My Soul is in the Midst of Lions

"My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts - the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords."  Psalm 57:4

Perhaps like me the image above brings back hard memories of being mocked and ridiculed.  It could be that on this very day upon returning from school you find your soul hurting and discouraged by the sword-like tongues of your peers.  Their words have cut deep.  Now you are questioning- "how do I get through this?"  "How do I get up tomorrow and find the strength to return to that environment?"  "Where do I find healing for my emotionally scarred soul?"

I hope it is a great comfort for you, as it is for me, that we are not the first ones to experience these hardships.  The Psalmist who penned the words above, knew what it was to be mercilessly made fun of and mocked too.  He knew what it was like to be picked on.  He knew how it felt to be afraid of what others might say.  Thank God for a writer in the Bible who writes to those wounded by words, threats, jokes, and mockery.  So what might we learn from Psalm 57, how might this writer answer the italicized questions above?

Devotional Passages for Week of March 18-25

Monday: Numbers 26:52-28:15, Luke 3:1-22, Psalm 61:1-8, Proverbs 11:16-17
Tuesday: Numbers 28:16-29:40, Luke 3:23-38, Psalm 62:1-12, Proverbs 11:18-19
Wednesday: Numbers 30:1-31:54, Luke 4:1-30, Psalm 63:1-11, Proverbs 11:20-21

Devotional Passages for Week of March 11-18

Monday: Numbers 15:17-16:40, Mark 15:1-47, Psalm 54:1-7, Proverbs 11:5-6

Tuesday: Numbers 16:41-18:32, Mark 16:1-20, Psalm 55:1-23, Proverbs 11:7

Wednesday: Numbers 19:1-20:29, Luke 1:1-25, Psalm 56:1-13, Proverbs 11:8

Do You Still Want to Be Like Mike?

Check out this article was originally posted on the Gospel Coalition website by a former SB2W camper, Matt Smethurst.

Do You Still Want to Be Like Mike?

If you've watched ESPN at any point in the last week, you know Michael Jordan just turned 50. With six NBA titles, five MVPs, ten scoring titles, 14 All-Star appearances, and many other feats posterized on my childhood bedroom wall, Jordan's legacy on the basketball court is unmatched. But life off the court, particularly since his final retirement in 2003, hasn't been so pristine.

In anticipation of Jordan's 50th birthday, ESPN senior writer Wright Thompson spent some time with Number 23. The product is an Outside the Lines article titled "Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building," a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into the mind of the man who revolutionized the world of sports.

Unquenchable Fire

Thompson's piece pulsates with the sense that Jordan isn't happy. "I would give up everything now to go back and play the game of basketball," the Hall of Famer confesses. When asked how he replaces it, Jordan simply states, "You don't. You learn to live with it."

Devotional Passages for Week of February 25 - March 4

Monday: Leviticus 16:29-18:30, Mark 7:24-8:10, Psalm 41:1-13, Proverbs 10:15-16

Tuesday: Leviticus 19:1-20:21, Mark 8:11-38, Psalm 42:1-11, Proverbs 10:17

Wednesday: Leviticus 20:22-22:16, Mark 9:1-29, Psalm 43:1-5, Proverbs 10:18

A Seed Among Thorns

"And others are the ones sown among thorns.  They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."  Mark 4:18-19

My wife and I have had the privilege of mentoring young men and women for many years.  It's fun that some of them are now having kids of their own, some are married and members of our church, and we even have one couple in our adult small group that we mentored as 9th graders.  Sadly, there are some who have not pursued their faith into adulthood at all, and some only apathetically.  I continue to pray for every one of them that their lives might not prove unfruitful.

So what happened to them along the way that led them to stray from faithfully following Christ?  Why are their lives seemingly not bearing the fruit that we had so hoped to see?

