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John 8

15 Feb

8 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

13 The Pharisees replied, “You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid.”

14 Jesus told them, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. 15 You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. 16 And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. 17 Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. 18 I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.”

19 “Where is your father?” they asked.

Jesus answered, “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” 20 Jesus made these statements while he was teaching in the section of the Temple known as the Treasury. But he was not arrested, because his time had not yet come.

21 Later Jesus said to them again, “I am going away. You will search for me but will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.”

22 The people asked, “Is he planning to commit suicide? What does he mean, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?”

23 Jesus continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not. 24 That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they demanded.

Jesus replied, “The one I have always claimed to be. 26 I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won’t. For I say only what I have heard from the one who sent me, and he is completely truthful.” 27 But they still didn’t understand that he was talking about his Father.

28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. 29 And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” 30 Then many who heard him say these things believed in him.

31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”

34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. 37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”

39 “Our father is Abraham!” they declared.

“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. 40 Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. 41 No, you are imitating your real father.”

They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”

42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! 46 Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”

48 The people retorted, “You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?”

49 “No,” Jesus said, “I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me. 50 And though I have no wish to glorify myself, God is going to glorify me. He is the true judge. 51 I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!”

52 The people said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, ‘Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus answered, “If I want glory for myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, ‘He is our God,’ 55 but you don’t even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.”

57 The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?”

58 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!” 59 At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.

John 8

Dear God, before I do my final preparations for tomorrow’s Sunday school lesson on John 9, I wanted to go back to John 8 and see what the immediate stories were leading up to Jesus healing the blind man. When I read the second half of this chapter, I was struck once again by the incendiary things Jesus said to the people as recorded by John. It reminded me of what I’ve said about John’s Gospel before. John 1:1-18 is the thesis statement for the entire book. If you don’t believe those 18 verses then Jesus is either a liar or a lunatic. But if you do believe those first 18 verses of John, then he definitely is you incarnate. “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!” Not a lot of wiggle room there. It falls neatly into C.S. Lewis’s line of Jesus was either a liar, lunatic, or Lord.

It’s such an amazing thing to consider. I am dependent upon two things for my faith in you, and and am wholly at their mercy. First, that John, Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded their accounts accurately. Second, Jesus was who he said he was. If the first is true, then the second has to be true. If the second is true, then I need to think seriously about every word Jesus said and consider what he would say to me/us now. If he were to be in our town, outside any of our churches on a Sunday morning, and discussing any number of issues with us, how would challenge our assumptions, our actions, and our faith? I can be pretty confident in my opinions. And I am sure I am wrong about a good number of things. I just don’t know which things. So how can I be very confident about anything?

Father, you know I’ve been kind of sad this week. I haven’t lost my faith. I haven’t lost my peace. But I have been sad. I see a lot of things happening in the world that grieve me. They are all focused around people being callously harmed. I would say thoughtlessly, but it honestly seems like some thought has been put into it. And there is simply nothing I can do about it. But as I’ve said over the last couple of weeks, while each soul is precious, in the history of earth, human life is cheap. So I offer you simply my service to do my best to love the souls that touch my life and pray that my life might ripple into other souls. “It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around ca warm up to it’s glowing. That’s how it is with [your] love, once [I] experienced it. [I] spread [your] love to everyone. [I] want to pass it on.” Shout out Kurt Kaiser.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2025 in John

 

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John 9

14 Feb

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”

But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”

10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”

11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”

12 “Where is he now?” they asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.

17 Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”

The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”

18 The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”

20 His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”

25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”

26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”

27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”

28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”

30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32 Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”

34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.

35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”

37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”

38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”

41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.

John 9

Dear God, I have a lot of thoughts as I think about this story this morning.

