RETREATING WITH GOD

The practice of rest is hard, but silently experiencing God’s presence is even harder. In our flurry of activities, input, noise and our interruptive devices, we’re up against an army of enemies. Rest and communion with God don’t come naturally. If Satan can keep us busy, he keeps us from God. We have to be intentional to win this war. Let's dig into that today in our audio devotional. KEY PASSAGE...

Isn’t it time to stop running on empty? No matter how hard it is to set aside time to rest, you must do it. Shut down your body, mind and emotions. Put them in neutral. Take a break. If you’re having difficulty giving yourself permission to rest, let me do that for you. You have my permission to rest. Jesus made time to rest. He would leave the demanding disciples and crowd to slip away to a lonel...

There’s a good chance you’ll face someone or something that will interrupt your joy today. How you handle it will determine how you feel on the other side of that interruption. It will be a test of the depth of your walk with God. The key is to be prepared before the surprise hits. That's our focus on today's audio devotional. KEY PASSAGE: Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counse...

Our lives are filled with stuff. So much stuff that storage units seem like the fastest growing business around. Three-car garages are popular, not because we have three cars, but because we need one slot to store all our stuff. In Psalm 4, the Psalmist is speaking about stuff. Material wealth. He looks around him at all his neighbors’ overflowing blessings. And his response? Contentment. Joy. In...

Why do we try "joy substitutes" when we have full joy? Good question. We let joy “substitutes” crowd out our Savior. That’s why we go from one to another. They don’t satisfy for long. Jesus said, “that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” When I hear him saying that to me, I picture joy as a seed waiting to grow. Jesus’ joy is inside me, but it only grows when nourished. Let's exp...

“Guilty.” That’s what the judge pronounced at the end of the trial. When the word rang in Susan’s ears, she stood there in shock. She was convinced she would be cleared of the charges. Never in a million years did she think she’d be sent to prison. But that was about to become her new reality. Susan was sentenced to five years for her crime, soon to be separated from her husband and two young chil...

One of the greatest “light” statements in the Bible was announced by Jesus himself: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12 NIV). Jesus doesn’t shine the light. He is the light. Hang around him and you’ll have enough insight and clarity to take the next step, no matter what you’re facing. Today, we'll center in on Je...

Jesus my Savior . Jesus your Savior. We throw that word around casually. “Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” is a term we hear and use often, to the point that it becomes ho-hum. It has lost its significance. Without Jesus, we’d be separated from God forever. No connection. No relationship. Spiritual death. Eternity in darkness. In Satan’s kingdom and under his rule. Hell is very real and that woul...

I’m sure you’ve been on the receiving and giving ends of insincere offers for prayer. “I’ll pray for you” is the Christian thing to say. Actually, praying is the Christian thing to do. Jesus is praying for you. “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34 NIV). “Therefore he is able to save completely those w...

We can go into prayer two ways. The first is with our needs in the spotlight. The second is with Jesus in the spotlight. There are times when we should lead with our needs, especially when they’re urgent or heavy on our heart. God wants us to come to him openly, for he is our Father. When your prayer life is Christ-centered, there will be a marked difference in how you come away from your encounte...

I’m so thankful that I don’t need to beg God when I come to him in prayer. Instead, I approach God this way: “Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NIV). I need that refreshing perspective. Don’t you? In today's audio devotional, we'll consider five reasons you can approach God with conf...

Our home has several crawl spaces that are accessible on the second floor. Small doors open to a secret world kids love to explore. As adults, we know these spaces as the attic. Our grandchildren are ready to crawl and walk through this secret world without reservation. In fact, one of our grandsons said, “Grandpa, you live in a castle!” As for me, I enter these spaces cautiously. For some reason,...

Have you ever wished you could have the faith of Paul? Moses? Noah? Or some other Bible great? It’s only natural to compare ourselves to someone else, even when it comes to our spiritual life. That someone may be one of your Christian friends. Or it could be a person you’ve never met but you’ve put on a pedestal. Let's take a different look at this in today's audio devotional. KEY PASSAGE: Hebrews...

Faith is our theme this week, and we all have a unique faith story. After an experience that would change my destiny, I walked through the front door and stood in our living room. An hour earlier, I had heard the Gospel for the first time at a tiny church in Upstate New York. Seated on the couch, my parents asked me how the meeting went. I blurted out, “I was born again!” You should have seen the...

There’s one battle in life where you want to claim victory. And that’s the battle against temptation. It’s a tough one to win, often impossible on your own. We’re faced with temptation every day. Some come and go like the fly I’m swatting right now as I write. Then there are other temptations that seem to plague us for years, maybe our entire lives. We have weak spots that are exploited by the ene...

Jesus sent his Holy Spirit so he could reside in every believer. It’s beautiful. It’s amazing. Do you realize the implications of God living in you? Above all, it means that the loving Father, Lord of the Universe — Almighty God — has taken up residence in you. You’ve got power, strength, might. It’s God’s power. And it’s unlimited, because he is an unlimited God. This power was given to you to li...

Life rains down on us, and sometimes we just need to run for shelter. I felt that way in today's story that I share.  There are assuring words for you when life is raining down. Philippians 4 is our focus as we start the week and a new theme: Encouragement . Key Passage: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not...

“Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Genesis 41:46 NIV). This one line in Scripture describes a pinnacle for an extraordinarily courageous man of God. Let’s venture back more than a decade when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. He was betrayed and deserted by his own family. What a lonely, frightening and hopeless situation. Yet, God had big pl...

I blew it big-time. And it took me two days to see God’s purposes in it. Let me set the table for you . . . literally. My wife and I were having a pleasant lunch with friends we hadn’t seen in years. Great conversation, delicious Mexican food, excellent service. Did I mention excellent service? More than excellent is what our waiter must have thought after we left. I gallantly took the check (with...

COURAGE ... our theme this week as we start the Retreating with God podcast. We can learn a lot from Daniel: Daniel had a target on his back. He was challenged by a group of jealous cohorts for worshiping the God of Israel. These cunning colleagues wanted to trap Daniel, so they had a new law created stating that only the king could be worshiped. Daniel courageously worshiped God no matter what th...

Something remarkable happened just before Jesus breathed his last breath saying these words, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46 ESV). The passage tells us that the curtain of the temple was torn in two. One simple sentence, yet it was a dividing line in human history. Let's discover what it means to us today in our audio devotional. KEY PASSAGE: Psalm 139:1-12 (NIV)—a wonderf...

The Word of God is nourishment for our soul. God’s Holy Spirit takes this book and miraculously gives us his insights, his strength and his life. It’s not just literature, but as we studied recently on Retreating with God, “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and...

I praise God that we have his written Word. To have access to the very mind of God is quite remarkable. He is the Lord of the universe and yet he chooses to speak to mankind. We call the Bible his Holy Word, and we should treat it that way. What would it look like if you hid from the world for a day, or a weekend, and spent the time with God? My daughter-in-law did that. She called it a spiritual...

Life happens and our joy is sucked right out of us. We’re blindsided by getting fired, losing a good friend, receiving a call from our child’s principal’s office, or . . . you fill in the blank.  You might be in that place right now. I hope today's audio devotional can lift you up. KEY PASSAGE: Hebrews 4:12-16 (NIV) For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword,...

The resurrection is the most joyful event in history. Think about the contrast felt by Jesus’ followers. He was crucified on Friday. The hopes that they had for their king to rule were dashed. They were banking on an earthly rule and being rescued from the oppression of Rome. Now their king was dead. Their expectations died with him. The disciples scattered. Their faith vanished in a day. They did...