It is easy to be divisive. It doesn’t really take that much. You can bring up any hot topic and find the most controversial statement and get people going. You simply insult your opponent and watch the battle. Some people seem to live for it. They say, think, act, post anything to get something started. They are not trying to start a conversation or be helpful. They are not trying to learn something. They are trying to shove their point forward, even with vengeance if needed. Yet, no one really grows from this. Nothing good comes from this way. It sows ugliness.
In the focus scripture for today, James is trying to help his readers understand the difference in wisdom. He basically says that when our works are done with gentleness, they are born of wisdom. It is not about envy or selfish ambition. Real wisdom results in peace. And wow – could we use peace. Our world would look a lot different if those that follow Christ also sowed peace rather than divisiveness.
That does not mean that Christians go with whatever, though. I am not advocating simply keeping quiet and sitting on the sidelines. Instead, it looks like engaging in conversations for the opportunity to hear, to learn, to grow, and to understand. It looks like working with others to show the love of Christ – which is really what transforms. It looks like not doing or saying or posting things that are just meant to start an argument or to prove a selfish point. It looks like kindness which does not waiver from the foundation of all the Christ teaches – Love God, Love others.
Today, our challenge should be to seek to be wise according to God’s Word. We should work with gentleness and kindness to sow peace. We should reflect good fruits and mercy coming from the Lord. May it be so. May it be so.
Focus Scripture:
James 3:13-18
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
We can have some pretty incredible experiences without even leaving our house. We don’t think of them as experiences. They are usually seen as something that just happens. It goes unnoticed for the most part. It becomes a part of our routine. But when it does, we miss the experience.
For me, coffee is an experience. From start to finish, there is so much that is pretty incredible. It starts when the coffee beans arrive to my home. We do our best to make sure the coffee is fair trade – meaning the workers were paid fairly for their labor. Sometimes they have been roasted local. Someone has taken the time to roast them just right with the perfect tones to make the beans sing. They do sing if you listen well. Opening the package and smelling the goodness inside, grinding up the beans, and deciding how much is needed is all part of the experience. I don’t like to set my timer on my coffee maker. I want to hear the percolating. I want to hear the coffee drip into the pot. I want to be there as the aroma fills my kitchen. Coffee is not meant to be consumed quickly. It is meant to be enjoyed at a pace that causes us to slow and to simply breathe for a moment. No need to rush goodness. Why would you want to?
Coffee may not be an experience in your home. For some, it is the experience of creating a meal. Or it is the joy of having clean clothes. It is often considered menial everyday tasks by too many of us. But there is something to the things we do. There are simple joys in our day that we miss. There are experiences that are at our fingertips for us to enjoy if we would just stop long enough to pay attention.
Today, may your life be filled with good experiences. May you find simple joys in the often mundane. May you see the goodness in the often overlooked. May you find happiness, right in your own home.
Focus Scripture:
Colossians 3:23a
23 Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
In every day, there is something that goes well. There are things we can give thanks. There are moments that bring us joy. There are times that spoke peace to us in the middle of the craziness. There was good and there is good. But we can so easily get caught up in the loop of what went wrong. We can find our attention focused on the things that didn’t go the way we thought they should. We can concentrate on what we should have done or should have said or should not have said. We can lose our focus on what went right because we are so consumed with what didn’t go right.
It isn’t easy to see the good some days. Our vision can be clouded by the fog of despair. Our eyes can be blinded by the tears of fear or guilt or grief. But the good is there, hidden in the middle of the mess. We are geared to find the bad. We are drawn to the things that shock us. Our minds can become sucked into the news of all that has gone wrong. That can be all we see. It takes effort to see the good.
Today, look for the good. Look for what goes right. Look for the positive. Where is there joy? Where is there peace? Where is there a moment of love? Where is the good? It can be simple and it can be brief – so we have to pay attention. It may come from our four legged babies or the kindness of a stranger. It may be completely unexpected. Be on the lookout. Good is here because God is here. Do you see it?
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 113:2-4
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore. 3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. 4 The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
We can be much better cheerleaders for others than for ourselves. We will support our friends through their most difficult times. We will stand behind our children or grandchildren in their challenges and as they seek to find their place in this world. We know that God has a plan and a purpose for them and it is good. We will pray for them and love them, no matter where they may find themselves. We watch them stumble and we beam with pride as they pick themselves up and go one more time. When they stumble and struggle, we are there to encourage them. We believe in them. We know they are capable of good things. We see the beauty and the strength – even when they have no idea. We will never give up on them. But we don’t treat ourselves the same.
