Weekly devotion - The Life - 9/28/2015

The Life

by Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 37:6

This is going to date me, but here it goes. The song girls swooned over in my day was “Almost Paradise” by Mike Reno and Ann Wilson. (And for those who cannot resist checking this out on youtube, don’t miss the 80’s hair while you’re there.)

Thinking that paradise can be found in a place like prom or a boy’s arms is not limited to teenage girls. For the Jews exiled to Babylon, the temple was their almost paradise. It was a symbol of security and God’s gifts—the Davidic monarchy, the Promised Land, and the city of Jerusalem. And though Ezekiel warned that it would be destroyed because of their rebellion, they didn’t listen. Surely nothing would ever happen to the temple!

Until it did . . . In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!” (Ezekiel 33:21) Like the collapse of a human heart that seeks life in idols instead of God, the city was in ruins. And from that point of hopelessness, Ezekiel preached life.

The One who can breathe dead bones to life, can breathe new life into us from the inside out! So people will know He is the Lord, God cleanses, forgives, and purifies. For the sake of His name, He gives us a new heart, a new spirit, and rebuilds from ruins (Ezekiel 36:26, 33). And in the newness of life, we see The Life—Jesus!

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it (John 5:21). That’s why Jesus came! So we may have life, and have it to the full! (John 10:10)

If you’re feeling lifeless, think about where you’re seeking life. Are you looking for paradise in gifts from God or in the presence of God? At the conclusion of Ezekiel’s book, his final vision is a new temple—true paradise! Is it a place? Yes, but it’s so much more. Just check out the name of the city.

The name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE (Ezekiel 48:35). In God’s presence is fullness of life!

What’s your story? In Ezekiel Jesus is The Life (Ezekiel 37:6). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read the book of Ezekiel.

His presence filling me. This is what it means to fully live. — Ann Voskamp

Heartbroken for Us - Weekly Devo 9/21/2015

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Let’s think together on our Annual Theme, Choose Truth.  

Heartbroken for Us

My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city. Lamentations 2:11

What breaks your heart? What sickens your spirit and moves you to tears? ____________________________.

For Jeremiah it was Jerusalem’s destruction. Although he had 40 years to prepare for it while he prophesied, it didn’t soften the blow. From the inside out he grieved. He cried to God, “See, Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death” (Lamentations 1:20).

Jeremiah wasn’t the only one to weep over Jerusalem. Jesus did, too. He said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37).

And Jesus weeps over us, too! It was for our sin that He lay prostrate in the Garden—His heart poured out on the ground (Lamentations 2:11). It was for our deliverance that He cried, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). And from His overwhelming sorrow and overflowing love, He went from Gethsemane to Golgotha where He was broken for us. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Whether our suffering is self-inflected like Jerusalem’s persistent rebellion or part of living in a broken world like Lazarus’ death, Jesus weeps. The Man of Sorrows is heartbroken for us! Our sin, sorrow, and struggles, pain Him, too. He doesn’t stand helpless or idle at a distance, wondering what to say or do. No! He draws near and empathizes with our weakness and gets what we’re going through. He counts our tears and comes close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 56:8, Psalm 34:18).

When your heart is breaking, cry out to the One who is heartbroken for you! Because in the remembering who He is and all He’s doing, we find hope (Lamentations 3:21).

What’s your story? In Lamentations Jesus is Heartbroken for Us (Lamentations 2:11). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read the book of Lamentations.

A holy despair in ourselves is the ground of true hope. For the God who dwells in the highest heavens dwells likewise in the lowest soul. — Richard Sibbes

Weekly Devotion - Voice of Truth - 6/29/15

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Voice of Truth

Then the LORD called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 1 Samuel 3:4

In the days when the word of the Lord was rare and there were not many visions, God spoke to a young boy named Samuel who was constantly in a place where he might hear God. Samuel served God in the Tabernacle, and lived and slept there. The only thing that separated his bed from the room that housed the ark of God was a curtain—the veil that split the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:33).

