The Mirror of the Word: A Daily Devotional Podcast from C.E. White

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“For the body is not one part, but many. If the foot says, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.”

—1 Corinthians 12:14–16

Many of us believe that because we’re not an “eye,” we’re not of the body. We have nothing to offer. We may not say that out loud, but we live it when we think things like, “Because I’m not a teacher, singer, preacher, or because I’m not outgoing or smart, etc., I have nothing to offer the body.”

But verse 18 says, “Now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as he desired.”

God has designed and placed each of us into the body of Christ just how he intended.

Believing we have nothing to offer is like us telling God, “You did it wrong. You made me the wrong part. I’m useless.”

But God doesn’t do things wrong. He designed each of us just as he intended and created work for us to do according to that design (Ephesians 2:10).

Even the Christian community seems to value some parts of the body of Christ more than others, but God makes it clear that we are all needed.

Let’s not waste time wishing we were some other part of the body. Let’s believe that God designed us as we are on purpose and that he will guide us in how to serve the body there.

The post MAY 26-Made on Purpose appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“And the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

—Isaiah 35:10

As Christians, we are the redeemed of the Lord. We deserved an everlasting punishment for our crimes, but he paid a debt he did not owe, and now, we are promised an everlasting joy!

While sometimes the “everlasting” part feels too far away as we struggle through life on this earth, once it’s gained, we will realize how brief all our troubles here really were, and all our sorrow and sighing will flee. There’s no question about that.

We will not resent the troubles we had here; we will not regret the things we never got the chance to do or have. We won’t care about any of that.

Whatever troubles we’re living through now, we can rest on this everlasting promise and trust that they will be a mere blink of an eye to us once we reach eternity, where we shall have no more tears or pain (Revelation 21:4).

Each of our lives can tell the story of a steadfast faith as we take one step after the other in divine hope of that everlasting joy. Even when enemies plague us, friends are fickle, injuries abound, and the weather of circumstance makes our journey hard, we can go on with confidence.

In our eternal Zion, the pain will be forgotten, and joy and gladness will be our inheritance.

The post MAY 25-Zion Awaits appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”

—1 Corinthians 13:1

This chapter is so familiar that we often don’t grasp its depth, but taking time to meditate on its words is such a heart–check.

What is motivating our words? Do we speak just because we can? So people will think we’re smart or wise? So we can win arguments? Or is it out of love?

All reasons except the last render our words, at best, pointless, and at worst, harmful.

Our most eloquent speech is no more meaningful than a toddler banging kitchen pots and pans together if that speech has no love in it.

Love is the essential ingredient that gives our words power and makes them fruitful. How many times do we speak truth and try to correct others without seasoning our words with love? It’s a pointless endeavor.

The Lord gives no caveats here. He does not say, “It’s okay to speak without love if the people are really evil, have really hurt you, or have been speaking without love to you.” Even when speaking difficult truths to evil people, it should be done with love for the hearers.

This is a question to ask ourselves regularly: “Why do I want to speak into this circumstance or discussion? Is it because of love?”

Words of love can change lives. If we cannot look at the people in front of us and love them, we may as well remain silent and pray until what we want to say is truly motivated by love.

The post MAY 24-Speak with Love appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“I will give thanks to you, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.”

—Psalm 139:14

We often look at ourselves and see only the things we don’t like about our bodies, our abilities (or inabilities), our insecurities, our personalities, and our struggles.

We all have things that aren’t considered ideal according to this world’s judgment—things that, by our standards, hold us back in success or relationships.

But God made each of us unique reflections of himself, capable of serving and reflecting his image out into the world in different ways.

Some of us struggle with anxiety or mental illness, some from physical illness or disability, and some of us can’t seem to manage in social situations no matter how hard we try.

We’re each still fearfully and wonderfully made. God knows our best and highest purpose in life. Just like the blindness in John 9:1–3 was not a punishment, there is always something in our difficulty that God can and will use to show his love and glory to others.

