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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.

Proverbs 14:22

23 Feb

If you plan to do evil, you will be lost; if you plan to do good, you will receive unfailing love and faithfulness.

Proverbs 14:22

Dear God, usually we think of this verse as being about our outward focused plans. Do I do good or evil in my community? Family? Work? But I think it is more aptly applied to our internal lives. Do I practice good and wise self care?

As I’m traveling right now, I am faced with a myriad of decisions all of the time. How will I eat? What will I watch on TV when I’m by myself? What will I read on my phone? Will I pray to you and spend time in Scripture while I’m here?

I talked about this idea of self care a couple of days ago. I’ve had trips in my life when I didn’t “plan to do good.” I’ve had times when I’m at home when I planned to do evil. My dad refers to it in battling addiction as healing his imagination. He would imagine himself enjoying his addiction to alcohol 40 years ago, and then he would follow through on that “plan.” But when he broke free and developed a new plan under your healing power, grace, and hope, he planned to do good and the path he has walked has been much more constructive and brought him life he didn’t know before.

Father, help me to embrace good self care. Give me your strength to me mindful of everything I consume and that I plan to do. Help me to be purposeful about not only my inward life, but about the choices I make as to how to enter and interact with the world around me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 23, 2018 in Proverbs

 

Purifying Hope

22 Feb

“Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. . .If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified.”

–Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, February 22

Dear God, this was an interesting read this morning. I was uninspired by the “verse of the day” from Bible Gateway, so I went to my back-up source for daily inspiration—My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I normally just read the verse he has for today and go from there, but today I was moved by his own words. That’s what I’ve quoted above.

I don’t think I had thought before about the idea of being afraid of Jesus losing. The idea that, in the end, good loses to evil. Not on an earthly level. Good loses to evil all of the time in my daily life. No, I’m talking about the heavenly realm where one day there will be no more tears. Where God is in His Heaven and all is right with the world. Where there is a joyful peace that is indescribable. That’s what I’ve really put my hope in. And not only for me. I’ve put my hope in that for all of the victims of evil in this world. “Hold on, sex trafficking victim. I’ll do what I can now, but your day will come.” “Hold on, victim of genocide in Syria. Your day will come.”

There are really two things that are happening in Mr. Chambers’ words above. First, there is the part about Jesus and “good” losing, but then there is the second part about our hopes being purified. In this case, I think purified means “made realistic” or “made true.” Especially as Americans, we are often taught that we can hope for anything material—career, money, power, fame, etc. And while that is true, it is foolishness to hope for those things and combine it with the hope that we have for joy and peace. “If our hopes seems to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified.” That disappointment is the process of you separating our hope for the material from our hope for peaceful joy. Ultimately, our hope for peaceful joy will not be in the ego of watching who our children become or what we accomplish here on earth. Our hope for peaceful joy will be solely focused around how tied in we are to you and our expectation that, in the very end, Jesus wins, God is in His Heaven, and all is right with the world.

Father, thank you for purifying my heart. Thank you for guiding me through pain and being patient with me while I go through the agonizing death of my ego as it relates to my material accomplishments. My hope isn’t in my marriage, my kids, my job, my church, or my friends. My hope is simply in the fact that, in the end, you win. Help me to be faithful to that hope and whatever you want me to do as a part of your Kingdom.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 22, 2018 in My Utmost for His Highest Scripture of the Day

 

Romans 13:8-10

21 Feb

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

Romans 13:8-10

Dear God, so I “owe” it to people to love them. I mean, I kind of knew that I owed it to you to love them, but I’d never considered the idea that I owe it to them.

Right now, I’m spending a few days meeting with a bunch of different people. It’s going to be easy for me to love some of them, but for some, it sure doesn’t feel like I owe them love. Some of them have hurt people I naturally love. Some of them will not respect my love for you. And some of them need your light and healing. In some cases, it will take dying to myself to love them.

Father, especially for the next three days, help me to love both naturally and unnaturally. Help me to be your ambassador of peace. Help me to fulfill your complete law by exhibiting the love I have the opportunity to show to everyone with whom I come into contact.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 21, 2018 in Romans

 

Proverbs 17:9

20 Feb

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:9

Dear God, this wisdom is obvious, but so true. And we forget it so easily. I see it in my family, at work, on Facebook, in politics…

Thankfully, I don’t see it in you. When you forgive me you separate my sins from me as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). And that’s Old Testament—before Jesus death and resurrection. You figured out a way to make that Old Testament sacrifice permanent through Jesus and now the love we have for each other “prospers” because forgiveness is a key ingredient.

