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Peter and John – Matthew 8:14-15

27 Aug

When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

Matthew 8:14-15

Dear God, I wonder what kind of son-in-law Peter was. And what happened to Peter’s wife and possibly children. This new life was not what they signed up for. Where would they get money? How long would Peter be gone? How many of the other disciples had families and what became of them? This is one of those great mysteries for me. What was the cost that everyone involved paid Jesus’ earthly ministry. What cost did the pay for me?

I suppose I’ve never considered the debt I not only owe to you, but also to the disciples and their families. Jesus needed them as part of their earthly work, and I am a needy recipient of this work.

Father, there’s a lot I don’t know about this, but there are people who sacrifice for me very day whom I don’t appreciate enough. Soldiers. First responders. The list is too long and complicated for me to get into here, but it’s real—especially in my role as a nonprofit director. We couldn’t do anything we do without the help of others. I am grateful to them, starting with Peter’s wife and her family. Well, starting before that even. Mary and Joseph gave their lives for your plan for me. I’m grateful to them as well. Help me to live in that gratitude, and live up to that gift.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 27, 2018 in Matthew, Peter and John

 

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Peter & John — Matthew 4:18-22

26 Aug

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

Matthew 4:18-22

 

Dear God, I’ve decided I’d like to learn more about Peter and John, how they related to you, and how they compare with each other. To that end, I’m going to start a series where I look at all of the Bible stories that include them as well as the books that they wrote. They were very different people, and yet they were both critical to your earthly ministry and the formation of the church thereafter.  

In this case, I just noticed how Matthew captures these stories. The first people you called were sets of brothers. It wasn’t Matthew, working alone as a tax collector. It was Simon (later renamed Peter—I’ll need to get deeper into that) and Andrew, and then James and John (I wonder if Matthew listed each set of brothers by age or by his perception of their importance). I wonder if it was easier for them to break with their families if they went along with their brothers. Did Simon go along more willingly since Andrew went along too? James with John?  

It can be hard to feel like I am doing the absolute right thing according to your will and feel at odds with your family. I have several examples of my own life, but one example I’ve been thinking about lately is the example of Joseph and Mary. I’m sure their parents were very disappointed with how their lives were turning out. Did Joseph have living parents, and did they express any disapproval to him? After all, he married a pregnant girl and moved with her to Egypt. On the surface, it’s a disastrous result for your child back then. And then the family moved back to Nazareth with Jesus still a boy. Did Jesus understand isolation from this? Did he intentionally call the brothers together for their sake because he saw something in his dad’s experience? I know that I am making all kinds of wild guesses here, and that can be unsafe. But it just seems interesting that Matthew’s first recording of Jesus’ called disciples were brothers.  

Father, give me the courage to do what needs to be done at any given time, regardless of who joins me in it. But do a few things for me, please. Help me to really be sure it is you I am following in it. And please help me to be completely united with my wife through any of it. Speak to her the same thing you are speaking to me at any given time so that me might be one soul, mind, heart, and body at all times.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 26, 2018 in Matthew, Peter and John

 

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Psalm 119:167-168

25 Aug

I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly. I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.

Psalm 119:167-168

Dear God, I was part of interviewing people lately to be part of a board, and one of the questions they gave us to ask was about a time when the candidate had to bend or break the rules. One of the candidates could not come up with an example of a time when they broke the rules. He said, “I’m a rule follower. I’ve been known to question the rules or try to change the rules if I thought they weren’t right, but my personality is to follow the rules.”

When he left, there was a lot of discussion about that one particular answer. I have to say, it’s probably similar to how I would have answered. But the people in the room started punting out all of the ways we break rules every day. Minor traffic violations. Little lies we tell. So yes, in that context, I can see where I’m a rule bender.

As I’ve thought about it, I don’t think there’s any way to be a rule follower 100%. Like in negotiations, when you start at an extreme, I think some of our rules are set at an extreme so that even a bending of them will still keep us within societal norms.

Are your laws the same? This last week, I participated in a deception of someone with some other people. We did it so we wouldn’t hurt the person’s feelings. I was talking to one of my “co-conspirators” later about how there was a part of us that felt a little bad about it, but we wouldn’t have done it differently because we love this person too much to have hurt their feelings. It was what we southerners call a white lie (maybe that’s not just a southern term).

Then there are the important laws that I break. Hatred. Judgment. Lust. Coveting. Lethargy. Idolatry. Yes, if I’m honest with myself, I break rules all of the time—big and small. I might like to think that I’m a rule follower, but maybe that is just part of my facade. Perhaps my heart is more corrupt than I want to admit.

