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.

“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

—Psalm 56:3–4

When we are afraid . . . not if. Fear will come. So what will we do?

Put our trust in the Lord. Praise his Word.

And then what?

We shall not be afraid.

It sounds a little confusing, as if he’s saying, “When I am afraid, I shall not be afraid.”

And in a way, he is, because I don’t think it means that all concern over the present danger will dissipate. But if, when we begin to be afraid, we take time to insert trust and praise of the Lord into our fear, it changes.

That trust and praise reminds us who’s really in control and what really matters. “What can mere mortals do to me?”

We can face the difficult and painful things now even while trusting the Lord in all we do because no mere mortal is in charge of our ultimate fate. Man can harm the body but has no power over our soul (Matthew 10:28).

We’ve taken our thoughts captive, put our trust in the Lord, and turned our hope to the eternal. Anything man can do to harm is temporary, and in the Lord’s strength, we will endure to the end.

Because of this, our actions can radiate trust even in the midst of terrifying situations—we can sing in the prison (Acts 16:25–26), face the giant (1 Samuel 17), and enter the fiery furnace calmly (Daniel 3:17–18)—but only when we react by intentionally injecting our fear with trust and praise of our almighty God.

The post October 13th-Fear Transformed 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 while being abusively insulted, he did not insult in return; while suffering, he did not threaten, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.”

—1 Peter 2:23

Our flesh wants to defend our rights, to fight back, to take up the sword as Peter did in the Garden of Gethsemane.

But Jesus never got angry over his own rights. He lived the words: “do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28).

Reacting to injustice and suffering with calm peace as Jesus did can only be done by walking in the Spirit, not the flesh. This means we will be far more focused on the eternal than the earthly, even when the earthly circumstances threaten pain and danger.

And Jesus’s example shows that he lived much in prayer and communion with the Father, even through the moments of betrayal, agony, torture, separation from God, and death.

How much more should we do the same? Without this deep intimacy with the Lord, we risk a fleshly response to the enemy’s attacks.

Even when the world is unfriendly, dangerous, unjust, unfair, and even cruel, we don’t have to live in fear, and we don’t have to respond in anger. Earthly judges may fail us, but we can entrust our true, eternal selves to the God who judges righteously.

Before we respond with insults and threats or draw our worldly weapons, let’s check if we are in the Spirit or the flesh.

The post October 12-Calm in the Storm 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.

“Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

—Jeremiah 33:3

Without God, we must make all our decisions from within the confines of our limited knowledge and understanding. It’s often impossible for us to know what the best decision is, but it’s not impossible for God.

The key is remembering to call on him for our answers, walk daily with the Holy Spirit, and listen for his still, small voice in the midst of the chaos of the world. There are so many distractions—good and bad—shouting for our attention; we often go through life wringing our hands not only about the “great and mighty” things but also about our everyday concerns.

But if the Lord will tell us about the great and mighty things, he will also walk us through the common everyday ones. If we ask him for wisdom, he will give it (James 1:5).

He will guide us if we’re listening to and seeking him—rather than the world—for answers. To do that, we must quiet the shouting voices and pressures of society so we can hear him, and we must know his voice. Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Quieting the world requires intention—a choice to stop all the bustle and focus on him. And knowing him requires time and dedication to studying the Word and spending time in prayer. None of this will happen accidentally or casually. Very few things of worth do.

Hearing his voice and understanding his Word becomes easier and easier the more closely we walk with him.

The post October 11-The Still, Small Voice 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.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.”

—Genesis 50:20 

We don’t always enjoy the things that happen to us. 

Joseph certainly didn’t love being sold by his brothers, enslaved, and falsely imprisoned, but he lived there with honor and integrity. He acted in faith, though the sin of man and the nature of this broken world caused his hardship.

Sometimes things in our lives are unfair, objectively terrible, and nothing we would’ve ever chosen, but being depressed, bitter, unforgiving, or angry about the injustice of the situation won’t change things.

We don’t always get to pick what happens to us, but we can decide what we do while we’re there. 

We can grieve and ask God why while yet choosing to commit all our ways to him even in the darkness and uncertainty when we feel like we’re in prison and no one is on our side.

Joseph’s eventual release came simply because he asked two other prisoners why they looked sad (Genesis 40:7). Even in his suffering, he was still looking for ways to help others.

But he also didn’t just settle in and accept that suffering was his inevitable fate. When Joseph interpreted the cupbearer’s dream, he asked to be remembered to Pharoah, hoping for his release (Genesis 40:14). 

Joseph did the good he could where he had been placed while still working for a godly way out of a terrible situation and hoping for a better future.

The cupbearer forgot Joseph for two years (Genesis 40:23), but God never forgot and worked miracles through his circumstances, using even the evil acts for good, just as he promised (Romans 8:28).

The post October 10-Hope in Hardship 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.

“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”

—Hebrews 12:7–8

The discipline we endure in the Western world rarely comes to the point of shedding blood (Hebrews 12:4), but we still must be trained to resist sin in the deepest part of our hearts. That discipline often comes through the death of some simple desire or expectation in this life. Our reactions when we don’t get the things we want often reveal why we need the discipline—there’s an idol exposed, or a sin brought to light.

The call of the Christian includes enduring the Lord’s discipline—which may seem only like difficulty and pain in the moment—and living through it with our faith unshaken. That doesn’t mean we must enjoy it or smile and dance all the way through; it just means that even when it’s tough, we trust that God is with us.

We need this discipline just like a child needs the discipline of parents in order to become a responsible adult.

God is training us up, and if there’s an area in which we’re weak in endurance, patience, love, contentment, or anything else the Lord calls us to, he will work to strengthen it. That normally isn’t pleasant (Hebrews 12:11), but it results in the ability to live a righteous life and set our minds on things above.

