Wednesday, March 29, 2006
March 30 Matthew 18
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 18 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 18:7
Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
Title: Corrupting the Youth
Observation: One of the charges Socrates was convicted of was “corrupting the youth” of
Application: I know that my son watches me closely and imitates me. Not long ago he found a scrap of a paper towel and started rubbing the glass window, because he had seen me clean it and wanted to imitate me. I need to not only speak true words to him, I need to be unafraid and trusting of God, so that he might imitate that too.
Prayer: Lord God, let me be a living example for my son. Help me to overcome the places where I fail because of fear, so that he will not pick up those traits. Help me to not be callous to other and to show true compassion as well. Help me to lead those whom I influence into deeper communion with you.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
March 29 Matthew 17
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 17 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 17:10-13
The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Title: Glorious Failure
Observation: John the Baptist’s life and ministry is interesting. On the one hand he had a significant impact on the world, he had many come to be baptized and had won the adulation of the people. He had spoken truth to power and it had gotten him killed. He had fulfilled his calling to tell people of the coming messiah and also had baptized Jesus, as he was ordained to do.
On the other hand, at his death it may have felt to his disciples that his life was a failure. Things were back to sort of the way things were before he had arrived on the scene. This man who had given so much of himself, who had been rigorous in his eating and clothing for God, had been killed on a whim by a silly girl, her conniving mother and her pompous step-father.
And yet Jesus pronounced two things about him. One is that he’d accomplished his God ordained mission. And two, that no one had ever lived a more holy life than John. While from the outside it may have seemed failure, it was the greatest of successes. In light of eternity receiving from Jesus the commendation on a life well lived and having carried out your earthly mission will be mammoth praise and reason for eternal joy.
I think we also see in the statement about a mustard seed of faith that what may seem little is incredibly important in the
Application: I need to be careful about which measuring stick I use to evaluate what I am doing with my days here on earth. It may be spending time with a misdirected youth that will be more beneficial to the kingdom than the “more important” things that I have to do. Finding where God wants me to be is key, so that I might be effective, not by my standards, but by Jesus’.
Prayer: Lord God, show me where your heart is. Show me where you want me to be. Allow me to slide into the place where you want to use me. Allow me to be effective and not waste this gift of life that you have given me. Allow me to trust you for results and be patient with your eternal plan. May Jesus Christ be praised in my life and actions!
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Monday, March 27, 2006
March 28th Matthew 16
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 16 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 16:17-18
"Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter,[c] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[d] will not overcome it.
Title: The Glory and The Power
Observation: Simon’s (Peter’s) father isn’t Jonah, it is John (see Gospel of John
How then is Jesus like Jonah? Both spent three days “hidden” before the were released from their captivity. Instead of the belly of the Great Fish, as incredible as that is, Jesus overcame death. And the generation he was speaking too would have to deal with this somehow, that God raised Jesus from the dead. What would they do with this incredible truth?
Some believed. Some didn’t. Some created a fiction that the disciples stole Jesus body (this is amazing… with the exception of the Beloved Disciple the disciples were too terrified to even show up at the crucifixion, much less overpower the guard). We too have to come to a decision about how Jesus is and whether we believe that He was the Son of God as he claimed to be.
While the current reality maybe that Western Christianity is on the decline (certainly this isn’t the case worldwide- Praise God!) Jesus allows us in this passage to skip ahead to the end of the story. We know that not only will the church survive this era, we know that the Church will ultimately be victorious. The key, if nothing else to be said for the Christian life, is that we will be on the winning side in the end, which is always where you want to be.
Application: I can be encouraged that the
Prayer: Lord God, help me to be unwavering on the side of justice, peace and love. Let me always remember that you will be victorious, even if I don’t see it in my lifetime. Let me never weary of doing right, but to delight in your goodness and truth. Lord help me continue in knowledge of your victory.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
March 27 Matthew 15
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 15 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 15:27
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Title: Crumbs of Grace
Observation: Jesus encounters three main sets of people in this chapter. The first is are the Pharisees who are so insistent on their version of the Law that they miss the spirit of God’s commands; an intent mother looking for crumbs of Grace; and a desperate people hungering for healing. Jesus deals with the latter two with great compassion and healing. The former is treated with stern words for ritualizing the path to God and not honoring God himself.
