10.31.2010
Mark 8:37 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? ESV
Just this morning my wife and I were discussing our lives and the lives of our children and relatives. We weren’t talking about them in a bad way, being critical or judgmental; we were just thinking about the decisions we made in our younger days and perhaps the consequences of those decisions. Our conversation started on the topic of goal-setting and what it meant to us back then, and what it means to us now.
And then I read Mark 8 and Jesus asked the question, “For what can a man give in return for his soul?” Indeed.
We all are entrusted with a priceless gift – our very lives. What we do with them is mostly up to us . Sometimes things happen to us despite our best efforts; but for the most part, our time, talents and resources are ours to do with what we choose. Jesus asked another question: For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? In other words, what gain is it for us to live our lives solely for ourselves? Many of our life-decisions and goals are self-based and selfishly based.
The only answer I have this morning is this: to live the rest of my life trying to help others to come to know God and receive their life-goals from Him. I have a twelve-year old who needs guidance as he is on the threshold of his teen years. I have a nineteen-year old who needs counsel as to how to launch into adulthood. I have a twenty-year old who needs her dad’s encouragement and cheer-leading. And personally, I need to simplify my life, spending what I have left wisely as I make my way home to my Maker. The top of the corporate ladder? Nah! Unless of course, it helps me to reach my godly goal…
Father in Heaven,
You have given me my very soul and the older I get the more I realize it isn’t mine to keep; or to waste. My goal Father, is to invest what I have left into the lives of others and into Your Kingdom. I am sorry for what I have squandered and ask for Your guidance as I live out what is left – for Jesus’ sake, amen.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Who Prayed?
10.30.2010
Mark 5:29-30 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ESV
After touching Him, she felt in her body that she was healed. Whatever the sensation was, whatever her physical companion had been for twelve years, it was suddenly gone. Twelve years is a long time to carry pain, discomfort, and societal exclusion. He (Jesus) perceived in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He whirls about in the crowd causing no small series of collisions, stumbling, back-pedaling and confused stoppage asking, “Who touched My garments?” Great question, Jesus.
Jesus knew who touched Him – it’s called omniscience. Jesus in His humanity, was on such a level with the Holy Spirit and the Father that nothing was unknowable. That is the magnitude of the God with Whom we deal – nothing is unknowable. God never asks, who prayed? God never wonders what’s around the next bend. And God’s power is out-flowing to those who seek Him – even if it’s to one simply comes in faith not really knowing what is going to happen. She reasoned in her mind something would happen and came to the Living God and found out that He was immensely pleased with her desperate act of faith – I think acts of desperation are His favorites. You cannot come to God unknown.
So when I pray I needn’t worry that He hears me; He always does; He always knows; and His power always goes out.
Father in Heaven,
You sense and feel me when I feel about for You and today I feeling about for You – I need Your touch dealing with the things I’ve been dragging about for years. I pray for Your touch; heal me and help me – amen.
Mark 5:29-30 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ESV
After touching Him, she felt in her body that she was healed. Whatever the sensation was, whatever her physical companion had been for twelve years, it was suddenly gone. Twelve years is a long time to carry pain, discomfort, and societal exclusion. He (Jesus) perceived in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He whirls about in the crowd causing no small series of collisions, stumbling, back-pedaling and confused stoppage asking, “Who touched My garments?” Great question, Jesus.
Jesus knew who touched Him – it’s called omniscience. Jesus in His humanity, was on such a level with the Holy Spirit and the Father that nothing was unknowable. That is the magnitude of the God with Whom we deal – nothing is unknowable. God never asks, who prayed? God never wonders what’s around the next bend. And God’s power is out-flowing to those who seek Him – even if it’s to one simply comes in faith not really knowing what is going to happen. She reasoned in her mind something would happen and came to the Living God and found out that He was immensely pleased with her desperate act of faith – I think acts of desperation are His favorites. You cannot come to God unknown.
So when I pray I needn’t worry that He hears me; He always does; He always knows; and His power always goes out.
Father in Heaven,
You sense and feel me when I feel about for You and today I feeling about for You – I need Your touch dealing with the things I’ve been dragging about for years. I pray for Your touch; heal me and help me – amen.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Soil Conditioning
10.31.2010
Mark 4:20 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” ESV
When we plant gardens, we seek for the best conditions we can and pay close attention to the condition of the soil; whether or not we understand it, the life of the garden is in the soil. Yes, there are other factors, sun, water, warmth; but the soil is very important for the success of the planting. So we toil to prepare the soil. We remove the weeds and the rocks; we fertilize and condition the dirt. The best of intentions in the worst of conditions does not a good garden make.