God is working peace, spiritual maturity, and righteousness through the discipline, and we can trust him even in the midst of it.

The post October 9-The Father’s Correction 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.

“Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they will be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” 

—Matthew 6:1–2

It’s easy to say we aren’t doing things so people will see it, but how many times have we done good and taken offense when we didn’t receive a “thank you”? Or become discouraged and been tempted to stop serving because no one seemed to notice? Or become angry and complained to others when our efforts weren’t rewarded?

Though we genuinely want to do good, we often feel like it’s only worth it if we receive some reward from others, and sometimes we don’t realize that until we feel the frustration of not getting it.

When resentment arises within us because our good deeds haven’t been noticed, let’s remember that we shouldn’t require worldly validation to continue on God’s path, and our need for that recognition will lead us astray. Our motives determine our reward. 

Do we want the attention of men? Then that will be our reward. Do we want to do what the Lord has called us to do regardless of whether or not men are impressed? Then our reward comes from him.

As believers, we can be free from the need for other men’s approval, validation, or recognition.

Our true, lasting validation comes only from the Lord. Our reward is from him, and it is enough.

The post October 8-Freedom from Applause 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.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’”

—John 20:29

We’re all familiar with the phrase, “seeing is believing,” but that phrase actually contradicts itself. If we see something, there’s no need to believe it. No faith is required at all.

Even the people who love saying it don’t believe it. We live by radio waves, wireless internet, and all sorts of other things we don’t see.

And the most important things—love, joy, peace, hope, and so forth—aren’t seen at all.

We don’t see Christ in front of us the way they did when he was on earth, but those of us who walk with him know he’s with us by how he guides, nudges, and gives us his strength. We see his presence in the world (Romans 1:20) and in other believers.

And the more closely we follow Christ, the more real his presence becomes . . . “the one who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him” (John 14:21).

1 Peter 1:8–9 says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 

Because we believe though we do not see, we are blessed with inexpressible joy and filled with glory, obtaining the greatest gift of all—the eternal salvation of our souls. 

The post October 7-Joy in the Unseen 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 wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so–called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person. For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the evil person from among yourselves.”

—1 Corinthians 5:9–13

These verses seem shocking. We normally see the opposite in our church culture—judgment for unbelievers and license to sin amongst believers.

Thankfully, there is grace and forgiveness for all who repent, but there is little attention given to the issue of those who say they’ve repented yet continue living in willful, repeated sin.

This has resulted in a church that looks almost no different than the world.

It’s our job to speak truth to those who have strayed and potentially “save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19–20). We’re not to consider them enemies, but to admonish them because we love them (2 Thessalonians 3:14–15), to restore them in gentleness (Galatians 6:1), and to address faults in a loving, orderly way so they have the chance to repent (Matthew 18:15–17).

Let’s follow Christ’s example of giving a gentle invitation to unbelievers while ensuring that our churches are free of those who only hear, but will not live, the faith.

The post October 6-Grace and Accountability 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.

“Jesus wept.”

—John 11:35

It’s significant that Jesus—who is God in the flesh and who knew he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead—wept in this moment.

He had just seen Mary and others crying and mourning over Lazarus’s death, and he was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (John 11:33). We often think of Jesus as being immune to or above our earthly emotions—perhaps even stoic and cold—but he wept for their pain and grieved for their grief. 

He has compassion and empathy for our earthly troubles and needs (Matthew 9:35–36; Matthew 14:14–20; Mark 6:34) even though he knows they are not permanent and that we will be healed—sometimes in this life, sometimes not until eternity.

When we’re living in pain and grief, we don’t have to doubt whether our Lord sees us or cares about our sorrows and heartaches. 

He sees us weeping and, even now, it moves and troubles him.

We don’t always feel like that’s true, just as they didn’t. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” Martha said (John 11:21).

Our normal human reaction is to think, “If you had been with us, Lord, this wouldn’t have happened. We wouldn’t be suffering right now. We prayed, but you’re too late.”

We have this story to remind us that God doesn’t abandon us in those troubled times. He knows and sees, and he is always there with his presence and comfort. Complete healing and restoration is always the plan for those he loves and who love him, but he does not ignore our pain in the meantime; he sees it all and mourns with us in our mourning.

The post October 5-When Jesus Wept 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.

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done.”

—Matthew 6:10

We’ve heard the Lord’s prayer time after time, but it’s easy to gloss over this phrase.

If I stop and ponder whether I really mean it when I say, “Your will be done,” I’m forced to face the fact that there are times or areas of my life in which I don’t—places where I’m not dying to my flesh. 

There are some things I have walled off and held back from God. “No, this is mine, God. I don’t want you to take it from me, ruin it for me.”

But in this, we are like greedy little dragons, hoarding a treasure that does us no good in the dark recesses of our minds.

When we let God into them, he sweeps the dusty, grimy corners clean, opens the curtains, and lets the light shine in. He rearranges the furniture, lets in the fresh air, and sits there with us, redeeming the dark.

Often, if we examine our hearts, we will find that the thing we’re afraid God will take from us is not actually bringing us the joy and peace we claim it is. Rather, it’s enslaving us and making us anxious; it has a grip on our hearts that produces fear, insecurity, overwhelm, or sadness.

When we give God something we’ve been clutching tightly, there is a sense of relaxation in our souls. It brings rest and peace. We die a little more to self, sin, and the flesh. It eases the wantings that give us so much angst and sorrow (James 4:1-2).

It is always freeing to let the wantings go and let God in.

The post October 4-Peace in Letting Go appeared first on C. E. White.