The Path: Grow With Us

“Where will you go when you die?”

Maybe you’ve been asked this question before. I’m not saying it’s not an important question. After all, eternity is a long, long time. And there is no greater hope than to be with Jesus in paradise forever.

But here’s a thought - more important than where you go is who you know.

Life is all about relationships. And at the top of that is the relationship we were created for from the beginning. The source of life itself. The oxygen our souls were made to consume. I’m talking about a rich, life-giving friendship with God.

Jesus never said eternal life was about heaven. Here’s what He actually said in John 17:3 -

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Eternal life is being intimately connected to God in friendship and daily life. And the beauty of that means true, eternal life can start now, not some day when I die.

If your soul feels dry today, return to the source of life. Get close with God. Talk to him all day. Embrace the exciting promise of James 4:8 -

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Day 18

Be honest. Have you ever just not liked someone, but weren’t sure why?

One time in my life there was a girl that rubbed me the wrong with almost everything she did. I couldn’t figure out what it was. And then one day, it hit me - I wasn’t really crazy about her because deep down I could tell she wasn’t too crazy about me.

I’ve often wondered if sometimes we struggle with a desire to pray for the exact same reason. Sure, we know deep down that God technically “loves” us - as in a general, “he has to because he loves the whole world” kind of way. But does he actually like me?

I think until we truly understand the character of God and His affection for us, prayer will remain a drudgery instead of a delight. But when it clicks, really clicks, that the Creator of the Universe is crazy about us - it will be hard to make ourselves stop praying!

Maybe that’s why Paul prayed for his friends at the church in Ephesus this way -

“And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.” (Ephesians 3:17-19 TLB)

I want to encourage you to read that verse again, but this time personalize it. Every time it says anything like “you” or “your” change it to “I,” “me,” “my” or “mine.”

Now, consider these others verses about God in relation to you and let them sink down deep:

“He found him in a desert land,

And in the howling waste of a wilderness;

He encircled him, He cared for him,

He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.” (Deuteronomy 32:10)

“He will take great delight in you;

in his love he will no longer rebuke you,

but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us… as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103)

Hear it deep in your spirit today - God really, really loves you. And He really, really likes you. He made you and He likes your smile and your personality and all the weird, quirky things that make you you. And He loved you enough to come and die for you and to desire intimacy with you.

Maybe that thought alone could drive us into more frequent conversation and friendship with God.

Day 17

Psalm 46:10a NLT

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Silence.

Silence can be uncomfortable. An awkward lull in conversation makes us feel like we need to say something, anything, to fill the silence. Being given the “silent treatment” - that’s uncomfortable, too. Our environments are noisy. We listen to music, podcasts, we have the TV on for background noise, etc. We create “atmosphere” with music. We even use white noise to get to sleep!

Why is silence uncomfortable? Is it because we feel pressured to always be doing or saying something and silence means no activity?

Silence. Just being. Just breathing. When we shut down all the noise we really begin to hear. To hear our breath, our heart beat, the tiny ambient noises that get covered up. A bird singing outside, the wind.

Jesus had a lot of noise in his environment, too. The crowd calling out to get his attention, the marketplace full of noisy vendors, the questions from the disciples. Noise. Lots of it.

So he sought out silence and solitude:

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16

He needed silence, alone time with his Father. It was a priority for him.

We need that, too. Silence and alone time with our Father.

Today pray in silence. No worship music. Just silence. It might feel uncomfortable. That’s OK. Sit in that silence and listen. Your Father is always speaking but he doesn’t shout at us. His voice can be heard in the silence.

Day 16

The reality of the Trinity - one God existing in Three - is a really big concept. Mysterious. Confusing. Ice-cream-headache inducing. Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised that as finite beings we can’t fully comprehend the infinite. After all, if we could explain God, we’d be God.

The reason this matters is we often miss out on some of the incredible benefits of friendship with God when we fail to embrace a part of who He is. When we let painful father-wounds get in the way of our view with God as Father, we view Him as harsh or absent or annoyed with us and we don’t enjoy the loving embrace and security of being God’s kids. When we don’t fully onboard Jesus as human but also Savior, we miss the comfort that He can relate to all our temptations and struggles, but that He also has power to forgive us, change us, save us.

And then, interestingly, when Jesus was about to leave the earth, he made a profound statement. He said, “it is better for you that I go away. If I don’t, the Comforter won’t come.” (John 16:7)

Jesus told His disciples that even better than Him walking physically with you, is when He’s able to send the Person of the Holy Spirit to live in you. The person of the Holy Spirit who can guide us, teach us, help us, fill us.