It is very easy for those in professional ministry to act like the Pharisees. We like order- especially when it gives us power. Sometimes we unconsciously take on the role of God, we think if we give our people a little bit stricter understanding of scripture they will be safer from the edge of breaking God’s rules. Yet we lose our way when we begin to see ourselves as the mediators of grace. That is the role of the Holy Spirit. We must be more like John the Baptist- He must increase, I must decrease. Pointing people to Jesus isn’t the way to power or prestige- but it is the calling to which I have been called.
I get in my own way when I want the whole loaf of grace, or what I perceive to be the whole loaf of grace instead of being content with what I have been given. I must wait on God, trust in him, and be content with the smallest morsels of the experience of God’s goodness. Otherwise I might choke on the enormity of the responsibility. God is the one who gives to each according to his faith; I need to wait on God’s timing and not on my own visions of grandeur.
Application: I must be like my master- showing great compassion and mercy. I need to be willing to follow His example of caring for the hurting, feeding the hungry, and loving the alien. I may not be able to cure the blind (but Lord I am willing if you give me faith!) but I can feed the hungry. Help me to be unafraid to do my part and unashamed to admit my boundries.
Prayer: Lord God, help me to live a life of mercy. Help me not to be judgmental, but living in hope that faith brings. Lord I want to be your witness in the places where I am put. The crumbs of your grace are more than sufficient for me. Thank you for the overwhelming blessings of my family and my church, the people you have given me to love.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
March 23 Matthew 14
Key Verse(s): Matthew 14:13-14
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Title: Compassion and Solitude
Observation: Jesus in the midst of a successful ministry campaign takes a time out, withdraws to a solitary place. There is no substitute for the presence of God. And it is essential if you are leading anyone else. Too many leaders have fallen because they have not spent enough time in the presence of God. Solitude with God is the source of our primary-not secondary, not additional- inspiration and motivation to live the Christian life. There are other excellent ways to encounter Jesus- worship, bible study, Christian community- but nothing quite like time with God one on one.
I see a connection here for me, perhaps not for our perfect savior, between solitude and compassion. After I have been sensitized to the power of Jesus in personal devotion I am more aware and compassionate towards the need of others. Too often I get calloused. Or I blame the person who is in difficulty for their own predicament. Instead I must let God work his compassionate work through me. This may not always be giving people what they want, but to be an instrument of God’s love and peace.
Application: I need to spend more time with Jesus, carve out intentional blocks of time just to be in His presence. And once I schedule that time, I need to not get “too busy” to spend time in prayer and meditation. I need to allow Jesus to work through me, not just my best ideas implemented by a restless mind.
Prayer: Lord God, help me experience your presence, conviction, grace, and peace. Allow me to serve out of the overflow of your love, not merely the scraps of grace that I haphazardly pick up. Allow me to dwell deeply with you, so that I might be a participant daily in the experience of Grace.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
March 22nd Matthew 13
Key Verse(s): Matthew 13:44
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Title: Closing Shop, Selling Out….With Joy
Observation: A chapter of parables. About how God is going to allow those to follow for a while and then whither away, that He will allow imposters, that we will live in a messy world both inside His church and in the world in which we live. And a challenge about what we are rooted in and what we are about.
But what caught my eye was the idea of selling all that I had in order to buy the field with hidden treasure. The hidden treasure is relationship with Jesus and the Spirit indwelling we receive and the guarantee of an eternal inheritance. The man then went and sold all that he had in order to have enough to buy the field.
The word that struck me was Joy. In the economics of eternity it certainly makes sense to give up what you can’t keep in order to gain what you can’t lose. But I fall into the trap of my generation, where I am tempted to believe that who I am is made up of my experiences, not God’s eternal breath of life and soul he has placed in me. While I might be willing to let go of that old identity for the new one in Christ I am not sure that I do it with joy.
Part of the problem is that I’m proud of part of my life. Ashamed of some of it too, but certainly want the accolades of my modest success rather than to say that it is all worthless in the face of the overwhelming value of the treasure of knowing Jesus. I have to lay down my pride and ego, but not my personhood, in order to take up Christ. Because my individual person-ness is a divine gift to be celebrated. My meager trophy case is not. Once again my ego comes into play and I must face the fact that Jesus is calling me into deeper discipleship, where I like Paul, might boast of Christ and nothing else. The deeper waters of Christ require ever deepening commitment.
