Tuesday, September 16

Psalm 62 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (v.8)

A quick answer to a prayer of need brings ecstasy that is so fulfilling you have to share it immediately.

I was pulling my two-wheeled cart from the parking lot at the jail to the front gate to deliver 500 pounds of books to the prisoners. It was 95 degrees in the middle of summer. The cart fell over twice on the bumpy sidewalk. Prisoners cutting grass laughed at me but did not offer to help. A gift-wrapped children’s Bible was balanced on top of the boxes.

Nearing the front gate, I worried about who might be on duty at the guard’s station. A friendly face, a new guard, or a muscle-brained hostile guard? A friendly guard who knows me as a chaplain can wave me through. A new or hostile guard can spend 30 minutes searching me, making me open each box and each book, looking for drugs or weapons.

As I rounded the final corner, I asked the Lord for a friendly guard. I struggled in the doorway, walking backwards, pulling and balancing the 500 pounds on the cart. I turned to face the bullet-proof glass guard’s station, and there she was! Officer Joyce, the most beloved of all the officers. She smiled and waved me through the giant steel interior doors.

I stopped long enough to share my prayer with her, my heart pounding with joy and exhaustion. The gift-wrapped Bible was for her 10-year-old daughter. I planned to leave it in the office for her. Any of 200 different officers could have been on duty that day. My trust in the Lord was rewarded beautifully that day.

1 Kings 21:17-29; Psalm 61; 1 Corinthians 1:20-31; Matthew 4:12-17

Wednesday, September 17

Psalm 72 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son. (v.1)

Please follow me in a biblical experiment in American domestic and foreign policy. Read Psalm 72 and in every place David refers to the “king” or “he” substitute “America” or “Uncle Sam.”

Now the psalm becomes a prayer for God’s blessing on our nation in terms of the issues we face in our state and national governments. God now appears to be calling America to be the guarantor of justice for the helpless. Why else would he have allowed the great American political experiment in freedom to exist and continue throughout our history?

Defending the poor, setting the needy free, crushing oppressors, and saving people from violence are the same general topics that governments have struggled with for thousands of years. In America, however, we have more resources and more freedom to pursue these objectives than any other nation in the history of the world.

However, the king that David refers to ruled divinely, for life. Our leaders, however, have to stand for election and must win favor with the voters. In America, the electorate determines public policy, and each of our 250 million people has a different set of priorities and agenda, many based on selfish points of view.

To make Psalm 72 come true for America today, we would have to vote with the mind of God and love our neighbors at least as much as we love ourselves. Then we could truly sing “God Bless America.”

1 Kings 22:1-28; 1 Corinthians 2:1-13; Matthew 4:18-25

Thursday, September 18

1 Corinthians 2:14—3:15 Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (v.14)

Bob sat in his jail cell and showed me the 22-page document he just submitted to the court, claiming he was not present when the store was robbed. “But, I lied, I did the robbery,” he immediately blurted out to me. I came down hard on him, urging him to recant his testimony, come clean, tell the truth, because that is what Jesus wants him to do.

Bob says he reads three separate daily Bible studies. He attends church regularly in the prison. I wonder what (if anything) he discerns that God is saying to him? He is the epitome of the unspiritual man. He listens but does not hear. He has no interest in discerning God’s will for his life.

“You gotta know how to play the court system.” he said. We prayed together about this, but he was un-moved to tell the truth. I told him if I were the judge, I would sentence him to the full maximum 45 years if I found out he lied to the court.

Bob is typical of many people, in and out of jail. He is always trying to “con” somebody, and ends up “conning” himself, wearing masks so the real (afraid) person is never exposed. Daily survival is Bob’s motive. Bob can criticize others (the court, the judge, the lawyers, his co-defendants) but never himself. With those methods, he can never know the mind of Christ.

1 Kings 22:29-45; Psalms 70, 71; Matthew 5:1-10

Friday, September 19

Matthew 5:11-16 “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (v.11)

I considered slipping out of the courtroom. Only the defense lawyer knew who I was. I sat stone-faced, horrified. As a prison chaplain, I wrote an impassioned letter to the judge, recommending long term, structured rehab therapy for a 50-year-old man, accused of sex crimes against children. The prosecutor demanded a 40-year jail term. I never thought my letter would be read and torn apart line-for-line in open court by both the judge and the prosecutor.

I was frozen. For twenty minutes the judge and prosecutor tried to out-do each other by criticizing my letter. They mocked me, they mocked the church, they mocked several other letters from clergy and doctors. Finally, they mocked God and the defendant. I didn’t know courts operated like this.

