Author Archives: lrbartel

Jun 17 2016
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Devos

God’s faithfulness and steadfast love do not change… even when we are experiencing the Heavenly Father’s discipline!

God’s faithfulness and steadfast love do not change… even when we are experiencing the Heavenly Father’s discipline!

What an encouraging and hope producing truth! But one we are apt to forget and dismiss in the pain and discomfort of discipline!

Judah, God’s people, had not kept covenant, they had played the spiritual harlot and rebelled against their Savior. God had allowed Babylon to ravage the nation, carry the brightest and best away as exiles, destroy Jerusalem and dismantle and sack the Temple. All that was left was a pile of smoking rubble! And Jeremiah weeps… That is the story behind the little book we call Lamentations in our Bibles. But embedded in chapter 3 is this wonderful affirmation of God’s love and faithfulness…

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love 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.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD… For the Lord will not cast off forever! Though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love!” (From Lamentations 3:21–32 ESV)

At some time or other in our lives we will all experience the Lord’s discipline! … If we are His sons and daughters we will experience His discipline – Hebrews, in the Bible, declares it!

“Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:5–11 ESV)

Have I experienced it? Oh, yeah… I could tell you the stories! So what am I going to do… and what am I urging you to do? Confess your failures – your sin – and ask for forgiveness. Submit to the Heavenly Father, listen for His voice, learn from His discipline… And depend on the truth these passages declare – HE STILL LOVES YOU AND WANTS THE BEST FOR YOU!

Jun 16 2016
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Devos

The pain of rejection overcome by God’s choice!

orphan, unhappy boy sitting on a park bench and crying

You’ve seen it… The young child standing over at the edge of the playground, eyes wet with tears, weeping because they were not chosen to be on someone’s team. A picture of the deep human need to be included and accepted by “significant others” – and the emotional pain that comes with exclusion and rejection!

There’s good news though… God chooses the excluded, the rejected, the marginalized, and the forgotten as His very own people! I read about this morning in the Bible during my time of “coffee with the Lord” …

Apostle Paul spoke about “the mystery of Christ” and said, “This mystery is that ‘the Gentiles’ are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel! Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of His power…to proclaim to ‘the Gentiles’ the unsearchable riches of Christ!” (from Ephesians 3:6-8)

In another place he declared: “Consider your calling! Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise! God chose what is weak to shame the strong! God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that that are not, to bring to nothing things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus… So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord!” (From I Corinthians 1:26-31)

Oh, and one more came to mind… “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light! Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people! Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy!” (I Peter 2:9-10)

Included! Accepted!! On God’s team… the winning team! Dry your eyes! The little kid’s worship song I sang as a child comes to mind… “Jesus included me! Yes, He included me! When the Lord said, ‘whosoever’ [re. John 3:16] He included me!”

Jun 16 2016
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Devos

Com’on share your “testimony!” … “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!”

The little Pentecostal church I attended as a child had something we called “testimony services.” Individuals in the church were invited and encouraged to stand up and give a brief word of appreciation for what the Lord had done for them. I can see the faces of some of those people and almost hear their stories to this day… There was Marj, Steve, Les, Mary, Frank, and many others… Oh, and I can’t forget my Dad, Ewalt’s story delivered with a heavy German accent! Just a few of the wonderful accounts of salvation, healing, deliverance, provision and help God faithfully provided in answer to prayer.
 
Well there’s a Psalm in the Bible that always reminds me of an old-fashioned “testimony service” – Psalm 107. You should read it! There’s the testimony of a homeless and hungry person that God provided for. The testimony of someone else bound by sin and evil habits suffering the consequences of their sin that the Lord delivered. Another person that was healed who had suffered terribly from affliction and disease. And the testimony of a person who had been in danger and peril from a storm at sea – they thought they were going to perish but made it through. All of these simply suggestive of many other situation and circumstances people face where there was a desperate need for the Lord’s mercy and help! And the good news? The Lord came through for them in answer to their cry for help!
 
The Psalm starts like this… “Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!”
 
And then what follows in the Psalm has a predictable pattern for each need mentioned – almost an echo!
 
“Some… (and the situation or circumstance is described) “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress… (and then in each case the “testimony” ends like this…) “Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of men!” Four different situations – four instances of divine provision, deliverance and help!
 
Finally the Psalm ends with these words: “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things! Let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord!” (From Psalm 107)
 
Well, this is what I’ve got to say about that… We need to hear a few more testimonies of God’s grace, faithfulness and provision – His “steadfast love!” If you’ve got a story to tell of something wonderful the Lord has done for you, why not share it with someone today? It will encourage and uplift them – and probably nudge them to believe God for something in their life where God’s help is desperately needed! God still does this kind of stuff, you know… I’m telling you!
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