1 Kings 19:15 KJV
And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
Who Needs Me?
While on a red-eye flight to Washington, DC, opinion writer Arthur Brooks overheard an elderly woman whisper to her husband, “It’s not true that no one needs you anymore.” The man murmured something about wishing he were dead, and his wife replied, “Oh, stop saying that.” When the flight ended, Brooks turned around and immediately recognized the man. He was a world-famous hero. Other passengers shook his hand, and the pilot thanked him for the courage he displayed decades ago. How had this giant sunk into despair?
The prophet Elijah bravely and single-handedly defeated 450 prophets of Baal—or so he thought (1 Kings 18). Yet he hadn’t really done it alone; God was there all along! But later, feeling all alone, he asked God to take his life.
God lifted Elijah’s spirits by bringing him into His presence and giving him new people to serve. He must go and “anoint Hazael king over Aram,” Jehu “king over Israel,” and Elisha “to succeed you as prophet” (19:15–16). Invigorated with renewed purpose, Elijah found and mentored his successor.
Your great victories may lie in the rearview mirror. You may feel your life has peaked, or that it never did. No matter. Look around. The battles may seem smaller, the stakes less profound, but there are still others who need you. Serve them well for Jesus’ sake, and it will count. They’re your purpose—the reason you’re still here.
Reflect & Pray
Who can you serve today for Christ? Why is it so vital for you to reach out to others with God’s love?
Holy Spirit, open my eyes to those I can serve for Jesus’ sake.
Insight
When God tells Elijah that He’s reserved seven thousand people in Israel who remain loyal to Him (1 Kings 19:18), He corrects Elijah’s misunderstanding that he’s the only one left who truly worships God (18:22; 19:10, 14). Some scholars view seven thousand as symbolizing fullness. In spite of the opposition of the wicked Israelite king Ahab and his wife Jezebel, God had preserved a godly remnant. The notion of a remnant preserved by God is seen with Noah’s family (Genesis 6–9), with the survivors of military sieges (2 Kings 19:4, 30–31), and within the exile (Isaiah 10:20–22; 11:16; 46:3). For the apostle Paul, Jewish believers in Jesus now constitute a faithful remnant that fulfills the claim of 1 Kings 19:18 (Romans 11:2–5).
Psalm 103:8 KJV
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
A Song in the Night
The sun had long set when our electrical power suddenly went out. I was at home with our two younger children, and this was their first time experiencing a power outage. After verifying that the utility company knew about the outage, I located some candles, and the kids and I huddled together in the kitchen around the flickering flames. They seemed nervous and unsettled, so we began to sing. Soon the concerned looks on their faces were replaced with smiles. Sometimes in our darkest moments we need a song.
Psalm 103 may be one of the psalms prayed or sung after the people of God had returned from exile to a homeland that had been laid waste. In a moment of crisis, they needed to sing. But not just any song, they needed to sing about who God is and what He does. Psalm 103 also helps us remember that He’s compassionate, merciful, patient, and full of faithful love (v. 8). And in case we wonder if the judgment for our sin still hangs over our heads, the psalm announces that God isn’t angry, He has forgiven, and He feels compassion. These are good things to sing about during the dark nights of our lives.
Maybe that’s where you find yourself—in a dark and difficult place, wondering if God really is good, questioning His love for you. If so, pray and sing to the One who abounds in love!
Reflect & Pray
How might God’s saving acts in Jesus give you a better picture of what He’s like? How does He view you?
Dear Jesus, help me to see the love of God revealed in Your life, death, and resurrection. Lift up my weary head that I might sing of Your goodness and faithfulness.
Insight
In Psalm 103, David praises God and tells readers to remember “all his benefits” (v. 2), which are both physical and spiritual, involving the forgiveness of sin and the healing of diseases (v. 3). David uses imagery to explain these benefits.
One image of a physical benefit is seen in the phrase “so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (v. 5). This is appropriate because the eagle is a symbol of vitality and strength. Some interpreters suggest this expression could refer to molting, where the eagle loses its feathers and grows new ones, so their youth is, in a sense, renewed.
