"I can't let them see me this way." "I've got to get cleaned up and put some make up on before we can go." "God couldn't possibly love me. Do you know what I've done?" "I can't go to church like this because everybody there is always so happy." Hmmm...Jesus challenges us to rethink these thoughts!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, let's just call a spade a spade. You know we are quite a bit less than perfect. We struggle with our obesessions, our impulses, our anger, our fears. And our closets have bags of bones in them! But we're looking for some good news today. Help us find some hope, some good, some beauty. We need your help. Amen.
Matthew 9
Comments
What did we expect God to be like, the meanest boss we've ever had, the school teacher who seemed to look forward to punishment, the moody friend who made us wonder if they ever liked us? I've met many people who seem to think that God only loves perfect people, and God is lurking behind every corner excitedly waiting to pounce on all others. This is not the same God that we find in the Bible!
Here is Jesus, fully God and fully human, showing us that God is love. Jesus is not waiting impatiently with a stormy red face and a tapping foot for us to "get it right." Jesus goes to the outsiders, the irreligious, the sinners, the diseased, the demon possessed and gives them great news! Following Jesus by faith will lead them toward health, forgiveness, freedom, and the true religion of love for God and others! This is great news!
For all of the bad news we hear about in the media and all of the "dirty laundry (reference Don Henley's song by the same name, it's a great song!)" aired out through our tv's, mobile phones, and iPads, finally, we have some good news! Jesus invites us broken, dirtied, sinners to follow him into new life. There is hope! "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Jesus invites you..."Come, follow me!"
Prayer
Heal us, Great Savior and friend! Make us whole where pieces of us have broken off and where shattered pieces of others have gouged us. You are the hope, the good news to the world, that all can be made whole through your cross and empty tomb. Thank you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.
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Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Small Faith, Big God
This is a time of disillusionment. The American dream is crumbling around the edges and cracked in the middle. The life we thought we would have is not the one we’re living. Who has the power and authority to bring us new life?
Prayer
God of endless love and mercy, help us find our way! Jesus, you grab our face in your hands, look us in the eyes and say, “Trust me. I alone have the power to bring salvation.” We are weak and doubtful, give us faith in your power and your Kingdom. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
Matthew 8
Comments
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).”
Each of the short story “clips” in this chapter raise a question for us: “Do I have faith in the power of Jesus to change my life?” Some in the stories believed in Jesus’ power more than others.
The man with leprosy sought Jesus out and kneeled before him believing that if Jesus only willed his healing, it would happen. He did not doubt Jesus could do it. He had faith in Jesus’ power to heal him. When Jesus commanded, all heaven and earth moved to fulfill that command.
The Centurion, an important man who gave leadership to many soldiers, came to Jesus with faith that Jesus’ power could act by “remote control!” He believed Jesus didn’t even need to be physically present to heal his servant! He believed that Jesus’ power was accessible anywhere on earth or in heaven!
The demons even acknowledged the power of Jesus and trusted that his command could make them move.
And then there were the disciples, panicking over the wind storm they were enduring on the sea of Galilee in their boat while Jesus slept. It’s ironic how outsiders and people who didn’t grow up in church seemed to have more faith in Jesus’ power to bring new life than his close followers and future leaders. It’s not that the disciples had no faith at all, it was simply insufficient, not large enough to see the blue sky and flat seas of the day after the storm.
What disease, death, or storms are we facing that invite us to have faith in Jesus to bring new life through? The economy? Splintering relationships? Cancer? Death? I’ll be the first to admit that it can be hard to have faith in the face of such difficulties. Thank God Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves even though the disciple’s faith was too small!
Prayer
Lord, help us in our unbelief! Give us greater faith in you, our loving God who rose from the dead, unconquered. Come, Lord Jesus, bring your Kingdom to full flower!
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Monday, October 17, 2011
Undivided Heart
Integrity. Wholeness. Peace. Unity. Hmmm...what does Jesus have to teach us about these?
Prayer
Like 63 voracious pirhanas, the world comes nibling furiously at us, wanting to take our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Advertisers clamor for our attention, time, and money. Bosses squeeze us for productivity like toothpaste , and our entertainment options lure us into worshiping them with our time. Give us strength, dear Jesus, to stay focused on You and Your peaceful Kingdom way of life in the midst of cymbal crashing world! Amen.