  • Of course, I’m very interested in the blind man’s parents and how they experienced all of this, including the years leading up to it.
  • This story is obviously important to John because he takes 41 verse to tell it.
  • I wonder why this story was so important to John. It starts with him acknowledging that the disciples asked the wrong question to start this whole thing. Would Jesus have even healed the blind man had they not mentioned it?
  • The Pharisees are still hung up on healing on the Sabbath, but the only “work” I can see Jesus did was make a mud pie for the man’s eyes. I guess it’s a “spirit of the law” thing for them.
  • There is division among the Pharisees. Not all of them are against Jesus. Was Nicodemus there? If so, did he speak up or had he learned to keep his mouth shut after what happened in chapter 7? Maybe not since this wasn’t in Jerusalem, but I’m sure Nicodemus wasn’t the only Pharisee that was secretly believing in Jesus.
  • Who were these people who felt the need to tell on Jesus (verses 13-14)? Self-righteous snitches? Instigators? I’ve known people like this. I guess I’ve probably done it a time or two myself. I’m sorry.
  • Why did the Pharisees ask the man’s opinion about who Jesus was (verse 17)? What were they trying to get him to say? Were they looking for someone to punish that day? Then they asked him parents the same thing. Sounds like a trap to me. But why were they taking out their anger on this man and his parents? Why stop there? Why not start asking everyone around what they thought? How about the people who brought the man to him? The self-righteous snitches. Why didn’t the Pharisees ask them who they thought Jesus was?
  • John tells the detail of the Pharisees asking the man to tell them the story again. This story was obviously a big deal for John for him to give us so much detail. He probably told this part because of the piece where they man asked the Pharisees if they wanted to be his disciples too.
  • They threw him out of the synagogue. Was he ever allowed back in? Was he banished as the parents feared would happen to them?
  • Jesus went and found the man. That’s kind of a cool detail. He didn’t come across him later. He heard the story and then sought him out. Oh, my Jesus! You are wonderful!
  • Some of the Pharisees overheard Jesus’s conversation with the healed man. They couldn’t admit their own weakness in front of Jesus.

Father, I will admit my weakness in front of not only you, but in front of anyone. I don’t feel the need to be something I’m not. I am a sinful man. I am a man who loses faith. I am a man who is often wrong and doesn’t have it all figured out. I am loving this story more and more. Thank you for preserving it for me. Thank you for using it to comfort me. I offer you my repentance and my worship.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 14, 2025 in John

 

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John 9:3-5

13 Feb

3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

John 9:3-5

Dear God, why does anything happen, really? Well, maybe not “why,” but what can we do with it? I saw a video from this week about a boy with a systemic arthritis disease who was noticed by a YouTuber. Cutting the story short, the boy has gotten a lot of attention over the last three weeks, has taken good done to him and paid it forward to others, and then has been blessed in return. He still has a long, painful life ahead of him. And he didn’t end up this way because of any sins he or his parents committed. But the question is, what will you do with their situation to redeem it? Who will he get to bless throughout the rest of his life because of this difficult struggle? Did this happen so your power could be seen in him?

I can look at my own life circumstances and ask myself why. Why this? Why that? And, to be clear, I am not to be pitied by anyone. I have a very good life, all things considered. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have deep sorrows. But why did this happen? What will I do with my sorrows? Will I just go on my own way, or will I allow the pain to shape me? Will I use it so that your power can be seen in me?

Father, as I encounter people today who are struggling, help me to remember to offer them your redemption in their situation. Love them. Heal them. Bring glory to your name through their lives. For the blind man in this story and all that he and his parents endured 2,000 years ago, I thank you. I thank you that their story is still relevant for me today. For us today. They had no idea that their story would be told again and again for the next 2,000 years all over the world. In every language. My story will certainly not be that big, but it might touch someone. May it all be for your glory. Your plan. Your will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2025 in John

 

John 9:1-2

12 Feb

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

John 9:1-2

Dear God, the disciples asked a binary question here that they didn’t realize was completely off-base. They errantly thought negative circumstances were an indication of bad actions. It kind of goes back to Job. In fact, it’s kind of weird that the Book of Job didn’t dispel this errant theology from the beginning. I guess the prosperity gospel goes back a long way and its roots are so deep and attractive that we don’t want to let go. The thing that prosperity gospel brings us is the idol of control. We think our actions will drive outcomes and so we will ignore Job and determine that our own actions will manipulate you into working everything out the way we want it.

So, they started with the wrong assumption. If I see a blind man, there must be sin behind it. In this case, they assumed the sin belonged either to the man (although I don’t understand why they would think that since he was born blind) or, more likely, to the parents. So these two poor parents had probably lived a lifetime not only caring for a blind child when he was young, but also feeling blamed by their community for their son’s situation. And as I’ve said before, maybe they accepted that blame and took it. Maybe they remembered that time they committed that sin and now lived with the guilt of it having produced a blind son. Or maybe they didn’t feel they had sinned so they blamed their spouse. Had their blind son driven a wedge between them? Or between them and you? Did they feel judged by you?

How does this apply to today? To my life? Well, there can be circumstances that we aren’t pleased with. Relationships that are broken. Outcomes we don’t like. Unemployment. Health issues. Financial crises. Children who are struggling. Damaged marriages. When these things happen, do we ask the right questions, or are we as ignorant as the disciples and just assume that the family we see with a struggling child is responsible for that child’s struggle? Do we assume that someone is to blame for the struggling marriage? For the health issue? Maybe these things come into our lives so, if turned over to you for redemption, they can bring about your glory in our lives and for others.