An example of the spiritual benefit is explained through the images of dust and grass (vv. 14–16). David compares man’s temporary life to a flower that flourishes for a time but is then blown away by the wind in contrast to God’s everlasting love (v. 17).
Jeremiah 33:9 KJV
And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
Rebuilding the Ruins
At seventeen, Dowayne had to leave his family’s home in Manenberg, a part of Cape Town, South Africa, because of his stealing and addiction to heroin. He didn’t go far, building a shack of corrugated metal in his mother’s backyard, which soon became known as the Casino, a place to use drugs. When he was nineteen, however, Dowayne came to saving faith in Jesus. His journey off drugs was long and exhausting, but he got clean with God’s help and with the support of friends who are believers in Jesus. And ten years after Dowayne built the Casino, he and others turned the hut into a house church. What was once a dark and foreboding place now is a place of worship and prayer.
The leaders of this church look to Jeremiah 33 for how God can bring healing and restoration to people and places, as He’s done with Dowayne and the former Casino. The prophet Jeremiah spoke to God’s people in captivity, saying that although the city would not be spared, yet God would heal His people and would “rebuild them,” cleansing them from their sin (Jeremiah 33:7–8). Then the city would bring Him joy, renown, and honor (v. 9).
When we’re tempted to despair over the sin that brings heartbreak and brokenness, let’s continue to pray that God will bring healing and hope, even as He’s done in a backyard in Manenberg.
Reflect & Pray
How have you seen God bring restoration in your own life and in the lives of others? How can you pray for His healing this day?
God, thank You for sparking new life in what appeared to be dead. Continue to work in me, that I might share Your saving love with others.
Insight
Jeremiah spoke the words in Jeremiah 33:6–11 while Jerusalem was under siege from Nebuchadnezzar’s army. Yet he himself was a prisoner of King Zedekiah at the time. Displeased with Jeremiah’s persistent message of judgment against Judah, the king had the prophet placed in confinement (see 32:2–5). Imagine being a prisoner inside a starving city surrounded by a hostile army. That was Jeremiah’s personal situation. Yet God continued to speak through His prophet. Chapter 33 begins, “While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him a second time” (v. 1). The message again was bleak. The city’s desperate measures to save itself would fail. But verse 6 signals a change. God would bring a future deliverance.
Ephesians 6:12 KJV
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Unseen Realities
In 1876, men drilling for coal in central Indiana thought they had found the gates of hell. Historian John Barlow Martin reports that at six hundred feet, “foul fumes issued forth amid awesome noises.” Afraid they had “bitten into the roof of the devil’s cave,” the miners plugged the well and scurried back to their homes.
The miners, of course, were mistaken—and some years later, they would drill again and be rich in natural gas. Even though they were mistaken, I find myself a little jealous of them. These miners lived with an awareness of the spiritual world that is often missing from my own life. It’s easy for me to live as if the supernatural and the natural rarely intersect and to forget that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but . . . against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
When we see evil winning in our world, we shouldn’t give in or try to fight it in our own strength. Instead, we’re to resist evil by putting on “the full armor of God” (vv. 13–18). Studying Scripture, meeting regularly with other believers for encouragement, and making choices with the good of others in mind can help us “stand against the devil’s schemes” (v. 11). Equipped by the Holy Spirit, we can stand firm in the face of anything (v. 13).
Reflect & Pray
How can you cultivate an awareness of the reality of the spiritual world? Is God calling you to “put on” some part of the “armor” Paul describes? What might that look like today?
Help me to remember, God, to walk and serve by faith and in Your power.
Insight
In Paul’s day, Roman soldiers would carry a large wooden shield covered in leather in battle, wetting the leather to extinguish any fire-tipped arrows fired from the opposing side. In battle, the first row of soldiers would carry their shields in front, while the rows behind would hold their shields above their heads, effectively protecting the unit from nearly all incoming threats. This was called a testudo (or tortoise) formation because it resembled a tortoise shell.
In Ephesians 6:10–20, Paul subtly inverts this military image to describe believers’ resistance to evil forces. Paul relies on imagery from Isaiah 59:17, which describes God’s righteousness in restoring His exiled people. The metaphor reveals that the only way for believers to stand firm against evil is through continual reliance on “the Lord and . . . his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10).