I love the way Paul ended his second letter to his friends at Corinth. He said -

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)

Paul desired for the complete force of God’s friendship - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - be with them in full power and enjoyment.

Maybe you’ve never considered that even the Spirit of God desires close companionship with you. He does. Talk to Him today. Ask Him to reveal Jesus to in you in richer ways. Ask Him to make Scripture come alive as you read it. Ask Him to help you. Ask Him to fill you.

Day 15

Matthew 6:6 MSG

“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”

There is so much to unpack in these words of Jesus about prayer.

The first thing I notice is to pray away.

Away from distractions. Your phone. Your laptop. Netflix. AWAY.

Why is that important? Prayer is not something you can multi-task. Actually, none of us can truly multi-task as we only end up splitting our attention so to try to do something else and pray is not giving God your full attention. We want his full attention (and He is ready to give it to us!) so let’s give him ours.

He also wants us to pray aware. Aware of our tendency to not be real. Our tendency to want to put a spin on our anger, our unforgiveness, our jealousy. Our tendency to try to hide from Him our pain, disappointment, our questions, our doubt.

Here’s the result when we pray away and remain aware; we will be praying above. Above our circumstances, above our doubt and anger and every struggle we will begin to see our Father who is above it all. Bigger than it all. Faithful through it all. And loving us above what we deserve, lavishing grace upon grace.

Today find your place, your time to pray.

Away. Aware. Above.

He is eager to hear your voice.

Day 14

John 15:1-2 NIV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

I once lived in a house that had Concord grape vines growing along a fence in the back yard. The first year I picked the grapes, made some jelly, a few jars worth. It seemed that I had a lot of vine but not that many grapes. So, I looked up how to grow grapes and the first thing I learned was that grape vines need to be pruned. And not just a trim. You cut out the dead wood and then you really cut back the branches that were producing grapes. To be honest, I thought I had killed the vines after I did what I was instructed to do. But, sure enough, the next season the vines came back and grew and produced more and bigger grape clusters. There were so many jars of jelly that year! I was amazed! It really worked!

And then I remembered this scripture, now all the more real because of the object lesson of my grape vines.

God prunes us. There are areas in my life that don’t produce good fruit. This word promises me that he loves me enough to prune those areas. Sometimes that happens though the words of a friend I am accountable to, a message on Sunday morning about something he wants to eliminate from my life, and more often, through his Word. And even those areas that are fruitful in my life he prunes because there is always a next step on the path to God.  Even when the ouch is still there, the growth begins and in season, the more abundant fruit comes.

Today when you have your time with God, ask Him about what he wants to prune in your life. Ask him to do it. He will, because he loves you so much and wants you to bear much fruit in his name.

Day 13

Before Jesus died, He had one last dinner with His friends. His followers. At this last meal, so many subtle but powerful things happened and were said. Perhaps most striking was when Jesus, Son of God, got up and began to wash their filthy-from-miles-of-daily-walking-in-sandals feet.

John 13 records:

“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

In that culture, to wash someone’s feet was the ultimate act of humility and servitude. Yet Jesus leveraged the height of His power to do good and serve those around him. This is our example as well. But let’s pay attention to the first person He chose to initiate this act with. Stubborn, impulsive, prideful Peter -

“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’

Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’

‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’

Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.’

‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’

Before we’re hard on Peter, realize how difficult this must have been for him. This holy Messiah wanting to scrub a towel in between your dirty toes. More than that, though, we see here a reality and a principle. Peter was comfortable serving Jesus; He was uncomfortable with the thought of Jesus serving him. On the surface this seems noble. And yet Jesus basically says until you learn to receive from me, you won’t truly have anything to give for me.

Maybe you’re one of those people that are very comfortable taking care of other people but not so good at taking care of yourself. It’s comfortable for you to help others; nearly impossible to ask or receive help for yourself.

I definitely can relate to Peter here in a way. I can be good at working for God; not always so great at receiving from God. I can be good at talking and giving God my words; not so great at listening and receiving His words. I can stay busy at trying to prove my love for God; not so great at humbly embracing God’s love for me, letting my roots go deep in His soil of kindness.

But Jesus’ words for Peter are his words for us. In this time of fasting, as counter-intuitive as it may sound, we need to allow Jesus to minister to us; not just vice versa. We need to receive from Him. To sit in His kindness, to enjoy His Presence. To not perpetually volunteer dangerously more than we’re letting Him speak to and nourish us during the week. After all, we can’t give away what we don’t have. And we’re not changed by trying to prove our love for God; we’re changed by trusting and receiving His love for us.

