Author Archives: lrbartel

Jul 22 2019
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Devos

Great advice from the Bible for a GREAT family reunion…

Bartel Reunion 2019Our family just finished a wonderful family reunion in Western Montana (near Glacier National Park, Hungry Horse, Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Whitefish)! Great times together, delicious food, fun activities and lots of delightful conversation!
But I also know that family reunions can bring to the surface tensions and suppressed pain…

This morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read this wonderful advice from the Bible that can make a family reunion memorable, uplifting, healing and just plain awesome!

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (From Colossians 3:12–17 ESV)

Try it at your next family reunion… I guarantee it will work (and so does Apostle Paul, the guy inspired by the Holy Spirit, to write those words)!

Jul 17 2019
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Devos

Here’s one voice urging you to cry out to the Lord in your time of trouble!

Crying out to the Lord in troubleFriends of mine are facing incredible difficulties today… pain, disease, danger, financial challenges, family issues, marriage struggles, employment problems, difficulties with children… the list could go on! You may be one of those who are facing problems like that! You came to mind during my time of “coffee with the Lord” this morning as I read these words from Psalm 119:145-149…

“With my whole heart I cry; answer me O Lord! … I call to You; save me! … I rise before dawn and dry for help; I hope in Your words! … Hear my voice according to your steadfast love!”

Those words from the Psalm express what we need to do (and continue to do) in times of trouble… We need to cry out to the Lord! We need to appeal to His “steadfast love” (the Hebrew word is “hesed” – God’s covenant keeping love; His faithful, enduring, reliable love!)

The writer of Lamentations in the Bible expressed it well! In the midst of a terrifying, incredibly difficult time, when Jerusalem had been ravaged and destroyed – when destruction, pain and suffering were everywhere – he declared, “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love (the “hesed”) of the Lord never ceases! His mercies never come to an end! They are new every morning! Great is Your faithfulness! ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him!” (Lamentations 3:21-24)

So regardless of what you are facing today, may I be a voice urging you to cry out to the Lord in your trouble and put your trust in His steadfast love!

Jul 12 2019
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Devos

Needed… Light in a Dark, Dark World!

Psalm 119[105 Light and Lamp
This morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read a verse of Scripture that is probably one of the very first I learned! I recall being taught it in a Child Evangelism Fellowship Bible study in the 1st or 2nd grade and have never forgotten it… Here it is…
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path!” (Psalm 119:105)
Now there are varying levels of darkness and needs of light.
I recall recently needing to read the tiny wording on a service sticker in a semi-dark room… I needed some additional light (the light I had was not adequate). (It’s a little like the light we get from God’s word that Christians need on a daily basis to deal with the uncertainties of life as we seek to walk with the Lord.)
I also know personally what it is like to be on a trail in the mountains overgrown with brush very late in the evening, stumbling along and in need of some kind of light to help me get back to our base camp. (Somewhat like the guidance from God’s word that Christians need to walk in righteous and holiness – in a way that pleases God – in a very dark culture filled with temptations and moral risks.)
I’ve also had people describe to me the total darkness they experienced deep underground in a cavern when the lights went out. They described a darkness you could almost feel and that was terrifying until the lights came back on. (This analogy has its counterpart spiritually in the Bible when it declares of Jesus, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” (John 1:4-5, 9-10) And Jesus declared of himself, “I am the light of the world! Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life!” (John 8:12)
Let me tell you, in a world filled with spiritual and moral darkness we critically need God’s word to guide us and give light to our way! There are so many places to stumble and fall! We desperately need “the light of the world” and “the light of life” – Jesus Christ, the living Word! I’m so glad that early in my life I learned the important lesson of Psalm 119:105… “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path!” It has always provided the light I needed in a dark, dark world!
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