Application: I need to let go of what I held onto in order to be held more closely to the One who made me. In losing my life I will find new life. And I need not to mourn about what I left behind, but to peer forward so that I might experience the joy of the companionship of Jesus, and the glory set before me as a co-heir of Christ.
Prayer: Lord God, help me to trust that you are enough. Help me to believe that your love is what will sustain me, not the applause of others. Help me to lay down my life so that I might pick up my cross. Help me to find my way closer into deeper waters of who you have called me to be.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Monday, March 20, 2006
March 21 Matthew 12
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 12 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 12:25
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
Title: A House of Cards is No Place to Call Home
Observation: Jesus continue to teach the people around Him about the uniqueness of who He is and His call in the world. He affirms that He is Lord of the Sabbath. He tells that that they will be given the Sign of Jonah (ponder that one!) and that His family consists of those who are the Family of God. Jesus teaches about His role as Messiah (Moshiach to the reggae orthodox Jewish singer/rapper Matisyahu that I’m listening to right now).
But Jesus also gives us an insight into life that we might pass over too quickly, particularly if we are fans of Abraham Lincoln- a house divided against itself cannot stand. The truth is that many of the marriages I see (and sometimes my own) have a high level of antagonism between the spouses. Often its presented as though it’s a joke, but the reality underneath I suspect is very real. If we are to do the human things that we are called to do- to keep house, work jobs, and raise children- we must not work at crosspurposes with our spouse. And how much more, if we are to live a Christ centered life, witness God’s goodness to our impressionable (and sometimes fearful) children, and be a light house to the world! I think we all agree on the need for harmony in our own homes, but we do not know how to get there.
The Bible teaches that we don’t need to create unity- the Holy Spirit imparts it to every Christian and every Christian group or family (see Ephesians 4:3 and following). The rub is this- we have to submit ourselves to each other and to God’s will. The old sin, the one of Lucifer, of wanting to be God, is the bottom line issue that keeps us from living in the harmony that Jesus wants for us. Easier said than done, I know. But not impossible, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Mutual submission is also the key for a church to live in unity in order to carry out its mission. But we too often take the political model –we are balanced against each other like a house of cards- to be the way we should be church. Baptists have too often taken Soul Liberty to mean that there is no necessity of interdependence. We must be dependent one on another and we must submit to one another. The wisdom is knowing how to submit in love to unjust slings and arrows without compromising God’s vision and direction given to the church. Without holding on to that anchor we are merely abdicating power to the least mature member of the Body! Yet, too often we in Christian leadership, myself included, are like the disciples when Jesus reprimanded them saying that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over those below them but that they (and we) must become a servant of one of the least of these. This humility modeled is the road Jesus took while never flinching from the direction that took Him to the cross.
Application: I need to start with me. I need to serve others. And yet, not allow myself to be taken hostage by those who have agendas different that what Christ is calling me to personally or professionally.
Prayer: Lord God, help me not merely to endlessly speculate on unity, but to live in peace with other believers by finding ways to serve them under your Lordship. Help me to be sincere in my desire to serve, honest in my frailty, and deeply committed to their good. Help me not to compete or position myself with my wife, but rather to love her as Christ loved the church. Lord, I am cantankerous. Help me to be willing to set aside my desire to be god and trust in your goodness.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
March 20 Matthew 11
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 11 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 11:28-30
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Title: Rest for the Wicked, Refreshment for the Weary
Observation: This chapter talks a lot about how out of step the culture Jesus lived in was from God’s plans and purposes. They did not understand who Jesus was, and they missed understanding the great truths that Jesus was teaching.
Tonight we have one of his teachings that I would love to take as simple and at face value, but it runs squarely against the reality in which I live. My experience in serving God has been more frantic the refreshing, more about difficult than easy. This pacific image, the quiet stillness I hear hidden in these lines, is far from truth of most of my days.
And yet, the truth is that I bring the element of panic to my relationship with Jesus, not Him. I do not think I remember a time when Jesus told me to hurry, yet I am constantly hurrying. Far more often, I have heard Jesus telling me about his love for me and the centrality of that love relationship when I am off to complete another project for him. The Mary heart in the Martha world is the shorthand, and yet it often feels like the Martha’s have the weight of experiential success on their side.
Still, if God’s words says one thing and my experience says another, I know enough about the Word of God being God’s truth that I must accommodate myself to the truth of scripture rather than try to make it say what I want it to. IF the equation between me and God is not turning out correctly, experience has taught me that the fault lies in my actions or understanding of God’s word, not the fallibility of God’s infallible words.
