Daily devotion

Where is Your House Being Built?

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“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Matthew 7:24-25 NKJV

This morning, I wanted to show an often-overlooked side of nursing home ministry. Sure, our friends are mostly in wheelchairs, and some don’t have the ability to communicate well anymore, but they still love to laugh and express their worship as joyfully as children. Though I have been serving at Life Care Center for almost seven years, what has been happening there over the last two years is almost like a revival. Our dining room has been filling up with residents; more volunteers have been participating and the sense that God is on the move is reflected even in the staff. This week’s theme was trusting in God’s Promises, and though this is a Sunday School song, it is more biblically sound than a lot of the hymns. When Jesus ended what we call, “The Sermon on the Mount”, He says that there will be rains falling, floods rising and winds blowing in our lives. But then He promises that if we build our lives on the rock of His teachings that no matter what comes, our eternal home will still stand strong. I do hope you enjoy today’s video, and maybe even sing along. If you hear God’s call to nursing home ministry, stay tuned. I will be sharing more articles and videos over the next week to help you if you dare to enter God’s service in this much needed field.

Changing the Strings – Day 2

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He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Psalm 30:3 NIV

Once the old strings are unwound and removed from my guitar, my next step is to put the new ones in their place. One by one, they need to be seated into the saddle and their pegs pressed firmly into place, or they will pop out as they are tensioned. Then each string must be fished through the end of the tuning peg and properly wrapped. This tedious process reminds me of our first wobbly steps as a baby. We are not yet confident of our footing, nor sure of our balance, so our moms and dads are vital to gently helping us to try and try again. Just like our parents, God is also gentle with our fearful first steps of faith on new paths that He puts us on. We may not yet understand where He is leading, but we need to learn to trust Him as He slowly tensions our new strings in their places.

When after a great deal of twisting and turning the guitar strings begins to sound their proper notes, my job is still not done. First, those strings must be played a bit and then given one more final tuning. In that same way, God’s discipline isn’t over when we start out on a new commitment. As the sign I once saw outside a church said, “Thanks for inviting me to the wedding. Don’t forget to invite me the marriage.” – Jesus

Thank God that He only asks us to take one step at a time and He is patient when after a few faltering steps we stumble. He knows that we are not ready to run, just as my guitar with its latest set of strings is not prepared for a concert. Instead, that is when God draws us near, listens closely to our tone, and does some more fine tuning, till we are playing the notes He has in mind. Is God changing the strings in your life today? Have some old and dear things been broken, taken out of their places, or lost? As the words of the old hymn “He Keeps Me Singing” tell us: Jesus sweeps across the broken strings of our life to awaken a new song. Don’t give up or give in to doubt or depression, God is not through, He is just preparing you for a new set of strings and a new melody that He has chosen for you to play!

"All my life was wrecked by sin and strife
Discord filled my heart with pain
Jesus swept across the broken strings
Stirred the slumbering chords again."
He Keeps Me Singing
Luther Bridges 1910

Changing the Strings

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No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11 NIV

Changing the strings is my least favorite chore as a guitar player. I imagine there are players who pay someone else to do this for them, but over nearly sixty years, I have only had it done once and that during repairs. As I was wrestling away with unwinding the old strings, to make way for a new set yesterday, it struck me that God’s discipline in our lives is sometimes a lot like that process. For non-guitar folks out there, the simple truth is that our instruments do not stay tuned for long. After playing for even for twenty minutes, our instrument already is needing a twist or two on the tuning pegs. When play regularly, over three or four months we discover that even after a careful retuning, that the tone is sounding blah. Yes, the newer strings last a lot longer than what we had back in the sixties, but even our latest and greatest have a lifespan. The time for that new set makes itself known when you see a bit of a shredding here and there on the bass strings.

The same thing happens our own lives and unwelcome as the process is, God chooses seasons of restringing, which the Bible calls discipline. Just as with my guitar, restringing doesn’t mean I am mad at my instrument, nor am I contemplating trading it in for a new model. God’s discipline indicates that a simple retuning will no longer do. He knows what we need is a whole new set of circumstances, better friends, a new job or (you fill in the blank.} And just like restringing, discipline means both the long slow process of unwinding the old, as well as the tedious stretching and tensioning of the new. Relationships, habits or opinions that God intends to change have been there a long time and loosening them and pulling them out doesn’t happen in an instant. We moan and groan as God slowly pries our fingers loose from what we are dearly clinging on to, because we have difficulty trusting that the new set of strings that He has for us will sound far sweeter. But wait there’s more! But you will need to tune in for tomorrow’s post to hear the rest of the story!