Father, be glorified in my life. Model forgiveness through me. Reveal to me the people whom I have not forgiven. Teach me to love like you love. And help me to be your ambassador of this area and model it to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 20, 2018 in Proverbs

 

1 John 4:11-12

19 Feb

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

1 John 4:11-12

Dear God, I really used to enjoy Facebook. Now, it seems to have become an outlet through which anger and frustration is channeled into a vortex that recycles and intensifies it. I’d say that, if anything, it has revealed to me just how many people out there say they love you, but just can’t help themselves and spew their anger. The scary thing is that I don’t think they can see it in themselves. If I were to talk to one of them about it right now they would probably agree that Facebook/Twitter/etc. has gotten out of hand and they hate it.

So that makes me wonder what kind of darkness is coming out of me that I cannot see. How are my actions keeping me from representing your love to others? Am I doing all that I can for all that your are? Am I dying to my own rights and embracing your cross?

Father, the message of this passage is pretty clear, but I can certainly be blind to my own sin. Please give me eyes to see and ears to hear. Give me the words you needs me to have so that I might show love to others. Be glorified in my own eyes and in others’ eyes through me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 19, 2018 in 1 John

 

Romans 8:38-39

18 Feb

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Dear God, “neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow…” That’s an interesting thing to include in things that will not separate us from your love. On the one had, Jesus taught us to consider the lilies of the field and not worry, but here Paul is telling us that there’s grace for our humanness and brokenness. As we slowly work out our faith and learn not to worry, there is still room in your heart for us to do that.

Whenever I think about people with reason to worry I think about a father in Syria or The Sudan who cannot protect his wife, his children, or even himself from despots. I think about the sex trafficking victim who will likely never be rescued while she’s alive. I think about myself and my legitimate concern for my children as they live in the world. These fears aren’t sin. They are real, and they are the things that bring me to my knees. In my case, there is the opportunity for me to bring these and other concerns I have to you and learn to live in your peace through them. But for some others that I mentioned here, that opportunity for peace doesn’t exist—at least a peace that I’m capable of understanding. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t there to love each one.

Father, I really do feel your love and grace. Thank you. Thank you for your forgiveness and your provision. Thank you that your love for me is beyond anything that I can do to separate me from you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 18, 2018 in Romans

 

Romans 8:35-37

17 Feb

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” ) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

Romans 8:35-37

Dear God, I confess to you that I cannot stand prosperity Gospel preachers. I truly think of them as an enemy of your message. I can’t really think of any New Testament characters of whom A certain pastor would say they are living their best life now. There’s a lot of poverty, suffering, and death among the faithful.

I’ve always struggled with really understanding your message through the book of Job, but I read a Biblical commentary on the book that really helped me. Actually, I got part way through the commentary, but there was this one part that really spoke to me. It talked about six different levels of faith that I’ll list here.

1 Intuitive – projective faith: is associated with the child’s faith, based upon fantasy and imagination

2 Mythical-literal faith: is the family faith of the early school years, which is sustained by moral rules and either/or thinking

3 Synthetic – conventional faith: as an adolescent phase that conforms to the tradition of the community and creates the “kind” of person of faith it models or rejects

4 Individuative – reflective faith: is the faith of the young adult who is capable of critical thinking, independent reflection, and dialectical reasoning

5 Conjunctive faith: is a mid-life and old-age faith that integrates self-identity with a comprehensive world of you to see the order, coherence, and meaning of life in order to serve and be served

6 Universalizing faith: is the rare faith of the world citizen who incarnates a transcendent vision into a disciplined, active, and self-giving life. (Page 22)

The author made the argument that Job and his friends start out the book in the third level of faith. In their custom, good fortune expressed your favor and bad fortune your displeasure. But through Job’s suffering he learned that there is actually very little connection between a seemingly #blessed life and your favor. This is something that the early Christian Church surely figured out as they suffered for their pursuit of you.

My wife just interviewed an author who is writing a series of books that includes a Christian character. He is three books into a series that he expects to ultimately be 14 books. He told her that at some point the character will have multiple children and the youngest one will be the most like him and yet they will experience a period of deep estrangement. The character’s faith will not, and really should not, protect him from this kind of pain.