I stopped shaking and a peace came over me when I was called to speak. I complimented the prosecutor for using a Bible quote in her attack. I expressed total sympathy for the victims. I reminded the judge that a 40-year sentence for a 50-year-old man was a death sentence and urged him to call it that. I closed by quoting James 2:13— “mercy triumphs over judgment”—and telling the judge that notwithstanding this awful crime, I believe God wanted a voice for mercy heard in his court that day.

The judge said he liked my remarks better than my letter and sentenced the defendant to 40 years in jail. I left court shaking and feeling abused, but very proud that God had allowed me to speak for Him that day.

2 Kings 1:2-17; Psalm 69; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Saturday, September 20

1 Corinthians 4:1-7 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord come, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. (v.5a)

I have struggled to discern God’s will for me as I prepare this final message. I walked in the woods, examined myself, and debated the difference between judgement (which God does not allow me to do) and reason (with which God endows each of us).

A man I have known for 20 years was recently honored for long-term, valuable, unselfish service to a large non-profit corporation. He deserved the award by all standards.

However, based on close personal business experience with him, he is intellectually, morally, and spiritually bankrupt. I have been struggling about why this award has offended me so badly.

Do I think the award committee made a mistake? Based on their reasoning, no. Based on my judgment, yes. Is the prestigious award, itself, cheapened by presenting it to a man like this? It is for me. Am I offended that a man who hurt me and treated me so poorly is now being honored as an unselfish, humble servant of mankind? You bet I am.

My final conclusion, after a week of prayer and discernment, is that I am still judging him in my heart and want to punish him for hurting me. Yes, my internal ego is dented. The award only makes me want to expose the man he really is, but I can’t and won’t do that. In reality I want to play God with this man, something that is just not mine to do.

2 Kings 2:1-18; Psalms 75, 76; Matthew 5:17-20

Sunday, September 21

Luke 3:7-18 Don’t just talk of turning to God; you’d better bear the authentic fruit of a changed life. (v.8a VOICE)

This Scripture reminds me of the saying, “If you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.”

I met lots of so-called Christian’s when I was in college up in North Carolina. They were Christians on Sundays, but Mondays through Saturdays they were something else.

Except for a girl who lived two doors down from me. She was the same 24/7. She put Jesus first from the moment she got up until she went to bed. She was always our designated driver, she was never too busy to listen, and if you needed something she got it for you. She was kind, gracious, and never said a bad word about anyone. I wanted to be just like her. However, at that time, I wasn’t ready to give up my addictions.

Over the years, I’ve lost touch with her, but whenever I see her again, I’m going to tell her that, “He is now ‘my Jesus’ too!” And then thank her for showing me what it meant to “bear the authentic fruit of a changed life.”

2 Kings 4:8-17; Psalms 93, 96; Acts 9:10-31

Monday, September 22

2 Kings 5:1-19 But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!” (v.11 NLT)

As I read that verse, I wondered how many times I’ve stalked off angry/offended when God didn’t do things the way I wanted or expected.

I hate to admit it, but my expectations have interfered with me receiving the healing God had for me on more the one occasion. When God didn’t answer my prayers the way I expected, I became blind to His answer because it didn’t fit into my little box. It wasn’t until after the fact that I realized that God had answered me—just in a different way. And guess what, His way was much better...of course.

I’ve learned that when I pray to not have expectations of what God may or may not do, but instead to trust that how He chooses to answer will always be in my best interest. God knows what we need better than we do. So, it makes no sense to get angry or offended. When I feel my flesh begin to react that I way, I ask the Lord to give me His expectations instead of my own.

Psalm 80; 1 Corinthians 4:8-21; Matthew 5:21-26

Tuesday, September 23

2 Corinthians 5:1-8 That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming. (vv.6-8 MSG)

Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full kind of person? Before answering, take a moment to re-read the Scripture verses above.

What would happen if we started living like that every day? Even on the bad days. We have a promise from Jesus that this is not our home. And we know that what He has waiting for us is going to be more amazing than we can imagine. We might not be able to see it with our eyes right now, but we have His promise to keep us going. Yes, we are going to have our ups and downs, but we shouldn’t let them rule over us. Why? Because Jesus is a promise keeper.

So, let me ask you again. Is the glass half empty or is the glass half full? I propose that we look at life completely differently. What if we answered that the glass is always full. Half liquid and half air. We can’t see the air, but we know it is there just like Jesus’ promise of our better future.

2 Kings 5:19-27; Psalm 78:1-39; Matthew 5:27-37