Exodus 34:6 KJV
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
True Success
My interview guest politely answered my questions. I had a feeling, though, that something lurked beneath our interaction. A passing comment brought it out.
“You’re inspiring thousands of people,” I said.
“Not thousands,” he muttered. “Millions.”
And as if pitying my ignorance, my guest reminded me of his credentials—the titles he held, the things he’d achieved, the magazine he’d graced. It was an awkward moment.
Ever since that experience, I’ve been struck by how God revealed Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:5–7). Here was the Creator of the cosmos and Judge of humanity, but God didn’t use His titles. Here was the Maker of 100 billion galaxies, but such feats weren’t mentioned either. Instead, God introduced Himself as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (v. 6). When He reveals who He is, it isn’t His titles or achievements He lists but the kind of character He has.
As people made in God’s image and called to follow His example (Genesis 1:27; Ephesians 5:1–2), this is profound. Achievement is good, titles have their place, but what really matters is how compassionate, gracious, and loving we’re becoming.
Like that interview guest, we too can base our significance on our achievements. I have. But our God has modeled what true success is—not what’s written on our business cards and resumés, but how we’re becoming like Him.
Reflect & Pray
How tempted are you to base your significance on your accomplishments? What aspect of God’s character needs to grow in you today?
Spirit of God, make me compassionate, gracious, patient, and loving!
Insight
Moses was up on the mountain forty days and nights communing with God and receiving the law, which was to regulate the covenantal relationship He had with the Israelites (Exodus 24:18; 31:18). But down in the camp the people worshiped the golden calf and thereby broke the covenant. This severing was symbolized when Moses broke the two tablets containing God’s law (32:19). Moses interceded and asked Him to forgive the people for their sin and not to abandon them (vv. 31–32; 33:12–17). Although God forgave the Israelites, He also meted out discipline (32:31–35). In chapter 34, the law is reissued and the covenant renewed (v. 1). God also gave the people a self-revelation of who He is: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, loving, faithful, forgiving, and just (vv. 6–7).
Ephesians 2:14 KJV
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Fireworks of Life
On New Year’s Eve, when high-powered fireworks detonate across cities and towns worldwide, the noise is loud on purpose. By their nature, say manufacturers, flashy fireworks are meant to split the atmosphere, literally. “Repeater” blasts can sound the loudest, especially when exploded near the ground.
Troubles, too, can boom through our hearts, minds, and homes. The “fireworks” of life—family struggles, relationship problems, work challenges, financial strain, even church division—can feel like explosions, rattling our emotional atmosphere.
Yet we know the One who lifts us over this uproar. Christ Himself “is our peace,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14. When we abide in His presence, His peace is greater than any disruption, quieting the noise of any worry, hurt, or disunity.
This would have been powerful assurance to Jews and gentiles alike. They’d once lived “without hope and without God in the world” (v. 12). Now they faced threats of persecution and internal threats of division. But in Christ, they’d been brought near to Him, and consequently to each other, by His blood. “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (v. 14).
As we start a new year, with threats of unrest and division ever rumbling on the horizon, let’s turn from life’s noisy trials to seek our ever-present Peace. He quiets the booms, healing us.
Reflect & Pray
What “fireworks” are shattering the calm in your life? When you give them to God in prayer, what peace do you feel?
Comforting God, when life’s fireworks shock and unsettle me, draw me to Your peace.
Insight
The process of bringing people into the family of God is the work of all three persons of the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The book of Ephesians begins with high praises to God, “who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (1:3) and has sealed believers in Jesus with the Holy Spirit (vv. 13–14). The work of Jesus is featured in chapter 2. Ironically, His violent death on the cross is the means through which Jews and gentiles are reconciled and all of sinful humanity can be at peace with God: “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (v. 13). Note also that the mission of the Son includes bringing us to the Father through the work of the Holy Spirit: “For through him we . . . have access to the Father by one Spirit” (v. 18).