Application:
Prayer:
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
March 16 Matthew 10
Key Verse(s): Matthew 10:37-39
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Title: The Way of Christ is the Way of Death to Find the Path to Life
Observation: These are hard words of Jesus. He tells us that we must love him more than father and mother. Okay, psychology and counseling have taught us that we can blame our parents for every weakness or failure in our lives. Even possibly we can be selfish and turn or back on our children (too often, Lord, I have when my little one wants a hug or to play I am “too busy.” Have mercy on me). But I think the hard one for our culture, for me, is to take up my cross, to turn away from my selfish desire- Lord I am not worthy of you. I want to, sometimes, but I am very selfish.
Too many times I clothe my selfishness in “spiritual” or “religious” clothing. I go to work early- ostensibly to serve God’s people- but more because I can be more self-focused behind my closed office door than I can at home. I got to a 6am prayer group to seek God and fellowship with other men, but sometimes my motivation is as much others expectations and approval for my teaching as really seeking to lay down my life to follow Jesus. Right now, even this, keeps me from being in bed and putting Josiah to sleep, singing a soft lullaby to him, next to me. Yet, this is part of my spiritual discipline of trusting and learning from God. I am not sure which is best. Lord help me to know what it means to lay down my life for you and your kingdom.
Application: Lord God, help me to live a life of service, to be a living sacrifice. Help me in the next few days to serve the couple that will be having their baby on Friday. Give me the humility to serve them by the privilege of blessing their baby or the privilege of cleaning their bathroom, whatever you need to do. Let me put into practice the lofty thoughts of self-sacrifice that I like to dream about.
Prayer: Jesus, help me to become the man you want me to be, the humble truthspeaking servant that Jesus was. Let me love you more than my wife, my parents, my child, but especially more than I like my comfort and sin. I am weak, but you are strong. Alleluia. Unto Him who sits on the throne and unto the Lamb be glory and power and wisdom forever and ever.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
March 15 Matthew 9
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 9 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Observation: I’m so tired I’m going to quote a song that’s come to mind from my teenage-hood. Peter Gabriel’s
Dreaming of mercy street.
Wear your insides out
Dreaming of mercy
In your daddy’s arms again
Dreaming of mercy street.
’swear they moved that sign
Looking for mercy
In your daddy’s arms
Mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
Mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
The dream that we all will find mercy, find hope in the midst of the darkness we have sought and manufactured, and find faith and hope and light. The image of the Father holding us, holding us together, telling us the truth that our fears are merely a childhood nightmare, with not more substance than the figures that haunted the shadows across from our bed. The strong Father that can dispel the fears of His children merely by his presence or voice. To be wrapped up in total security and safety, protected by the strong arms we believed our fathers had until we grew to know their frailty.
We too are helpless without God as our father. Our fears are real without Jesus shepherding us through life and death. We look for mercy in vain unless we trust in Christ. Because even if our smaller fears don’t consume us, the reality is that death ultimately will without the saving arm of Jesus. We have received mercy- let us reflect our salvation from fear and misery by our lives.
Application: I need to be a person of mercy. One who protects, who trusts, who invests so that others might find freedom from the walls others or themselves have made. I need to reflect the mercy of Christ. To trust and love God so that I know that mercy is not in short supply, but that compassion can flow from me, through me, to me by the grace of Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord, I’m tired. I’m not sure if I’m even making sense. But I need your compassion. I need you to lead me like the gentle shepherd that you are. I need to be fed and watered, to be led into safety. And if you call me to be your assistant tomorrow, help me to into the sheepfold not to take or kill, but to protect, trust and love, so that others might find safety and sufficiency in You.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Monday, March 13, 2006
March 14 Matthew 8
Key Verse(s): Matthew 8:8-9
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it
Title: A Man Under Authority
Observation: We see the fact the Jesus has the power to cure, the power to heal, the power to make well at His command. And we are awed by the centurion’s faith, when he says that he understands authority and Jesus has it.
I need to see myself in the same way, that I am a man under authority. I work for Jesus. And if I am given authority its so that I can communicate the goodness and truth of my Lord, Jesus Christ.
Application: I need to be faithful to Jesus who has authority over me. And I must be willing to be faithful to pass along the blessings that Jesus gives me to those that I am called to lead.