This may be as simple as taking a break from rushing through devotions in the morning to sit in silence and enjoy just being with God. To spend less time telling God how messed up you are and spend time thanking Him for how loved you are. To focus your attention for a few weeks on all the verses of how much God delights in you as His child. Maybe spend some extra time soaking in God’s Presence through worship in your car or in a long walk. Whatever it looks like, we need to stand under the waterfall ourselves, and not just hand everyone around us cups of water while inside we dry up. Jesus wants to pour into your cup today.

Day 12

2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

What we sow we will reap. That’s kind of obvious, right? If a farmer doesn’t sow wheat seed, he will never have a wheat harvest. And if he only sows a few wheat seeds he will only harvest a small crop. But lots of seed produce a huge harvest. Sometimes when I’ve read this verse I’ve only thought about financial giving/sowing. That’s a good application but I think that’s only a small part of what God wants us to see.

We sow in many ways every day. We sow our attitudes, we sow how we care for others, how we love, how we listen. And people sow into us. When someone encourages you or is caring, then you feel more encouraging and caring towards others. Or, when someone really listens to you, giving you feedback, asking questions, that inspires you to do better when you listen to others.

In the same way, when we are harsh and critical of our spouse we will probably get a harsh or critical response. And many times we have that attitude because someone was harsh and critical with us earlier in the day.

So, let me ask you, when you are at work, do you sow encouragement or negativity? We’ve all been in those situations where someone’s negativity has turned the meeting or conversation to a complaint fest. Don’t let that be you. Instead,

Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. (Colossians 4:6)

When we sow the good seed of a Christ-like attitude (read 1st Corinthians 13:4-8 for a good description), it will change our homes, our workplaces, and relationships. And that seed will grow in us, changing us day by day to be more like him.

Today, think about what you are sowing - into your workplace, your home, your spouse, your children and friends. Pray and ask God to show you someone to sow encouragement into.

Day 11

Galatians 6:9 NLT

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

You are halfway through your fast! Congratulations! Without asking, I’m sure there have been some great days and others that have been really difficult. There have been days when you haven’t followed your fast or you haven’t had any time with God. Welcome to the club. You aren’t the only one. I promise.

The important thing is to not give up. To get back up. We’re on the path to God. That means we are moving forward and sometimes we trip and fall. We do a face plant. We scrape our knees.

Have you ever tripped and fallen in a public place? Yup. I have, and it was so excruciatingly embarrassing. I not only fell; I also cut my knee and the manager of the store insisted that I be carried into the back of the store while seated on a chair even though I told them I could walk. She said it had something to do with liability. I think she didn’t want me bleeding on her floor. After I was bandaged up and filled out an incident form, I had to walk all the way to the front of the store. I was positive everyone was looking at me and judging me for my clumsiness. To this day I have never returned to that store!

That’s also how we can feel when we stumble and fall on the path to God. We are embarrassed, ashamed. We want to hide. And we’re hurt because falling hurts! We wonder if others are judging us. We wonder if Jesus is judging us. And unfortunately, we may walk away from the community of the church.

What does Jesus do when we fall?

He bandages our scraped up souls and hearts. He forgives us and restores us. And he helps us get up and start walking again even if it’s with a limp for a while. He’s right there to lean on.

Where have you tripped and fallen? Talk to Jesus about it. Ask him to forgive you and heal the hurt and help you get back up. You may limp and it may hurt but know this: the journey on the path to God is worth it.

“…A righteous man falls seven times, but gets back up…” (Proverbs 24:16)

Day 10

“They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.” - Psalm 78:11 NIV

I forgot.

I hate when I have to say that. Especially if it’s my wallet. Or my car keys. Or an important appointment.

Sometimes forgetting isn’t a big deal. Other times it can be nearly fatal.

Over and over again, Scripture warns us of the danger of spiritual amnesia. One of the greatest case studies is the children of Israel. Over and over again, God would part seas, supernaturally feed them and protect them, and perform made-for-movie miracles to remind them of His power. And yet over and over again, they complained and only focused on the giants in front of them - never reminding their souls about all the dead giants behind them. Never taking to heart and remembrance how faithful God had always been. If you have time today, read through Psalm 106 notice the rhythm.

To grow in faith, we must detect the same patterns in ourselves. The more I forget God’s goodness yesterday, the less faith I will have for God’s goodness tomorrow. The way to increase my faith in the moment is to draw from the memory of God’s faithfulness in my life.

No matter what you’re feeling today, why not take a few minutes as you end this devotional and remember and thank God for all he’s done for you. All his provision, all his protection, all the answered (and thankfully unanswered) prayers, all the seasons he’s seen you though. Better yet, journal a list of all God’s goodness, and rehearse it regularly.

“Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits…” - Psalm 103