Gail MacDonald in her book, High Calling, High Privilege tells of preparing to visit a hospitalized friend who would be undergoing cancer surgery. Gail sat at her kitchen table and reminded the Lord of Jacob's words: "I will not let you go, unless you bless me" (Genesis 32:26). She knew she could not be a blessing unless God blessed her.

Two hours later she was ready to go. The thought came to her to take a hymnal and choose songs of worship and comfort. She herself was spiritually prepared as she worshiped through those hymns.

The time she and her friend shared in the hospital deeply affected both of them. "No amount of human caring or charisma alone could have made those moments so special," she said. "It was the time that I'd spent earlier in the presence of Christ that made the difference. She knew it and I knew it."

Ringing in Gail’s ears as she drove home from the hospital were Christ’s words, “Without me you can do nothing” and “with me all things are possible.”

“Until the Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism, Jesus created no stir in Nazareth, but then events of world shaking importance began to happen” noted J. Oswald Sanders.

Dear Jesus, help me to remember that when I think I am too busy, something in my schedule should be sacrificed--not my time with You--if I am to be used by You.
“My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek” (Psalm 27:8).

In Scripture, two things--costliness and extravagance, marked worship that brought the presence of God. King Solomon offered 1,000 sacrifices to the Lord. (I Kings 3:4,5) That night God appeared to him and offered him whatever he wanted.

In another time of costly worship, the people brought so many sheep and oxen to be sacrificed that their numbers couldn't be recorded or counted. (Two chapters later in 2 Chronicles 7, their counted and recorded offerings totaled 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Too many to count would have been extravagant!)

What was God's response to such lavish adoration? The glory of the Lord so filled the house that the priests could not perform their services.

Mary of Bethany expressed her love for Jesus by pouring out a year's worth of ointment on Jesus. That was sacrificial giving that did not count the cost. Her profuse worship affected all those around her. The fragrance willed the house and Jesus promised that the memory of her lovely deed would last forever.

What would be a costly praise for us to offer? Perhaps it could be one referred to in Hebrews 13:15: "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise." A sacrifice calls for death, and to praise continually often calls us to give up our own opinions of what God should do in our situation. When we honor Him by offering praise for all He allows, He considers it a costly praise. Such extravagant worship is precious to Him.

I praise You, Father, by accepting everything in this present moment as coming from Your good hand.

"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise" (Ps. 57:7). "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Ps. 34:1).

"I don't think there's ever been an article I've written that has been more than 95 percent for the Lord. There's always some bit of self in it," a Christian writer confessed.

It's that 5 percent of self that prevents us from having the joy that accompanies total abandonment to God. Frances Ridley Havergal wrote a consecration song with these words:

"Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee ...

One verse has this prayer:

Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee;
Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.

Was Frances's prayer sincere? She later wrote to a friend: "The Lord has shown me another little step, and of course I have taken it with extreme delight. 'Take my silver and my gold,' now means shipping off all my ornaments to the Church Missionary House (including a jewel cabinet that is really fit for a countess), where all will be accepted and disposed of for me... I don't think I ever packed a box with such pleasure."

Thank You, Lord, that You purify our hearts so we can joyfully offer You anything You ask.

"He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering...be pleasant unto the Lord" (Malachi 3:3,4).

Several years ago I accompanied my husband to a medical meeting in Bermuda. The first morning he left the hotel for the conference, another wife suggested we visit the sights and shops of the island. Should I go with Janice? I'd probably never return to Bermuda, I reasoned.

But the opportunity to have a day alone with the Word was all too rare, and before we arrived I had anticipated spending those hours with the Lord.

On another day it might have been important to be with Janice, but I knew this was not one of those days. I reluctantly declined her invitation.

Alone in the room, I began reading John's gospel and writing down ideas. About mid-morning I came to a verse so appropriate to my day that I could hardly contain my joy. "He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (14:21).

Here was Jesus' promise to show Himself to me! While gathering insights from the Word, I had gathered glimpses of Jesus. What did I care about the sights and shops of Bermuda? I was seeing Jesus!

"To those who look for him shall he appear"--both when He returns and today.

Thank You, Jesus, that you reward strong desire with glimpses of You.

Wisdom said, "I love them that love me" (Proverbs 8:17).

In Come Share the Being, Bob Benson told of an electrician they nicknamed Motormouth because he was such a talker. He always had a smile and a ready answer to any question. But one day Motormouth shot himself.

Benson wrote, "I'd asked him lots of times how he was doing, but I guess I had never asked him in a way that made him want to tell me. Life in a way is like those electric bumper cars at the amusement park. We just run at each other and smile and bump and away we go."

Kindness is time-consuming. It takes time to visit people, to do small favors, to listen to the heartaches and heart longings of others, to run errands for them, to help them with their work, to write them letters, to give of our time and strength to brighten their lives.

Sometimes, though, kindness requires almost no time, just a sincere interest in others. It is a matter of awareness and sensitivity that are very simple in nature. A smile. A hug. A sharing.

Someone has said that if you wanted to express Christianity in one English word, you would use the word "kindness." In the early centuries, pagans confused the words "kindly" and "Christ" because the Greek words were so much alike, but, as Tertullian remarked, they were so close in meaning that no harm was done by the confusion.

 Jesus, please help me not to grieve the Holy Spirit by being unkind.

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God....Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other" (Eph. 4:30, 32).

The ark of the covenant was the central piece of the Old Testament tabernacle. God communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover (Exodus 25:22.) The ark speaks beautifully of Christ’s presence resting in us and tells us that we are carriers of His presence. We can think of the ark as Christ in us, His Spirit being at home within our spirits.

When the Israelites were traveling and the ark was going ahead of them, they were to maintain a distance behind it perhaps to show reverence. Likewise, we should have a sense of awe as we realize His glory within. The indwelling Christ should never become a trivial matter with us.

When we are with a non-Christian, we bring the presence of Christ to that person. Christ’s presence within us is a reality and often makes more of a difference than we realize. A friend related that when the nurses spoke of her Christian mother’s hospital room, they would say, “Something is different about that room.” A nurse told me that patients have asked her for no reason that she can determine, “You’re a Christian, aren’t you?” She carries Christ’s presence with her.

Carrying the ark was the priests’ first role mentioned in Deut. 10:8. “The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord.” We, as His priests, are now the carriers of His presence. What an honor!

Thank You, Father, for the wonderful reality of what the ark symbolized--the presence of Christ within.

“God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

When my husband Daniel was about to begin his third year of med school, we knew he would have to be on call at night sometimes leaving me alone as often as every third night. I was terrified to stay alone. We began praying that I would not be afraid those nights he had to stay at the med center.

The first night Daniel was on call, I happened to open to Proverbs and read, “When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet” (3:24 KJV). That verse proved to be absolutely true. When I would lie down, I was not afraid. One night I heard a noise outside, and, remembering my verse, I hurriedly hopped in bed. Sure enough, I was not afraid and went right to sleep.

Sometimes God does speak to us like that, but a better habit is to read according to a routine and expect the Lord to give us what we need in that passage. One day I was desiring God’s blessing in a certain situation and wondered if I should fast breakfast and lunch. I knew the Spirit would lead me. In morning devotions our daughter read Psalm 37, and I took the phrase “Wait on the Lord,” as my answer. I would fast to tell the Lord I was waiting on Him.

The next morning I opened to Isaiah thinking, I really haven’t been getting much out of these chapters. I was tempted to skip to another book, but stuck to reading Isaiah. When I came to 25:9, I knew God had this special promise there for me that day: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Jesus, thank You for seeing commitment to the routine as faithfulness and responding to it.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).