A Secret Place - Martin Wiles

As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Exodus 33:22 NLT

He was a master at making and discovering a secret place.

My maternal grandparents lived in an old farmhouse. My first cousin and his family lived a stone’s throw away. When I spent time visiting my cousin, we normally spent most of our time at our grandparents’ house. During one of my visits, he showed me his most recent discovery. Just above the small closet door in the kitchen was a hidden door.

What greeted us when we opened it was a spiral staircase. Naturally, we wanted to explore. Up we went into a dusty cavern. My hopes for discovering hidden treasure were dashed. Rolls and rolls of player-piano music was all we mined. No doubt once used on my grandmother’s old player piano that had been converted to a playable piano.

I wonder now what this secret room was used for: storage, a room for unruly children, an extra bedroom, or perhaps a secret place to hide runaway slaves. Although we didn’t know the purpose, we had uncovered yet another secret place.

Moses was sometimes overwhelmed by his God-given task of leading millions of people across a wilderness to the Promised Land. He wanted assurance of God’s guidance. On this occasion, he asked to see God’s presence as proof. God didn’t allow Moses to see his face, but he did place Moses in a secret place as he passed by: the cleft of a rock. 

Every believer needs their secret place. I have mine, and it’s not always the same place. It’s the place I go where God and I can be alone. A quiet place where I can hear God speak to me by his Spirit. A recliner in the early morning hours, a bench in a park, the bank of a pond, the top of a mountain peak, or a chair in the backyard.

The spot we choose isn’t as important as our frame of mind when we go there, along with our purpose for being there. Secret places are for seeking God’s face and his plan and for renewing our resolve to serve him and others faithfully. Secret places are essential for good spiritual health, so we should visit them often.  

Where is your secret place, and what makes it special?

Father, show me Your presence in a fresh way when I meet with You in our secret place. 

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Walk-on Wednesday - To Follow or Not to Follow - Martin Wiles

Welcome to Walk-on Wednesday. By Hump Day, we are struggling, but we believe a good devotion can strengthen us to finish the week strong. 

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. Mark 8:34 NLT

I followed my cousin into the room—and discovered a new world.

The old home my maternal grandparents lived in had a “front room,” as my grandmother called it. Large floor-to-ceiling sliding doors separated this room from the hallway. When entering the room, an armed chair on the right greeted me, followed by an end table and a couch that matched the chair. Then came another end table, followed by an armless chair. Rounding out the room was an old, converted player piano. On the far end of the room was a boarded-up fireplace.

Since my grandmother’s house had no central heat—or even a space heater in this room—my cousin and I only visited this room during the warm months. Although my grandmother warned us not to play in this room—or mess up her furniture—we sometimes didn’t listen.

What I did do when I followed my cousin there was play the old piano. Mom could have taught me how to play the piano. She was an accomplished pianist. But I wasn’t interested. Playing “Chopsticks” and other little tunes—that didn’t require learning what playing the piano would have required—did interest me. And my cousin whom I followed into the room taught me.

Jesus said following Him involved taking up a cross and giving up one’s own way. Some did. Many didn’t. And some who did initially, didn’t later.

As the people did when Jesus was on earth, I must choose to follow. He won’t force me—but He does share the cost should I choose to. I must leave my own ways and take up a cross. In Jesus’ day, the cross wasn’t a fancy piece of jewelry a person wore around their neck or on their wrist. It was a rough piece of wood where authorities nailed a criminal until he died. And the criminal had to carry this cross to the place of their death. Not an exciting picture. That’s why it involves giving up my way.

When we choose to follow Jesus, we agree to make different decisions. Before following Him, our decisions lead to selfish endeavors. After we choose Jesus, the opposite should hold true. He’ll take us to places of sacrifice, as He had to make when He gave up His life to pay for our sins. He’ll also take us to the high places of joy and fulfillment. Although He had no place to lay His head, He lived life as God intends for all of us to live it. A different way…but a way of contentment.

The obedience of following Jesus comes with a cost and isn’t easy, but the rewards are great—as was the reward of following my cousin into the front room. I learned something I didn’t know before. And by following Jesus, we’ll learn many life lessons we’ll never learn any other way. He’ll teach us to live according to the Father’s will.

