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Joshua 24:14-15

08 Nov

14 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:14-15

Dear God, here is another one that I assume Bible Gateway chose for election day. There are so many people who have made an idol out of this day. A pastor, writing about the days leading up to the 2012 election yesterday to our local ministerial association, wrote, “…each place I went, it was the same. There was someone saying, ‘If ______ doesn’t win EVERYTHING [emphasis his] is over.’ It didn’t get better at my next stop: ‘Unless _______ , we are doomed.’ On both sides, the anxiety was palpable, and being the anxiety magnet that I am, by the time I left the office, I was carrying not only my own fears, but what felt like a whole community’s.”

Later he wrote after describing going away to a place in nature, “…something strange happened. I became aware of a voice. I didn’t hear it through my ears, but in my body. It was a voice telling me, ‘I’ve seen a few of these before…You are going to be alright.'”

It is so easy for us to put our hope in ourselves, our societal constructs like government, and in anyone who promises to keep us safe, fat, and happy. The interesting things about you as our God is that you don’t really promise us those things. You don’t promise us physical safety. You don’t promise us food. You don’t promise to fulfill our wildest desires. The only thing you promise is that a relationship with you will nurture our souls. If we attach our branch to your vine and till the soil to root out the thorns (aka, the cares of this world), then you will bear fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, that’s why I’m here this morning. I’ve voted, but I am not going to concern myself with who is going to win elections today. I am one of over 300 million people in this country. I am not as important as my ego would like to be. I am one of 27,000 people in the county where I live. I am not as important as my ego would like to be. So help me to just be a source of your Spirit living in this community. Your people are your Plan A and you do not have a Plan B. Help me to be the best part of your Plan A that I can be–for your glory alone.

I pray this through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 8, 2022 in Joshua

 

1 Timothy 2:1-4

07 Nov

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4

Dear God. I got this verse from Bible Gateway’s verse of the day. I’m sure they picked it since tomorrow is election day, but it’s a great place to start. From my position in the world, there’s very little I can do to affect who governs me, but I could certainly pray for them for than I do. I could intercede on their behalf. I could ask you to help them. I could give thanks for them.

I was talking with my wife this morning about how much society asks us to fear things. Politicians want us to fear something so we will vote for them. The media wants us to fear something so we will click on their link. Fear, fear, fear. I was talking with a friend yesterday about “lesbian story hour at the public library.” When they asked me about that I asked, “Is it happening here?” She said no, she didn’t think so. I responded, then why should I care what someone is doing somewhere else in the country? What happened to power to the local government? We wouldn’t want someone in San Francisco to tell us we have to have lesbian story hour at our public library any more than they would want us to tell them to have Bible time at theirs. But there’s fear behind it all. Fear that they are comingto get us. Well, we will lose any influence we have over them, or credibility with them, if all we do is attach them.

Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus, help me to be an instrument of your peace. Help me to not make idols out of safety, but embrace you as my only hope. The people elected tomorrow are not my hope. Not a single one of them. They will fail. They will do the wrong things. That’s okay. Help them. Love them. Somehow bring us to a bottoming out as society that will help us to rebound and embrace you as not only the god we name (with a little g), but our true God whom we worship with all our mind, soul, and strength.

I pray this through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection that covers my sin from your holy eyes,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 7, 2022 in 1 Timothy

 

“How Would Jesus Fight the Culture War?” Mike Erre

06 Nov

Dear God, I listened to this interview a week ago on The Holy Post podcast. I was driving while it played so there were some things I wanted to go back to and spend some time with. It was with Mike Erre, who is a pastor at Journey Church in Nashville and has a podcast called The Voxology. I’ve been wanting to sit down with it and take notes, so I thought I would use my extra “fall back” hour this morning to do just that. So as I turn on the podcast here in a second, Holy Spirit, please speak to me. Show me what is on your heart for me as you make me consider my role in your world. [Note: if you go to the podcast, the interview starts at the 50-minute mark].

Here are my notes on the interview:

Should Christians engage in the Culture War?

Cancel culture is something your side always does and my side never does.

Phil Vischer question to Mike: How do you define culture wars? Answer: I don’t define culture war but ask the question, “What is the role of the church in the world?” The answer to that question answers the first question. Is the role of the church to transform society or is it to be transformed into the image of Jesus? The answer to that first question is clearly the latter.