Matthew 6
Comments
The question always comes up. The CSI team stands around the crime scene, weapon clearly identified, the chalk outline of a body on the ground near gruesome stains, and someone asks, "We've got the method, but what's the motive?" This is a great question, not just for solving crimes, but for those who desire to follow Jesus into eternal life.
What is our motive? Why do we do what we do? Does it count in God's eyes if we do the right thing for the wrong reasons? Is God interested in our reasons? Read Matthew 6 and we get a resounding "YES!" According to Jesus, we can pray, share, serve, fast, and work for all of the wrong reasons and miss out on the Kingdom way of life God intends for us to have.
In my mind, all of chapter 6 is about asking "How completely devoted are our lives to the love of God?" If we are going to worship, giving our time and money to church functions, even to helping the poor, so that other people might think highly of us, then we aren't pleasing our Heavenly Father. We are still devoted primarily to ourselves and to building an image of ourselves that other people might worship. We are not wholeheartedly focused on honoring God in our worship, prayer, work, sleeping, eating, husbanding, childrearing, playing, etc.
The alternative life, filled with the rich provision and abundance of God is a life whose one desire, one aim, one purpose is to love and honor God above all else in its every aspect. When our lives are purely devoted to God in this manner, we become people of integrity, wholeness, and peace, because every part of our lives is brought into order by the one supreme purpose of our lives, the worship and love of God.
That Jesus invites us to lives of wholeness, peace, and integrity is great news, for one of the terrible symptoms of living in this age is how divided our hearts are, leaving us confused about our priorities and unclear about our purpose. His power alone can knit us together. Let's call upon him for help that we might be saved!
Prayer
"Save us from the many things that might distract us. Please take them away and purify our hearts. We don't want to lose the eternal for the things that are passing (One Thing, Rich Mullins)." Lord Jesus Christ, we worship you above all other things and through the proper use of all others things today. You are the Lord of our time, our work, our relationships, our money and things. We offer it all to Your use and disposal. May Your Kingdom come! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen!
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Prayer
Like 63 voracious pirhanas, the world comes nibling furiously at us, wanting to take our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Advertisers clamor for our attention, time, and money. Bosses squeeze us for productivity like toothpaste , and our entertainment options lure us into worshiping them with our time. Give us strength, dear Jesus, to stay focused on You and Your peaceful Kingdom way of life in the midst of cymbal crashing world! Amen.
Matthew 6
Comments
The question always comes up. The CSI team stands around the crime scene, weapon clearly identified, the chalk outline of a body on the ground near gruesome stains, and someone asks, "We've got the method, but what's the motive?" This is a great question, not just for solving crimes, but for those who desire to follow Jesus into eternal life.
What is our motive? Why do we do what we do? Does it count in God's eyes if we do the right thing for the wrong reasons? Is God interested in our reasons? Read Matthew 6 and we get a resounding "YES!" According to Jesus, we can pray, share, serve, fast, and work for all of the wrong reasons and miss out on the Kingdom way of life God intends for us to have.
In my mind, all of chapter 6 is about asking "How completely devoted are our lives to the love of God?" If we are going to worship, giving our time and money to church functions, even to helping the poor, so that other people might think highly of us, then we aren't pleasing our Heavenly Father. We are still devoted primarily to ourselves and to building an image of ourselves that other people might worship. We are not wholeheartedly focused on honoring God in our worship, prayer, work, sleeping, eating, husbanding, childrearing, playing, etc.
The alternative life, filled with the rich provision and abundance of God is a life whose one desire, one aim, one purpose is to love and honor God above all else in its every aspect. When our lives are purely devoted to God in this manner, we become people of integrity, wholeness, and peace, because every part of our lives is brought into order by the one supreme purpose of our lives, the worship and love of God.
That Jesus invites us to lives of wholeness, peace, and integrity is great news, for one of the terrible symptoms of living in this age is how divided our hearts are, leaving us confused about our priorities and unclear about our purpose. His power alone can knit us together. Let's call upon him for help that we might be saved!
Prayer
"Save us from the many things that might distract us. Please take them away and purify our hearts. We don't want to lose the eternal for the things that are passing (One Thing, Rich Mullins)." Lord Jesus Christ, we worship you above all other things and through the proper use of all others things today. You are the Lord of our time, our work, our relationships, our money and things. We offer it all to Your use and disposal. May Your Kingdom come! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen!
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Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Grow Up!