The best spiritual soil is the soil that is conditioned by listening, accepting, and obeying. The best conditioning for the soul is to never forget that God is always present no matter the situation or circumstance. The most fruitful is the one who never takes his/her eye off of God (or away from His presence) and faithfully, by his/her life (thought, word, and deed) clings to God. Sometimes the fruit of that is a crusade where hundreds are saved; other times it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; real-time fruit – real-time results. Fruit is to be consumed, not admired…
Conditioning soil takes know-how and time – oh, and perseverance. If the sum of my life on earth is to be fruitful (see John 15) then I can only imagine what heaven will be like…
Father in Heaven,
Touch me Lord that I may bear fruit for Thee – amen.
Mark 4:20 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” ESV
When we plant gardens, we seek for the best conditions we can and pay close attention to the condition of the soil; whether or not we understand it, the life of the garden is in the soil. Yes, there are other factors, sun, water, warmth; but the soil is very important for the success of the planting. So we toil to prepare the soil. We remove the weeds and the rocks; we fertilize and condition the dirt. The best of intentions in the worst of conditions does not a good garden make.
The best spiritual soil is the soil that is conditioned by listening, accepting, and obeying. The best conditioning for the soul is to never forget that God is always present no matter the situation or circumstance. The most fruitful is the one who never takes his/her eye off of God (or away from His presence) and faithfully, by his/her life (thought, word, and deed) clings to God. Sometimes the fruit of that is a crusade where hundreds are saved; other times it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; real-time fruit – real-time results. Fruit is to be consumed, not admired…
Conditioning soil takes know-how and time – oh, and perseverance. If the sum of my life on earth is to be fruitful (see John 15) then I can only imagine what heaven will be like…
Father in Heaven,
Touch me Lord that I may bear fruit for Thee – amen.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
What Part of the Ministry do I Own?
10/28/10
Mark 1:12 12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
The other night my Wyldlife leader asked the question, “What part of this ministry do you own?” As a former pastor and church-guy, the question resonated with me; I often internally asked that question of people – especially when they were absent or did something poorly and I knew they could’ve done a lot better.
Matthew and Luke say the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Leading seems a little kinder and gentler. But Mark says the Spirit drove Him out into the wilderness – what drives us? What part of this ministry do we own?
To de driven is to be moved to action by something greater or stronger than you. Or it’s to be impelled. Or it’s to be moved by some desperation. Jesus was driven – not against His own will but by His zeal for obeying God. Rarely do we see people that driven in the Church for the Lord. Au contraire, you may say. More often than not the only driving in the Church is to and from. We are mostly driven by distractions, not what is important. In the greater scheme of things what will really matter in our lives 10, 20, 30 years from now? What mattered to Jesus was God and only doing what He said and going where He sent. O for faith and zeal like that!
I’m gonna drive to work today because my lifestyle demands I must work – my bills drive me. But I need to think about my place in God’s Church and see what drives me there and what my motives are really about. What part of the ministry do I own?
Father in Heaven,
Today, on Your altar I lay all of my thoughts, hopes, dreams, ambitions, pleasures, and preferences. I pray to be under the compelling leadership of the Holy Spirit that I may do as You say and go where You sent – Father break my heart that it may be more like Yours – I pray in the Name of the Driven One – amen.
Mark 1:12 12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
The other night my Wyldlife leader asked the question, “What part of this ministry do you own?” As a former pastor and church-guy, the question resonated with me; I often internally asked that question of people – especially when they were absent or did something poorly and I knew they could’ve done a lot better.
Matthew and Luke say the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Leading seems a little kinder and gentler. But Mark says the Spirit drove Him out into the wilderness – what drives us? What part of this ministry do we own?
To de driven is to be moved to action by something greater or stronger than you. Or it’s to be impelled. Or it’s to be moved by some desperation. Jesus was driven – not against His own will but by His zeal for obeying God. Rarely do we see people that driven in the Church for the Lord. Au contraire, you may say. More often than not the only driving in the Church is to and from. We are mostly driven by distractions, not what is important. In the greater scheme of things what will really matter in our lives 10, 20, 30 years from now? What mattered to Jesus was God and only doing what He said and going where He sent. O for faith and zeal like that!
I’m gonna drive to work today because my lifestyle demands I must work – my bills drive me. But I need to think about my place in God’s Church and see what drives me there and what my motives are really about. What part of the ministry do I own?
