Daily Readings by Wild at Heart

Let me suggest for you one practice that is sustainable and very fruitful: the daily declaration, or proclamation, of essential truths. Returning to Psalm 91, notice the importance of the second verse: Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him....

More corrosive than all of these are the personal assaults of the enemy’s lies whispered to our hearts. They are far more brilliant than AI and utterly precise in their tailored messages to us. The evil one knows your story, your hurts and fears, your every vulnerability. Against our loving God, who gave his own life for us, Satan always says something to the effect of “No, he’s not.” God isn’t go...

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). Our bodies are a very practical expression of something “under our rule,” something that belongs to us in immediate proximity. We have a say over our bodies in terms of what we eat, what we drink, who we have...

The mighty refuge psalm, Psalm 91, has a progression to it. First comes the promise: Those who live in the shelter of the Most High  will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Then, a recitation of the many ways that El Shaddai will protect us. Rescue from every trap and protection from deadly disease, the terrors of night, the arrow that flies by day. Oh to experience it! How humanity needs th...

“Turn to God with all your heart,” wrote Thomas à Kempis, “and Christ will come to you.” First thing every morning, I pray something like this before I do anything else: I run to you this morning, Father. I run to you this morning, Jesus. I hide myself in you. I run into your refuge, Lord. And it happens; it takes place in the hidden realm. As you learn to be an ordinary mystic, ask the Holy Spiri...

One of my favorite Gospel stories takes place on Easter morning; it centers around Mary Magdalene. Heartbroken, devastated, Mary has gone to the tomb of Jesus to grieve, but his body is no longer there. Most of you have experienced grief; it is concussive, debilitating. Mary can hardly breathe, and her eyes are so drenched with tears she mistakes the risen Christ for the gardener: Now Mary stood o...

David was a hunted man. He often had to hide in severe wilderness conditions from his pursuers, who would kill him in an instant if they found him, just like many persecuted people groups today. Harriet Tubman had to hide from her enemies as she guided slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War. Her stories sound a lot like David’s; she, too, was a mystic becaus...

When the author of Psalm 91 invites us to take refuge in the shelter of the Most High, where does he have in mind? What actual place in the actual universe are we invited to? The word for “shelter” in the opening verse (“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High”) can be translated as a “hidden place” or “secret place”—the very experience children are searching for when building forts: “This...

We don’t know much about stages of development in our instant culture. We have someone else make our coffee for us. We no longer have to wait to have our photos developed — not even an hour — for now we have digital cameras that deliver back to us the image, instantly. We don’t have to wait to get in touch with someone — we can e-mail them, page them, call them on a cell phone, instant-message the...

Twice, the refuge of God is described in terms of rescue, or deliverance: “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.” (Psalm 91:14–15 NLT) When we think about God as our strong tower, I think we assume something fixed and immovable, like a castle or those round tower...

Of all the prayers that rise from human lips on this troubled planet, the vast majority must be some version of, “ Help !” That’s why we began with the Cry of the Heart. But second place of “most often prayed” has to be in the genre of, “God — what am I supposed to do ?” Guidance, clarity, direction — doesn’t that seem to be one of the main reasons we pray at all? What do we do about our son? Shou...

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High  will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare about the Lord:  He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;  he is my God, and I trust him.  –Psalm 91:1–2 I will tip my hand—the refuge described here is not merely a state of mind, an assurance for the heart. It is an ontological experience —palpable, enjoyable, an encounter with God. Ou...

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? Yo...

For every beautiful being God created, he has provided a habitat in which to flourish. Brook trout thrive happily in cold mountain streams. If you were to put them in the warm waters of the Caribbean, they would die. Stingrays, however, love that warm salt water; transfer them to a mountain stream and they will not survive a day. Cloud forests cannot abide desert conditions. Coral reefs cannot tol...

No discussion of holiness is true or helpful without a healthy appreciation for how earnestly Satan wants to destroy us. Steal, kill, and destroy is how Jesus described it (John 10:10). Satan lured Adam and Eve to compromise one single act, one slip of holiness, and from there he has brought unspeakable carnage to the human race and to the earth. Friends, he hasn’t stopped his war against us. Afte...

When our boys were young, they would gather blankets, pillows, and cushions in the basement and build elaborate forts. This was their most-played game, a weekly if not daily affair. Once constructed and made secure, blankets tucked into sofas, cushions piled up as barriers, they would take refuge inside. Sometimes to read by flashight or share candy treasures, other times for imaginary games. But...

God has a beauty to unveil. There's a reason that a man is captivated by a woman. Eve is the crown of creation. If you follow the Genesis narrative carefully, you'll see that each new stage of creation is better than the one before. First, all is formless, empty and dark. God begins to fashion the raw materials, like an artist working with a rough sketch or a lump of clay. Light and dark, land and...

In the dawn of our childhood, we lived with God in a garden paradise. We walked with our Abba Father in the cool of the day, in conversational intimacy. We were ordinary mystics, drinking in the rich company of God and the fullness of his Kingdom. Eden was our home; we flourished in the shelter of a paradise where heaven and earth met. But we lost that home, and we have been seeking refuge ever si...

I have counseled thousands of men and women, and I can tell you with utter confidence — both from their experiences and my own — that whatever else the enemy brings against you, he will always bring with it a feeling of I don’t want to fight this . This feeling is called ennui, a weariness of spirit, a malaise, that sense of I just don’t want to fight anymore . This is Kierkegaard’s sickness unto...

Chesterton conducted something of a personal experiment to see what the overall impression would be if a person simply read the Gospels without any previous information regarding Jesus. What he found surprised him: It is full of sudden gestures evidently significant except that we hardly know what they signify; of enigmatic silences; of ironical replies. The outbreaks of wrath, like storms above o...

Repeated processes shape the soul; this has been core to discipleship for millennia. It was inevitable that years of Internet life would shape our souls whether we wanted it to or not. As a friend said, “It’s not that we’ve done something wrong; something wrong has been done to us.” Discipleship to the Internet has shaped your soul to expect immediate answers to your questions; given you a deep su...

If then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. A canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus without loss to itself [it shares] its superabundant water. ( Bernard of Clairvaux ) A beautiful picture. The canal runs dry so quickly, shortly after the rains subside. Like a dry streambed in the...

Waiting can be an experience of emptiness. Our hands are empty. Our desires unfulfilled. Our hearts feel empty as well.  George MacDonald described it this way:   ’Tis hard for man to rouse his spirit up—  It is the human creative agony,  Though but to hold the heart an empty cup,   Or tighten on the team the rigid rein.   Many will rather lie among the slain  Than creep through narrow ways the li...

The Internet has taught its disciples that there shall be no mystery to anything. We can get to the bottom of any question, lay open the bare facts to any secret. In fact, if there is mystery, we’ve been thoroughly discipled to question it. Mystery equals some probable deception or scandal. Facts are safe; nothing else is. The eradication of mystery would also be shocking to our spiritual forebear...

The book “Killing Lions” is a conversation between John and Sam Eldredge about the trials young men face.     [Sam]    Should you have killed a lion before you commit? Many traditional cultures like the Maasai require a young man to prove himself before he can marry or own land. He needs to "kill a lion", so to speak. It seems wise. What do you think?    [John]    I am a big believer in having a v...