It can be that in becoming an encourager of others, we forget to encourage ourselves. I am not talking about a false sense of pride. I am not talking about a “look at me and how good I am” type of encouragement. We don’t encourage others in that way. When we see potential in other people, we try to help them find their best. We try to help them live out what God has given them. We try to direct them in the way that God has created. But we don’t always do this for ourselves. We don’t always look in the mirror and see potential. We see flaws. We see reasons we can’t. We see the things which hold us back. We see every reason not to do something. We know things about ourselves no one else does. And so we end up encouraging others while beating ourselves up. We end up uplifting others and tearing ourselves down. And God has called us to something different. If only we knew what God knows about us – we might see potential in those eyes. We might see love in our heart. We may see joy in our smile. We might just see God at work – in us.
But if only they knew… I wonder how many times we think or say that to ourselves. If only they knew what my past looks like. If only they knew how many times I have tried. If only they knew how many times I have messed up. If only they knew. Yet, the only “they” who matters is God. And here’s a fact – he already knows. God knows and God still believes in you. God still has a plan and a purpose for you. God has not left you because of who you were. God has not deserted you because of the things you did. God sees something incredible in you and is just waiting for you to live it out. He hasn’t given up on you – so why have you given up on you?
Whenever I am struggling with who God would have me to be – or struggling with my place in this world – or just struggling with me in general – I turn to this scripture. This particular Psalm says more to me about who I am than any other I know. It also gives me encouragement to see someone different in the mirror. I am given courage to look beyond the flaws and see the man God has created. I see more because God shows me more.
Psalm 139:1-18 – Hear God speak life over you.
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.
The Psalmist concludes with:
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any wickedway in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
God sees , God knows, God hears and God is with us. Yet God does not leave us. He does not give up on us. He does not dismiss us. He does not throw us into the trash heap because we are not good enough.
We are encouraged to look for the perfect in life. We are encouraged to only take the best and to dismiss the rest. But we miss so much when we do. In our home, we have fruits and veggies sent to us from the dismissed. In other words, the fruits and veggies that are imperfect – those that farmers cannot sell in the store – are packaged and sent out. When we go to the grocery store, we look for the absolute best fruit and will not take one that has a mark on it. There is nothing wrong with it, we just want the best. So the fruits and veggies that are marked or didn’t grow perfectly become waste. We want the best and expect the best and seek out only the best. Yet, the rest of the produce is just fine. It may not be pleasing to our eyes, but it is just as good to our stomachs – where it really matters. But we are conditioned to only take the best. And it happens that way in our own lives too.
We dismiss the good in us because we don’t feel like we are the best at something. We don’t want to pursue something because we may be just okay. We don’t see God at work in us because we have bruises and imperfections. Yet, God sees so much more. He doesn’t care about all that stuff. He sees good. He sees possibility. He sees opportunity. He created you for something amazing – amazing in his eyes, not the worlds. We have to change our vision. We need correction to see the possibilities. We must stop seeing the reasons why not and see what God is up to. We may see a completely different person – loved and called by God.
God has not given up on you. That I can promise you. He sees someone that he created and he loves. He is encouraging you to follow, serve, and live out all that he has for you. This isn’t about – “look at me and all I have done” – but rather “look at what God is doing.” God has something good – and it just may be looking you in the mirror. Let’s move forward, children of God. There is work to be done.
Not too long ago, I was cutting the grass in our back yard. It is easier to cut the front yard because there are very few obstacles. It does not require you to think or even pay much attention. But the back yard requires special attention. There are hidden recesses that can get you at any time. They have been secretly dug by someone special. The grass grows over these recesses so you don’t even know they are there until – bam! – there you are. These are, of course, holes dug by Leo as he was trying to dig up a worm or catch a bug that had fallen. I am usually good at navigating my way. The holes are usually just minor and may knock me around a little. This one, though, was unexpectedly large. There was no getting out of it. My tire was spinning and there was no traction. I was “all in” this time. So I had Wendy to come get on the lawn mower so I could push and reach enough grass to gain traction. It wasn’t a huge task, just took some reconfiguring to get out.
