August 4-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 5:7, Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
Observe what it is saying.
The fact that God serves as our refuge implies deliverance and salvation. He wants to exchange our anxiety for care, our fears for His peace, and our worries for His love. This care should alert us how special we are to Him. Picture someone you care deeply about-perhaps a family member or a close friend you love. How do you treat that person? You send messages to them. You give them gifts. You think about their needs and try to bless them with thoughtfulness. You do things to show them how much you care for them. Now imagine that the God of the universe has that posture toward you. The God who created everything, including you, cares deeply for you. He loves you. He does not want you to go through life feeling troubled, though the world has many troubles. He does not want you to live in fear. God wants to serve as your refuge today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of your life. And hopefully, as people see the impact that love has on you, they too will want to know Him and find refuge in Him. (Michael (Mykhailo) Cherenkov and Gary S. Hoag, page 30, Refuge)
Relate it to your life
For my peace and well-being, I must believe deep within my being that God’s default setting toward me is that of care and concern.
Do something.
Lord God, thank You that You care so much and so deeply for me. I give You my anxieties and choose to rest in Your unfailing love. Amen.
August 5-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
Psalm 46:1, 8-10, God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Observe what it is saying.
The Sons of Korah wrote Psalm 46. It opens with a bold description of God as our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. That speaks to His reliability. He does not belong to any ethnic group or culture. He does not work for any business or political party. He is always there for all those willing to declare their trust in Him. As the psalm progresses, the psalmists shift to inviting us to come and see the many things the Lord has done. Then, the sons of Korah announce God’s explicit instruction to us: be still. In remaining still before God, we watch, learn, and come to know His greatness that will be exalted across all peoples. This illustrates His relevance to us as His Church gathered from all the nations. As our refuge, God is both reliable and relevant. That means He is not just what you and I need-He’s what everyone everywhere is looking for. Only God fills the need in the hearts of all humankind. (Michael (Mykhailo) Cherenkov and Gary S. Hoag, page 31, Refuge)
Relate it to your life.
Just as Jesus spoke to the storm, “Be still,” He speaks into the storms of our lives, “Be still.”
Do something.
Lord God, thank You for being our ever-present help in trouble. May Your name be exalted in my life and throughout the world. Amen.
August 6-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Observe what it is saying.
As we prepared this collection of devotionals, we had war-torn Ukraine and the persecuted church in mind. We also envisioned sharing this with suffering Christians in Nigeria, Syria, and other places riddled with corruption, oppression, crisis, and death. We wrote Refuge to stand in solidarity with those who suffer. We also desire to unite Christians in every language, country, and generation. We want to help Christians everywhere to find God as their refuge and strength, so that they can comfort His suffering Church. Although our passports say we are Ukrainian and American by origin, we declare the truth that there is no Ukrainian or American church. We are members of one body-one global Church-that serves one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And when one member suffers, all suffer. Together we proclaim “with you” to our brothers and sisters who suffer for their faith and faithfulness to Christ in the most difficult situations and darkest places of our world. We want everyone to take heart and have courage despite hard circumstances. Secret believers in Soviet times had a special song about this: “With Christ, we are free in the prison, and without Christ, our freedom is prison.” With Christ as our refuge, we are free! (Michael (Mykhailo) Cherenkov and Gary S. Hoag, Parting Thoughts, Refuge)
Relate it to your life.
May I remember my family around the world as I pray for those who suffer in war and persecution.
Do something.
Lord God, I ask that You will protect, provide, and offer peace to Your children throughout the world who experience such great suffering. Amen.
August 7-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
Ruth 2:10-11, At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” 11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
Observe what it is saying.
To finish out this week on the theme Refuge, I will offer three additional devotionals on the topic. This one comes from the short story of Ruth who famously said to her mother-in-law, Naomi, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” Naomi’s husband had died and then her two sons. She had no one to care for her. There were no social services in place to fall back on. One of the two sons who died was Ruth’s husband. So, Ruth also had experienced a huge loss. Since Naomi was in a foreign land with no blood relatives, the only thing she knew to do was to go back home to Israel. However, her daughter-in-law was willing to leave her country and family and vowed her loyalty to Naomi. Ruth asserted herself to be a refuge for Naomi to the extent that she was willing to leave all she knew and go to a land where she would be considered an outsider. At significant cost, she chose to become Naomi’s refuge.
Relate it to your life.
As our refuge, God uses each of us to put flesh on His presence to provide shelter for one another.
Do something.
