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Desert School

It’s Where faith in God Alone is Forged

Give It Some Thought: Every hero of our faith got wilderness school. And each would tell us that the desert was the most productive time of their lives. You see, the desert is the place where you get stripped of every false dependency while, at the same time, your faith is forged in God alone. That is never a pleasant process. Frankly, it is the toughest thing a believer is forced to endure. It requires solitude, involuntary insignificance, forced simplicity, soul-searching, patience, and desperation, to name a few—the necessary ingredients to an altogether deeper dimension with God, ingredients that are only extracted and catalyzed in the blast furnace of the desert. The desert is where the rebel soul learns the ways of God.

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 63:1

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

David wrote this psalm in the desert—not the kind of place you would first think of as the perfect setting for such an eloquent prayer like this. But if you were to study the lives of all the greats in God’s Hall of Faith, you would find that, almost without exception, each had spent a season in the desert.

The most famous desert dweller, Moses, spent forty years on the backside of the Sinai wilderness. He, however, was only one in a long line of many: Abraham was schooled in the desert, Elijah got it, too, and so did John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul. God’s people, Israel, spent forty years wandering in the desert; forty years it took for God to drain 400 years of Egypt out of them.

Even Jesus, God’s own Son, spent forty days and nights fasting and praying in the dangerous and desolate Judean wilderness. Now, if the very Son of God needed wilderness school, guess what? The desert is going to be core curriculum in your school of spiritual maturity as well.

My sense is that each of these heroes of faith would tell us that, in hindsight, the desert was the most productive time of their lives. How could that be? Well, the desert is the place where you get stripped of every false dependency, while at the same time, faith in God alone is forged in the core of your being. That is never a pleasant process. Frankly, it is the toughest thing a believer is forced to endure. It requires solitude, involuntary insignificance, forced simplicity, soul-searching, patience, and desperation, just to name a few—the necessary ingredients to an altogether deeper dimension with God, ingredients that are only extracted and catalyzed in the blast furnace of the desert. Andrew Bonar, a nineteenth-century Scottish preacher, said,

In order to grow in grace, men must be much alone. It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest. The backside of the desert is where men and things, the world and self, present circumstances and their influences, are all valued at what they are really worth. There it is, and there alone, that you will find a Divinely-adjusted balance in which to weigh all around you and within you.

All the greats were driven into the desert, and there they found God. It seems that in our day, we’ve done our best to avoid the desert, which has only left us devoid of deepness with God. Maybe we need to reconsider the desert; it may not be such a bad place after all. The desert is where the rebel soul learns the ways of God.

My Offering of Worship: In retrospect, where has God put you through desert school? And what were the spiritual lessons you learned there? Once you have rehearsed them, offer up a prayer of gratitude for the invaluable faith lessons that God has taught you that only came in your desert.

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A Trust & Faith Sandwich

How to Master Your Feelings

Give It Some Thought: Your feelings are neither good nor bad; they just are what they are. But you have not been called to follow your feelings. Those feelings, rather, are simply meant to be a reminder, a catalyst, if you will, that in any particular moment of pain, you need to realign your life by faith and in trust to God’s perfect plan. So, the next time you get an emotional ouch, go ahead and say, “That stinks!” but refrain from attaching a judgment from the hurt too quickly. Take it to God, and yes, pour out your heart, but don’t forget to make a holy sandwich out of it—a trust and faith sandwich!

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 62:5-8

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

A while back, I was with a good friend who had been through an especially rough stretch in his life. His world had been rocked, and he had been deeply disappointed by people who had been close to him. Yet he had landed upright and was now in a very good place spiritually, emotionally, and professionally. In fact, in my observation, he was in a better place than before his disappointment. Truly, God had been a shelter for him in the time of storm; much like David, he had found refuge in the God who turns bad into good for his children.

I asked my friend, in hindsight, to share with me the biggest takeaway from his experience. I thought his response was nothing less than profound. I’ll paraphrase what he said: “I learned that my feelings were simply my feelings. I was hurt and disappointed, but that was okay—those were just my feelings. But I learned not to attach judgments too quickly to those feelings. Though I felt bad, I learned not to think or say, ‘this is the end of the world”, or ‘those people who did hurt me deserve to suffer.’”

In other words, he learned to detach from how he felt at the moment in the sense that he gave the circumstance time to be reworked by the God in whose hands his life was held. In the rearview mirror of life, he was able to assess his painful past in a whole new and much brighter light. The things that hurt and the people who disappointed me are now a cause for thanksgiving.

That is what David is doing in this psalm. It is likely that Psalm 62 was written during or shortly after the personal upheaval that he experienced with his rebellious son, Absalom. On the one hand, David is pouring out his feelings to God (“Pour out your heart to him,” Psalm 62:8b)—which is good—but on the other hand, he is placing his faith in the One who is master over both feelings and the circumstances that led to those feelings (“O my people, trust in him at all times … for God is our refuge,” Psalm 62:8a and c).