But too often in life, I feel like I am stuck with my wheels turning and I don’t ask for help. I decide I can do it myself. I spin and spin, hoping that it will make a difference. In the end, I make the hole deeper and I am in more of a mess. My life becomes a giant hole I have dug for myself when I was just trying to move forward. And I am stuck. At some point, I realize that I am so stuck, my wheels are freely turning in the air, and I am never going to go anywhere if I don’t ask for some help. Life becomes too much and I just have to reach out and seek some assistance.
It is during these times I am so grateful for a loving wife and a wonderful family. I am gifted with my mother, my grandmother, and so many others that love and support me. We are there to help each other get out of the places we get stuck. When the task becomes too much for us, we band together. We look after each other. We pray for each other. And we just keep pushing. Sometimes all we need is one good push and we are off and running again.
It is also a gift to know that we can seek God together. We don’t always understand why things happen the way they do. We don’t get what is going on. We may not know why we are stuck. None of that really matters. It matters that we seek the Lord and his guidance. In the end, he ultimately is the one who gives the biggest encouragement. He gets us “unstuck” and moving in the direction we were created. And for that, I am most grateful.
Focus Scripture:
1 Corinthians 3:8-9
8 The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. 9 For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
My friend, Margaret, is working on crocheting a large blanket for me. She does this as part of a ministry that helps beautiful people in another country. I have seen her creations – the different stitches, designs, colors – and I am amazed. For me, she is putting together one that is orange and black – my alma mater colors (and orange is my absolute favorite color too). When I first mentioned the blanket, we sat down and looked at all the stitching options. One spoke to me right away. It was exactly what I had envisioned. And then, she began. She brought it for me to see as she began so I could get an idea of what it would actually look like. It just made me even more excited. And now, just a few short weeks later, it is almost complete.
My Dad always loved Psalm 139, so I will often go back and read it. There are so many “nuggets” as he would call them. These are hidden treasures in this scripture that God is speaking to us. Today’s nugget was God has knit us together. That may not sound like a big deal. But as I have watched Margaret create this blanket for me, this scripture seems to come to life. It has taken on a new meaning. With so many different patterns, stitches, colors, and varieties, God is knitting us together just the way he wants. That is beautiful. We are put together in perfection because God sees us as someone special – we are a wonderful, beautiful creation. He watches us being born, he watches us grow and develop and he loves on us as we seek to find our way – and ultimately the way he has for us.
I can’t help but feel assured that even in my mess, despite my struggles, in the middle of my confusion, God is creating. God continues to love me, take care of me, shape and form me until I am his completed creation. He feels the same about you. You are his beautifully knit creation too. May God remind you of just how wonderful you are today. And may we give thanks.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 139:13-14
13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
It’s a new day filled with new opportunities and new joys. Sure, there are new challenges to be conquered and new obstacles. But there is hope in this new day. There is peace in this new day. There is joy that is coming. There is still kindness to shared and love to be given. There is good in this new day, it is here.
That may sound a bit optimistic. It may sound like I am reaching a bit far. But if we start our day dreading what is coming, we see the dread. If we begin our day with all the problems we must face, we will see only problems. There is good in this day. It may be small glimpses of good. But there is always good. There is hope in this new day that is filled with opportunities for so much more. We can choose to see our problems that are ahead or we can choose to see the good.
I am not saying this day will be the best day ever – although, it is not out of the question. You never know what good awaits. But I am saying that we should be looking for all that God is doing in our lives. Our day may actually get better. Our day may improve when we see that God has not left us and there is joy in this day. Our day may show a glimmer of hope when we realize we are not in this alone. Our day may shine bright when we choose to love others and share kindness. Good actually does await. It really depends on you. God is already doing his work. Will you choose to see it?
May you see the good. May you see the glimmers of hope. May you experience the joys that await in this brand new day. So much awaits. May we live looking for God in this new day.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 130
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. 8 It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
Our dog, Leo, is spoiled. That is probably an understatement. Everyone that spends time with Leo gives him something. He is cute and sweet so it is hard to resist giving him something extra. We always say that Leo is living his best life. He is treated like the king in our household. He’s pretty sure he is the king. The deal with Leo is that he is lovable. He doesn’t mind curling up next to you and sitting with you when you are having a rough time. He doesn’t ask for too much and he will be glad to just love us even when we aren’t that lovable.
