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Author Archives: John D. Willome

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About John D. Willome

I post a blog of daily devotions that are my prayer journals based on scripture.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

05 Mar

“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Dear God, I suppose that if there is one thing I am supposed to know and remember to pass on to my children it is what the Jewish people call the “Shema Yisrael.” You are God, you are one, and I must love you with my whole heart, soul, and strength. Boy, is that harder to pass down than it sounds.

Over 20 years ago, I was at a Promise Keepers conference at Texas Stadium in Irving. One guy was talking to us and he used an illustration of three chairs. Each chair represented a level of love for and commitment to you. Chair #1 was VERY committed. Chair #2 was kind of committed. Chair #3 was not committed at all. He said that it usually goes that of generation #1 starts out in the first chair, it is likely that the next generation will be in the second chair and the third generation will be in the last chair. I think this is probably true which is why you gave Moses this passage to Still into the Israelites. We need to do everything we can to keep our children (and their children) in the first chair.

Father, you know what my wife and I tried to do with our children when they still lived at home. Now, they are both out in the world, and they will take those lessons (some of them anyway) with them. Give them what they need to live in that first chair. Help my wife and me to live in that first chair and stay there. It’s hard to not be distracted or tempted to follow our own way. But you are our God, you are one. I will love you above all others and with everything I have.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 5, 2018 in Deuteronomy

 

Joshua 1:6-11

04 Mar

“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua then commanded the officers of Israel, “Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Joshua 1:6-11

Dear God, I e heard the phrase “be strong and courageous” before in relation to you and Joshua, but I don’t think I realized you said it three times. And then, when you said it, for Joshua, it was go time. Within three days, he started their new lives.

I have some friends who are on the precipice of big decisions. In fact, they are the three friends I’ve been praying for a lot lately. Of course, there are more than these three, but these three have been especially on my heart. But I can see this passage being for them as well. Daunting things are in front of them. I think it might be time for you to communicate to them, “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Father, first, help me to internalize this passage for myself. I have some things to deal with at work that I don’t like dealing with. It’s going to take some conflict, but not nearly as much conflict was Joshua was facing. But you are with me. I must have faith in that. I must be strong and courageous and not think about the potential downsides or difficulties from the conflict because you are with me wherever I go. And I pray this for my friends too. Help them to be strong and courageous so that they might each live the life you have for them and so that others might be touched by you through their lives and their stories of faith.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 4, 2018 in Joshua

 

“Beautiful Trauma” – Pink

03 Mar

“Beautiful Trauma” by Pink (Alecia Beth Moore)

I have no idea if people read this daily blog of my prayers to God, but if you’re out there then what I’m about to say will probably make you lose a lot of respect for me. I’m a fan of the singer Pink. Since I’m a middle class white guy in his late-40s, I figure she would probably be disappointed to hear that I’m the kind of person who really likes her music. If she saw me sitting out in the audience at one of her concerts, she’d probably curse to herself and walk of the stage thinking her career is over. But on the other hand, she might also be surprised to know that I am a devout Christian who spends time in scripture every day, prays regularly, very happy in my marriage, and works in a Christian faith-based nonprofit. I guess I’m an enigma.

So I woke up this morning with the song “Beautiful Trauma” going in my head. I really like this song although the lyrics make me sad. The song is an interesting combination of happy music with troubling lyrics. The lyrics are about a dysfunctional, unhealthy relationship. I’m not going to post the whole song here because they include profanity, and I don’t want to offend anyone in this environment. I’ll let you Google them for yourself. But here’s a phrase that’s interesting:

You punched a hole in the wall and I framed it, I wish I could feel things like you. Everyone’s chasing that holy feeling, And if we don’t stay lit, we’ll blow out, blow out…

When I think about Pink’s music, a lot of it leaves me with the same impression. Alecia Beth Moore (her real name) is writing and selecting songs that express her internal feelings and Pink gets to perform them. I’m concerned for Alecia and a fan of Pink’s. But even in my concern, she’s someone I like because she’s willing to be honest and open about her struggles. I admire vulnerability.

As a Christian who has tried to discipline himself into discipleship for the last 31 years, I have learned a lot of lessons through my mistakes and God’s redemption. And while I don’t have life or faith figured out by a long shot, I am in a position to be able to tell when someone is grasping for the wrong things that they think will bring happiness. In the case of too many of our marriages, we look to the spouse to bring us that joy we are looking for instead of trying to tap into the overall macro-level life that God has for us.

