lord are not in vain (I
Cor 15:58).

The gentle admonition from the lips of Jesus is quickly followed by
words of encouragment regarding the end result of faith which begins as a
flicker and then produces a great refining flame. Mt. 17:21"

That said, I love the Divine Possibilities listed in today's
devotion. My favorite was "It is possible to see the will of God in
everything, and to receive it, not with sighing, but with
singing."

Feb 19 - Being Pruned

"No branch can bear fruit by itself...neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in (Jesus Christ)." John 15:4

Isn't it true that when trials come, they come in numbers? My E-Bug loses her husband while her dad fights cancer, and now her son has a broken leg. My MIL lost her husband, found out she had cancer and then buried her own mother after she finished her own chemo and radiation. Watching and praying for both of these women, I can attest to this: their faith shone through the sequence of trials and they have encouraged those watching them. Either one would surely confirm that the pruning they have endured (or are enduring) is producing much fruit in their lives even in the midst of the suffering.

John 15:6 says that not remaining in Christ is like being a branch picked up and thrown into a fire to be burned. Branches used for fires are dry as a bone! We never want to be dry and withered branches. We must remain in Christ!

February 9th He Answered Her not a Word

As I read today's selection, I want to concentrate on the first and last paragraphs, which speak of the Master's silence. We are not to interpret God's seeming silence or distance as a lack of love toward us. It may be just the oppposite. It may be the Lord trusting us or not having to baby us all the time.
The last sentence says, "...praise Him, for every time He withdraws His gifts that you may better know and love the Giver." I think this is so true. There are so many aspects of sanctification that seem to be the opposite of how we typically think things work, but because God is omniscient, He can handle situations quite differently than we would. Praise be to Him for this!

Feb 3 - Immediately

Just wanted to point out that in Mark 1 -- the word 'immediately' occurs 5 times and 'at once' occurs twice. In reading chapter one...I get the sence of urgency and forward momentum...

I love the phrase in Streams, "Yesterday thou wert soaring far in the firmament, and singing in the radiance of the morn; today they wings are folded and thy song silent." I am often debilitated after great accomplishment. I spend a day or two in bed regenerating after a period of ministry. These quiet days of folded wings are prescious though often there are tears of exasperation. This is when I fall on God's lap and as a child loses restraint, I tell Him how "I can't do anymore." He soothes and comforts and consoles... Then, when I am calmed, He gently pushes me out into the world again, to do more. 'I am not finished with you,' He says. 'You CAN do more.' When I was a little girl, I had a t-shirt that said, 'Be patient with me...God's not finished with me yet.'

January 31 - Quietness

Oh my goodness. My head is spinning. Have you ever started to clean out some small compartment and found hours later that you have completely dissassembled the entire room! Well, I feel like that with today's reading! Here's how it has gone...

I read Streams and I highlighted a few things, one of which was the reference in the poem to Jesus as our "Elder Brother." I really liked that because I always wanted an older brother to look out for me. I have often thought of God as my father, Jesus as a husband, but never Jesus as my Brother. Anyhow, I went on to read Job 34 from which the verse for today's passage was taken: "He giveth queitness." I always like to do this to see the context of the verse and make sure I understand the occassion and the audience. (Too often I have seen verses misused because of man twisting them to mean what he wants to hear, so I find this step of our devotion very important.)

The context of this verse is regarding oppression of wicked men toward the poor. God hears crys of the afflicted and gives quietness. The occassion is Elihu (one of Job's friends) has listened to Job's defense in which he justifies himself rather than God. Elihu's wrath is arroused because of the poor council given by Job's three other friends, their inability to respond to Job's defense (they are 'dumb struck') and Job's self-righteouss claims. The audience is Elihu speaking directly to Job regarding the disciplinary and redemptive role of suffering, and the truth that no one is really innocent therefore God denies no one justice.

That said, in this particular verse, Elihu is repsonding to Job's accusation that the wicked do not see God's judgement. Elihu says that in fact God does hear the cries of the afflicted and gives quietness. I really like what he says in the rest of the verse, "when He hides His face, who then can see Him, whether it is against a nation or a man alone?" Sometimes it may seem as though God's face is hidden and he is not seeing our distress. This is what took me to Matthew 8:21 to follow up on the beginning of Streams where it talked about Jesus calming the storm.

The disciples did infact think that Jesus was "unaware" or that His face was "hidden" from their distress .

I then was prompted to read the sermon notes from my pastor (Pastor Paul Viggiano) on this passage and, although, all of it is edifying, I will put here just a few of the nuggets. You can click HERE if you want to read the sermon notes in full.