Jesus, please help me to courageously provide Your refuge to others in need. Amen.
August 8-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
Ruth 2:12, May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
Observe what it is saying.
Continuing the story from yesterday, now that Ruth was in Israel with Naomi, Ruth was being rewarded for her unselfish care and oversight for her mother-in-law. She knew she had no standing in Israel and yet Boaz, called a kinsman redeemer, recognized how Ruth left everything behind to be a shelter for a person in whom she had no obligation to do so. But out of love and mercy, she was willing to watch over Naomi. Boaz recognized Ruth for all she so generously had done for one of their own. Boaz prayed that she would be welcomed and repaid in Israel for all she had so generously given. He wanted the same kind of refuge she had provided for Naomi to be given to her. This reveals a biblical principle that God loves to extend mercy to the merciful. Jesus clearly spoke it in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Relate it to your life.
As I generously offer refuge to others, the Lord extends the same to me.
Do something.
Lord God, thank You for the promises of Your word. I trust that as I am used by You to care for others, You will also take care of me. Amen.
August 9-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
Psalm 38:21-22, Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. 22 Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.
Observe what it is saying.
The NIV version of the Bible uses the word “help” 287 times. The top two places where this word is found are in the Psalms at 66 times and in Isaiah at 23 times. To pray or cry for help is a common theme among God’s people throughout history. It’s not a sign of weakness but actually a sign of trust in the Lord when we call out to Him. Here are a few more examples of such pleas: Psalm 18:35, “You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.” Psalm 22:19, “But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.” Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.” Psalm 63:7, “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Isaiah 41:13, “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” John 14:16-17a, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.”
Relate it to your life.
We cry to God for help because in His loving nature it His desire to give us the refuge we need.
Do something.
Father in heaven, help me, help my family, help your church, help our nation, help our world. We desperately need You in every possible way. We need to surrender to You. We need to humble ourselves before You. We need to worship You alone. Have mercy and forgive us for trusting other gods in place of You. Please lead us. Please show us the way. Please make it clear. Please walk with us through this troubling time with Your peace, grace, wisdom, and strength. I know I can’t do it on my own. I don’t want to do it on my own. Come Lord Jesus come. Come Holy Spirit come. Amen.
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 5:7, Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
Observe what it is saying.
The fact that God serves as our refuge implies deliverance and salvation. He wants to exchange our anxiety for care, our fears for His peace, and our worries for His love. This care should alert us how special we are to Him. Picture someone you care deeply about-perhaps a family member or a close friend you love. How do you treat that person? You send messages to them. You give them gifts. You think about their needs and try to bless them with thoughtfulness. You do things to show them how much you care for them. Now imagine that the God of the universe has that posture toward you. The God who created everything, including you, cares deeply for you. He loves you. He does not want you to go through life feeling troubled, though the world has many troubles. He does not want you to live in fear. God wants to serve as your refuge today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of your life. And hopefully, as people see the impact that love has on you, they too will want to know Him and find refuge in Him. (Michael (Mykhailo) Cherenkov and Gary S. Hoag, page 30, Refuge)
Relate it to your life
For my peace and well-being, I must believe deep within my being that God’s default setting toward me is that of care and concern.
Do something.
Lord God, thank You that You care so much and so deeply for me. I give You my anxieties and choose to rest in Your unfailing love. Amen.
August 5-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
Psalm 46:1, 8-10, God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Observe what it is saying.
The Sons of Korah wrote Psalm 46. It opens with a bold description of God as our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. That speaks to His reliability. He does not belong to any ethnic group or culture. He does not work for any business or political party. He is always there for all those willing to declare their trust in Him. As the psalm progresses, the psalmists shift to inviting us to come and see the many things the Lord has done. Then, the sons of Korah announce God’s explicit instruction to us: be still. In remaining still before God, we watch, learn, and come to know His greatness that will be exalted across all peoples. This illustrates His relevance to us as His Church gathered from all the nations. As our refuge, God is both reliable and relevant. That means He is not just what you and I need-He’s what everyone everywhere is looking for. Only God fills the need in the hearts of all humankind. (Michael (Mykhailo) Cherenkov and Gary S. Hoag, page 31, Refuge)
Relate it to your life.
Just as Jesus spoke to the storm, “Be still,” He speaks into the storms of our lives, “Be still.”
Do something.
Lord God, thank You for being our ever-present help in trouble. May Your name be exalted in my life and throughout the world. Amen.
August 6-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Observe what it is saying.