Father, forgive me. Continue to break me, shape me, mold me, and fill me. Use my life to refine out the dross. There’s a line in an old Amy Grant song that says, “We’re just here to learn to love Him.” Help me to learn to be the best lover of you that I can be so that I might be as effective for you as I can be as long as you have me here, and I’ll be a great worshipper of you when I get to the other side of the Jordan.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 25, 2018 in Psalms

 

Supporting My Wife Going Catholic – Epilogue

24 Aug

Dear God, back in 2012, my wife was confirmed into the Catholic Church. While I went through the Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults (RCIA) with her, I decided not to be confirmed, but I still continue to worship with her.

We both wrote companion blog pieces back in 2012 about our experience back then (Megan’s series and my series). I read them all this morning–six for her and five for me. But that was six years ago and it was all still pretty new then. I thought it would be interesting to sit and pray through with you this morning what has happened over the last six years.

I guess it starts with the fact that we still attend our local Catholic Church with her being Catholic and me not. Even though I don’t go up for the Eucharist and I silently omit parts of some of the prayers with which I don’t agree (e.g. “ever virgin”), I pretty much feel like a member. While I’m not in any of the men’s groups like Knights of Columbus, we are active members of a couples group called Teams Of Our Lady (TOOL) with six other couples. There are a few people in there who came to the Catholic Church as adults, but I’m the only one who isn’t confirmed Catholic. No one seems to mind. I still stand by my statements from years ago that the people I have found there earnestly love you. It’s hard to ask for much more than that.

Here are some observations that I would now share:

  • One big thing is that we have really seen some personal trials over the last six years, and I am glad that we have continued to worship together. I don’t know how we would have gone through some situations with our children, our parents, or our careers and not be in a place where we are sitting together on most Sunday mornings.
  • We ended up having to find a compromise regarding communion. I am not allowed to participate in the Eucharist in a Catholic Church. I completely understand their logic here and do not hold that against the church. They believe that the Eucharist is something that I don’t believe it is. They don’t want me taking it if I don’t believe it. That’s fair. But I do miss communion, so on the big holidays like Easter and Christmas Eve, we go to a Protestant Church where I can have communion.
  • If she’s ever out of town on a Sunday morning, I will sometimes have a Protestant Sunday–mainly so I can have communion. I have found that our local Episcopal Church is the most reliable in having communion every Sunday and they have an early service which I prefer.
  • I attended an ACTS Retreat. I don’t want to say too much about this because they try to keep the contents of the retreat secret so that there are no spoilers for attendees. Let’s just say that I thought it was incredibly powerful and I really saw the Holy Spirit move in some of the men’s lives. While you don’t have to be Protestant to attend, it is definitely Catholic in flavor and theology. I don’t think I’ll do it again, but I am glad to have experienced it. I’ve found similarly powerful experiences at retreats at Laity Lodge.
  • We changed priests about a year ago. As with ALL leadership changes in ALL churches, there are been some who have been happy and some who are unhappy. The observation I would make about the Catholic Church is that you don’t have church splits and just start another Catholic Church. In 1993, Riesel, Texas, was a town of 800 people and five Baptist Churches. That would never happen for Catholics. People might go to a different Catholic Church in a different town, visit a Protestant Church (e.g. Episcopal) until the current regime leaves, or just stop going to church altogether. I know of people who did that with the last priest and I know some who have done that with this priest. But in the Catholic Church, you aren’t there because of the priest. You are there to worship and take part in the Eucharist.
  • Our children are grown and out of the house. One of them doesn’t have anything to do with church (that I know of) and the other sometimes visits with relatives in the town where they live. My wife and I pray together daily for both of them and have faith that you have them on the path that you have for them. I still can’t help but feel like that whole period of transition for them came at a critical and formative time and they were somehow damaged by not having continuity of church family at that stage of their lives. And the transition had nothing to do with my wife becoming Catholic. We were transitioning before she started attending St. Mary’s.
  • My wife seems to be really happy in the Catholic Church. She has no regrets, and, therefore, I have no regrets either. If she’s out of town on a Sunday she will usually try to visit the local Catholic Church. And I can say that, while I am not 100% lock-step with Catholic theology, the people I have found there earnestly love you and Jesus. I can’t ask for much more than that.

If I were advising anyone going through something similar, I would give them the advice my friend gave me way back in the spring of 2011. I told him that Megan was going to the Catholic Church, I was going to a nondenominational church, and I was feeling disconnected from her spiritually. He told me the words that I would say to someone else in that situation: “You need to suck it up and go to church with your wife.”

