Author: Jennifer Armstrong

Its not about you (Warren, 2002).

I love how Rick Warren begins The Purpose Driven Life by reminding us that God created us in his image for his good purposes, not our own.  In this best-selling book, Warren invites readers into a 40 day spiritual journey to discover (or affirm) their life’s purpose through studying God’s plan.

• Purpose #1: You Were Planned for God’s Pleasure
• Purpose #2: You Were Formed for God’s Family
• Purpose #3: You Were Created to Become Like Christ
• Purpose #4: You Were Shaped for Serving God
• Purpose #5: You Were Made for a Mission

God’s plan for our lives starts with acknowledging and worshipping him as the giver and sustainer of life.  Our scripture for today, Psalm 96, provides a beautiful blueprint for how to glorify God through worship.

Did you know this Psalm appears in the Bible two times?  In 1 Chronicles 15, the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem after David’s army defeated the Philistines. Upon its arrival, David asked musicians to lead the people in worship with these words (recorded in 1 Chronicles 16:23-36).  The same words were then recorded as the 96th chapter of the book of Psalms.

Each paragraph of Psalm 96 begins with a different command/call to action, thus providing a how-to blueprint for worship.  These actions, of course, are not the only way to worship God.  But if this Psalm is important enough to be recorded in God’s word more than once, it warrants our attention.  Let’s take a look –

Sing (verses 1-6)

What does it mean to sing to the Lord a new song?   We should always be finding new ways to praise God.  Worship should be a fresh experience that engages the mind and heart, rather than a boring ritual.  If God’s mercies toward us are new every morning, so should be our praise for him.

The word ascribe means to give proper credit where credit is due.  If everything good and perfect comes from God, glory can be ascribed to no one other than him.  This seems logical and easy to follow.  But all too often I know I am guilty of patting myself on the back for being a “good decision maker” or “using sound judgment” instead of giving God the credit for guiding my ways.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).

For from him and through him and for him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!  Amen (Romans 11:36).

Say (verses 10-13)

If we identify ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ and have accepted his gift of salvation, each one of us has declared Jesus as Lord.  God then uses us as his vessels for carrying the gospel message to the World.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

Today, let us come before the throne of God with a heart of worship.  Sing, ascribe, say – all glory to his name.  Amen.

I was reading a couple articles this week about how COVID 19 has affected a variety of different living patterns like how we shop, how/where we work and where we live.  Several of them were trying to predict which of the changes are temporary and will soon shift back to pre-COVID patterns, versus which changes have become a lasting “new normal”.  For the most part, there was consensus that WFH (Working From Home) is here to stay.  In other words, the authors predict the vast majority of employees who have successfully performed their job duties from home instead of the office this last year, are likely to have some level of increased freedom to work from home more often than they did before the pandemic.

Is that good or is that bad?  I guess it depends on your perspective.  For those of us associated with the single family residential real estate industry, the impact of the WFH shift has been overwhelmingly positive so far.  Nothing makes you want to remodel your outdated house, or move to an entirely new house that better fits your needs, more than having to stay at home 24 hours a day, every day!

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord (Psalm 84:1-2).

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked (Psalm 84:10).

As I read our passage for today and pictured the Sons of Korah, or temple assistants, singing about the eternal home God is preparing for his followers, I couldn’t help but think about the emotional buying that has engulfed the residential real estate market over the past few months.  Because of record low inventory, home buyers have been willing to forgo house inspections, willing to waive appraisals, and even willing pay more than asking price to win the right to purchase a house.

Read verse Psalm 84:2 again – My soul years, even faints, for the courts of the Lord.  Can you feel a similar emotional longing?  While the Psalmist refers to the “dwelling place” and the “courts” of the Lord, he doesn’t really mean a physical structure like we picture a dwelling place or a home.  In reality, his longing is to dwell in the presence of the Lord.

In similar fashion, when you think of your home, is it the physical structure that brings out the emotion in you?  I doubt it.  While the physical structure may bring a level of safety and security, it is the people and relationships that actually give it meaning.  Can you think of the first place you lived with your spouse?  What about the room where you rocked you newborn back to sleep in the wee hours of the morning?  Or the kitchen table around which you shared meals with those you love night after night?  I’m guessing those memories stir some emotion in your heart, some longing for the people with whom you shared those physical spaces.