Prayer: Lord, it’s a huge responsibility to lead others. Help me to know you so that I can relate, I can translate with my body and actions the truth that you show to me. I stand in awe of your ways and your work. Allow me trust you without reservation, to be as loyal to you as the roman centurion was to his superiors and as perceptive as he was to Your true nature. Lord God, help me to live in the stream of your chain of grace, that I might be an expert at handling grace and sharing it with others.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
March 13th Matthew 7
Key Verse(s): Matthew 7:7-8
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened…”
Title: Beseeching God for Gifts
Observation: This evenings scripture really hits me…why don’t I more regularly ask God to give good things to me and to His church? Jesus characterizes God as the good father, who wants to give good gifts to his children. God will not trick us. And yet I have trouble asking for God, not merely for the toys that I want in life (there is good reason for me not to have them), but also for the things that I think God wants for me.
I wonder if at some level my major issue is that I want to “earn” everything I get so that I can take all the credit? Is asking God to provide too much for me to allow God to get the credit for his goodness? At an intellectual level I know that everything that I have and everything that I am is God’s first gift to me. I also know that God has taken the mixed bag of my works and purified and used them far beyond my abilities would have gone. And yet, I sit here, hesitating from asking God to provide the things that I think, feel confidently, are actually in his will for my family and the church!
Application: I need to humble myself and ask God to work in my life, work in my family, and work in His church. I will give Him all the credit for working in me, around me, and through me to accomplish the things of His will. I will allow myself to accept that I am truly limited and it is the grace of God that works miracles, not me.
Prayer: Lord, help me to give up the arrogance which makes me believe that I can do things on my own. Allow me to be more mature than my 1 year old Josiah who wants to do everything himself, but only makes a mess of things. Lord, I need to acknowledge that without your help, I am lost, my family is lost, and so is the church in which you have placed me. Help me to trust in you and your goodness, and to pull back from taking control. And while I acknowledge that all gifts come from you, help me to work hard in your service and not simply expect you to do miracle after miracle, but allow me to be your junior and mostly silent partner in changing the world into your reign in my life and in lives around me.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
March 9th Matthew 6
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 6 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 6:18
…so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Title: Spiritual Disciplines…are a Good Thing
Observation: We hear Jesus’ words about not wanting to be outwardly pious…and we take them to mean that we should not do these disciplines at all. Clearly what Jesus is saying is that we should not “boast” of our spiritual discipline, because we might be tempted to make a show of how “holy” we are and pretend in front of God instead of earnestly seeking Him.
In three places in this chapter, Jesus tells us to practice the outward forms of our religion in secret. He warns us that if we do a spiritual discipline to get others admiration, we have already received our reward. Yet, I think the assumption Jesus makes is that we will continue to fast and care for the poor. These two disciplines, among many, when practiced correctly, help us to become the people that Jesus created us to be. If we throw the baby out with the bathwater, like stopping fasting for fear of being seen, we lose the opportunity to meet Jesus in these places and to be transformed by contact with His presence in this unique way.
Application: I need to get back into the practice of fasting. I need to remind myself that the soul is more than the body, that I am more than my last meal. I need to meet God here, and allow him to have a malleable lump of clay, one that desires to be shaped by the Master’s hand.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be malleable. Let me put myself in positions where I encounter you through others and in prayer. Teach me how to truly be Your disciple. Give me wisdom to lead my family and my church. Give me your blessing that I might use it to bless others.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
March 8th Matthew 5
Key Verse(s): Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Title: Skating By or Seeking Righteousness?
Observation: There is way too much material here for me to try to assimilate in a single setting. Many Ph.D.’s in theology have been written on the first 8 verses alone. Yet just because of the overwhelmingness of the truth of Jesus’ teaching here, we should not shrug it off and seek for something simpler. In a very real sense, preparation for heaven is found here in the midst of the truth that is taught here.
The verse I picked is the best idea I have in summing up this weighty discourse. God desires not merely that we stay on the right side of the law, not that we scrape by with the spiritual equivalent of a C- but that we search, that we desire righteousness as passionately as we desire food, that the lack of right living in our lives and the world around us would cause us physical discomfort. But desiring righteousness will create an unsatisfied expectation for all of our days on earth. It costs complacency to hunger after the Lord’s righteousness
Application: I am much better at wanting my own comfort than I am at wanting Jesus’ righteousness. My standards need to be raised. Yet, I don’t ever want to be “so heavenly minded I’m not earthly good.” I need to have compassion, but not to dilute the standard of excellence that God wants for me.