Father in Heaven,
Today, on Your altar I lay all of my thoughts, hopes, dreams, ambitions, pleasures, and preferences. I pray to be under the compelling leadership of the Holy Spirit that I may do as You say and go where You sent – Father break my heart that it may be more like Yours – I pray in the Name of the Driven One – amen.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
As Close as My Heart
10.27.2010
Psalm 114:7-8 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water. ESV
This psalm says that when the people came out of Egypt that Judah was His sanctuary and Israel His dominion. This went against the belief that God was ‘out there’ and was intended to teach them that God is ‘now here’. Judah wasn’t the first-born of Jacob but was the fourth-born. But from the fourth-born came the ruler, the Messiah. Not the likely first-born, which they would’ve expected, but the unlikely fourth-born. Look for God where you least expect Him.
The psalm says that the earth trembles in the presence of the Lord – we need to emulate the earth, we need to do as it does by its nature. And here’s the point: God is the One who turns rocks into a pools of water… and does it in a desert! God told Moses to speak to the rock and out of it would flow enough water to quench the thirst of the people and their animals. Who looks for pools of water in deserts springing from rock? Only those who’ve learned to look for God where they least expect Him.
Psalm 114 is a song of encouragement and a song that helps me to remember that God seems to ignore conventional wisdom and the predictable. If God is predictable in any manner, it is this: He’s unpredictable. I need to remember that and tremble in His presence. I ought to do what the earth does: obey Him completely and even when and where it all looks lost. When things go bad and things get tough, I’ll look for God and that’s enough!
Father in Heaven,
You must delight in what appears to me as impossible situations. You must smile and whisper in my heart, “Look up! Listen! I am so close!” Thank You for this little psalm with such encouragement. Teach me to always look for You where I when I least expect You. Thank You that You are always close by – as close as my heart! Amen.
Psalm 114:7-8 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water. ESV
This psalm says that when the people came out of Egypt that Judah was His sanctuary and Israel His dominion. This went against the belief that God was ‘out there’ and was intended to teach them that God is ‘now here’. Judah wasn’t the first-born of Jacob but was the fourth-born. But from the fourth-born came the ruler, the Messiah. Not the likely first-born, which they would’ve expected, but the unlikely fourth-born. Look for God where you least expect Him.
The psalm says that the earth trembles in the presence of the Lord – we need to emulate the earth, we need to do as it does by its nature. And here’s the point: God is the One who turns rocks into a pools of water… and does it in a desert! God told Moses to speak to the rock and out of it would flow enough water to quench the thirst of the people and their animals. Who looks for pools of water in deserts springing from rock? Only those who’ve learned to look for God where they least expect Him.
Psalm 114 is a song of encouragement and a song that helps me to remember that God seems to ignore conventional wisdom and the predictable. If God is predictable in any manner, it is this: He’s unpredictable. I need to remember that and tremble in His presence. I ought to do what the earth does: obey Him completely and even when and where it all looks lost. When things go bad and things get tough, I’ll look for God and that’s enough!
Father in Heaven,
You must delight in what appears to me as impossible situations. You must smile and whisper in my heart, “Look up! Listen! I am so close!” Thank You for this little psalm with such encouragement. Teach me to always look for You where I when I least expect You. Thank You that You are always close by – as close as my heart! Amen.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Paul Was Free
10.26.2010
Acts 26:32 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
To which I would have responded, “Yes. O Agrippa, but he wouldn’t make it twenty-for hours because of the Jews that wanted to kill him!” Freedom for Paul wasn’t the best option because for one, he was already free in Christ and he had explicit instructions from the Lord to speak to the Emperor in Rome – one Nero.
Imagine today if caught up in the bureaucracy of it all one of us was being sent to the Supreme Court to testify to the madness in our legal system. Imagine if through all of the red-tape and regulation if one of us had the opportunity to address a joint session of Congress and tell them the truth about Jesus and the truth about governing and leadership. Imagine through false accusation and hearsay that one of us was to speak directly to the president and share what Jesus Christ has to say about agendas. Paul was free but he wasn’t free to just take off, he was under orders to get to Rome and speak to the highest ranking individual in the then known world about the Only true and living God.
Christians are already free. I am not free to just do whatever; I am free to sit and listen to the Lord and then go and do whatever it is He commands me to do. What a difference it would make if we all believed that. I cannot be set free unless God sets me free and I cannot be free unless the Spirit sets me free indeed. Freedom is not my ability to call the shots; freedom is the gift to know and obey God.
Father in Heaven,
You have set me free and with that freedom is the freedom to follow You and supersedes what the world says I can or cannot do. True freedom is true relationship with You; and true relationship with You is true love and true love is my obeying what You command – thank You for making me free – in Christ, amen.
Acts 26:32 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
To which I would have responded, “Yes. O Agrippa, but he wouldn’t make it twenty-for hours because of the Jews that wanted to kill him!” Freedom for Paul wasn’t the best option because for one, he was already free in Christ and he had explicit instructions from the Lord to speak to the Emperor in Rome – one Nero.