Isaiah 43:2 KJV
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Uncharted Waters
The ball drops in New York’s Times Square. The crowd counts down to Big Ben chiming. Sydney Harbor erupts in fireworks. However your city marks it, there’s something exciting about welcoming in a new year and the fresh start it brings. On New Year’s Day we push out into new waters. What friendships and opportunities might we find?
For all its excitement, though, a new year can be unsettling. None of us knows the future or what storms it may hold. Many New Year’s traditions reflect this: Fireworks were invented in China to supposedly ward off evil spirits and make a new season prosperous. And New Year’s resolutions date back to the Babylonians who made vows to appease their gods. Such acts were an attempt to make an unknown future secure.
When they weren’t making vows, the Babylonians were busy conquering people—including Israel. In time, God sent the enslaved Jews this message: “Do not fear . . . . When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:1–2). Later, Jesus said something similar when He and the disciples were caught sailing in a violent storm. “Why are you so afraid?” He told them before commanding the waters to be still (Matthew 8:23–27).
Today we push out from the shore into new, uncharted waters. Whatever we face, He’s with us—and He has the power to calm the waves.
Reflect & Pray
What possibilities excite you as you look forward to a new year? What worries can you place in God’s hands?
God, thank You that whatever this new year brings, You will be with me in it.
Insight
The Bible Knowledge Commentary points out that the phrase “but now” (or “and now”), which launches Isaiah 43:1, is a repeating feature of this section of Isaiah’s prophecy. It’s also found in 44:1; 49:5; and 52:5. In a section that boldly promises God’s rescue of the people of Israel, the phrase “but now” sets God’s promised rescue in contrast to the discipline He’s brought upon His people because of their chronic waywardness (see Isaiah 42). The vital thing to remember, however, is that God’s acts of correction and rescue are both expressions of His love for His people. Though they’d rejected His love, He loved them to the point of disciplining them for their wrongful actions. Then He loved them enough to bring them home.
Luke 6:49 KJVBut he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
When the Floods Come
I live in Colorado, a state in the western US known for the Rocky Mountains and our annual snowfall. Yet the worst natural disaster in my state had nothing to do with snow, but rain. The Big Thompson flood occurred on July 31, 1976, around the resort town of Estes Park. When the water finally receded, the death toll was 144 lives, not including livestock. In the wake of that disaster significant studies were done in the area, especially in regard to the foundation of roads and highways. The walls of the roads that withstood the storm were those filled with concrete. In other words, they had a sure and strong foundation.
In our lives the question is not if the floods will come, but when. Sometimes we have advance notice, but usually not. Jesus stresses a strong foundation for such times—one built by not just hearing His words but also by living out the gospel (Luke 6:47). That practice is almost like pouring concrete into our lives. When the floods come, and they will, we can withstand them because we’ve been “well built” (v. 48). The absence of practice leaves our lives vulnerable to collapse and destruction (v. 49). It’s the difference between being wise and foolish.
It’s good to pause occasionally and do a little foundation assessment. Jesus will help us to fortify the weak places that we might stand strong in His power when the floods come.
REFLECT & PRAY Jesus, I want to be not just a hearer but a doer as well. Give me the vision to see weak places in my foundation that need attention. And thank You for Your promised presence when the floods do come.
What weak spots need attention in your life? How might you work on them?
INSIGHT
Luke 6:17-49 echoes the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), but it’s actually a separate discourse Jesus gave “on a level place” (Luke 6:17). Luke 6:46-49 mirrors Matthew 7:21-27, and—similar to that passage—it contains a dire warning: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). The Matthew passage is even stronger: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Christ’s message is clear: If we profess to love Him, we’ll listen to and follow His commands. A quick overview of His commands is found in Luke 6:27-36: love those who hate you; be merciful; do not judge; forgive lavishly; give generously. The one who does these things is building a foundation on rock (v. 48).
John 11:21 KJV
Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
Moving at the Speed of Jesus
Recently, my car needed work. The mechanic’s shop was close, a mile from my home. So I decided to just walk home. But as I shuffled along next to a bustling thoroughfare, I noticed something: Everyone else was moving so fast.