Don’t follow just anyone. Choose to follow Jesus into the best life ever.

Prayer: Father, give us the courage to follow You, regardless of where You lead us. 

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Falling to Success - Martin Wiles

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3 NLT

He came in and fell his way to success.

Jimmy was my favorite cousin—second cousin actually—and he was also my grandmother’s favorite nephew. He belonged to her sister, the one who died much too young from cancer they probably could have cured now.

Since this set of grandparents kept me much of the time when I was young, I saw Jimmy often. He loved to see my grandmother, his favorite aunt, and especially to get a couple of glasses of her famous sweet tea—two cups of sugar per gallon.

My grandmother’s favorite sitting spot was the end of her couch by the end table. Jimmy would knock at the back door, my grandfather would let him in, and he would walk through the kitchen and hall and into the living room.

That’s when the action began. After speaking to my grandmother, he strolled across the living room floor to get a hug, but just before he reached her, he buckled his legs and pretended to fall into her lap. He was a comic, and this was only one of his many shenanigans, but he fell his way into what he wanted: a hug.

I thought about his trick lately and how much truth inhabits it. Success never comes without fallings along the way—usually many of them. James told early believers their success in living the Christian life would only come through persecution. Not an inviting way to achieve fame. Through persecution, the early church blossomed, and through pain the believers would develop patience.

Jesus defined success as loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then others as myself. I must travel many side roads to reach that point. A regular pattern of taking up the spiritual disciplines being one of them—Bible study, prayer, meditation, worship, fellowship with other believers, evangelism. All of which require time, and in a busy world this means taking the initiative and planning.

While on the journey, we’ll fall—into temptation, into depression, into disappointment, into frustration, into unhealthy relationships, into busyness, and into many other things. But when we respond with faith and trust, these falls will lead to our eventual success. With faith, we’ll get up and trust God to lead us on to His goal for our lives.

Don’t let the falls of life lead you away from God’s goal for you: salvation and sanctification. Rather, let the falls propel you toward His desired end.

Prayer: Father, take the falls of our lives and make something beautiful from them.

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Mind the Chickens - Martin Wiles

Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. John 13:10 NLT

Sometimes, chickens leave behind more than eggs and meat.

My maternal grandmother had a dozen or so chickens wandering around her yard. At night, she enclosed them in a small pen, complete with a coop. There, they slept and laid eggs.

Being the country boys we were, my cousin and I stayed outside most of the time, romping through the woods, playing in the hog pens, and mulling around in the yard—the same yard the chickens scratched in. Since we didn’t always wear shoes during the summer months—and even if we did, our grandmother would warn us before we came onto her porch or into her house: “Check your feet (or shoes).”

Chickens, it appeared, left more than eggs, and my grandmother didn’t want it in her house or on her porch. When we discovered this unwanted material on our shoes, we paused to scrape them on the dirt or on a grassy patch. Doing so became such a habit that eventually our grandmother didn’t have to remind us as much.

In Jesus’ day, getting one’s feet dirty was a fact of life. If shoes were worn, they were open sandals, and open sandals don’t keep out dirt. And since the main form of travel was by foot, people’s feet stayed dirty. When entering a house, it was common for the owner—or his slave, to wash the guest’s feet. He didn’t, however, wash the entire person. If the person needed a full bath, they could tend to that.

Jesus’ meaning is deeper. The bath happens when I trust Christ as my Savior. God the Father takes the righteousness of His Son and applies it to my sin, making me pure and holy in position—although not in practice. But daily living is like walking in my grandmother’s yard. I’m subject to get my feet messy with unwanted things. The world is full of sinful influences and testy temptations.

The news isn’t all bad though. Jesus says I just need to wash my feet. Through the spiritual disciplines of praying, meditating on the Bible, and confessing, I scrape my feet across the dirt or on a grassy patch and remove what shouldn’t be there. Confession brings restoration, and knowing God’s Word keeps my lifestyle aligned with His principles.

Learn to mind what the chickens of this world leave behind.

Prayer: Father, give us insight and courage to avoid those things that dirty our feet and taint our souls. 

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