Paul said, “Who am I to judge those outside the church? I judge those inside.”

There are 59 statements Paul makes that says the role of the church is to be transformed in community rather than be the agent of change for everyone else.

Rule & subdue command in Genesis is actually serving words (not standing over) to bring out the earth’s potential in ways that honor God and serving all.

We are ambassadors of a sovereignty that is greater than ours. We are property managers, not owners.

Making disciples of the nations is different than making nations disciples. (This one really struck me the other day)

There is something marvelous and fulfilling about following Jesus, and it is the best way to be human. I would highly recommend it.

Jesus invited people to be Christian, it wasn’t through guilt, shame, coercion or manipulation. It was simply love, service, and invitation. Loving the sinner before the sinner repents. The other is in direct contradiction to the way of Jesus.

We’ve gotten in our heads that the agenda of Jesus is more important than manifesting Jesus’s Spirit. We cease acting Christian in order to accomplish Christian goals. The way Jesus acts is manifested in his crucifixion.

Vischer (somewhat sarcastically): No, it’s manifested through flipping over tables and getting mad at Pharisees. Erre: Notice that he’s cleaning his own house, not the house of the Romans. He only engaged superficially with Herod and Pilate.

When the church looks out at the word from a posture of fear, anger, and threat we’ve ceased seeing the world the way the New Testament invites us to. Even in Revelation, the army of God is an army of martyrs. Even in Revelation, Jesus conquers by the sacrifice of himself and the manifestation that he is King of kings and Lord of lords.

The role of the church is to be transformed into the image of Jesus, thereby providing a counterculture of life in a culture that manifests the worship of death.

Vischer: Was William Wilberforce culture warring? Erre: It’s possible to be politically engaged in a way that is “cruciform” and Christ-like.

The kingdom of God does not operate on the “conservative-progressive” spectrum that the discussions come out of. The kingdom of God calls the entire spectrum into question.

Vischer: What is your posture toward people who are propagating evil against their fellow image-bearers? Erre: They are to be called out. They are to be resisted. They are to be loved, served, prayed for, and blessed. But we are to provide a counter community to demonstrate Jesus’s way. Jesus created an alternative and didn’t just critique.

People don’t come to church to have their assumptions challenged by the Bible. They come to have their assumptions affirmed. Good teaching should show that the discipleship we receive from culture, media, friends, etc., isn’t as beautiful as what the Gospel offers as an alternative. Church needs to be a place where we are working to embody the alternative.

The culture war we should be fighting is the culture of the church. That’s what Jesus was fighting.

There is real evil and injustice in the world that is to be resisted. There are reasons to be politically involved. But the available postures for us to take are defined by the actions of Jesus himself. Vischer (sarcastically): But what if that’s not as effective as showing up at a school board meeting and yelling and flamethrowing and doesn’t save my child from “drag queen story hour” at the library? Erre: I just want to say, read the New Testament. The invitation is to be faithful, not effective. Nowhere is the church called to do great things for God, and nowhere are people called to do great things for God. God does great things for God. We are blessed if He invites us into those great things. Apostle Paul: “Make it your ambition to be at peace with everyone, live a quiet life, and work with your hands.” We ignore the direct teachings of Jesus in order to remind ourselves of our importance. Jesus invites us into ruthless self-examination and repentance. When you do that well there isn’t much room for trying to control someone else.

When I approach the New Testament, I don’t approach it with anyone else in mind but me. It’s about my repentance and transformation.

People try to help the church thrive and unify by creating common enemies and fears. Group cohesion needs a struggle. But that cohesion limits our effectiveness in the world. It’s a violation of anything Jesus-like.

There is no biblical case for this tweet from a Christian nationalist author: “Yes, we are Christian nationalists. Yes, we are taking over the Republican party and the country. Yes, we are indoctrinating the next generation to follow in our footsteps. All for the glory of God. We can’t be stopped. Enjoy the show.” Jesus would critique that way of seeing the world as something anti-Christ. There is nothing more blasphemous or damaging in our world than that kind of thinking.

Vischer: Our children are in danger. People are coming for our children. I need to defend my kids. When do I abandon the way of Jesus for the sake of others? Erre: I live by three principles [I really like this when I heard it the first time. It’s what made me want to listen to this again and take notes]. 1.) Unless it acts like Jesus, it’s not Christian. 2.) It’s more important to be faithful than effective. 3.) There is nothing so urgent that I have to get off of my cross to make sure it happens.

