Daily Devotional

Feeling Like Cancelling Today? Read This First

| Flo

Do you sometimes wish you could return the day? Just get a refund or a credit for another day 😄 😅

You think, “Hey, Day, I see you. You’re what the Lord made so you’re good, but I’m not down with you like that. I do not feel like rejoicing and being glad in you.”

That was me today. I wanted an exchange for a brand new sparkly one, complete with enhancements and favourable circumstances. I was over today before it even started!

So what do you do when that happens? You’ve decided today is a write-off. What next?

Well, here’s a recipe I’m trying:

Start with discernment

Recognise that what you’re thinking and feeling is natural but also comes from a broken place. It’s coming from your flesh – that part of all of us, our mortal bodies, which is inconsistent with God’s will and design. It places comfort, relief and pleasures at very high and detrimental levels yet accomplishes nothing. John 6:63 tells us that the Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

Add copious amounts of grace

We’re called to show grace, not just to others, but to ourselves. Be kind and compassionate with yourself. Show yourself some love, mercy and forgiveness (Romans 12:10, James 2:13).

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, 
forgiving one another, 
even as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

Show up anyway

Decide to show up despite whatever is happening then find ways to do so. This photo popped up on my radar this morning just when I needed it and I think it’s very spot on and on-brand with giving oneself grace in showing up:

Ask for help

Let’s be honest, sometimes you do your best and find it still falls short. Ouch. Lucky for us, we have a Helper to assist us (John 15:26) and therefore we can do all things through Christ who gives us courage and strength. 

For I can do everything 
through Christ, 
who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13

So ask God for help and ask people, too.

Garnish with joy and gladness

This one is a difficult one when the going gets tough. Yet this is exactly what Jesus commands. He gives us peace that passes understanding and joy that transcends less-than-ideal days. Philippians 4:4,7 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

It’s midday now, and this recipe has been working for me. I think it’s actually turning out to be a good day after all. I’m glad I didn’t write it off.

What about you? What do you do when you feel like throwing the day away 🚮 ?

Love,

A Coin in a Fish: How Jesus Uses the Ordinary to Do Extraordinary Things

| Flo 
The Temple Tax (Two-drachma Tax) 
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax
came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
“Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
“From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 
“But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. 
Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Matthew 17:24-27 NIV

As I was reading from the passage above this morning, a thought popped into my head. Why didn’t Jesus just click his fingers and have a coin magically appear in His or Peter’s hands?

He could just as easily have done that. I mean, nothing is impossible with God, right?!

Well, to start, Jesus is not showy like that. He does not act in ways that are designed to attract attention and impress people. Doing it that way would almost be like a magician trying to entertain and amaze people and that is not Jesus’ MO! In all His ways, He is humble and intentional about how He does things.

I’m convinced that the means justify the ends with Him. Which brings me to the next point. Why fishing specifically? Why not mould a clay jar, tip it and find a coin inside? Well, God reminded me that Peter was a fisherman by trade. So, it’s quite intentional that He sent Peter to go and fish. I imagine that if Peter was a baker by trade, Jesus would have instructed him to bake a loaf of bread, cut it open, and find a coin inside it. 

God uses our natural skillset and our experience to do what He calls us to do. He chooses to partner with us where we are at to accomplish His purposes. It usually takes the ordinary things we are already capable of doing, coupled with our faith and obedience. This is how God often chooses to perform miracles.

Look at the first recorded miracle at the wedding in Cana, Galilee in John 2:1-12. Jesus instructed the servers there to fill jars with water, draw some out and take it to the banquet master. Somewhere along the way, the water turned into wine. It took the ordinary actions of ordinary people doing what they already had the skillset and experience to do. Simply put, they were just going about doing their job albeit in an unusual way.

So, it took obedience and a level of faith on their part to present water to the banquet master as though it were wine. That is the stuff that miracles are made of, isn’t it! God is not about fanfare or the hocus-pocus kind of miracles. He’s about doing the ordinary everyday things in an extraordinary, God-ordained way.

Jesus healed people by simply telling them to stretch out their hand, get up from their bed, wake up from the sleep that is death and so forth. For example, He simply told Peter, “Come,” and Peter walked on water Matthew 14:29.

Today, Jesus still performs miracles in the same way – no hocus-pocus, Abracadabra! fanfare or showy actions that are supposed to impress people. As Jesus followers, we should also emulate Him as we fulfil the Great Commission.

So, simply listen to what God is saying to you then respond in faith and obedience. He’ll partner with you and perform miracles through and for you.

Love,