The Last Place We Look

July 9

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

Psalm 105:3

They split up to cover more ground.

“Where’d you wear it last? And how long ago was that?” Tony hollered up

the stairs. He and Jill had been searching for her butterfly necklace for half an

hour.

Jill was determined to find it, even if that meant being late for their dinner

engagement. It’s the perfect necklace for the gown I’m wearing.

Tony had checked the kitchen and downstairs bathroom. Nothing! He’d

pulled the cushions from each piece of furniture and reached into every crack

but had come up empty. Now in the guestroom, he began looking through

drawers while asking God for patience. This is not my favorite pastime, Lord!

Jill continued searching through jewelry boxes. Still no necklace. “Any luck

yet?” she hollered.

Tony reined in his frustration. “Not yet.”

Then, “I found it!” Jill hollered triumphantly and whispered, “Thank you,

Jesus!” As she worked the clasp, she explained, “It was in the zipper compart-

ment of one of my backup purses! Wouldn’t you know it, it was in the last place

I looked!”

Tony couldn’t help himself, “Of course it was in the last place you looked!”

he said. “You wouldn’t continue looking once you found it, would you?”

h

If we knew exactly where we’d lost something of value, we wouldn’t waste time

looking for it somewhere else. We would go straight to that spot and retrieve

the lost item.

So why is it that God is frequently our last resort?

Self-sufficiency is a form of pride. Yet generations have been raised by the

maxims: “Stand on your own two feet,” “Buck up,” “Get in there,” “No one is

going to do it for you.” We’ve become a do-it-yourself society without a lot of

God sufficiency. What are we teaching our children?

David, for all his faults, constantly sought God’s wisdom and strength. No

matter how many mistakes he made, David relied on God’s loving guidance

until the day he died.

It is not God’s desire to be found in the last place we look.

Prayer

“I need help today and every day, Lord. Help me

come quickly to stand in Your strength. Amen.”

 Shocked to His Senses

July 8

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of

wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Jim regained consciousness. He was dazed and confused but alive. He’d been

filling the grain silos. With one silo full, he was moving the boom of the eleva-

tor over to the next silo. 

As the boom swung, it came in contact with a bare power line. Thousands of volts of 

electricity shot through his body, discharging through his toes into the ground. 

The resulting shock knocked him unconscious. Awakening, Jim crawled to his neighbor’s. He was transported to the county hospital where he received treatment and was later released.

The following week, Jim received a visit from a local pastor. He had come to invite Jim to church. “I can talk to God anytime I want right out there in the fields,” Jim said, swinging his arm expansively.

The pastor asked, “But do you? If you had died that day, do you know if

your soul would be in heaven?”

Jim had to admit he didn’t. As for talking to God while out in the fields …

He took the pastor up on his offer.

h

Jim’s true relationship with God began the day he was introduced to his own

mortality. That relationship grew over time as he came to know the One Who

saved his life. He eventually became the pastor of a local church.

Instead of harvesting grain, Jim began to reap souls for the kingdom. And

though now with the Lord, Jim’s legacy of harvest continues through his family

and parishioners.

One significant moment can bring change to our lives and the lives of

countless others. Today’s text says that we have the ability to gain wisdom by

our actions, the act of learning from God what He has in store for our lives. Do

we continue on in false ignorance?

Prayer

“Lord, teach us to number our days according to Your

Word. And to walk uprightly in relationship with

You. Guide us into wisdom that is pertinent in our

lives and Your kingdom. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

 The Secret

July 7

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.

Philippians 4:12

In light of her circumstances, Elsie had a tremendous outlook on life. Her

secret? She looked for the brightest part of each day and refused to let circum-

stances dictate her attitude. She certainly had reason to do otherwise.

Elsie’s multiple myloma had resurfaced after twenty years of remission,

and she’d just come through colon cancer that had required several surgical

procedures. 

Right now, her doctor was advising her to undergo chemotherapy on top of her radiation treatment. Having been through this before, Elsie took a moment before she responded 

to the doctor’s suggested course of treatment.

“What do you think, Tommy? Are you up for this again?” she asked her

husband.

Tom said, “I’m up for whatever you decide, Els. No matter what, God’ll

get us through this.”