Evangelism used to be pitched this way: Souls are at stake. If you don’t tell them, no one is going to, and they are going to burn in hell. That justified all kinds of Christian behavior around manipulation, guilt, etc.

What the New Testament seems to advocate is this joyful, gracious nonconformity that is willing to be persecuted, but does not have a martyrs complex. That simply rests in the fact that God is good and that I’m under not pressure to bring about the righteous ends for everybody else other than for me. For example, if there were a law made that children with Down’s Syndrome must be aborted, then I would agitate against that, but my agitation would be constricted by the way of Christ. If I think I have to disobey the command of Jesus to love my enemies in order to accomplish what I think the agenda of Jesus is then I have missed the agenda of Jesus altogether.

Vischer: What is your definition of culture war? Erre: It is a way of seeing the role of the church in the world that sees the gospel as under threat and any power over is legitimatized to keep the gospel safe, and given it’s rightful place in culture.

Vischer: How do you define the way of Jesus? Erre: The self-giving enemy love that does not use (Phil 2) rights and privileges to be exploited for more, but rather uses rights and privileges to be poured out for the sake of others. That’s cruciformity.

Father, please make me more and more in your image today.

I pray this through Jesus’s name,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2022 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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The Serenity Prayer

04 Nov

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

Dear God, as I was driving to work yesterday, this is the prayer that kept coming to me. I prayed it out loud in my truck. I prayed it silently in my office. I have some things in my life that I would love to see changed, but I have zero power to change them. I’ve done my best. I’ve petitioned. I’ve tried to express love. I’ve tried to communicate perspective. But it is now clear to me that I have nothing left to do but seek your serenity in the situation.

There are people who have broken my heart. There are people who have really hurt me. Interestingly, when I’ve expressed my hurt, I’ve seen no signs of remorse. Zero. Not even a little area where they could admit fault and we could start to find common ground. It feels like their hearts have been hardened and they cannot allow themselves to consider even one thing they might have done wrong because as soon as they do they will be on the slippery slope and have to examine everything else too.

Of course, it’s easy for me to see this in someone else. What about me? Is my heart hardened? Is my anger and sense of betrayal of my own making? If someone has come to me with something they think I’ve done wrong, have I been willing to examine it and repent as appropriate?

Father, as I type this prayer this morning, I want to pray the Serenity Prayer for me and for the people on my heart right now.

God, grant me (them) the serenity to accept the things I (they) cannot change, the courage to change they things I (they) can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

I pray this through Jesus, my Lord,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 4, 2022 in Miscellaneous

 

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Judas

31 Oct

Dear God, I was listening to the Catholic Bible in a Year podcast from Ascension Press by Father Mike Schmitz recently when he was reading from 1 Maccabees. As a Protestant Christian, it was my first time to hear any of the stories. While I was listening, something occurred to me. Judas Maccabeus was a Jewish military hero less than 200 years before Jesus was born. There were two of Jesus’s 12 disciples who were named Judas. I don’t remember reading the name Judas in the Old Testament other than Judas Maccabeus. Is it possible that Judas was a common name to give boys during this era in Israel? Finally–and this one is a big leap–could Judas Iscariot have been wanting to live up to his namesake and frustrated by this fact even more that Jesus didn’t seem to care about Rome’s rule over Israel?

After that, I decided to see who else in the New Testament was named Judas. Just how common was this?

  • Judas Iscariot (we all know him)
  • Judas (not Iscariot): John 14:22
  • Judas, Jesus’s brother: Mark 6:3
  • Judas, called Barsabbas: Acts 15:22 [I wonder if he changed his name because of Judas Iscariot]
  • Jude (author of Jude)–some debate if this might be a duplicate–Jesus’s brother
  • Judas of Galilee: Acts 5:37–rebel leader

Yeah, I think this naming your kid Judas might have been a thing at the time. Of course, that went away over time. Judas Iscariot has become as abhorrent in Christian circles as Benedict Arnold or Adolf Hitler have become in our modern times. I don’t know how many people in Germany currently name their son Adolf, but I would be surprised if it was many.