Want to improve, get better, maximize your potential? See what Ephesians says about growing up.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, be patient with us. Sometimes it's hard to notice that we are growing and changing for the better. Sometimes it feels like we are just revisiting the same issues in our lives over and over again. Remind us that, with faith and trust in your grace, you are refining us, reshaping us, remaking us in your amazing image! Give us great faith! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
Ephesians 4: 14-16
Comments
When I finally gave up baseball, it was largely because of the post-game "chats" that the coach held for 33 minutes after each game. He would go on ad nauseum about our many mistakes, telling us repeatedly that if we wanted to win we needed to try harder to do things differently. His vision of Little League baseball was to make us all fit for the World Series. My vision was to have a good time with my friends and learn a little baseball. It's no surprise that at the end of that season, I moved on to drumline and track.
Looking back on that experience with 27 years of hind sight, I can see the value in pausing to review what is working and what isn't. Sometimes after a project, we need to step back and take time to improve our awareness of what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong. It's good to check your way points once in a while to see that you are still heading the right direction.
Life with Jesus is no different. Yes, it is fun and enjoyable, filled with many rich blessings of relationships and opportunities to make a difference in people's lives for the Kingdom. And, yes, we still need to stop, take a good hard look at ourselves next to Jesus, and confess the ways that we live that still are not in line with his. Then we need to receive his life-changing grace again and the power of his Holy Spirit, and move forward in his footsteps.
We need to be told the truth about ourselves, however painful or glorious that is. That's how we will grow up to be like Jesus. "We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ..." Let us give thanks to God for those in our lives who help us see the truth about ourselves next to Jesus. They may annoy us, but they are God's grace in action, perfecting us in Jesus Christ.
Life Questions
1. Do I come to God in worship, prayer or Bible study open to knowing the truth about how I am a sinner in need of grace or do I come merely to be justified, comforted, and pumped up?
2. Who is in my life that tells me the truth about myself? How can I purposefully ask them to help me be accountable to my life with Jesus?
Prayer
Fairest Lord Jesus, who sees through our every deception and pretense with eyes of blazing truth and love, burn away our impurities so that we may be more pure in your sight, more empty of sin and full of love. In the powerful name of Jesus, amen.
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Prayer:
Lord Jesus, be patient with us. Sometimes it's hard to notice that we are growing and changing for the better. Sometimes it feels like we are just revisiting the same issues in our lives over and over again. Remind us that, with faith and trust in your grace, you are refining us, reshaping us, remaking us in your amazing image! Give us great faith! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
Ephesians 4: 14-16
Comments
When I finally gave up baseball, it was largely because of the post-game "chats" that the coach held for 33 minutes after each game. He would go on ad nauseum about our many mistakes, telling us repeatedly that if we wanted to win we needed to try harder to do things differently. His vision of Little League baseball was to make us all fit for the World Series. My vision was to have a good time with my friends and learn a little baseball. It's no surprise that at the end of that season, I moved on to drumline and track.
Looking back on that experience with 27 years of hind sight, I can see the value in pausing to review what is working and what isn't. Sometimes after a project, we need to step back and take time to improve our awareness of what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong. It's good to check your way points once in a while to see that you are still heading the right direction.
Life with Jesus is no different. Yes, it is fun and enjoyable, filled with many rich blessings of relationships and opportunities to make a difference in people's lives for the Kingdom. And, yes, we still need to stop, take a good hard look at ourselves next to Jesus, and confess the ways that we live that still are not in line with his. Then we need to receive his life-changing grace again and the power of his Holy Spirit, and move forward in his footsteps.
We need to be told the truth about ourselves, however painful or glorious that is. That's how we will grow up to be like Jesus. "We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ..." Let us give thanks to God for those in our lives who help us see the truth about ourselves next to Jesus. They may annoy us, but they are God's grace in action, perfecting us in Jesus Christ.
Life Questions
1. Do I come to God in worship, prayer or Bible study open to knowing the truth about how I am a sinner in need of grace or do I come merely to be justified, comforted, and pumped up?
2. Who is in my life that tells me the truth about myself? How can I purposefully ask them to help me be accountable to my life with Jesus?
Prayer
Fairest Lord Jesus, who sees through our every deception and pretense with eyes of blazing truth and love, burn away our impurities so that we may be more pure in your sight, more empty of sin and full of love. In the powerful name of Jesus, amen.
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Tuesday, October 4, 2011
We've Been Adopted!!!
Feeling unattached, disconnected, unloved, alone? Find out how God has adopted you into his family!