"Jesus, true to our experience, gives the appearance of being uninvolved...'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?' Have you not been tempted to ask that question during the storms of your life?...(the disciples)failed to realize that Jesus, the man slept, but Jesus, the living God, never slumbers" Psalm 121:1-4 confirms that He does not slumber (love this song by Sons of Korah by the way).

"Let us never mistake God's apparent idleness to be genuine inacitivity on His part. His actions, be they blessings and curses are sure. God is not unaquainted or indifferent to your storm."

My pastor points out that Jesus corrected the disciples before He spoke to the storm...seemingly out of sequence. Wouldn't you rather He calm the storm first and then talk to you about it? But my pastor points out, "we are often most malleable amidst life's tempests." Now, I can certainly vouch for this. When I'm down and out...there is no where else to turn...but to Him.

Next, I love how my pastor asks the question, "(Would God) create a storm merely to instruct?" and then sites the passage Psalm 107:23-32. You have to read it...right now!

Lastly, there is this, my favorite point in the notes,

• "What had perhaps escaped their attention--what perhaps escapes the attention of many--is that Jesus is not merely the calmer of storms, He is the raiser of storms.


• Popular yet unbiblical is the notion that God is not the ultimate and first cause of our troubles--


• even employing Satan for His own desired ends (John 13:27).


• All of creation is His classroom and His children are His beloved students.


• Hence fear is always mixed with a want of faith."

(I added the bullets just to break out the points being made :)

I could go on and on, especially since the sermon notes go on to talk about whether or not fear is always an act of faithlessness, and my oldest son and I were discussing the sin of fear on the way to school this morning. But I think I have made the point that I am getting at, and that is, when you open your Bible...you never know where it will take you. Don't be afraid to dig deeper and deeper.

January 30 - As The Dew

It wasn't that long ago that I didn't even open my Bible every day. My spirit was "drooping for lack of dew.' Sometimes, I dare say, it was near shrivelling. But, even in these times, God was still using me. He was still directing my paths. Through the desert, I travelled parched...and that parched spirit magnified and intensified the dew when, at last, I arrived, ready to be tended by Him. Many times of late I have said, "I never want to go back to who I was before October 7th." Why? Because, now I am rich where then I was poor. Now I feel satiated in His Spirit...even in difficult times, I have a peace.

A quick look at the archives will reveal a break in my posting. Where once I was diligent in almost daily posting, there comes a reprieve. For those that know me intimately, it is not hard to guess why. I suffer from depression. And, it is my habit, to retreat into my shell when the clouds close in on me. But this last gloom was different. Though, physically the same, even emotionally the same, my spirit was not tread upon. Instead, I longed for heaven...for completion. Though I did not post, I read my streams every day. I read my Bible. There were times when I did not "hear" anything to help me...but I knew that the action, the commitment to do it anyway, was of utmost important. On January 23rd we read, "Let us not rely on feeling, but on faith..." It was faith to keep reading Streams and the Bible. It was faith to not let go when I didn't "feel" comfort or help.

Prior to October 7th, I would have allowed this slump to take me away from my soon to come"dew." Not having received the "quick fix," I would have put the Bible in a drawer and gone on, headed toward the desert and parching again. But, faith that has been strengthened kept me close. "We can counterpoise and overcome the other law that bears us down... (with) real spiritual energy and fixed purpose and a settled posture and a habit of faith." (Streams January 27th).

"...When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according the the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men." -Titus 3:4-8

So...even when it doesn't make you "feel" good and even if you don't "feel" like doing it, read, be still and know that He is God...because you have faith, you read. The blessings will follow...because He says so.

Stablish, Strengthen, Settle You

So, today the devotion talks about a "natural law in sin and sickness" and if we just let go and sink into our circumstances, this law will lead us downward, away from the things of God and into the power of Satan. It also states that there is another law of spiritual life and of physical life in the Lord, which we can seek after... which will overcome the heavy, burdendsome, natural law. It goes on to say that this takes effort and a "habit of faith."



This idea of working in our faith sometimes seems antithetical to grace, but of course, we know it isn't. I believe the author is right in implying that we need to work at our spiritual life. There are all sorts of ways of working at it, even being still before the Lord is a sort of working at it.

We have to show up to meet with Him in His word. We have to talk to Him to get to know Him better. When I first became a Christian, my college youth leader said that when people are asked about their walk with God, some say they are coasting along just fine. He then pointed out that in order to coast, you need to be going down hill, meaning that coasting isn't how we want our spiritual life. I guess we need that uphill struggle to keep us growing in godly ways.



Towards the end of the devotion, the author seems to be saying that God needs us to plug in for Him to work. I believe He will work anyway. He isn't dependent on our actions, however, he blesses us by allowing us to be plugged in. In fact, He is the plugger inner.



May we all seek God in an active way.