Devotional Passages for Week of February 18-25

Monday:  Leviticus 6:1-7:27, Mark 3:7-30, Psalm 37:1-11, Proverbs 10:3-4

Tuesday:  Leviticus 7:28-9:6, Mark 3:31-4:25, Psalm 37:12-29, Proverbs 10:5

Wednesday: Leviticus 9:7-10:20, Mark 4:26-5:20, Psalm 37:30-40, Proverbs 10:6-7

LeCrae's One Minute Gospel Rap

Desiring God's website had this wonderful gospel presentation on its blog today. Here's the link: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/lecrae-raps-the-gospel-in-one-minute

Here is a portion of the post on desiring God:

We recently sat down with Lecrae to talk about his latest album, Gravity, which just won Best Gospel Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Here he raps the gospel in one minute:

Devotional Passages for Week of February 11-18

Monday: Exodus 32:1-33:23, Matthew 26:69-27:14, Psalm 33:1-11, Proverbs 8:33-36

Tuesday: Exodus 34:1-35:9, Matthew 27:15-31, Psalm 33:12-22, Proverbs 9:1-6

Wednesday: Exodus 35:10-36:38, Matthew 27:32-66, Psalm 34:1-10, Proverbs 9:7-8

Devotional Passages for Week of February 4-11

Monday: Exodus 19:16-21:21, Matthew 23:13-39, Psalm 28:1-9, Proverbs 7:1-5

Tuesday: Exodus 21:22-23:13, Matthew 24:1-28, Psalm 29:1-11, Proverbs 7:6-23

Wednesday: Exodus 23:14-25:40, Matthew 24:29-51, Psalm 30:1-12, Proverbs 7:24-27

Not a Genie in a Bottle!

"And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." -Matthew 21:22

        There was a mad rush up the stairs last night as soon as I agreed that our kids could watch the VHS video they had picked up from the library that afternoon.  Being an older VHS tape, there was a lot of static sound as it played.  

"Dad!!! Fix it!!"  

       I wish I could have fixed it, but unfortunately the tape was irreparably damaged.  After a few minutes of listening to the annoying static noise I was ready to call it quits, but the kids had their hearts set on watching this video.  All of a sudden my oldest son says, "I just don't understand, I prayed, but God won't make the noise go away."

Devotional Passages for Week of January 28-February 4

Monday: Exodus 5:22-7:25, Matthew 18:21-19:12, Psalm 23:1-6, Proverbs 5:22-23

Tuesday: Exodus 8:1-9:35, Matthew 19:13-30, Psalm 24:1-10, Proverbs 6:1-5

Wednesday: Exodus 10:1-12:13, Matthew 20:1-28, Psalm 25:1-15, Proverbs 6:6-11

Today’s passage to savor – Are you a Ninja?

“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.  Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.  For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.  Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” 

Proverbs 4:20-23

Two of our camp directors were sitting in church one morning when one of them caught the other looking up into the rafters, studying them, and lost in his own daydreaming.  (Yes, it happens to us too.)  After the service the one approached the other because he thought he knew exactly what the other had been daydreaming about. 

“Were you daydreaming during part of the service?”

“Yes!”

“Were you imagining you were a ninja and discerning how you would drop from the rafters onto unsuspecting armed men who had entered the church, thereby saving all the congregation from certain doom”.

“Yes, that’s pretty much how it went.”

“I thought so.”

The truth is , many of us have great delusions of grandeur, picturing ourselves as heroes, able to save people from certain doom.  We dream of guarding our friends, our neighbors, our families from imminent attack.  Most of us will never have these dreams become a reality in life, at least in the fantastical way we daydream.  Yet, each of us are called to be the guards we dream of being.  It just looks a little different than our dreams, especially the daydreaming described above.  We are called by God to guard our hearts.  

More Savoring of God's Word

The heavens declare the glory of God...

I had not known when we started this themed week of "Savoring God's Word", that at the very center of the week, on Wednesday, we'd be reading Psalm 19. Cool how the Holy Spirit works. Read this Psalm about God's revelation to His people through creation and Scripture.  We've highlighted a couple particularly sweet and savory verses.

Continuing to Savor God's Word

Matthew 14:28-33                        

I'm sinking!!!  I'm in real trouble here!!!  This is not good!!!

I don't know exactly what was going through Peter's mind in this moment, but I do know this, his instincts to call out to Jesus were right on.  Are those your instincts?  Have you brought your troubles before our Lord and Savior?  Jesus rebukes Peter's doubt as a means to push him to grow in faith and trust, but make no mistake, Peter had stepped out of that boat in faith.  He was pursuing Jesus Christ.  This was not a man for whom Jesus was just "fire insurance".  This was not a man for whom Jesus was present just in case he got in trouble.  In the course of following Jesus, and seeking to know Him, in the course of stepping out of the boat in faith, Peter found himself in over his head.  So what do you do when difficulty arises?