Family and friends with whom we can share our lives are a gift from God, and I am grateful for them.  But nothing, and no one, here on earth will ever compare to being in the presence of God for eternity.  What a day that will be!

Psalm 72 describes a perfect King and/or ruler as someone who:

• Judges people in the right way, and treats the poor fairly (verse 2)
• Does what is right (verse 3)
• Helps to defend the poor, rescues the children of the needy and crushes their opponents (verse 4)
• Rescues the poor and helps the oppressed (verse 12)
• Feels pity for, and rescues the weak and needy (verse 13)
• Saves the weak and needy from oppression and violence (verse 14)

Would this be a leader you’d want to follow?  Do these traits describe someone for whom you would vote?  I suspect they do, as this Psalm was King Solomon’s prayer asking God to help him to lead the nation with wisdom and justice.  How different would things be if our world leaders displayed these qualities?

Honestly, it is somewhat discouraging that I don’t recall many (or any) recent candidates who’s platform was to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Even so, I am called by God to obey our elected officials even when my views don’t align with many of theirs.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God (Romans 13:1).

Instead of just complaining that I must follow leaders that don’t exemplify these characteristics and/or don’t follow Jesus, this Psalm has helped remind me I have another responsibility.  As Christfollowers, 1 Timothy instructs us to pray for elected officials.

Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity (1 Timothy 2:2).

This is tough for me.  My natural approach is to turn off the 24 hour news channels and completely disengage in the political spin.  So, I can pray for our leaders simply out of obedience to 1 Timothy 2:2, or I can pray for our leaders expecting it will really make a difference.  At first blush, this may seem a little naive.  But I know –

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

God may change the hearts and/or actions of our world leaders as a result of my prayers, or he may simply change my heart.  Either way is a win!

This afternoon I was helping out a friend by doing a mock interview with one of her team members who is interviewing for a Manager job.  In the course of our conversation, I asked him my favorite interview question for aspiring leaders –

Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work; how did you recover from it?

After he was done answering the question, I shared with him why I ask this question whenever I get the chance.  From my perspective, a good answer contains evidence the aspiring leader did 3 things:

• Took ownership for the mistake.
• Did whatever he/she needed to do to make it right.
• Identified the root cause and took action to prevent it from happening again.

As I sat down to reflect on Psalm 60, I kept coming back to this interview question.  In fact, David’s actions in Psalm 60 illustrate a wise approach to confronting mistakes.

The context for this Psalm was defeat.  David and his army had suffered some kind of a loss in battle.  David knew that when the Lord was on their side, his army was always victorious.  So this defeat told him that someone had made a mistake that resulted in God’s disfavor.  As the leader, David owned the mistake and he set out to make it right.

No matter the mistake or situation, I am confident greater obedience to the ways of the Lord, and greater reliance on God’s power to overcome will always produce greater outcomes.  Let God’s word guide your actions today.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him (Psalm 28:7).

Today’s reading:  Psalm 48

The authors of Psalm 48 were the Sons of Korah, otherwise known as the temple assistants.  Kind of like Shelly started yesterday’s post with the words of a worship song, I see the 14 verses of Psalm 48 as lyrics to a song that the Sons of Korah sang to praise God as they carried out their duties.

Verses 1-8 praise God’s powerful actions by describing:

• His holy city (Mount Zion, or Jerusalem, where the temple was located); Jerusalem was regarded as the center of God’s presence in the world
• Him as the powerful defender of his city, of whom other kings were afraid
• Him as the protector of his city and its inhabitants, for whom he will make it safe forever

Verses 9-11 praise God’s perfect character by describing:

• His unfailing love
• His name as deserving of praise
• His justice

Verses 12-13 praise God by describing evidence of his protection:

• Count the many towers
• Note the fortified walls
• Tour the citadels

Verse 14 closes by confirming God’s likeness to the descriptions in the previous verses, and declaring him as the God who will guide our ways forever.