Father, thank you for continuing me on this journey. The last few years have been hard, and I hope I haven’t let you down too many times. I know that I’m grateful for you, your love, your help, and your provision. Thank you for my wife. Continue to lead us, to bless us through others at church and to bless them through us. We are your community, one holy, catholic (with a little c) and apostolic church. May we all bring you glory.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 

 
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Posted by on August 24, 2018 in Musings and Stories, Supporting My Wife Going Catholic

 

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My Utmost for His Highest

23 Aug

Dear God, I was reading a friend’s blog this morning–it’s a weekly that I never miss. He talked about finding work that is within your gifting and how there is really nothing quite like it. I resonated with it. I’m in a job right now that I really do love, and my skillset seems to fit what’s required of me to be effective. It stretches me. It stretches my faith. I’m still wholly dependent upon you for the success of the organization, and I still do my best to give you the glory for the good that we do. But I feel really good about my career and am not seeking anything else.

As Fred’s blog progressed, however, he talked about Peter and how Jesus called him out of his natural proclivity for fishing and made him a “shepherd” instead. This wasn’t necessarily in Peter’s gifting, but he certainly had specific gifts of personality and ability that he brought to the job. One gift was his boldness. The church needed Peter in a way that it didn’t need John. For example, in Acts 3:1-10 Peter and John are walking to the Temple when a man “crippled from birth” calls to them for money. “Peter looked at him, as did John.” (verse 4) But it was Peter who spoke. It was Peter who called on Jesus’ power to heal the man. John was great, but he was often just a witness. The church wouldn’t have grown nearly as much if John had been the rock on which Jesus built his church. Being a “shepherd” might not have been in Peter’s wheelhouse, but it wasn’t “Peter’s Utmost for Peter’s Happiest.” It’s “Peter’s Utmost for Your Highest.” (For anyone reading this, this title and these quoted phrases are a reference to a daily devotion by Oswald Chambers called “My Utmost for His Highest.”)

This part of Fred’s blog got me to thinking about the things I’ve been called to do at which I didn’t turn out to be very good. One was parenting a teenager. Maybe there are a lot of people who would say that no one is good at parenting a teenager–and there might be some truth to that. For me, however, this is an area at which I feel like a complete failure. My children are older now and out of the house, but I still feel like I am an inadequate father for them. My prayer is that you are giving something that they specifically need through me of which I’m not aware. You made me their parent for a reason. I know I’ve prayed for them every day. I have faith that you have your hand directing their lives in ways that I cannot see. Part of that faith is believing that there is something I’m giving them as a father that I can’t see either.

Father, I give you my utmost for your highest in every aspect of my life. Of course, I will fail at this pledge, but I promise I’m not intentionally holding anything back. At this point, while my happiness is not irrelevant, it is certainly secondary (or even tertiary) to your will, your plan, and my duty to love you with all of my strength and love my neighbor as myself. You might now have happiness for me down this path, but I am assured by your word that you have peace for me there.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 23, 2018 in Acts, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, My Utmost for His Highest Scripture of the Day

 

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Psalm 42

21 Aug

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon —from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42

Dear God, I love it when people are vulnerably honest. This psalm is that way. My extended family lost someone this week, and there is mourning. There are tears. and even though there is comfort in you—and hope in you—and even though we are glad his suffering is over and he is with you, it’s still hard.

I’m glad you allow for that. I’m glad that kind of situation is accounted for in scriptures like this one. You know us. You made us. You built us to mourn when we lose someone.

I’m going to be talking at the funeral this week. I will have an opportunity to point other family and friends to you. Speak through me and help me to be your voice to his children and grandchildren. Give them a sense of your presence and touch them.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 21, 2018 in Psalms

 

Once upon a time… (for Uncle Jack)

20 Aug

Psalm 23 (KJV)
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Dear God, once upon a time there was a man sitting in his barracks room in a foreign land. He was a pilot in the Air Force, and it was a time of war.

He was a good man. A father. A husband. A son. A brother. A soldier. He grew up dry-land cotton farming in a small town where a good chunk of his class in school were cousins. He went to Baptist church every Sunday growing up. One day, when he was about 11, the pastor was doing what Baptist preachers do every Sunday–giving the invitation. His great uncle knocked him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t you think you should go up?” So he did, submitting his life to you, asking for your forgiveness for his failings, and throwing himself into your mercy. Seeds were planted back then–much like the cotton seeds in the field. They grew and developed into character. It’s not like he started pursuing you with everything he had, but the fruit of your Spirit began to grow in him nonetheless. He became a man of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, and self control.