A Week of Savoring God's Word

As I mentioned in our last post, one of my favorite times of the day is before breakfast when I dig into Scripture.  It is often an experience of savoring truth as I digest what God has said in His Word.  Our desire at SB2W is that you also experience the delight of knowing God and reading His Word on a regular basis.  To that end we invite you this week to follow us in the daily readings provided in the last post.  Each day this week we'll post some morsels from the reading that we found delicious.

Monday, January 21st Readings: Genesis 42:18-43:34, Matthew 13:47-14:12, Psalm 18:16-36, Proverbs 4:7-10

1. Matthew 13:49-50 - "So it will be at the close of the age.  The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In what place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

• You might ask: How is this passage a sweet morsel?  

Devotional Passages for Week of January 21-28

Monday: Genesis 42:18-43:34, Matthew 13:47-14:12, Psalm 18:16-36, Proverbs 4:7-10
Tuesday: Genesis 44:1-45:28, Matthew 14:13-36, Psalm 18:37-50, Proverbs 4:11-13
Wednesday: Genesis 46:1-47:31, Matthew 15:1-28, Psalm 19:1-14, Proverbs 4:14-19
Thursday: Genesis 48:1-49:33, Matthew 15:29-16:12, Psalm 20:1-9, Proverbs 4:20-27

Devotional Passages for Week of January 14-21

Monday:  Genesis 30:1-31:16, Matthew 10:1-23, Psalm 12:1-8, Proverbs 3:13-15
Tuesday:  Genesis 31:17-32:12, Matthew 10:24-11:6, Psalm 13:1-6, Proverbs 3:16-18
Wednesday:  Genesis 32:13-34:31, Matthew 11:7-30, Psalm 14:1-7, Proverbs 3:19-20

Read your Bible: Recommitting to Daily Bible Reading

One of the most precious times of my day is waking up each morning to open God's Word.  Why?  Simply stated; my heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick (see Jeremiah 17:9).  My heart is not prone to wake up in a godly frame of mind.  Let's be completely honest, I'm prone to wake up selfish.  I'm prone to have my mind filled with my plans, my desires, my struggles (Me, Me, Me).  How about you?  The Bible first thing in the morning reorients me to think God, God, God.  God first right? Is that not exactly what we need, to have our mind fixed upon God, upon Jesus, that we might honor Him each day, that our joy and delight might be in Him?

We here at SB2W encourage you if you don't already have a good reading plan, to use the reading plan at www.oneyearbibleonline.com.  We often post the reading plan here on the blog for you to read on a weekly basis.  Our devotional posts are most often on a passage from that very week's reading.  If you are reading along with us then last week you read of Jesus' temptation in Matthew 4.  Let me point out something that astonishes me.  Jesus is being tempted.  He, like us, had to do battle with temptation.  How did He find victory?  He used the Word of God.  Now think with me.  Jesus is God, therefore everything that proceeds from His mouth is the word of God.  Yet, look at what He chose to do battle with temptation.  Each time He's tempted he says these words, "It is written...".  Wow!! Jesus who could have used a variety of means to defeat Satan's attacks chose to use the written Word.  He chose the Scriptures.  Why?  To show how powerful and effective the written Word of God is for any who face temptation.  To point us to the importance of knowing the Word of God that we might faithfully follow Him.  Read your Bibles friends.  Soak up time with your Lord; enjoying, listening, learning, growing, and loving Jesus Christ.  Blessings to you in this New Year.

Devotional Passages for Week of January 7-14

Monday: Genesis 16:1-18:15, Matthew 6:1-24, Psalm 7:1-17, Proverbs 2:1-5

Tuesday: Genesis 18:16-19:38, Matthew 6:25-7:14, Psalm 8:1-9, Proverbs 2:6-15

Wednesday: Genesis 20:1-22:24, Matthew 7:15-29, Psalm 9:1-12, Proverbs 2:16-22