Category: Scripture

From the Holy Bible

Passing the Baton

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He Will Lead the Way (Daily Refresh, 9-14-26)

Moses led the people of Israel for forty years. He led them out of slavery in Egypt, through the Red Sea, delivered the Ten Commandments from his time with God on Mount Sinai, and walked with them through the wilderness until they reached the edge of Canaan. 

But as he neared the end of his life, God showed Moses that it was time to hand off leadership to another. In a final address to the people of Israel, he shares these final words with his successor, Joshua:

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV

This is the last record we have of Moses talking to Joshua. Notice he didn’t say, “Good luck, these people are exhausting,” or, “Here’s a situation going on, I would handle it this way.” Moses wasn’t telling Joshua about how to do something, but instead, how to see everything.

Moses drew Joshua’s attention to the most important part of the story: God. Moses had been a crucial leader, but it was only because of God that Israel could move forward. It was only because of God that they made it this far. And because God is the author of the story, His provision would continue after Moses is gone. 

Because God was with Israel, Joshua didn’t need to fear anything. And when God is with you, there is nothing to fear. He will lead the way.

My Thoughts

I think the most important legacy that Moses left for Joshua was the promise that God would be with him. That is also the most important advice we can leave behind for our children and grandchildren, for all of our friends and family really. As I have faced one health battle after another, the reality of my humanity and the inevitability of dying has become more real to me. I don’t mean that I expect it to happen at any moment, although it could. But the fact that we will all die is one that should prompt us to get our “ducks in a row” and spend time doing things that need to be done. The most important thing is to let our loved ones know that even after we have moved on to eternity with God, they are still here and God is still with them. Moses could have said something bitter like, “These stiff-necked people aren’t even worth leading. Look at me…they’re the reason I cannot go into the Promised Land.” He didn’t play the blame game or point out the obvious to Joshua. He gave him hope by pointing out that God was still with them. God isn’t the One who leads just one person faithfully; He leads each of us if we will follow, and that is a legacy worth sharing. Sharing in this case is more than caring…it’s offering hope for a future and a promise for a bright tomorrow when life on earth ends. No fear, no discouragement, just move forward with God. Several of my grandchildren participate in track and field events. And when they do the relay race, they don’t pass the baton and say, “It’s really tough out there, so I doubt you can do this.” They pass the baton and say things like, “Go, Fast! You can do it!” Thus they already know how a baton should be passed. Moses knew too. The question is: Do we?

Fruit of the Spirit

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

I made an interesting observation about a correlation today. Don’t you think it is fascinating that Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God commanded them not to eat and were then banished from the Garden of Eden?

God said that they would die, and so they did since they lost the gift of eternal life and because of that choice, we all sin and have to face death.

But all was not lost when they left the Garden of Eden because God had a plan for a Savior, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the fruit that He would produce in our lives.

The story begins with fruit and our lives produce fruit if we are rooted and grounded in God’s Word and allow the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives.

I just thought that the imagery of fruit that began in Genesis and continued to Galatians is fascinating. God always has a plan and the plan was for us to bear fruit. Then we share that fruit with others who hopefully see Christ in us and want to have a relationship with Him and bear their own fruit. Think about it. God is so amazingly awesome in all He does!

First-Line Friday: Matthew 1:1

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

Do you get annoyed when you are reading along in your Bible and come to a list of names that are difficult (impossible?) to pronounce,? But since it’s part of your daily reading, you plod through. That was my attitude until the Lord’s Spirit spoke to me and reminded me that MY name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and I don’t want it to be overlooked. If God puts a name in the Bible, it’s there for a reason and He wants us to read it. I actually challenge myself to read those sections out loud (a large part of Chronicles, by the way) and work on pronouncing the names correctly. These men (and sometimes ladies) are remembered by God, so who am I to say that they are not important so I should just skim over them? I especially liked the list of those returning to Israel after the exile. They are the Biblical survivors who must have done something right to survive the hardships in Babylon. So, the next time you get to a list of names in your Bible, I challenge you to read them. Someone in Heaven will read your name one day and you wouldn’t want your name to be left out, would you?

Here is some practice for you, just so you can see the importance of names in the Bible. Note the names of Tamar (who was raped by her brother) and the one who was the wife of Uriah is Bathsheba (the adulteress). Also, take note that Rahab, a prostitute from Jericho, the one who hid the spies, is named in the lineage of Jesus. Interesting, right? God included Gentiles and sinners in Jesus’s lineage. Think that’s an error? God doesn’t make mistakes!

“Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.1.2-16.NKJV

Teaching Us to Pray

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

When my children were small, I was convinced that I would be chained to the washing machine, the stove and the sink forever. But they matured and became more independent until, before I was even ready for the separation, they left home and started their own families. Many times before they left, they asked me to teach them how to do things, like the laundry or cook. I gave them the steps to take and then left them to do it. They turned out pretty well, I think since they can now do all of those things for their families.

In the school of becoming a Christian (we are ALL becoming because we haven’t arrived at our final destination yet, nor are we perfectly like Christ), we need to learn how to pray. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray using the Lord’s Prayer as our example.

I sometimes but not very often say the Lord’s Prayer, but when I do it all alone and not in a group like at church, I think about and change the words some to make them my own. I also take time to confess my sins as I pray and to intercede for others. I want my prayer time to be a time to talk to God and also to listen to Him, not a prayer that I have memorized and can quickly recite without thinking about what I am saying.

Imagine, if you will, that God has a phone line and is waiting anxiously for you to contact Him. Instead of settling in to pray (spend time with Him) to Him, you send him a text saying, “All good here. Thanks for everything.” Or you send Him a selfie of where you are and what you are enjoying at the time. I don’t think God would be offended, but He wants more. More personal communication than a quick “I’m okay” as you run to the next thing in your life.

I think that sometimes in the hustle and bustle that is part of our world, we treat God as though He is our “text buddy” and not our God. What do I mean by that? We say short thank yous, present a need or two and then feel as though we have fulfilled our “obligation” to the Holy One for the day. Now that our children are adults with their own families, I do enjoy texts from them and the photos of their current daily activities. But what I really crave is to hear their voices, so we take time to talk as often as we can. It’s an exchange that is priceless…I talk, they listen, they talk and I listen. I hope I am not overstepping my boundaries, but I think that is what God craves from us, too. It’s called building and maintaining a relationship. I think He is okay with our short text-like prayers, but He wants more and we should also want to spend more time with Him. If the only time I heard from my children were an occasional text, I would wonder what I was missing and perhaps what I could do to engage with them more. God likes the short prayers in our busy lives, the ones that are like texts. But He also wants us to take time to really settle in and talk to Him. It’s not because He needs to hear what we need. He already knows. He wants a relationship with us and we are the ones who are supposed to open that line of communication with Him.

I think we need to remember that Jesus gave us the role model as He withdrew to a place where He could be alone and prayed. He also taught us to pray, starting with praise, confessing sins and then telling God about our needs. And, just like Jesus, we should end our prayers by recognizing that God is in control of all things.

PRAY

Praise

Repent

Ask

Yield

When you yield, don’t forget to take time to listen. God might have something He wants you to hear!

A Daily Choice to Surrender

On By vickleaIn Scripture7 Comments

When most of us think of surrendering, we think it’s a bad thing. After all, world leaders surrender at the end of wars and end up losing power and paying reparations, But in God’s world, surrender isn’t an option. It’s a requirement. And it’s something we have to choose to do daily.

Every day we have to give over control to God. That sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? But it’s a challenge for most of us because it means that we have to show that we trust Him to work out things in our lives the way He wants them to be, not the way we probably planned. After five decades of pursuing a relationship with God, I have discovered that His plans are always better, usually surprising and seldom the way I would do things.

It is in handing the controls over to God that we can truly have the freedom we need to trust Him. I have a tendency, and probably many of you do the same thing, to think I have handed a situation over to God and then I try to take it back. If that doesn’t work, then I “pray” and in my prayer, I try to explain to God how He should be doing things. I generally present my case logically, in steps that anyone (especially God, of course) can understand. But, also in the last five decades, I have repeatedly discovered that God doesn’t need my help or my advice, as well-meaning as it may be. What He needs is for me to let go so He can do His work in my life. Imagine that you are speeding down the road at 100 mph and discover you have no brakes. You look ahead and there is a big curve with a drop off down a mountain on both sides. That’s what trying to control your own life is like. God knows the big curve is coming. He knows that the mountain drop-off is dangerous. So He wants you to take your hands away from the controls of the car and tell Him that you need Him to do what He does best. Sometimes, He will stop the car and save you from the disaster that is coming at you. But sometimes, He will let you keep going so that He can teach you more about trust and letting go. Perhaps letting go earlier in the journey would have been more beneficial. That’s why surrendering to God is not a suggestion. It’s a requirement for Christian living.

The idea for today’s blog came from the email that I get from Grant daily called “A Miracle Every Day.” A Miracle Every Day

Look carefully at the words linked to surrendering. Intention + awareness + humility = ACTIVE TRUST

You are totally aware of what you are choosing when you surrender to God, you are doing it with intention (you have mentally determined this is your choice) and you are acting with humility before your Creator. The result is a trust that is active, not a passively lying down and waiting for the results. It is an action that is taking place every moment of every day. His will, not yours. His Will, all day. His will, every day. That’s why we surrender. His way is better and ours just isn’t.