One night God spoke to Samuel by name, but Samuel did not recognize His voice. But God kept calling, as God always does, and after the third time Eli the priest understood.

So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9-10). And God talked with Samuel!

The Voice that spoke to Samuel was Jesus, the Voice of Truth! And like Samuel, when God’s children have ears to hear, they respond. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

For those who are constantly in a place where they might hear God, He reveals Himself. The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them (Psalm 25:14). When we fear and honor God, He draws close and confides. He calls us by name. Repeating our name and His message, if needed. There is intimacy in His presence, all made possible through Jesus who by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body (Hebrews 10:20).

Jesus is speaking to you today! Do you hear Him?

What’s your story? In 1 & 2 Samuel Jesus is the Voice of Truth who calls God’s children by name (1 Samuel 3:4). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read 1 & 2 Samuel.

It is with the upright that God is intimate. He shares the secret things with those who fear or revere Him (Psalm 25:14) — Donna Gaines

Weekly Devotion - "The High Priest" - 5/18/15

The High Priest

  from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager
“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.” And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses. Leviticus 16:34

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Hebrews 10:10-12

Be holy. That’s the theme of Leviticus. “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). We don’t have to look further than our bathroom mirror or our last thought to see the impossibility of that one. Our sin separates us from God. Our rebellion blocks and keeps the Holy One at a distance. That's true for all, including the Israelites who received God’s original command. So our Redeemer made a way.

God provided sacrifices as the means to approach Him, and He chose priests to perform those sacrifices. The details within Exodus and Leviticus were their guide. And of all the offerings and sacrifices, it was the annual Day of Atonement that was most significant.

Once a year the high priest was allowed access to God. Through meticulous care to God’s instructions he entered the Holy of Holies. To do so he first needed to make atonement (God making us right with Him through a sacrifice) for himself and his household, and then he made atonement for the people. It had to be repeated year after year, reiterating the insufficiency of the atonement. And year after year, the laws, feasts, and sacrifices were a great picture gallery preparing the world for Christ!

Jesus is our perfect atoning sacrifice. His death is our Day of Atonement! And because of our Great High Priest’s sacrifice the curtain of the temple that prevented access to God was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51)! Now we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16)!

What’s your story? In Leviticus Jesus is The High Priest who makes us holy and gives us access to God (Leviticus 16:34). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read the book of Leviticus. If time, read the book of Hebrews, too. It is considered the New Testament commentary on Leviticus.

As the priest entered the holiest with the blood, so Christ entered heaven itself with His own blood for us. His blood makes the throne of God a mercy seat which otherwise must have been a throne of judgment. — Keith L. Brooks

Weekly Devotion - "The Lamb" 5/11/15

The Lamb

by Lenae - GEMS Training Manager 
When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. Exodus 12:23

Between the last verse in Genesis and the first verse of Exodus, four hundred years passed and Israel’s twelve sons multiplied to an estimated 2 million plus in numbers and power. It made them a dread to Egypt’s new king and people. So the Egyptian’s oppressed them. Which only escalated Israel’s population and their slave masters’ ruthless demands.

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress (Psalm 107:28). Faithful to His promise, God saved His people through a man named Moses, mighty and miraculous plagues, and the Passover lamb. The spotless lamb’s blood on the doorframes of the houses was a sign that He would pass over them. They were protected from the destroyer and delivered from death and destruction.

Israel’s deliverance set the stage for the greatest deliverance ever! When God saved the Israelites in Exodus it was like He was saying, “Just wait. I saved My people because I loved them, but I’m not done yet. One day I’ll send My Son to save the whole world!”

God was faithful to His promise. He sent His Son, our Passover Lamb, to be slain for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! (John 1:29) Jesus is the Lamb without blemish or defect who redeems us from an empty way of life (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Death no longer has mastery over us. Sin is no longer our ruthless and oppressive taskmaster. Through the precious blood of The Lamb we are forgiven, delivered, and set free!