Prayer:
Hi God, it's us again, the ragged people who are trying too hard to hold everything together. We need you to tie our loose ends together, to make us whole again in heart, mind, soul, and body. Only you can do that. So here we are, Jesus, save us, make us whole again in the power of your Spirit and love. Amen.
Ephesians 1: 1-14
Comments
My son and I were reading a mystery the other night in which orphans were secretly being forced to work in a secret mining operation and in secret labs where strange experiments were being done. The sad orphans were carried from place to place hidden in the back of sour smelling garbage trucks. They were barely fed and clothed and without anyone in the world to know they were in trouble or to protect them. These kids longed for someone to welcome them into a family where they could be loved and cared for.
It amazes me that there are more people on our planet than ever before in recorded history, and we have more ways to communicate than ever before and yet millions of people still feel alone, unappreciated, unknown, and unloved. To those feeling alone, orphaned, or in destructive family situations, there is great news from the Bible today...you've been adopted into a loving family! "He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1: 5-6)."
The Bible reveals that one of the consequences of our sins is that we are cut off from God, alienated from his family. In a sense, we all have orphaned ourselves by choice. Thankfully, God's love stretches beyond justice into mercy and grace. God lovingly offers himself in Jesus Christ on the cross as the atonement for our sin, satisfying the just penalty of our sin, and providing the way for us to be adopted back into his family. The height, depth, width, and length of God's love for us cannot be measured!
What does it mean to be adopted? First it means we have a new relationship with our God who loves us. Secondly, it means that we are given the right to inherit the fullest life in God's Kingdom. Third, it means that we have the responsibility to represent the family name and to enter the family mission to draw all things to peace with God through Jesus Christ.
Let's give thanks to God for the riches that his grace freely gives us in Jesus Christ! Let's live in and for our Heavenly Father and for His family above all.
Life Question
1. In my work, my home, and where I go every day, how can I represent Jesus Christ and my
heavenly family well?
2. November is national adoption month. Pray about adopting a child into your family or about
helping mentor someone near you who needs some direction.
Closing Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for loving us enough to die for us and for welcoming us back into your family. Give us grace to live as your representatives in our day to day lives. Help us work with you to bring others into your ever expanding family, the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer:
Hi God, it's us again, the ragged people who are trying too hard to hold everything together. We need you to tie our loose ends together, to make us whole again in heart, mind, soul, and body. Only you can do that. So here we are, Jesus, save us, make us whole again in the power of your Spirit and love. Amen.
Ephesians 1: 1-14
Comments
My son and I were reading a mystery the other night in which orphans were secretly being forced to work in a secret mining operation and in secret labs where strange experiments were being done. The sad orphans were carried from place to place hidden in the back of sour smelling garbage trucks. They were barely fed and clothed and without anyone in the world to know they were in trouble or to protect them. These kids longed for someone to welcome them into a family where they could be loved and cared for.
It amazes me that there are more people on our planet than ever before in recorded history, and we have more ways to communicate than ever before and yet millions of people still feel alone, unappreciated, unknown, and unloved. To those feeling alone, orphaned, or in destructive family situations, there is great news from the Bible today...you've been adopted into a loving family! "He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1: 5-6)."
The Bible reveals that one of the consequences of our sins is that we are cut off from God, alienated from his family. In a sense, we all have orphaned ourselves by choice. Thankfully, God's love stretches beyond justice into mercy and grace. God lovingly offers himself in Jesus Christ on the cross as the atonement for our sin, satisfying the just penalty of our sin, and providing the way for us to be adopted back into his family. The height, depth, width, and length of God's love for us cannot be measured!
What does it mean to be adopted? First it means we have a new relationship with our God who loves us. Secondly, it means that we are given the right to inherit the fullest life in God's Kingdom. Third, it means that we have the responsibility to represent the family name and to enter the family mission to draw all things to peace with God through Jesus Christ.
Let's give thanks to God for the riches that his grace freely gives us in Jesus Christ! Let's live in and for our Heavenly Father and for His family above all.
Life Question
1. In my work, my home, and where I go every day, how can I represent Jesus Christ and my
heavenly family well?
2. November is national adoption month. Pray about adopting a child into your family or about
helping mentor someone near you who needs some direction.
Closing Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for loving us enough to die for us and for welcoming us back into your family. Give us grace to live as your representatives in our day to day lives. Help us work with you to bring others into your ever expanding family, the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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