Have you ever looked at that couple that hardly speaks to each other anymore and wondered when things changed? You know that there was a time when they couldn’t get enough of each other. They kissed uncontrollably. They talked on the phone a lot before they lived in the same home. They held hands. They had room for the other’s faults. But now the initial emotion is gone and they are disillusioned. I’m not going to play marriage counselor here because I have no expertise in this area. And I’m not going to say that if they were Christians then their marriage would be better because that’s not necessarily true either. There are plenty of discipling Christians with marital problems. I’m just saying that there is an empitness in Pink’s music that I can see in a lot of lives around me. From family members, to friends, to coworkers, to our clients at work, there is a lot of pain out there, and I think music like this helps me to tap into it and understand it a little instead of isolating myself in a protected bubble–and did I mention that I think the music itself is great?

Father, help me to be in the world but not of the world. Help me to find the balance between exposing myself to the lives and perspectives that others have and feeding my soul with things that are of you. Help me to carry your salt into a world that is looking for taste.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 3, 2018 in Hymns and Songs, Uncategorized

 

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Job 23:1-11

02 Mar

Then Job spoke again: “My complaint today is still a bitter one, and I try hard not to groan aloud. If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his court. I would lay out my case and present my arguments. Then I would listen to his reply and understand what he says to me. Would he use his great power to argue with me? No, he would give me a fair hearing. Honest people can reason with him, so I would be forever acquitted by my judge. I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside.

Job 23:1-11

Dear God, the verses of the day were actually 10 & 11 (“But he knows…”), but I couldn’t look at those without looking at 1-9 as well. Those verses show the frustration in Job’s heart and his commitment to you. He loves you. He believes in you.

Yesterday, I prayed for three friends who are facing difficult situations. I have to say, it looks like two of them had very good days. I was very grateful for them. One of them moved completely through the stage of stress they were in and into a new light. I pray that that one will continue to look to you as Job did here. One seemed to settle into the situation they are facing. I pray that that one will find you in the midst of the struggle. As for the third, I think the struggle continues. Please be with that person and help them move to the next level of development in their lives.

Father, finally, help me. I have some situations in my life that require wisdom, discernment, compassion, and toughness. Please guide me. Help me to be your servant and to represent you well for your glory’s sake.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 2, 2018 in Job

 

Psalm 73:21-24

01 Mar

Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant— I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.

Psalm 73:21-24

Dear God, I have three friends, in particular, who are going through trying times right now. I wonder how much this passage applies to all three of them. Each of them is facing a very different set of circumstances, but I thought of each of them as I read this piece of Psalm 73. How much of their responses to their respective situations are because their hearts are bitter? Do they seem like senseless animals to you?

Of course, now it is time to turn the mirror on myself. Am I seeking your counsel in real time when I face a challenge? Am I asking for your strength? Do my words and actions bring you glory? Are others drawn to you because of my life?

Father, where there is anger and/or bitterness in my heart, let there be love and selflessness instead. Where there is fear, let me instead seek the right balance of your power and your shelter. And for my friends, I pray that each one will hear from YOU today. Even though I know at least one of them isn’t accustomed to calling on you, I pray that all three will and that they will find that, even though they might seem like a senseless animal, they belong to you and you are holding their right hand. Thank you for holding my hand too, Father.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 1, 2018 in Psalms

 

2 Timothy 1:6

28 Feb

This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.

2 Timothy 1:6

Dear God, what is it that I bring to the table in terms of your Kingdom coming and your will being done on Earth as it is in Heaven? Am I missing opportunities that pass by me each day? Well, of course I am. But still, what is it i should be doing that you have given me to do?

I think one of my problems tends to be that I have some great thoughts (at least I think they are great) about how to address some of the ills of our community (e.g. early childhood development, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, etc.), but I get so overwhelmed by the work I have to do in front of me that I keep allowing days of inaction to go by. I have a hard time discipline myself to really engage in one or two of these problems in a timely way. In the meantime, days of people suffering keep slipping by.

Father, show me what you would have me to do today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today. When something comes up, please whisper in my ear and don’t let me miss an opportunity that is of you because I only have so many days to be contribute to your Kingdom while I’m here on Earth. I don’t want to miss any of them.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 28, 2018 in 1 Timothy

 

John 4:13-14

27 Feb

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

John 4:13-14

Dear God, I wonder how many Christians truly experience your living water. I wonder if I am experiencing it to the fullest.

I guess the first thing I would want to look at is what do I think someone fully experiencing your living water looks like? I guess the first place to go is the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. The person exhibiting a natural flow of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control is probably getting it from this spring of water “bubbling” within them.