This isn’t rocket science. Cars go faster than pedestrians. Zip, zip, zip! As I ambled home, I had a realization: We’re so used to moving fast. All the time. Then, another realization: I often expect God to move just as quickly. I want His plans to fit my speedy timetable.
When Jesus lived on earth, His seemingly slow pace sometimes disappointed His friends. In John 11, Mary and Martha sent word that their brother, Lazarus, was sick. They knew Jesus could help (vv. 1–3). But He arrived some four days later (v. 17), after Lazarus had died. “ ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died’ ” (v. 21). Translation: Jesus didn’t move fast enough. But He had bigger plans: raising Lazarus from the dead (vv. 38–44).
Can you relate to Martha’s desperation? I can. Sometimes, I long for Jesus to move more quickly to answer a prayer. Sometimes, it seems like He’s late. But Jesus’ sovereign schedule is different from ours. He accomplishes His saving work on His timetable, not ours. And the ultimate outcome displays His glory and goodness in ways that are so much greater than our plans.
Reflect & Pray
When have you been disappointed that Jesus seemingly didn’t answer a prayer, only to realize He was accomplishing something bigger? How did that realization affect your perception of God and His sovereignty?
Father, sometimes I get so impatient. Help me to trust in Your perfect timing and to cling to Your goodness in faith.
Insight
When confronted with the death of those we love, we’re often tempted to either deny how painful it is or to live without hope, only seeing the grief. In John 11, Jesus holds together both the horror of death and the sure promise of life. Because death is a tragic distortion of God’s good creation, Jesus as “the resurrection and the life” (v. 25) represents the restoration to life. If we read the whole story of Lazarus’ resurrection, we see a fuller picture of how Christ responds to death and grief. He’s “deeply moved in spirit and troubled,” and He weeps (vv. 33–35). Seeing death in all its horror, He triumphantly overcomes it and raises Lazarus to life. Jesus’ command, “Lazarus, come out!” (v. 43) points to the hope of our own bodily resurrection.
Psalm 100:2 KJV
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
A Lifestyle of Worship
As I waited in the breakfast buffet line at a Christian conference center, a group of women entered the dining hall. I smiled, saying hello to a woman who stepped into the line behind me. Returning my greeting, she said, “I know you.” We scooped scrambled eggs onto our plates and tried to figure out where we’d met. But I was pretty sure she’d mistaken me for someone else.
When we returned for lunch, the woman approached me. “Do you drive a white car?”
I shrugged. “I used to. A few years ago.”
She laughed. “We stopped at the same traffic light by the elementary school almost every morning,” she said. “You’d always be lifting your hands, singing joyfully. I thought you were worshiping God. That made me want to join in, even on tough days.”
Praising God, we prayed together, hugged, and enjoyed lunch.
My new friend affirmed that people notice how Jesus’ followers behave, even when we think no one is watching. As we embrace a lifestyle of joyful worship, we can come before our Creator anytime and anywhere. Acknowledging His enduring love and faithfulness, we can enjoy intimate communion with Him and thank Him for His ongoing care (Psalm 100). Whether we’re singing praises in our cars, praying in public, or spreading God’s love through kind acts, we can inspire others to “praise his name” (v. 4). Worshiping God is more than a Sunday morning event.
Reflect & Pray
In what ways can you joyfully worship God throughout the day? When has someone else's worship led to your own?
Almighty God, please help me live to worship You with contagious joy and gratitude.
Insight
While worship of God may include joyful praise and thanksgiving, as Psalm 100 describes, the biblical concept of worship is much broader. The Hebrew word translated “worship” (‘bd) in Psalm 100:2 is more often translated “serve” or “work.” For example, Adam was to “work” (same Hebrew word) the ground in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). Later this word became associated with the “service” of God in the tabernacle and temple (see Numbers 3:7). Because tabernacle and temple service involved praise of God, offering sacrifices, and other religious practices, the word came to mean “worship” as we understand it today. But the concept really has to do with serving God more than singing praises and offering thanksgiving. These expressions of worship are just some ways we can serve God. As Paul says, believers are to offer their whole bodies and minds to God as an act of spiritual worship (Romans 12:1–2).