Imagine today if caught up in the bureaucracy of it all one of us was being sent to the Supreme Court to testify to the madness in our legal system. Imagine if through all of the red-tape and regulation if one of us had the opportunity to address a joint session of Congress and tell them the truth about Jesus and the truth about governing and leadership. Imagine through false accusation and hearsay that one of us was to speak directly to the president and share what Jesus Christ has to say about agendas. Paul was free but he wasn’t free to just take off, he was under orders to get to Rome and speak to the highest ranking individual in the then known world about the Only true and living God.
Christians are already free. I am not free to just do whatever; I am free to sit and listen to the Lord and then go and do whatever it is He commands me to do. What a difference it would make if we all believed that. I cannot be set free unless God sets me free and I cannot be free unless the Spirit sets me free indeed. Freedom is not my ability to call the shots; freedom is the gift to know and obey God.
Father in Heaven,
You have set me free and with that freedom is the freedom to follow You and supersedes what the world says I can or cannot do. True freedom is true relationship with You; and true relationship with You is true love and true love is my obeying what You command – thank You for making me free – in Christ, amen.
Monday, October 25, 2010
God Was For Him
10.25.2010
Job 16:19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. ESV
It occurs to me that Job was probably not a Jew, in the sense that he was a descendant of Abraham. Tradition seems to point to the possibility that Job (Where is the Father? Or, Hated One) might’ve been an Edomite or possibly one of the peoples of the East between Palestine and Babylon. Whatever the case, Job seems to have been influenced by the God of Abraham and like Abraham lived in faith in God. His story seems to fall in the time of the post-exile of the Jews which would explain his knowledge of God and his theology.
As I read Job I see bits and pieces of arguments on both sides of the discussion that would lead me to think that Job and his three friends had more than a surfacy knowledge of God. But it is important for me to remember that their knowledge of God was somewhat deficient. The difference I think is that Job seemed to understand that God was for him, not against him; a view that his three friends didn’t quite grasp. Job’s God was loving and forgiving unlike Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad who seemed to see God like most people do – a petulant divine Judge.
So, in reading this statement by Job today, I see an attitude of hope for someone who hasn’t a clue as to why all that has happened to him, has happened to him. Job has clung to his view of God and that is where he based his faith – God is for me and not against me.
My own view of God is faulty in that my view of Him is evolving all the time. There are certain things about God, His love, His mercy and kindness, His forgiveness and grace (NOT an exhaustive list…) that are non-negotiables for me. But despite my best efforts I still see the Lord through imperfect lenses and need to remember that even with that, ‘Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.’ And, if my God is for me, who can be against me [and succeed]?
Father in Heaven,
What grace and mercy and love it is that You are for Your people and You’ll use anyone and everything to make sure we know that. Thank You for the example of Job who seemed to believe in You despite the worst and You blessed him because he did. I ask for the same mercy – in Jesus’ Name, amen.
Job 16:19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. ESV
It occurs to me that Job was probably not a Jew, in the sense that he was a descendant of Abraham. Tradition seems to point to the possibility that Job (Where is the Father? Or, Hated One) might’ve been an Edomite or possibly one of the peoples of the East between Palestine and Babylon. Whatever the case, Job seems to have been influenced by the God of Abraham and like Abraham lived in faith in God. His story seems to fall in the time of the post-exile of the Jews which would explain his knowledge of God and his theology.
As I read Job I see bits and pieces of arguments on both sides of the discussion that would lead me to think that Job and his three friends had more than a surfacy knowledge of God. But it is important for me to remember that their knowledge of God was somewhat deficient. The difference I think is that Job seemed to understand that God was for him, not against him; a view that his three friends didn’t quite grasp. Job’s God was loving and forgiving unlike Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad who seemed to see God like most people do – a petulant divine Judge.
So, in reading this statement by Job today, I see an attitude of hope for someone who hasn’t a clue as to why all that has happened to him, has happened to him. Job has clung to his view of God and that is where he based his faith – God is for me and not against me.
My own view of God is faulty in that my view of Him is evolving all the time. There are certain things about God, His love, His mercy and kindness, His forgiveness and grace (NOT an exhaustive list…) that are non-negotiables for me. But despite my best efforts I still see the Lord through imperfect lenses and need to remember that even with that, ‘Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.’ And, if my God is for me, who can be against me [and succeed]?
Father in Heaven,
What grace and mercy and love it is that You are for Your people and You’ll use anyone and everything to make sure we know that. Thank You for the example of Job who seemed to believe in You despite the worst and You blessed him because he did. I ask for the same mercy – in Jesus’ Name, amen.
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