Father, I don’t know what is in this story for me, but it’s interesting to stop and think about how little decisions, like what to name our child, might impact their lives. I have a few things happening today. Help me as I prepare to go through this day. Let your Holy Spirit go with me. Go with me to work. Let there be healing. Go with me to Rotary. Go with me to San Antonio tonight. Go with me as we strive to bring you glory for all that you do in our lives. Help me to be part of you bringing your kingdom and will being done into the world.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 31, 2022 in Acts, John, Jude, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Uncategorized

 

The God Hole

27 Oct

[In the story “The Rocking-Horse Winner,”] author D.H. Lawrence describes a home where the young family is haunted by the unspoken phrase, “There must be more money! There must be more money! The children could hear it all the time though nobody said it aloud.” The balance of the story is the sad account of how the young son, by rocking madly on his toy horse, discovers a way to predict the winners of horse races. Tragically, he eventually rocks himself to death because the voices never stop. There is never enough money.

Fred Smith, “The Overexamined Life”

Dear God, I read this piece from Fred Smith’s weekly blog this morning and pulled this paragraph from it. It made me think of a few things, so I thought I would pray about it.

The overall point of Smith’s blog post was about how he has noticed some people replacing the pursuit of money with a life of service, but even that seems like it’s never enough. People end up on the same treadmill the rocking-horse winner was on. Always trying to fill a hole in their lives. Always trying to fill what was described to me as a child as the “God hole.”

The God hole, as I understand it, is that shape in our heart that only you can fill. Anything else we try to put there will fall right through and never land. And I don’t fill that hole with you by simply believing in your, praying a prayer of repentance, and then moving on my way. No, I fill that hole with you by applying two of Jesus’s parables at the same time:

15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:1-5

If I do not attaching the branch of my life to you and then give you the opportunity to prune me then I won’t produce fruit. It’s that simple. I attach my branch to your vine through prayer, scripture study and contemplation, worship, and Christian community–not necessarily in that order.

The next parable is as important:

18 “Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: 19 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. 20 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 21 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 22 The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. 23 The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

Matthew 13:18-23

My biggest threat is verse 22: the seed that ell among the thorns. What am I doing to weed the soil of my life? What I am doing to give good soil to the Holy Spirit to work on my branch? Am I removing the “worries of this life and the lure of wealth?

I guess there’s one final thing that I think is the cherry on top of all of this. It’s what Paul says in Acts 20:24 when he is on his way to Jerusalem where he has a pretty good idea he will be arrested. People are warning him to not go and he replies, “I consider my life worth nothing to me. If only I finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. The task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. At the end of the day, if I died today and you had only used my 52 years to touch one person then that’s all that matters. I can let go of my own ambitions for my life. Peace is found through just submitting to you today, being obedient when I hear you speak and then praying your blessing on the work you have called me to do.

Father, I give you all of this today. I don’t want anything for myself. I just want to rest in you and work by your direction, with your blessing, and for your glory so that your kingdom might come and your will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 27, 2022 in Acts, John, Matthew, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Luke 13:22-30

26 Oct

22 Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”

He replied, 24 “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. 25 When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’

28 “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. 29 And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God. 30 And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.”

Luke 13:22-30

Dear God, Jesus represents this as being a much more stringent process than I would. You’re talking about locked doors and people pleading for it to be opened. In this case, he’s also talking in verse 27 about those who thought they were yours and yet still do evil.

I was telling someone earlier today that whenever there are people with whom I disagree it almost never happens that one side knows they are wrong or acting out of any negative or evil ambitions. Both sides think they are on the side of right. Now, there are exceptions to this rule, but I’m sure that even in the Ukraine/Russia situation, Russia feels totally justified in its actions which those of us on the other side see as reprehensible.

There is currently conflict in our community, and I am in it to some extent. In fact, today I am taking a pretty public stand through something I wrote that will probably be in the local newspaper. It did my best to make my opinion clear, delineate it from the opinions of others, but not assign motives to the other side’s actions. While I am not a fan of what they are doing or what they even believe, there is not a part of me that doubts why they are doing what they are doing. They think they are protecting others. They think they are defenders of the weak. I disagree with their conclusions as to what is right and wrong and how they are going about making their opinions known and trying to influence local policy, but I do not doubt their desire to do what they see as good.