As we prepared this collection of devotionals, we had war-torn Ukraine and the persecuted church in mind. We also envisioned sharing this with suffering Christians in Nigeria, Syria, and other places riddled with corruption, oppression, crisis, and death. We wrote Refuge to stand in solidarity with those who suffer. We also desire to unite Christians in every language, country, and generation. We want to help Christians everywhere to find God as their refuge and strength, so that they can comfort His suffering Church. Although our passports say we are Ukrainian and American by origin, we declare the truth that there is no Ukrainian or American church. We are members of one body-one global Church-that serves one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And when one member suffers, all suffer. Together we proclaim “with you” to our brothers and sisters who suffer for their faith and faithfulness to Christ in the most difficult situations and darkest places of our world. We want everyone to take heart and have courage despite hard circumstances. Secret believers in Soviet times had a special song about this: “With Christ, we are free in the prison, and without Christ, our freedom is prison.” With Christ as our refuge, we are free! (Michael (Mykhailo) Cherenkov and Gary S. Hoag, Parting Thoughts, Refuge)
Relate it to your life.
May I remember my family around the world as I pray for those who suffer in war and persecution.
Do something.
Lord God, I ask that You will protect, provide, and offer peace to Your children throughout the world who experience such great suffering. Amen.
August 7-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
Ruth 2:10-11, At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” 11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
Observe what it is saying.
To finish out this week on the theme Refuge, I will offer three additional devotionals on the topic. This one comes from the short story of Ruth who famously said to her mother-in-law, Naomi, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” Naomi’s husband had died and then her two sons. She had no one to care for her. There were no social services in place to fall back on. One of the two sons who died was Ruth’s husband. So, Ruth also had experienced a huge loss. Since Naomi was in a foreign land with no blood relatives, the only thing she knew to do was to go back home to Israel. However, her daughter-in-law was willing to leave her country and family and vowed her loyalty to Naomi. Ruth asserted herself to be a refuge for Naomi to the extent that she was willing to leave all she knew and go to a land where she would be considered an outsider. At significant cost, she chose to become Naomi’s refuge.
Relate it to your life.
As our refuge, God uses each of us to put flesh on His presence to provide shelter for one another.
Do something.
Jesus, please help me to courageously provide Your refuge to others in need. Amen.
August 8-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
Ruth 2:12, May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
Observe what it is saying.
Continuing the story from yesterday, now that Ruth was in Israel with Naomi, Ruth was being rewarded for her unselfish care and oversight for her mother-in-law. She knew she had no standing in Israel and yet Boaz, called a kinsman redeemer, recognized how Ruth left everything behind to be a shelter for a person in whom she had no obligation to do so. But out of love and mercy, she was willing to watch over Naomi. Boaz recognized Ruth for all she so generously had done for one of their own. Boaz prayed that she would be welcomed and repaid in Israel for all she had so generously given. He wanted the same kind of refuge she had provided for Naomi to be given to her. This reveals a biblical principle that God loves to extend mercy to the merciful. Jesus clearly spoke it in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Relate it to your life.
As I generously offer refuge to others, the Lord extends the same to me.
Do something.
Lord God, thank You for the promises of Your word. I trust that as I am used by You to care for others, You will also take care of me. Amen.
August 9-Refuge
Write out the Scripture.
Psalm 38:21-22, Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. 22 Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.
Observe what it is saying.
The NIV version of the Bible uses the word “help” 287 times. The top two places where this word is found are in the Psalms at 66 times and in Isaiah at 23 times. To pray or cry for help is a common theme among God’s people throughout history. It’s not a sign of weakness but actually a sign of trust in the Lord when we call out to Him. Here are a few more examples of such pleas: Psalm 18:35, “You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.” Psalm 22:19, “But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.” Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.” Psalm 63:7, “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Isaiah 41:13, “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” John 14:16-17a, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.”
Relate it to your life.
We cry to God for help because in His loving nature it His desire to give us the refuge we need.
Do something.
Father in heaven, help me, help my family, help your church, help our nation, help our world. We desperately need You in every possible way. We need to surrender to You. We need to humble ourselves before You. We need to worship You alone. Have mercy and forgive us for trusting other gods in place of You. Please lead us. Please show us the way. Please make it clear. Please walk with us through this troubling time with Your peace, grace, wisdom, and strength. I know I can’t do it on my own. I don’t want to do it on my own. Come Lord Jesus come. Come Holy Spirit come. Amen.
Posted in Daily Devotionals