While I don’t know a hymn or worship song that is specific to Psalm 48, the hymn that found myself singing as I read this scripture and prepared for this post was Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.  I encourage you to meditate on the words of this hymn with me today –

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation.  Oh my soul praise him for he is my hope and salvation.  All ye who hear, now to his temple draw near.  Join me in glad adoration (Joachim Neander, 1680).

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep (Psalm 36:5-6).

Yesterday, Shelly talked about praying the Psalms.  Similarly, when I got to verse 5 of today’s passage in Psalm 36, I started signing the words of this Psalm as put to music by Third Day in 1999.  If you are familiar with this song, can you read this passage or listen to the song without lifting your voice in worship to God?  I certainly cannot.

Psalm 36 begins by describing the sinfulness of wicked people.

• There is no fear of God in their eyes
• They think too much of themselves to recognize, or care about their sin
• Their words are wicked and deceitful
• They don’t act wisely or do what is good
• They plot evil and don’t reject what is wrong

Do you see the pattern here?  A sin of commission (doing something wrong), then a sin of omission (failing to do something right).  Both are sins.  Both are contrary to God’s will.

In the next section, David contrasts the sins of the wicked with the attributes of God.  They couldn’t be more different.  The vastness of God’s love, faithfulness and righteousness are completely opposite of sin.  Justice, however, is where the sins of the wicked and the character of God intersect.  Our perfect God will eventually put an end to sin; an end to arrogance, apathy, deceitfulness, and wickedness.

As Christfollowers, we need not fear wicked people because we know God loves us, he hates sin, and he judges evildoers.  Like David, we can ask for his protection.

May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away (Psalm 36:11).

Oh lord, your love and faithfulness are beyond measure.  Thank you for loving me in spite of my sinful ways.  Today, will you protect me and my family from wicked people who seek to bring us down destroy us?  Today, will you help me recognize my own wicked ways and give me the power to make choices that honor you?

I will lift my voice to worship you my king, I will find my strength in the shadow of your wings.  Amen.

This week I’m on vacation in Marco Island by myself.  The picture above is last night’s sunset  While this isn’t how I planned this trip, I’m making the most of how it turned out.  When was the last time you had a week at the beach to yourself?  This is a first for me.  I’m midway through the week and, as you’d expect, I’ve walked many miles up and down the beach listening to Gene Appel’s Pursuing God podcasts, listening to uplifting music, and enjoying God’s amazing creation.  In my opinion, there are few places on earth better than the beach!

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters (Psalm 24:1-2).

As I meditate on the scripture for today, Psalm 24, David begins by declaring everything in the world was created by God and belongs to God.  God created the beach I love so much and God created me.  The beach belongs to God.  While God created me to have free will, I also belong to God.

In the context of Psalm 24, why do I believe?

God is omniscient.   Not only does he have the power to create everything, he also knows everything.  He knows how his creation is intended to work together.  As such, he knows what is best for me.  Even though I have the option to do it my own way, I choose to follow God’s plan because the outcome is certain.  Unlike the world (and unlike me), God never changes his mind and he never breaks his promises.  Why wouldn’t I choose God and claim his promises rather than do it my way and risk having things not turn out well?

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Today’s reading:  Psalm 12

I’ve experienced events I never imagined would happen in my lifetime during the past 10 months.  When we turned the calendar to 2021, I naively thought this nation, ravaged by the pandemic, racial tensions and a huge political divide, hit rock bottom in 2020 and only had one way to go – up.  Things had to start getting better, right?

Wrong.  With the president inciting an attack on our nation’s capital building last week, and his impeachment this week, the first two weeks of 2021 have NOT started out any better than last year.  Without faith in a God who has power over it all, it would be very easy to sink into hopelessness.

Why do I believe?

Through his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus overcame sin and death.  Because I put my faith in him, I am not stuck in this world.  Rather than a life of hopelessness, pain and heartache, I can choose a life of joy and fulfillment.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

In Psalm 12, King David was also fighting battles he wasn’t used to.  Remember, King David was a mighty warrior.  He was skilled at fighting battles against strong armies.  In this instance, however, David had a new enemy.  The war of words in which he found himself was against boastful, lying, deceitful, and manipulative people not other armies.  Can you relate?  Unfortunately I can.  This sounds a lot like the environment and people I work with every day.  It is exhausting!