Prayer: Lord help me to be willing, no, want to suffer for righteousness sake. Lord, help me to be faithful. Give me a heart to seek you, to seek you alone for the strength and conviction I need. Lord help me to not be satisfied with the world, but still to love the people in it and to hunger to teach them about you.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Monday, March 06, 2006
March 7th Matthew 4
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 4 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 4:8-10
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
Title: Would I Accept this Faustian Bargain?
Observation: The question has been asked by countless philosophers as well as the tv show Happy Days (among others), “Would you trade your soul for total power in this world?” Jesus responds to this question, phrased in a slightly different way by saying, “what good is it to inherit the world and to lose you soul?”
Most of us don’t get propositioned by the devil, but some married men do get propositioned by a local waitress. Many times in our life we will get the opportunity for lust, power, or position if we will turn our backs on God and take advantage of the situation. While in the abstract selling your soul for a bonus or promotion at work seems like a very bad deal, in the midst of temptation we think we can get away with it, we can have both.
But we can’t. While God will not abandon us because we have sinned, our spiritual lives take a major hit when we compromise what we know is right. Our careers, marriages, and families can take a major hit when we take the “shortcut” of immorality. And once we “get away” with something once, we are more or less like a ticking time bomb ready to explode as we succumb to temptation again and again and are led away from the soul nurturing intimate relationship with God that we need to have. We place ourselves further and further away from the one who can give us the power to resist temptation.
Even for the initial temptation, to resist we have to be firmly rooted in Christ. We are for the most part weak characters (I am) and we need God’s strength for our reputations, marriages, and families to flourish over the long haul. We need to rest, both physically and spiritually, in order to face the temptations we will face. And the better we do, I believe, the more likely Satan will up the ante and give us greater temptations to fight with. We should never, ever, believe that we have arrived and can stand on our own power.
Application: I will turn my time and attention on the Lord Jesus Christ who refreshes and energizes me and allows me to be his disciple. I will become intimately connected with Him through prayer and scripture study, so that I might stand the temptations I will face tomorrow and in the future, so that I may be faithful with what God has already entrusted me with, and what God will entrust me with.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be faithful. Give me a heart to seek you, to seek you alone for the strength and conviction I need. Bring people in my life to love me and encourage me in the faith. Help me to teach my son about following you and standing firm in the temptations that will come his way.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
March 6 Matthew 3
Key Verse(s): Matthew 3:8
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Title: Does My Study Produce the Fruit of Repentance in My Life?
Observation: John the Baptist is castigating the religious leaders of the time, attacking them for the lifestyles not matching their words. As a pastor, it would be too easy to join alongside John and condemn them without turning the question to myself. What would the fruit of repentance, now subsumed I think under the title of fruits of the Spirit look like? According to Galatians 5 they are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” I need to make sure that I am in right relationship, not by trying to manufacture these virtues, but by testing myself to see if these are the output of my actions. Too often they are not.
We also see God’s love in this verse poured out on Jesus. A beautiful image of Gods love. And also an image of God’s adoption of us and love for us through our faith in Jesus Christ.
Application: I will love God and allow Him to love me. I will work to be in authentic relationship with Christ from which my actions will be based.
Prayer: Lord, test me and show me where I have failed, so that I might learn to love and trust you more. Help me not to be too discouraged by my failures but to live under your Lordship.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
March 2nd Matthew 2
Go ahead and look first at Matthew 2 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.
Key Verse(s): Matthew 2:14
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for
Title: Joseph the Dreamer
Observation: The part that I’m most drawn to today is for the second and third time in this passage, Joseph is given a dream from God. IN each case, without delay he takes off and does exactly what God says. Even when it causes him pain, ridicule, or to abandon those things that he had worked for he does it without questioning God.
Application: I need faith like that. I need to be obedient to the visions that God gives me. To be unafraid to leave my way to nice house, get by without my comfortable salary, and be willing to trust God. Go
Prayer: God give me the courage you gave to this young man, probably younger than I am today. Help me to be unafraid to follow your vision and resolute to carry it our. Clarify your vision for my life, our church, and my family. Lord God, give your servant vision that he might be faithful.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