Interestingly, David sandwiches his feelings (“pour out your hearts”) between a statement of trust (“trust him at all times”) and a declaration of faith (“for God is our refuge”). By the way, that is a great way to master your feelings and bring them under the dominion of God’s sovereign will for your life: Sandwich them between trust and faith!

You see, feelings are neither good nor bad—they just are what they are. But we have not been called to follow our feelings. Our feelings, rather, are simply meant to be a reminder, a catalyst, if you will, that in any particular moment of pain, we need to realign our lives by faith and in trust to God’s perfect plan.

So the next time you get an emotional ouch, go ahead and say, “That stinks!” but refrain from attaching a judgment from the hurt too quickly. Take it to God, and yes, pour out your heart, but don’t forget to make a holy sandwich out of it—a trust and faith sandwich!

My Offering of Worship: If you are experiencing pain, disappointment, or some sort of devastation, then do what David did: complain to God—tell him exactly how you feel, because he can handle it—then commit your circumstance to him, offer up thanksgiving, then fully commit your trust in him to redeem your hurt for your good and his glory.

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Everything I NeedTo Know About God

I Learned in Genesis 1

Give It Some Thought: Good morning, and Happy January 2. If you began the New Year yesterday with a “Through the Bible” reading plan, you likely started at the beginning, Genesis 1. And in this opening chapter, we find all that we really need to know about anything and everything, which is simply yet profoundly this: God did it! In fact, in the Bible’s opening line, the first thing we discover about God is that he is the creator of all, and the second thing we learn is that he hovers over the chaos, bringing order, beauty, and glory from it. And that should be of great comfort as we begin the journey into an uncertain year ahead, for that is God’s ongoing, unstoppable, flawless work in me—and you, too!

Moments With God // Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

The first thing we learn about God in reading the Bible is that he is the Creator. The second thing we learn is that he hovers over the chaos and brings order, beauty, and glory from it.

Now the writer of Hebrews tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb 13:8). Jesus, who is God, whom John tells us was the agent of creation (John 1:1-4), is still actively creating and ordering in the lives of his followers.

I am grateful that through Jesus, creating and ordering is still God’s activity in my life. He still forms beauty and glory from my unruly, empty, dark, chaotic life. And while it seems that I am a long way from being finished, I am at the present moment his workmanship (Eph 2:10).

Thank God for a Creator who finishes his work, for “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6).

Enough said. God did it! God is at work! God will finish it. Cheers to the year ahead!

My Offering of Worship: What do we learn from Genesis 1? Simply this: God did it. He started it all from nothing; he is shepherding what he started; he will bring it to the completion he desires—he will finish it in fine fashion. That includes his work in your life, too. Take a moment to offer your gratitude for the Author and Finisher of your faith.

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The Right Motive

Delight Yourself in the Lord

PREVIEW: King David is unashamedly praying for God’s blessing on his life and on his reign as king over Israel. He asked for it all: Divine favor, protection, success, and even long life. He clearly understands that he can do nothing without God: he can’t be an effective king, he can’t even live a decent life if God doesn’t grace him with what only God can give. So, he aggressively, boldly, pointedly asks. In everything David did, and in every prayer request he lifted to God, his motive was that God’s name could be lifted high throughout the earth and throughout every generation. When your motive, like his, is to squeeze the last ounce of glory for God out of your one and only life, then you, too, can unashamedly ask the Lord to empty heaven’s treasury of blessing nd pour it out upon you.

“If your heart delights in the Lord, expect the Lord to delight your heart.”

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 61:5-8

You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name. Add many years to the life of the king! May his years span the generations! May he reign under God’s protection forever. May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him. Then I will sing praises to your name forever as I fulfill my vows each day.

King David is unashamedly praying for God’s blessing on his life and on his reign as king over Israel. He asked for it all: Divine favor, protection, success, and even long life. He clearly understands that he can do nothing without God: he can’t be an effective king, he can’t even live a decent life if God doesn’t grace him with what only God can give. So, he aggressively, boldly, pointedly asks.

But David had a great motive for asking. It wasn’t just so he could reign as king over Israel more successfully, or just so he could have a problem free ministry, or just so he could live a longer life. All that was fine—and there is certainly nothing wrong in asking for any of it. What David mostly wanted was to squeeze the very last ounce of glory for God out of his one and only life. In everything he did, and in every prayer request he lifted to God, his motive was that God’s name could be lifted high throughout the earth and throughout every generation.