As he grew, he wanted to be a pilot. He wanted to serve his country. He wanted to sacrifice. He married and they had a little girl, but the life of a career soldier requires sacrifice, usually unfair and very hard sacrifice, of everyone. And in wartime, you never know where your duty will take you.

Which leads us back to our man, sitting in his barracks, alone. He would gladly admit later to anyone who asked that he was scared. His missions lately had been at night, flying combat over a warzone. While he flew, he could see tracer bullets and anti-aircraft missiles being launched. Chatter from other pilots filled his ears, warning each other of incoming dangers. Air superiority did not mean safe air. He was in danger at every moment.

So he sat there this one afternoon. It was time to get ready to go, but for the first time in his life he was immobilized with fear. It had finally gotten to him. He couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in that cockpit, flying at over 500 mph straight into harm’s way. No, he wouldn’t do it tonight.

“But that’s not the kind of job where you just decide not to go,” he told me. “They don’t take too kindly to that in the Air Force.” If he decided to not go, he didn’t know what it would mean for him, his family, or the ground forces that were depending upon him, his plane, and his mission.

All of a sudden a thought came to him–we’ll assume it was the Holy Spirit. “I have a Bible in my bedside table. I need that right now.” It had been a while since he had read the Bible. He had never read it regularly. But the phrase, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” rang true for him in that moment. Not that he was ever an atheist, and not that there was ever a time when he didn’t love you. But let’s just say it had been a while.

He didn’t know where to start so he took his Bible and just let it fall open. He decided to read whatever came up and look for strength in it. There he found the passage that he had heard at funerals and church services his whole life: Psalm 23. He read it and a peace started to pass over him. He read it again. More peace.

…valley of the shadow of death

…fear no evil

…thou art with me

…thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me

…thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies (his favorite part)

…surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

Buoyed by only this psalm of David, our man was able to get dressed and report to his assignment. He chuckled as he released his bombs that night, thinking about the table prepared for him in the presence of his enemies. Sure, we’d like to think that that’s not what David meant when he wrote those words, but David was a warrior–that’s probably exactly what he meant.

The next day when he woke up, it was time to report again. His Bible, still open to Psalm 23 was sitting there so he read it again. And he read Psalm 23 the next day after that. According to my Uncle Jack, he continued to read (not memorize, but look at the words and read) the 23rd Psalm every day for the rest of his life, just two days shy of his 81st birthday.

Think about that. Every day for the rest of his life. Some days were amazing. The birth of a child, a wedding, an anniversary, business success–he read the 23rd Psalm. There were also tragic days when he woke up facing struggles with children, divorce, the loss of a parent, brother, or other loved one, business failure–the 23rd Psalm was there on those days too. It anchored him to his Shepherd regardless  how smooth or turbulent his air.

And now, this morning, as Uncle Jack awakes in a whole new world, he knows what you mean by the table you prepared for him. He has found his mother, lost to him when he was just a small boy. His second mother. His father. His two brothers. His wife. He has also found some of his enemies. It’s likely they are there too–a table prepared for them as well.

Father, I’m happy for Jack. Thank you for what you brought to my life and so many other lives through him. He will be missed, but I’ll see him at the table you’ve prepared for me soon enough.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 20, 2018 in Psalms

 

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Matthew 11:28-30 – “Power in the Blood”

19 Aug

“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.”
Matthew 11:28-30

Dear God, I want to look at this passage through several translations. The one I have above is from the NIV. Here are some different versions of the same verses:

KJV
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you , and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

NAS
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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.”

NLT
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

The Message
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me–watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

While I typed out each of these translations, I had “Power in the Blood” playing in the background. I asked myself, what is that power? A lot of us have sung about it through that song all of our lives. What was the power the author discovered that they wanted to share? Well, it feeds into this passage pretty nicely.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
Would you be free from your passion and pride?
Come for a cleaning to Calvary’s tide.
Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
Sin stains are lost in the life-giving flow.

Four questions? The first and the last relate to each other–release from sin. The second had to do with our victory over evil (whether we can see it with our earthly eyes or not). The third is a release from passion and pride.