So that brings me back to Jesus’s words here about not knowing people who thought they were known. I almost feel like one of the disciples sitting around the table at the Last Supper after Jesus said someone there would betray him. “Is it me, Lord?” “Surely it isn’t me.”

Father, help me to examine my heart. Help those with whom I disagree to examine their hearts. Help us to see where we are wrong. Where we are not loving you with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Help us to see how we have assigned bad motives to actions with which we disagree and simply respond to the actions themselves. Help us to treat each other with as much love as possible. Fill me with your peace. Make me an instrument of your peace. Do it all for your glory. Help me to decrease so you can increase.

I pray this through the right Jesus’s life, death and resurrection gives me to come to you,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 26, 2022 in Luke

 

“Yeshua Ha Mashiach” by Scott Wesley Brown

24 Oct

“Yeshua Ha Mashiach” by Scott Wesley Brown

The room was filled with people
Who had come to hear Him speak
A Simple man with callused hands
And dust upon His feet
Twelve men were gathered ’round him
Like they knew Him as a friend
But I had never seen Him
Though He said He’d always been

Unlike the other people
I had only come to see
But when He spoke I noticed
He was staring into me
I whispered to a woman
Who was listening by my side
Who is this man? and
These words she replied:

Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

More than any other prophet
His words burned me deep inside
Exposing from my hardened heart
The truth I could not hide
For years I had been waiting
For Messiah yet to come
But long before I heard His Name
I knew He was The One

Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

Jesus the Messiah
The Image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

Jesus the Messiah
The Image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand

Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The image of I Am
The Mystery of Heaven
Come to earth a mortal man
Yeshua Ha Mashiach
The Lion and the Lamb
His eyes are warm and tender
But there’s fire in His hand
Yeshua Ha Mashiach

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Greg Wayne Davis / Gregory D. Fisher

Dear God, this is a song from the 80s that I hadn’t thought about for a while, but was reminded up a few days ago. I can’t remember what brought it to mind. I think it might have been another song that reminded me of it. Anyway, it has a great beat and it’s just a reminder of who Jesus was.

I was listening to the song this morning after I woke up and watched the video above. The actor playing Jesus is interesting because he doesn’t have the typical “Jesus look.” He’s a little more intense than I’m used to seeing. I’m used to gentle-eyed Jesus, but this one seems to have something different in his eyes. I’m not sure which image I like or lean to more. Okay, I know which one I like more. I like the gentle-eyed one. But have I missed something by not considering a Jesus who maybe looked a little more intense? I read last week about Jesus saying he came to burn things down, cause divisions, etc.

Well, I guess I’ll have to think about that. But what I want to look at is just the idea in the chorus that Jesus was your image. God come to earth. A piece of your nature here with us in physical form. The decisions. The mercy. The anger. The wisdom. The compassion. The exasperation. The joy. The peace. The patience. The forgiveness. The sacrifice. The power. The healing. all of it was in him. All of you was in him. To know him was to know you.

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

John 14:8-9

Holy Spirit, Father, Jesus, I need all of your being today and this week. This week, in particular. There are several things going on. Things in different areas of our community. We need your power. Your provision. Your protection. Your wisdom. Your intervention. Your redemption. In fact, we need everything that is you for everything we are. Help us to lean into you this week. Help me. Help each person on my heart right now. Help us to put on your holy armor so that in the face of trials and difficult decisions we might stand. Provide for us. Bless our work. Use all of this to draw each of us closer to yourself.

I pray this through Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 24, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, John

 

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Lectionary Readings for October 23, 2022

23 Oct

Dear God, I was attending the Catholic church this morning and some of the verses really struck me. As a Protestant, I have not been exposed to the Apocrypha much, but I’m really coming to appreciate it’s role in the Christian faith.

Old Testament Reading

I mention that because the Old Testament reading this morning was from Sirach 35. Verses 14-16 caught my ear this morning:

14 Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it;
15     and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;
for the Lord is the judge,
    and with him there is no partiality.
16 He will not show partiality to the poor;
    but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.

I’m not sure which translation the church uses in its missal, but the way the missal translated the part about the poor was, “The LORD is God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed.” I like that you love the poor and you will listen to the prayer of the weak, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will show partiality. There is fairness. There is justice. Just because I happen to be poor does not give me license to steal or abuse others. At the same time, you are there to love and comfort them. You are there to help provide through your own means and through your church. Help us to know what that means and looks like.