That’s a great motive for asking. It is also a sure way to receive from the Lord. In Psalm 37:4, David wrote, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” What do you desire in your heart? What do you seek in prayer? Make sure the Lord factors first and foremost in all you are hoping for—not because he needs that from you, but because he deserves that from you—and he will pour out his unlimited supply of heavenly grace upon your life.

God looks for people who are wholly bent on glorifying his name. And when he does, the treasury of heaven will open to that person in uncommon ways. The chronicler said, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

When the Lord looks today, may he find that person in you. And may you be blessed beyond your wildest imaginations!

My Offering of Worship: Memorize Psalm 37:4-5, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” If your heart delights in the Lord, expect the Lord to delight your heart.

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Desperate Times Calls For Deliverance

God Delivers Those He Loves

PREVIEW: We all go through seasons that could be labelled as “desperate times.” So what is a believer to do in times like that? As the psalms teach us, we are to “unfurl our banner.” In other words, we are to declare our loyalty to God! We are to shout our trust in his goodness! We are to make clear to the world whose side we are on! We are to affirm our submission to his will and align ourselves once again to his sovereign purposes. We are to refuse to surrender to fear, self-pity and defeat. We are to intensify our intentions and redouble our efforts to be God’s man or God’s woman or God’s organization no matter what the times are like—good or bad. And then simply and patiently we are to entrust our lives to God our deliverer to save and help us with his strong right hand.

“The best thing believers can do in desperate times is to entrust the future to the One whose name is ‘Deliverer.’”

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 60:3-51

You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger. But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow. Selah Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.

David’s reign as king over God’s people came to be known as the Golden Age of Israel. Yet there were times during his reign, as you can discern from this psalm, that all was not well with the nation. There were situations and seasons where it seemed as if the people had abandoned their God, and God had abandoned his people.

On this occasion, David sensed that God had not been with Israel in battle as he had expected. We are not told why—if there was some national sin that caused God to withhold his favor, or if David’s leadership was to blame, or if God was just simply testing and deepening Israel. Admittedly, this psalm is shrouded in a bit of mystery, and at times, it is clouded with pessimism with occasional sun breaks of optimism.

That is so true of our lives as well. Sometimes we just don’t know. Sometimes difficult things happen, and after some serious soul-searching, we simply cannot produce an adequate explanation. I am sure many Christians who are caught in the vise-grip of our present unpredictable economy may be feeling this way today. And I certainly know of several God-honoring churches and missional organizations, too, that are experiencing severe financial challenges. I am sure a lot of believers right now would join David and say, “You have shown your people desperate times.”

So what are you to do in those desperate times? Unfurl your banner, that’s what! In other words, declare your loyalty to God! Shout your trust in his goodness! Make clear to the world whose side you are on! Affirm your submission to his will and align yourself once again to his sovereign purposes. Refuse to surrender to fear, self-pity, and defeat. Intensify your intentions and redouble your efforts to be God’s man or God’s woman or God’s organization no matter what the times are like—good or bad.

And then simply and patiently entrust yourself to God to save and help you with his strong right hand. After all, the One who loves you goes by the name “Deliverer” for good reason. As David did, change your tune so that at the end of the day, you are placing well-founded optimism in the God who delivers! Again, the best thing you can do in desperate times is to entrust the future to the One whom Psalm 68:20 confidently declares, “Our God is a God who delivers.”

My Offering of Worship: If you are going through a season of desperation, do what David did in this psalm: Declare your undying, unconditional trust in the God who is above it all.

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I’m Still Standing

Evil People Will Pass, But God Remains Forever

PREVIEW: Chances are, at some point, people in your life will try to assassinate your character and ruin your reputation. And when that happens, remember this one thing: Though people can kill your body, assassinate your character, and ruin your reputation, they can’t steal your song. You see, at the end of the day, evil people will be no more, but your integrity will keep you in favored standing with the only One who has the power of eternal life and death. Powerful people may try to bring you down, but God’s power will prevail. He is your strength. People may try to force you out, but you have One whose name is Fortress. They may make your life miserable, but you belong to One who is your Refuge.

“Though people can kill your body, assassinate your character, and ruin your reputation, they never steal your song.”—Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 59:16

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

David was in trouble—due to no fault of his own. He had been a model citizen. In fact, he had proven himself a true national hero during a military crisis when Israel’s warriors had failed to step up and demonstrate courageous leadership. As you know from 1 Samuel 17, David had unintentionally made a name for himself on the battlefield by killing Goliath of Gath—the champion-giant of Israel’s archenemy, the Philistines.

As a result of this heroic act, David, still a young man, was recruited into King Saul’s army and fast-tracked right to the top as captain and confidant to the mercurial king. He was even given Saul’s daughter, Michal, as his wife. But things turned bad when the unstable king began to show signs of irrational and insane jealousy toward David. It got so bad that he “took out a hit” on David’s life.