Father, I know people who have really suffered—much more than me. My prayer is that you will help me to be a minister to them and to embrace the path you have for me regardless of what it might be. And for my relatives who are suffering, please do not let this pain go in vain. Make it count, and make it count for your glory.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 17, 2018 in Romans

 

Ephesians 5:10-14

16 Feb

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

Ephesians 5:10-14

Dear God, I was at a meeting with several pastors yesterday. One of them got to talking about how, about every four or five years, his denomination will have someone come in and talk to their annual conference about sexual issues in the workforce. He said the first year they did it they had a lawyer come in and it was awful. His instructions were, “Don’t look at porn on your church computer. Don’t flirt with the church secretary…” They never had him back. He said that, since then, they have used a therapist to do it, and he gave a description of this year’s message. It can be summed up with this: “I’ve never known anyone who was really following through on self-care who ended up in an affair.” Self care was defined as actively paying attention to all parts of your life—mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual.

Of course, that’s not always true. There are addictions that sometimes just grab us, but again, if there is self care to be done in my life then the addictions need to be addressed as part of that self care.

I know a woman who is afraid of a friend in her life whom she fears is dangerous. She is gathering this information from the things he writes and shares. She has also referenced the types of shows he watches. Some of his stuff was recently brought to light and some authorities have challenged him on them. I don’t think he faces immediate legal problems, but I am hopeful that now that some of his private thoughts are out in the open it might be an opening for healing for him.

Father, help me to be willing to shine your light on the dark areas of my life so that I might be in complete communion with you. And I’ll add this man to my prayers. Please use this situation to help him heal and use it in this woman’s life to address any lingering secrets she has. She is the victim here, but I am hopeful that you will make this pain count for her and help her to be more whole from wounds of the past, decisions in the present, and plans for the future.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 16, 2018 in Ephesians

 

“Happy are they who bear their share of the world’s pain”

15 Feb

“Happy are they who bear their share of the world’s pain: In the long run they will know more happiness than those who avoid it.”

Dear God, this is a quote from a quote, and I’m not sure it’s something that Jesus really said (maybe it’s a slant on a beatitude), but it makes sense. I’ve described it to others as allowing myself to touch other people’s pain.

Back in 2003 when I first prayed to you about getting out of my bubble and being available to others in need, I didn’t realize how easy and simple my theology was. Everything was much more black and white. I was able to judge others and their decisions pretty easily. If they made decisions and had priorities that were different than mine then they were wrong because my life experience and knowledge were good enough for me to make that evaluation. But then I started to reach out. I started to work understand that there were a lot of people out there who come at life through a completely different lens and set of experiences than I do. I started to make room in my worldview for people who were different from me.

Father, now my danger is in judging those who don’t do this and reach out—for disapproving of the narrow-minded. Help me love everyone and to continue to reach out into uncomfortable areas. I certainly haven’t figured it all out, but I guess the good news is that I know that I’m still lacking.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2018 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

A Lack of Faith Isn’t the End of the World

14 Feb

No verse

Dear God, is there something poetic about being Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day on the same day? As I profess my love to my wife and my children, should I also be taking the opportunity to profess my love to you?

I do my best not to, but I know I take you for granted. I’m sorry for that. You are an amazing God. And I’ll confess that, having grown up Baptist, I don’t have a lot of reverence for Lent the way others do. I’m not even sure I had heard of Lent or knew what it was until I was older and met my wife. But now we are entering into the tragedy and the redemption of the Easter season. Tragedy in the telling of the story of the evil way we treated Jesus 2,000 years ago, but redemption in the way your plan allowed for our failings.

I was thinking this morning about last year at this time and how we had a relative who was dying. In retrospect, he had about seven weeks left to live. I remember praying for him and his wife. I also remember feeling like my faith wasn’t adequate to carry him through or to bring about your healing. But as I thought about it this morning, I think that a lack of faith has been given a bad connotation. Charlatan preachers have shamed people for not having enough faith for their healing. But to think that you would allow my lack of faith to disrupt your plans for the world is foolish. You accounted for Judas’ sin in your plan with Jesus. You can surely account for my lack of faith.

So, Father, I approach you in joy and freedom this morning. I also approach you in worship and love. Be glorified in me through my faithfulness. And please never never let me get in your way.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 14, 2018 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 
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