But Galatians 5:22-23 is only part of the equation. Is the person also naturally, through their relationship with you, NOT exhibiting the attributes from Galatians 5:19-21–sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, envy, drunkenness, and wild parties. I can fake a lot of the Fruits of the Spirit, but evidence of your living water flowing from within me is also an absence of the others.

Father, please help me to continually pursue you. Too many times in my life I have had to endure hardship of some sort to go to the next level of working out my faith with you. I hope that always need to be—not because I expect an easy life, but because I would hope that my love for you and my gratitude to you would drive me onward and upward. That I would naturally give “My Utmost for [Your] Highest.”

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 27, 2018 in Galatians, John

 

1 John 4:7-10

26 Feb

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

1 John 4:7-10

Dear God, what is it about having children that brings out a different kind of love in the parent than they’ve ever known before? I mean, it’s completely psychological. There is just something in me that, when my child is on stage or out on the playing field along with several other children, fixes my eyes on them. I watch their every move. My video camera follows them everywhere they go. I’ve even consciously considered it in really time while I’m watching them.

And then there’s the forgiveness angle. They are so easy to forgive. Sometimes too easy, I fear. I say too easy because I had to really fight myself against spoiling them when they were young and I didn’t always find the right line for that. Even now, they are grown and out of the house, living in different cities, and they are still different to me than anyone else in the world.

I remember when they were little, thinking about my love and forgiveness for them and considering that I didn’t begin to understand your grace and love for me until I was a father myself. Your willingness to pursue us through Jesus’ sacrifices started to make sense. I am only one of billions, but it doesn’t matter. I’m still yours.

Father, help me to really accept that love and grace from you and to learn more and more how to return that love to you. Let that love for you be my guide and I make my daily decisions and determine how best to live my life.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 26, 2018 in 1 John

 

Mark 9:2-10

25 Feb

Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials —one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He said this because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, when they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with them. As they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by “rising from the dead.”

Mark 9:2-10

Dear God, I never before wondered why Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him, but I suppose this was a story that you/he wanted us to know. It makes me wonder how many more events like this Jesus had when there were no witnesses. Now that I think about it, I doubt this was the first time because it seems like Jesus knew what he was doing when he invited these three men to join him.

So why did they need to see this? Well, it was obviously for the post-resurrection experience because that’s what Jesus tells them. It’s not for comfort between the crucifixion and the resurrection. It’s for confirmation of who Jesus is AFTER the resurrection. And he didn’t take just one or two witnesses. He took three. He obviously wanted credibility for the men testifying that this event happened. He wanted people to know that there was something on an historical scale happening here.

Father, thank you for this story. Thank you for taking time to affirm who you are, who Jesus is as a part of the Trinity, and who I am as your child. Give me faith to see beyond what my eyes can see and patience to await your timing for the desires of my heart.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 25, 2018 in Mark

 

Jeremiah 29:4-14

24 Feb

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let your prophets and fortune-tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams, because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not sent them,” says the Lord. This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

Jeremiah 29:4-14

Dear God, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard verse 11 misapplied by people who don’t understand this passage. Along with “by his stripes we are healed” at my church when I lived in Waco, it’s probably one of the most misapplied verses I know. The key to verse eleven starts in verse 4. “Hold on. Don’t lose hope. Your eyes and other people will deceive you for the next 70 years and you’ll think I’ve abandoned you as my people, but I haven’t. Yes, most, if not all, of you will only know this situation for the rest of your lives, but for the good of the nation, keep living your life despite your circumstances. Build homes. Get married. Have children. Don’t wait for things to get better because for pretty much all of you they won’t. But for the sake of the nation, press on and do your part.” How’s that for a loose translation?

I have had difficult things in my life, but at the end of the day I don’t know what suffering is. I have experienced despair, but I’ll be the first to tell you that on a scale of 1-10, I’ve never exceeded a 5. So it’s difficult for me to sit here and say that people need to get realistic about this passage and stop treating it as something that is a promise by you that you’re ready to rescue them from their current predicament. If they want to say, “Sometime in the next 70 years I’ll be rescued,” then I’ll go with that because the only real rescue is in the new Heaven and the new Earth.

Father, this has been more of a rant this morning than a prayer for improving myself. I guess my prayer for myself is that you would find me faithful. Help me to look beyond my circumstances and to not judge a situation as being or not being of you based on what my eyes see. Help me to find my peace through my relationship with you, and help me to share THAT peace with others.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 24, 2018 in Jeremiah

 
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