Our service is to offer that struggle up to the Lord. Sometimes our prayers may be, “God, I don’t have anything good or strong or perfect to offer you. I only have this sadness, this anxious heart, this grief, this struggle, this weakness.”

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Just like that man born blind, it may take years of struggle to see what the Lord is going to do with that difficulty, but even while we’re weak in body, we can grow strong in the Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:16).

God made each of us, and wonderful are his works. Do our souls know it well?

The post MAY 23-He Sees Beauty appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“For your sake we are killed all day long; we were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

—Romans 8:36–37

We all love the idea of overwhelmingly conquering, but we often forget the context in which that phrase is placed. According to the Word, we “overwhelmingly conquer” even when we’re being “killed all day long” in persecution.

Many times, this verse is taken to mean we will succeed at our worldly pursuits, that we cannot lose, and that we will triumph over our enemies.

We think of it like a conquering king coming in to rule a nation; he’s taking charge and having things done his own way.

But that’s not what this verse is talking about. It’s telling us that even when we lose the battle on this earth according to worldly standards, we’re still conquerors—and not just conquerors, but overwhelmingly so. Nothing can take our triumph because no enemy can snatch us from God’s hand. Even when believers are murdered for our faith, the victory we have in our heavenly reward puts us on the winning side.

That victory is not dependent upon earthly wins and losses; it’s only dependent upon our faith in Christ and our enduring through trials for the joy set before us just as Jesus did (Hebrews 12:2).

When we don’t seem to be winning in our circumstances, we are still overwhelming conquerors as we trust him just as Christ was a conqueror when he hung, dying, on the cross. It did not look like victory, but it was. He endured for the joy set before him, and so can we.

The post MAY 22-Joy Set Before Us appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

—Romans 13:14

The word “lust” is also translated “desires.” It can mean anything from anger, bitterness, and sexual sin to greed, alcohol, or man’s approval—any worldly desire we give a place in our lives.

This “putting on” of Christ literally means to “clothe yourself with,” “to sink into,” or to “invest in clothing.”

“Putting on” is ongoing. We do not clothe ourselves once; we clothe ourselves every day with fresh clothing. Counting on our Sunday service or on a spiritual experience we had years ago to guard us from the desires of the flesh isn’t enough. Our spirits need to put Christ on anew every day.

And we only “sink into” something substantial. You can’t sink into a linen shirt, but you can sink into a down jacket. Putting on Jesus each day protects us from the elements—our fleshly desires and the darts of the enemy. Without Christ, we are exposed.

And investment means this garment isn’t cheap. We may have to sacrifice to acquire it. Jesus is that pearl of great price so valuable that paying absolutely everything we have would be worth it to have him . . . even unto death. In daily life, this looks like “investing” our finances, time, service, and our whole lives as the Lord leads—all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).

Caring for our flesh in healthy ways is responsible, but when it comes to its lusts, we’re to “make no provision.” We do not plan out how we can satisfy our unhealthy desires.

We clothe ourselves with Jesus so those fleshly desires get no say in our decisions, our time, or our activities.

The post MAY 21-“Wearing Jesus Daily” appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.”

—Romans 8:26–28

We often hear the first and the last of these three verses independently but rarely in context with one another.

It’s quite comforting that the Spirit intercedes when my groanings are unintelligible and I don’t know what or how to pray.

But this passage also calms the fear that we’re praying things outside of God’s will. For when “we do not know what to pray for as we should,” the Holy Spirit intercedes for us “according to the will of God.”

Many of our prayers are about removing suffering, and that’s okay. Even Jesus prayed this way in the garden: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39).

But just as Jesus’s prayer was not granted, what we hope and pray for may not be what would lead to the greatest eternal good. 

But when our hearts join Jesus in adding his, “yet not as I will, but as you will,” we can be sure the Holy Spirit makes all our prayers right, and that God will work all things—our misguided prayers, all of our suffering, the good in our lives, and the things we don’t understand—to good for those who follow him (Romans 8:28).