Note David’s response throughout this passage –

Help Lord… (verse 1)

May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue… (verse 3)

You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and protect us from the wicked… (verse 7)

David knew the Lord had power over sin and darkness.  He took his cares to God and trusted him for deliverance.  What a timely reminder as we begin 2021.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Today’s reading:  Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

Can you believe we made it to the last day of 2020?  What a year it has been.  Has the first global pandemic in your lifetime, the far reaching impacts of racial injustice and the polarizing political divide changed you?  Do you think you are the same person today as you were last January 1?

For most of the year, I felt like I weathered the storms of 2020 pretty well.  But I am no longer the same person.  I’m weary.  As winter drags on, I am intellectually bored to tears, dying for an exciting challenge to rescue me from wasting away.  If you can’t stand me right now, I’m not surprised, I can barely stand myself!  While my brain knows this is just a season that will eventually change, my heart still struggles.  In preparing for this post today, one of my favorite passages of scripture kept coming to mind:

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4).

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away (Ecclesiastes 3:6).

He has made everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Read verse 11 again.  Do you believe it?  Do you trust God will make everything beautiful in his time?  I do.  When I stop thinking about myself and shift my attitude to gratefulness, I look back over 2020 and see several unexpected blessings God gave me  –

• More time with my husband and kids – this is the most time we’ve spent together in years
• More time for healthy habits – I am in the best shape of my life and feeling great
• More time to cultivate friendships – less busyness has given me more time to spend focusing on others

As we get ready to embark on 2021, who knows what it will bring.  I hope it is better than 2020, but it may be worse.  What I know for sure is God has it under control.

Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.  Because he lives, all fear is gone.  Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth a living just because he lives (Bill and Gloria Gaither, 1971) .

Today’s reading: Luke 1:57-66

When I read the assigned scriptures for today, I was surprised we were still studying Elizabeth, Zechariah, and the birth of John the Baptist.  While today’s verses are the account of John’s actual birth (after many months of anticipation), I’ll admit, I was wondering what else there could be to talk about after an entire week on the same Bible story.  I pressed on.  Isn’t it amazing how God speaks to us if we commit to studying his word?  After studying this passage more, two major themes spoke to my heart – connection and obedience.

God created us as relational people.  We long for relationships, deep connections with others.  Yes, even those of us who’s Myers Briggs type indicator starts with an I (introvert) need connection with others.  For all of us, 2020 has been a year like no other.  For me, the highs have been really high, and the lows have been really low.  As you’ve lived with stay-at-home orders and the desire to keep your family healthy, do you ever remember a time when your friendships and frequent contact with those you love has been more important?

In today’s story about the birth of John the Baptist, do you see the significance of Elizabeth’s relationships?  I don’t think they were in the midst of a global pandemic, but it might have been worse for Elizabeth.  Remember, her husband Zechariah wasn’t able to communicate throughout her entire pregnancy.  I’m positive she was dying for connections with others to feed her soul.  After the baby was born, the first thing the Bible talks about is how her neighbors and relatives shared her joy.  God met her need through friends and neighbors because Zechariah still couldn’t talk (verse 58).

The second theme that spoke to me in this passage was obedience.  Verse 59 tells us that on the 8th day the religious leaders came to circumcise and name the child.  God had previously told both Elizabeth and Zechariah they were to name their son John.  But on the 8th day they still had a choice – stick with family tradition, as the religious leaders were suggesting, or obey.  Elizabeth told the leaders the baby’s name was to be John, but they pressed on and went to Zechariah to see if they would get a different answer (as a mother this makes me mad by the way).  He stood firm, also insisting the baby was to be named John.  God blessed their obedience by restoring Zechariah’s speech.  The first thing out of Zechariah’s mouth?  Praise to God.

My challenge for us today –

In the remaining 14 days of 2020, consider where you have the opportunity to choose obedience to God’s commands.  2020 has been hard.  I suspect it is as easy for you as it is for me to rationalize a lot of things and blame them on COVID.  I challenge you to choose obedience over fun and obedience over easy and just see how God shows up.  A year from now, like Zechariah, I hope each of us can look back on 2021 and say,

…for the Lord’s hand was with [them] (Luke 1:66).