Psalm

Ironically, the Psalm was parts of Psalm 34. The repeated refrain was “The LORD hears the cry of the poor.” The last verses used in the psalm say, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. The LORD redeems the lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.” I know some people whose spirits have been crushed. You know who is on my heart right now. Hear their cry. Hear my cry for them. Holy Spirit, give them comfort. Show those of us who know them how to love them. Let your light shine on them through us. And help us to be their defenders on your behalf.

New Testament Reading

The reading is from Paul’s second letter to Timothy. I don’t know why they selectively chose just verse 6-8 and 16-18, but the words in 16-18 struck me:

16 At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

There are some people I know right now who are worthy of defending. I’ve prayed a lot about them over the last few days. Raise up defenders in your church for them. Love them. Encourage them. Use their persecution to draw them closer to yourself. Use it to draw all of us closer to you.

Gospel Reading

Finally, there is the one I was wanting to get to. In Luke 18:9-14, Luke prefaced Jesus’s parable about the two men who went to the temple to pray by saying, “Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” Man, do those words ring true right now in our current society. People are claiming the high ground and righteousness in your name and using that as justification to abuse others, discount others, and, frankly, bully others.

Holy Spirit, show me the areas in my life where I am that arrogant person who needs to repent and not despise. Help me to be part of offering your comfort to the oppressed. Help me to be part of your solution in working with the disenfranchised and suffering. I have prayed a lot this morning for particular people. Hear my prayer, Oh, God!

I pray this through Jesus my Lord,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 23, 2022 in 2 Timothy, Luke, Psalms, Sirach

 

“Give Me Revelation” by Third Day

21 Oct

“Give me Revelation” by Third Day

My life has led me down the road that’s so uncertain
And now, I am left alone and I am broken
Trying to find my way
Trying to find the faith that’s gone

This time I know that You are holding all the answers
And I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances
On roads that never seem
To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

My life has led me down this path that’s ever winding
Through every twist and turn, I’m always finding
That I am lost again
Tell me when this road will ever end

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without

I don’t know where I can turn
Tell me, when will I learn?
Won’t You show me where I need to go?
Let me follow Your lead
I know that it’s the only way that I can get back home

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
‘Cause I’ve been trying
To find my way
I haven’t got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I’ve got nothing without You
I’ve got nothing without You

No, oh no, oh no
Oh, give me a revelation
Oh Lord, oh no
I’ve got nothing, now, without You
I’ve got nothing, now, without You

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: David Carr / Mark Lee / Tai Anderson / Johnny Powell / Brad Avery

Dear God, I need some revelation this morning. I needed it yesterday. I’ll need it tomorrow.

Yesterday, I prayed about not getting my branches pulled from your vine. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me when I started to let things of the world disquiet my spirit. I’m glad I did because things ended up happening that definitely disquieted by spirit.

Yesterday, I saw some good people who were in pain. Their only goal in life is to help children and their families, but there is a group of watchdogs in the community who are justifying their existence through their activism and what I think they consider to be righteous anger.

Today, I have some decisions to make. It’s time for me to act. What am I to do? This is where I need your revelation. Show me what to do. I’m trying to find my way. I know I shouldn’t stay here and that I need to move (not geographically move, but taking action instead of blithely standing by). I need to seek out your Holy Spirit and your still, small voice as I work on this issue. I need to seek out Godly counsel. I need wisdom from my wife. I need to know what to do and how to do it. And I need the strength to go through the fallout I will experience from my actions.

Father, I mean this prayer as deeply as I can mean it. Please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Give me the courage to change the things I can, and show me how to act in that change. And please grant me the wisdom to know the difference between what you are calling me to do and not calling me to do. Holy Spirit, whisper in my ear. Speak to me through wise counsel. And please show your love to those I see as causing harm. If they are wrong and I am right then please reveal yourself to them through whatever means you need. If I am wrong then reveal yourself to me. In the likely event we are both a little wrong and a little right, please work to unite us. And don’t let this pain be wasted. Make it count. Finally, for the damaged and abused people I saw yesterday and everyone like them that they represent, please minister to them. Love them. Encourage them. Be God to them. Holy Spirit, use this pain in their lives as well. Don’t let it be wasted. Refine us all for your glory.

I pray this through the love of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 21, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, Uncategorized

 

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