She looked at her surgeon. “Can we have a couple days to discuss things

and pray about it, Doc? I’m involved with the kids at the hospice center. If I

undergo therapy, it’ll mean giving that up for a while. I want to be sure.”

He was inspired by Elsie’s concern for others in the midst of considering

her own welfare. She motivated him to approach life with tenacity. He smiled,

“Sure, Elsie. You and Tom take whatever time you need. Then call me with your

decision.”

h

How we live gives witness to what we believe. Others read us like a book. So

what do they see? Contentedness or contention?

Elsie knew this was something God would handle and guide her through.

It was evident God had her trust, and He was in control of her life.

A grouch is not difficult to spot. Neither is someone who inspires us to live

above defeat and despondency.

Paul discovered what Jesus already knew: by looking to our ultimate future,

we are better able to walk through today with hope in our hearts.

Elsie’s thoughts? “Live like heaven begins tomorrow; sing like no one is

listening; dance like no one is watching; and love like you’ve never been hurt

before.” Sounds like a good place to start.

Prayer

“Teach me the secret, Lord, of being content by trusting

You for everything in my life. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

 If I Were King

July 6

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.

2 Corinthians 5:20

“Look, if you don’t want this assignment, I’ll give it to someone else,”

Carl’s editor said. “Look at it this way. It’ll give you an opportunity to present

your case.”

Carl was being sent to interview a nationally known talk show host whose

stance against God’s existence and religion, Christianity in particular, was

widely known. The interview was to be part of an upcoming segment on faith,

or the lack of it.

“Oh, I want it, Ruthie. It’s just that I don’t understand how people can

ignore the presence of a Creator, let alone take the stance this guy takes. You

have to admit, he displays an unusual intolerance for Christianity.” Carl felt

the man’s snubbing of God bordered on hatred and foreshadowed his eternal

damnation. “I don’t get how you miss it that badly.”

Ruth posed the question, “So what would you do with this guy if you were

king?”

Carl thought a moment and then responded, “I have to say I’m glad I don’t

have that responsibility. I deserve judgment myself. But because of Christ, I’m

assured of salvation.” He paused a moment and concluded, “Not all that long

ago, I’d have cut myself slack while meeting out horrific sentences to those I

disagree with. I’m not qualified to make those decisions. Nor do I want to. Pray

I look like Christ to this guy.”

h

Pride is an insidious evil. It tells us we’ve got it all together and have every

right to stand in judgment of those who don’t believe as we do. It’s so easy to

set ourselves up as king of creation, when the truth is we tend to forget where

we’d be if it weren’t for God’s loving mercy and grace.

We are to be Christ’s ambassadors, not His Supreme Court justices.

Paul wrote to Corinth to help them understand God wants to reconcile

our sins, not count them against us. So if the God of Creation extends such

a warm welcome to those who are spiritually dying, how much more, as His

ambassadors, should we do the same?

Prayer

“Father God, You alone are to judge the nations. I

never want to be the reason someone feels he is not

worthy of salvation. Help me be Your ambassador

and not someone’s judge. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

 Absolutely!

July 5

Praise the Lord … who redeems your life from the pit.

Psalm 103:1, 4

As the professor began presenting his theory on black holes, he surveyed this

newest group of would-be physics majors. “Black Holes 101,” he began. “Noth-

ing escapes a black hole. Once past the event horizon, matter cannot reemerge.”

He continued expounding. 

“An event horizon is the boundary in space-time past which matter cannot escape a black hole’s gravity. The weight of the mass within the hole is billions of times greater than the mass outside the horizon, causing a gravitational pull almost unimaginable. So great, even light itself is trapped and cannot escape.” 

The professor pointed to thousands of galaxies shown on his celestial map. “Each galaxy you see is believed to contain a black hole near its galactic center. Though we cannot directly view black holes, effects on the matter surrounding them infer their presence. Once matter falls past the event horizon of a black hole, no escape velocity is sufficient to break its grip.

The type of horizon we are studying today is an absolute horizon. This is when

anything that passes through the horizon from the observer’s side is never seen

again.”

h

People fall beyond absolute horizons every day. They disappear from existence,

never to be seen or heard from again. And the truth is that many of them, if not

all, could have been saved. For some there is still time.