Father, as I prepare to preach this morning, I feel a burden on this one like no other I’ve felt. And with that burden, I feel like I am pressing too hard. I am trying to much to come up with my own plan. I am trying to think my way through this too much when, in reality, I will be most successful if I simply lay this out through prayer, which I think I successfully did yesterday, and then let your Holy Spirit take over and guide me where it will in the moment. So I offer this to you. I offer my thoughts, my experiences, and my best-laid plans to you. Do with them what you will, but do it for your glory. I don’t care about getting one accolade today. I really don’t. I just want to know that your Holy Spirit did what it wanted to do and planted the seeds it wanted to plant.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 19, 2018 in Hymns and Songs, Matthew

 

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What are we selling?

18 Aug

Dear God, I am giving a sermon tomorrow morning at the Presbyterian church. It will be the first time I’ve done two Sundays in a rom, and I have felt the leading for a long time to give them a good serving of the Gospel–the Good News. But is it for them or is it for me?

A couple of years ago, I heard David Brooks say something that I’ve looked for online and I cannot find. He made the comment that Christians have this great message of grace, love, forgiveness, compassion, etc., but what we communicate to the world as a group is that all we really care about is what happens in their bedrooms. While I think there is a call to a certain level of purity by you and that cannot be overlooked (for example, porn is extremely toxic and dangerous), I completely agree with this thought. We do have this great message to give people.

I just stopped in the middle of writing this to see if I could find that David Brooks quote. I didn’t find it exactly, but I found a good interview with him. I found this quote in the middle of it: “Some of my more popular columns have been those about forgiveness, or the role of suffering, or what graciousness looks like. There’s a widespread hunger to hear people talk about those issues. When you touch upon those themes, I think, ‘I’m not the only person out there who is wrestling with these things and troubled by them or comforted by them.”

Later in the interview with him, the interviewer asked, “To grasp the beauty of a love for thngs that are unlovable, you have to recognize yourself as unlovable. If we don’t want to reckon with sin, is it possible to see grace?

Brooks replied, “I think you have to have a sense that you’re loved beyond what you deserve. I think we experience grace both in this world and in a divine sense when we have messed up and don’t deserve to be forgiven but are. That’s when grace becomes shocking.

So with all of that said, let’s look at the passage I have set out for tomorrow after praying to you and see if I can make some sense of the message you want me to share.

Exodus 34:29-35: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. // When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

2 Corinthians 3:7-18: Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!//Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over this face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Matthew 11:28-30 [Jesus speaking] “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.”

Father, it’s time for me to start to work on my outline, but I think it’s going to come down to this. We need to be reminded of what you are offering us and what we accepted:

  • Forgiveness of our sins and freedom from our shame
  • Peace to know that the circumstances in our physical world are all under your control, whether them seem to be working out for us or against us
  • Hope that even if tomorrow isn’t better, in the end, we win!
  • Joy that is driven by the freedom, the peace, and the hope

Then we need to be reminded that this is what we have to offer others. We have it to offer our friends and acquaintances. And as a church, they have it to offer their neighborhood and our community.

We aren’t selling morals and judgment. We aren’t selling condemnation. What we are selling is the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. And the only cost for the person is a willingness to humbly confess their sin before you, turn from their sin as they know it, and then pursue you. If those things happen, it won’t necessarily be an easy life, but the trials will shape us, and the fruit will be love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, and self-control. Who wouldn’t buy some of that?

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 18, 2018 in 2 Corinthians, Exodus, Galatians, Matthew

 

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2 Corinthians 10:17-18

17 Aug

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.

2 Corinthians 10:17-18

Dear God, I hope I give you enough glory for the good in my life. I have to say that over the last two months I have felt like you have been particularly gracious in answering my prayers. You’ve answered them in my personal life. You’ve really answered some concerns I’ve had about work—and not just is a mild, oh, I can explain this away kind of way. I mean, you’ve done some big things at work. I’ve tried to point your provision out to people (especially board members of the nonprofit where I work). I’ve tried to be humble and give you the glory. With some of the good fortune we’ve had lately, I think I’ve been able to successfully point them to you.

If I get the glory for any of these things, nobody wins. I don’t win because I’m a deluded fool. Those around me don’t win because they don’t see evidence of your glory and power. And you don’t win because I’ve thumbed my nose at you and your answer to my spoken and unspoken prayers.

Father, first, I’m sorry for the times, even now, that I fail to give you the proper glory. I know I do it. I know I want people to look at me and think highly of me. Second, I still have a few things in my life that distress me. You know who and what they are. Move in me. Move in these situations. Make them count. Glorify your name through them. Give me the path you need me to have and help me to walk down it.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 17, 2018 in 2 Corinthians

 
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