The post MAY 20-When I Don’t Know What to Pray appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Then the Lord said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand there on the rock.’”

—Exodus 33:21

Only when we’re standing beside the Lord are we secure; every other place we could stand will lead to shifting sand and a faulty foundation.

There are days when we don’t place ourselves beside the Lord—when we choose to walk in ways contrary to what he tells us in his Word or what we know he’s called us to. Instead of standing beside him, we stand by our sin—whether from fear or selfishness—and that puts us on shaky ground.

It’s easy to think, “I’ll just trust this today and go back to trusting God tomorrow,” but that “today” often turns into several days or weeks or months. It’s always that much harder to go back to standing beside him when we’ve gotten into the habit of standing by our flesh.

When we’re tempted to choose something we know is opposed to the Lord’s will, a good question to ask ourselves is, “Do I really believe his Word is true? Do I believe following him will result in better things than giving in to my desires or feelings in this moment?”

As believers, if the answer to that question is no, we need to dig into our beliefs about the Lord! 

But if we answer those questions with a yes, then choose ourselves anyway, we know we’re not only walking away from the Lord’s will and in danger of giving the devil a foothold, we’re also acting in opposition to our core beliefs, which always leads to inner turmoil and dissatisfaction.

Let’s remember that it’s always worth following him, even when it means denying ourselves or walking into difficult situations.

Beside him is always best.

The post MAY 19-Shaky Ground or Solid Rock appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God really said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?’”

—Genesis 3:1

Eve had the entire world at her disposal . . . all except one tree. Satan wanted to keep her focused on that one thing God had kept from her; he also confused and exaggerated the difficulty of God’s restriction so it seemed excessive and unreasonable.

The devil still uses these same tactics; he continually draws our attention away from all the wonderful things the Lord gives us so we will focus anywhere God has said no. We start thinking more and more about the things we can’t or don’t have and how God must not love us because he’s keeping those things from us.

Satan wants us to believe we’re not walking in freedom and that the Lord’s rules are unfair.

But only God’s freedom is truly free. It’s like a fence . . . yes, it keeps us from going beyond it, but everything good is within. It exists because everything outside of it will hurt us in the end.

Satan’s “freedom” would have us climbing the fence and running out into traffic. His main goal is to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). He wants us injured, wounded, angry, defeated, trapped, bitter, and divided from God.

When Satan tempts us to look at what God has not allowed us, our defense is to turn our eyes back to all the good God does give and remember that anything our loving Father restricts or withholds is because he knows dangers we cannot see; he would protect us from the pain of discovering them the hard way.

The post MAY 18-Has God Really Said? appeared first on C. E. White.

The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“He who said to them, ‘This is the place of quiet, give rest to the weary,’ and, ‘This is the resting place,’ but they would not listen. So the word of the Lord to them will be, ‘Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there,’ that they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.”

—Isaiah 28:12–13

The Lord wants to teach us the truth that leads to a place of quiet and gives rest in Jesus. 

But in our stubbornness, we often only see his rules—“order on order, line on line.” Like toddlers, we haven’t proceeded beyond the “milk” of understanding (Isaiah 28:9), so we see these rules as arbitrary, not believing there are greater purposes behind them. 

And we remain spiritual toddlers for far too long, feeling like God is restricting us unfairly or trying to prove our “goodness’ by following them.

But there is only one work that will not perish: “that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29). This means we can believe all he says and follow it even when we don’t understand the objective reasons behind his rules. 

Viewing God’s commandments as “orders upon orders” (instead of simply believing Jesus and all he taught) will only ever lead to pride if we’re really good at keeping them (like the Pharisees) or despair if we aren’t.

Only the obedience that comes from love (John 14:15) leads us to quiet, freedom, and rest, because it comes from trust that all he says is good and truly best for us. It doesn’t require the straining and striving we normally put into obedience when we truly believe it will also bring about the best good for our lives.

The post MAY 17-The Quiet Place appeared first on C. E. White.