I Surrender All-CeCe Winans

What Humility Looks Like

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

Here’s What Humility Looks Like… (Daily Refresh, 9-08)

When you think of humility, what comes to mind? 

In our world, humility is often seen as a self-degrading concept that reveals our insecurities and keeps us from becoming our best selves. 

But true humility never leads to insecurity, because insecurity is a form of pride. Pride either puffs us up or tears us down. Pride is self-sufficient, but also self-destructive. If we’re doing great, pride makes our confidence soar. But if we’re going through a rough season, pride makes us sensitive to our failures. Pride links our worth to our accomplishments, and it prevents us from seeing who we truly are. 

Pride makes us think that if we try hard enough, we can become good enough. Humility helps us realize that we are not enough—but God is enough for us. 

Humility will often ask us to risk something. It might mean laying down our social standing, our reputation, our financial security, our sense of authority, or our expertise. 

But surrendering our self-sufficiency lets us embrace God’s authority. And our God did miracles through Moses, established David as king of Israel, worked through Isaiah in the midst of chaos, publicly honored Mary, abundantly provided for Peter, and glorified Jesus by raising Him from the dead. 

When we surrender ourselves to God, we allow Him to be glorified through us. Humility might cost us something—but it leads to abundant life. 

So today, how can you humble yourself before God? Take a few moments and process what you need to lay down in order to draw closer to God within the upcoming weeks.

My Thoughts

Whenever I think that I am doing fairly well spiritually, God puts a lesson like this one in my path so that I can see that I am not “all that.” There are so many points in this post, especially the sentence about pride linking our worth to our accomplishments. That spoke to me because I have always been one who wanted to be the best at whatever I am doing, not for the sake of completion because I am really competing with myself. But that is pride and I confess that now and pray that I will do better. I was never good enough for my mom to approve of me. Straight A’s. That was good, but I wasn’t taking all honors classes. On the Dean’s List in college. That was good, but I wasn’t on the President’s List for even higher grades. You get the idea. Now I look back and I know that no one has cared what my GPA was in high school or college…they just wanted to know that I was efficient and suited for the job they wanted me to do. I think that is how God sees me too. He doesn’t care about my accomplishments but about my being equipped to do the work He is calling me to do. Everything we do should be to glorify God, not to pat ourselves on the back or shine a spotlight on our own abilities. We have no abilities without God’s giving them to us, so He should always get the glory for all we do and for all we are. That is the prayer for myself today and for any of my readers who have been struggling with pride but didn’t really recognize it.

Benefits of Wisdom

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The Place to Start (Daily Refresh, 9-05-26)

There are many places we can go to learn about something new, or to grow in wisdom and knowledge. Books are full of access to insightful information. The internet is overloaded with both helpful and unhelpful content about any subject imaginable.

While those are great places to start, Scripture tells us that the foundation of all knowledge is a healthy fear of the Lord. This means that while we can learn things from anyone, the beginning of true wisdom always begins with God.

The fear of the Lord doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be afraid of God. It means that we should live our lives in awe of Him. We do this by recognizing who He is—the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is all-powerful and all-knowledgeable. God’s Word says He holds the power of life and death in His hands. These attributes should cause us to live in awe of God.

Scripture also tells us that God is loving, gracious, and merciful. Even though we—His own creation—previously rebelled against Him, God graciously gave us access back to Himself through His Son, Jesus. The God who created the universe loves each and every one of us. He loves you.

Living in awe of who God is and what He has done is the beginning of all wisdom and knowledge. We would be foolish to turn away from such a powerful and gracious God.

While we can learn a lot about many different things through books, people, and the internet, the most essential and important piece of knowledge about God comes from His Word.

Today, spend some time with God in His Word and in prayer—thanking Him for who He is and what He has done for you. Begin a habit of reading Scripture regularly so that you can know, respect, and trust Him in a deeper way.

My Thoughts

As I read this devotional, I had a visual in my mind of the little chick that ran around telling anyone who would listen, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” Sometimes we are all guilty of being that little chicken, thinking we know just what is happening and really not knowing anything because we didn’t pass our so-called knowledge or revelation through God’s filter. Using God’s Word as the first and final say in all matters helps us to think more clearly and to get things right before we share them with others. Spending time with God and in His Word is not a suggestion; it is a vital and important part of daily living for Christians. It is our source of the living water that runs from us to others. And it is where we get the wisdom that God wants to share with us each day. The benefits of wisdom are too many to enumerate; the lack of wisdom is apparent in today’s world. So showing God’s wisdom to a world bent on foolishness becomes our testimony and our duty to our loving God.