This psalm was written when David got wind of Saul’s plan, forcing him to leave his wife, abandon his home, and flee for his life. As you can see from the title given in the Psalter (Psalm 59:1), Saul had sent his henchmen to stake out David’s house in order to carry out their immoral and illegal plot (Psalm 59:3). And according to David’s song, they were doing more than just trying to murder him: They were attempting to assassinate his character in the eyes of a nation that had come to adore him as their warrior-hero (Psalm 59:10-11). So, David writes about them and puts a tune to it—a song that preserves their evil in perpetuity and invites Divine destruction down upon their heads.

Now you might be wondering what all this has to do with you. Perhaps you’re asking, “Is there anything in this psalm that elevates it to the status of good devotional material meant for your edification today?” That’s a good question—I’m glad you asked. You see, although I doubt that you will ever have a “hit” taken out on your life, chances are there will be people in your life from time to time who will try to assassinate your character and ruin your reputation. And when that happens, you can hearken back to David’s experience and, if nothing else, remember this one thing:

Though people can kill your body, assassinate your character, and ruin your reputation, they cannot steal your song.

At the end of the day, evil people will be no more, but your integrity will keep you in favored standing with the only One who has the power of eternal life and death. Powerful people may try to bring you down, but God’s power will prevail. He is your strength. People may try to force you out, but you have One whose name is Fortress. They may make your life miserable, but you belong to One who is your Refuge.

Here is the deal, my friend: Evil people and unfair times will pass, but God stands forever. And you belong to Him, so you will stand forever, too! So go ahead and sing. I normally don’t recommend Elton John songs for worship, but you may want to even sing one of his: I’m Still Standing.

My Offering of Worship: Are you being unfairly criticized, vilely opposed, threatened with termination for no good cause, or being generally mistreated? Do what David did: take it to God. Pour out your heart to him in a psalm of your own creation. Seriously, you will feel a lot better.

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When the World Cries “Uncle”

There’s a Day Coming When Evil Surrenders

PREVIEW: In the psalms, King David not only prayed for an abrupt and horrible end to the wicked, but prophetically declared that those who witness that end will literally be compelled to acknowledge that God is indeed the righteous judge of the earth who avenges his people. That isn’t just a pipe dream, by the way. It will happen someday. The world will one day have to acknowledge, albeit reluctantly, that God is the righteous judge and that he has vindicated his people. Sometimes it looks as if evil has gotten away with it—but there is a day coming when God will be vindicated, and Jesus will be acknowledged as King of kings and Lord of Lords, and you will be recognized by this evil world as the one God has loved.

"Does it looks as if evil has gotten away with it? A day is coming when God will be vindicated, Jesus will be hailed as Lord, and this evil world will confess that you are the one God loves." —Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 58:10-11

The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked. Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”

Read this entire psalm and I think you will agree with me that for the most part, it’s not too cheery. I doubt that you will come away from it feeling uplifted and ready to take on the day. It is just not that kind of psalm. But it’s still God’s Word, and therefore, it must have something in it that the Holy Spirit wants to use to encourage and enlighten us today.

When you think about it, we can identify with what David is feeling. He is pouring out his frustration before God with the wicked who are in positions of power. And much like today, the manipulation, lying, cheating, and downright wickedness of ungodly rulers who use their power to abuse the righteous and frustrate their righteous intentions has caused David to get good and angry. So, in this prayer, righteous indignation flies off his lips in the most descriptive language as he calls on Almighty God to so crush the wicked that they become a very public cautionary lesson on what ultimately will happen to those who oppose God and abuse his people.

The psalm ends with David not only praying for an abrupt and horrible end to the wicked, but prophetically declaring that those who witness that end will literally be compelled to acknowledge that God is indeed the righteous judge of the earth who avenges his people.

That isn’t just a pipe dream, by the way. It will happen someday. The world will one day have to acknowledge, albeit reluctantly, that God is the righteous judge and that he has vindicated his people. Fast-forward to the end of God’s book, the Bible, to Revelation 3:9, and to the end of the present age, where the Apostle John records these words from the exalted Christ’s very own lips:

I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.

Sometimes it looks as if evil has gotten away with it—but there is a day coming when God will be vindicated, and Jesus will be acknowledged as King of kings and Lord of Lords, and you will be recognized by this evil world as the one God has loved. One day, perhaps soon, maybe later, finally the wicked will be forced to say “uncle!”

So, hang in there—that day is going to be spectacularly great!

My Offering of Worship: If you haven’t done it for a while, pray for the righteous judgment of God to come against those who are perpetrating violence against God’s innocent people. We have been so conditioned in our Christian culture to pray only for mercy, but there is also a time when we must appeal to God for his justice to be revealed.