It really is easy to love those that are just lovable. Those people that bring joy when you are around make you want to love them. You want to do things for them. You want to go the extra mile because you feel like they are just worth it. It happens to us all. We need those lovable people in our lives and we will do whatever to help them. But we are also called to love the un-lovable. We are given directives to love the grumpy, hateful, rude folks. We are told to love those that don’t look like us or act like us or believe like us. We are challenged to reach outside of our circle and love those that we would never consider even carrying on a conversation. Those are the people we are to love.
That’s really the rub for most of us. To love someone means we cannot simply avoid them. We cannot ignore them. We cannot pretend they don’t exist. They do and those are the people we are to love. We are looking at those that we are sent to care and nurture.
Maybe it begins with seeing them again for the first time. Maybe we start by seeing them as God’s creations…as God’s beautifully and wonderfully created children…as people that are loved by an amazing God just like us…as people that actually aren’t that different from us if we really tried to get to know them. Maybe we begin to see them with a whole new vision – a vision given to us by God – to see the heart rather than the exterior. Maybe today we simply begin with seeing God in others. That may be just the place to begin.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 139:16
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
For something to be abounding, it has to be abundant and extraordinarily plentiful. There has to be so much of it that the quantity cannot be counted. The beginning and the end cannot be comprehended. Some of our closets look like we are trying to define abounding in our stuff. Sometimes we work as though we want to abound in money. Yet, in all too many cases, we are abounding in stress and anxiety, worry and fear. This is not what God has provided. God has so much more for us, but it is not found in possessions or accumulations. There is so much more than all of this.
Several times in the Bible, God is described as abounding in steadfast love. That has captured my attention. His love is overwhelmingly abundant. His love is so plentiful that I cannot equate it. I cannot see the beginning or the end of it. Everywhere I look and everywhere I go, his love is there. His love calls me from the depths of despair and showers me in the mountains of praise. His love is abounding. And his love is steadfast. To be steadfast is immovable, consistent, and enduring. So we have been given a love that is not only abounding, but also is with us and not changed by us. Since we didn’t earn it, all we can do is welcome it. We welcome God’s overwhelming, extraordinarily plentiful, immovable love into our lives. We are loved beyond our comprehension.
It does not mean I always feel his love. It does not mean I will ever understand it. It does not mean that there will not be suffering or difficulties or tragedies. What it does mean is that in spite of all those things, God’s love is with us. What it means is that those things do not hinder or change God’s love. If God’s love is truly abounding and steadfast, our problems do not squash it. Our issues do not diminish it. Our hurts and pains do not dismiss it. We are given God’s amazing love because that is who God is. Maybe it is simply time we welcome this love into our lives. May this abounding, steadfast love change you – and may you share it. God’s love can do it.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 86:1-7
1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; 3 be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. 6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication. 7 In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
I didn’t realize I needed a guard. I am not famous. I don’t have a lot. I am not in high demand. Why would I need a guard? I don’t need the type of guard you may be thinking. I need the type of guard that Psalmist prayed to receive. I need a particular type of guard that would make me more like Christ. I need the type of guard that would help me to be kind and loving and thoughtful. What type of guard is it? The Psalmist asked God, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” That I could definitely use.
I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to think before I speak. That is why I prefer to write. It helps me to filter my thoughts, hopefully with some love and compassion added in. I am able to consider what God has for me to say rather than just what I am thinking. That’s an important component – what God would have me to say. Can you imagine a guard over our mouths and God keeping watch of the door of our lips? As I get ready to speak, I can imagine losing my voice. I can just imagine not being able to make a full sentence. I would definitely say a lot less! There could be some definite advantages.
Maybe a guard is just what we need. But we need a guard over our keyboard and phone as well. We need a guard over our thoughts. We need a guard to keep us from posting hateful things or speaking malice. We need a guard to filter the things we think are so important but are really just judgmental. We need a guard to slap our hands or shut our mouths before we spew anything that is not pleasing to God. I could use a guard. Maybe I listen to God today – he may already have set that guard if I would just listen. Set the guard, Lord…Set the guard.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 141:1-3
I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me; give ear to my voice when I call to you. 2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 
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