There is a dynamic difference between galactic black holes and the black

holes some of us face each day. In our daily lives, there are no event horizons

distinguishing an absolute point of no return. We may drop off the radar, but

there is still hope.

God can rescue us from what we believe is beyond the point of no return.

No one is outside God’s power to save. He is able to rescue us from the deepest

pit and restore us completely.

There is absolutely nothing we can do that is beyond His great love. His

hand is extended to anyone who would take hold and be lifted out of their

pain-filled circumstances.

Prayer

“Lord, I absolutely need Your help! This mess I’m in

has stolen my life, and I want it back! Lift me out of

this pit and redeem my life. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

 Set Them Free

July 4

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

but to save the world through him.

John 3:17

Kevin had been the sole survivor of an attack on his M2 Bradley tank. Tears

began to build in Lauren’s eyes as she listened to her brother’s story. “The

IED came out of nowhere. One minute we’re haulin’ along, the next there’s

this deafening explosion, and there’s fire everywhere!” Then his voice lowered.

“Guys were screaming.”

Fighting for composure, he went on. “Next thing I remember is waking

up in Walter Reed. That’s where I found out I was the only one that made it;

someone from the Humvee behind us had pulled me free.” Kevin’s face mir-

rored the loss he was feeling. “They were my friends,” he whispered. “Why

them and not me? Why’d they have to die?”

“I don’t know the answer to your question, Kev,” his dad quietly answered.

“But sometimes good people die so that others might live.” He continued,

“Freedom will always have its casualties. War is a reality in the world in which

we live. When tyranny sets itself up to steal freedom from those who hold it

precious, there will be conflict. Your willingness to fight and set others free was

shared by each of your friends, son. Remember them. Never forget they under-

stood the sacrifice of freedom, just like you, and paid the ultimate price. When

others are held captive, our freedom, if it means anything at all, must rise up

and defend them in their weakness. We must set them free.”

h

When Satan set himself up against his Creator, he began the work of pitting

man against man, good against evil. Since then there have been casualties of

war. Sadly, there will be more.

Seeing what mankind had done to His plan, God undertook the means

by which we are set free. He submitted Himself to the hardships of a war He

could have won with the utterance of one word. Yet with a love so deep that He

could not bring Himself to destroy His Creation, He spoke to His Son, “We

must set them free.” And in one act of love, They set us free!

Prayer

“Mighty God, thank You for Jesus. May we never

take His sacrifice for granted. Amen.”

 Before We Get on the Bus

July 3

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.

Proverbs 8:33

“Can I ask you something, Rueben?” Holly asked. “What do you do for devo-

tions? Which books do you use and what do you consider to be the most

important part?”

He said without hesitation, “For me, it’s not which books as much as it is

spending time with God each morning, Holly. Don’t get me wrong; books are

good, but He enjoys spending time with me. And I’ve found He’s always ready

to listen or talk. He loves having input in my day. 

Let me ask you a question,” he said, turning the tables. “When your children were in grade school, did you expect them to get themselves up each morning and get ready for school? 

Did you want them to fix their own breakfast and make sure they had their lunches

packed and didn’t miss the bus so you could sleep? Did you care who they got

a ride home with if they’d had an after school activity? 

The truth is that in the same way you wanted to be involved in your children’s lives, God wants to take an active role in yours. He wants to hear what happened yesterday at work and how you feel about today. 

He’s a hands-on kind of parent. Before we get on the bus, He’d like to have breakfast with us and send us on our way with wisdom and a hug. But it’s our choice.”

h

Spending time with God is not mandatory. He will not force us to listen to

wise counsel that would benefit us throughout the course of events we will face

today. Nor will He lean on us with instruction, regardless of the fact it may save

us untold grief or unnecessary detours. He has given us the freedom to share as

much of our lives with Him as we wish in whatever capacity we choose.

God knows relationships cannot be forced. He understands we can’t hear

what He has to say unless we listen willingly. We would be wise to seek His

instruction on a daily basis.

Prayer

“Create in me a hunger to meet with You, Lord. Help

me become wise enough to seek Your instruction daily.

Then help me learn to listen to what You say. Amen.”