Choose to live in the glorious reality of all He has done for you!

What’s your story? In Exodus Jesus is The Lamb and the theme is deliverance (Exodus 3:8). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read the book of Exodus.

The salvation of Israel in Exodus was God’s greatest act of salvation in the Old Testament. Yet it merely points to His greatest act of salvation ever: His salvation of His people by the substitution of Christ as the Passover lamb, dying in our place so that we might live to God’s glory forever. — Mark Dever

Weekly Devotion - "Creator of All" - 5/5

Creator of All

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
 
In the beginning: God. The One who is the Alpha and Beginning begins His Story where all stories begin. Himself.
 
And Genesis, the great book of beginnings, tells us the beginning of  . . .

• The world and everything that it contains—all of it was good!
• People—families, civilizations, and nations all made in His image.
• Sin—rebellion, conflict, punishment, and death.
• God’s unfailing promises of hope, salvation, and life—Jesus!

From the very beginning we see Jesus, the Creator of all things! In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2). For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17).

Whether at the beginning of His Book, a new chapter in your story, or the start of each day, we can rest and rejoice in our Creator’s sovereign and merciful care. In Christ all things hold together. Though there may be times when it seems like we or the world around us is falling apart, the One who created the heavens and the earth is the Eternal Seam who holds all things together. Nothing can separate or rip us apart from Him or His love (Romans 8:38-39).

Genesis shows us how all things began. Revelation shows us how all things will end. And in the middle of Jesus’ first coming and His second coming is our story. Within the light of His Story, He invites those in Christ—His new creation—to write theirs (2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 119:105).

What’s your story? In Genesis God is Creator of All. How does His Story help you tell your story? Be specific!

Get in the Book: Read the book of Genesis.

The story of the Bible is one. From a Christian point of view it begins with Christ the Creator (John 1:1-3), it climaxes with Christ the Savior, and is consummated with the return of Christ in glory. — Graeme Goldsworthy

Light in the Fog

This is worth the read! It jumped off the page at me this morning. THIS is what the GEMS leadership conference is all about for me. July 9 - 12, 2015 ‪#‎justshowup‬

Light in the Fog (Titus 2: 1 - 15) - from the Women's Devotional Bible:

Have you ever been driving down a road at night when the fog rolled in so thick you couldn't see five feet in front of you? It can be pretty scary. However, if you have a car's taillights ahead of you to guide you, suddenly it is not so frightening. 

That is the message of Titus 2. Older women can serve as guiding lights for those coming after them. For many women, juggling all our roles - student, employee, boss, wife, mother - can be overwhelming, like walking through life in a fog. But God never intended for us to figure things out on our own - to simply muddle through. Just as he gave Ruth to Naomi and Mary to Elizabeth, God gives us each other to help, encourage and provide one another with companionship, to share ideas and wisdom and humor. When you live in community with others, you can see how other women raise and nurture the children [or their GEMS!] You can note how persistent someone is in cultivating and preserving her marriage [or her counselor team] and how it is serving her well. You can watch as women make their way in the marketplace [in the world!] with dignity and integrity.

It may be that the "older" woman isn't chronologically older at all. Perhaps God has gifted a younger woman with particular knowledge and wisdom that you might be in need of. We should be open to different generations reaching out to each other and bridging the years with love and laughter. We have more in common than we have differences.

In our day it's easy to become isolated and withdrawn. We don't often get together as women did in times gone by for quilting bees and church socials and over-the-fence visits. You may long for a woman to mentor you and advise you regarding how to handle your many roles and responsibilities. If so, ask God to send you someone who is wise and supportive. And keep your eyes open for such a woman so you can befriend her. She may need you as much as you need her. Perhaps God is nudging you to become a mentor to a younger women. Pray that God will lead you to her and that you will have the courage to be a light in the fog.