Father, help me to be much, much less judgmental of other people. Help me to be an encourager. Help me to see the person who is struggling and not immediately think they should repent, but instead offer them your comfort, love, and power. Help me to accept all of that for myself as well. Basically, the disciples start this story believing a lie. Help me to recognize the lies I believe and reject them for your truth.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 12, 2025 in John

 

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Mark 7:1-13

11 Feb

7 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship is a farce,
    for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

Mark 7:1-13

Dear God, I was thinking recently about what Jesus would say if he could follow us through the day. If he could follow me through the day. How would he challenge me? How would he correct me? At what times would he say, “You have heard it said…, but I say…”? How would he raise the standard on me? How would he scoff at the standards I’ve set?

Going back to the Old Testament, what would Jesus have had to say to Solomon or David? Naomi? Jacob? Even Abraham? Even Moses or Elijah? How would he have corrected any or all of these people at any given moment? Jesus set such an interesting standard. On the one hand he tore down the idols of manmade ceremony and rituals, but on the other hand he raised the bar even higher. Even in this passage with the Pharisees, I’d like to say that I’ve followed the letter of the law and honored by parents through caring for them, but is this an example of where Jesus would tell me, “You have heard it said to honor your father and mother, but I say do it not only with your actions but with your lips”?

Father, help me to hear your Holy Spirit, and Jesus speaking to me through your Holy Spirit today. Help me to see what is happening around me at any given time. Help me to love you well. Help me to love others well. Help me to worship you with my life.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2025 in Mark

 

1 Corinthians 12:29-13:3

10 Feb

29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

1 Corinthians 12:29-13:3

Dear God, how many times have I read 1 Corinthians 13 without first reading what came before? How did Paul segue into this? What was his set-up?

He was talking about the different gifts and how not everyone has them, but then he told them what is universal to all of us. He told them about love, which is the “way of life that is best of all.”

I kind of talked about this a few days ago when I talked with you about how we treat life as if it is simultaneously precious and then cheap. Our lives are precious to us. Our existence is important. But then when we tear down another person. Bully them. Are indifferent or rude to them. We act as if their lives are not important.

And Paul is good here about explaining the difference between being kind and loving. In 13:3, he talks about how giving to the poor is fine, but if you don’t love those around you then you still aren’t hitting the mark.

Father, I have a conversation coming up soon that could be difficult. Help me to lead with love. Help me to truly love this person and be concerned about them. Help me to be compassionate, but to also understand that a higher bar set for them can be good for them as well. Holy Spirit, whisper in my ear. Speak to me and through me. Help me to be exactly what my friend needs me to be this morning. I want the absolute best for her. I want to love her in the purest form of your love. And I have relatives I want to know how to love as well. I have other friends. Of course, I have a wife who needs my love. Help me, Father, to love well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2025 in 1 Corinthians

 

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Isaiah 6:1-8

09 Feb

6 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
    The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

Isaiah 6:1-8

Dear God, this might be the passage in Isaiah with which I am most familiar. I remember that some Christian song opened with someone reading from it about 30 years ago. I think it was Wes King. Let me look for it.

Okay, I just found it. It’s a song called “Holy” by Wes King:

“Holy” by Wes King

“In the year of King Uziah’s death
I saw the Lord, sitting on a throne
Lofty, and exalted
With the train of His robe filling the temple
Ceraphim stood above Him
Each having six wings
With two, He covered his face
With two, He covered his feet
And with two, He flew
And one called out to another, and said:
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts”

Oy Vay Ist Mer, I am, undone
I am a man of an unclean heart
My eyes have seen the King
I’ve seen the Lord, Almighty

Holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord

I am naked beneath, the Gaze of God
My heart is shattered
For I have, seen my shame
Dust and ashes beneath His mighty throne
I am unworthy, I shudder at His feet
But with fire, He touched my lips
And took away my sin

Holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
Holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord

He has cleansed me, I’m not what I will be
For when I see Him, I shall be as He

Holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
Holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord

So there is no way I can ever express with my human mind just how different you and I are, Father. It’s amazing you can even hear my prayers, know my thoughts, or care about my life. What am I to you? Who am I to you? There is a huge difference between me and my dog. When it comes to understanding and abilities, I am light years ahead of my dog in comparison. But on a continuum of intelligence, on a scale of 1 to 10, my dog is a .1, I am possibly a .3, and you are 100. But in my literal world–in my little reality–here I am. I am foolish. I am unclean. But I offer what I have to you. Here am I. Send me.

Father, what would you like me to do today? I think I will visit a friend’s church this morning. I will try to bless people who made donations to our nonprofit through acknowledgments for their gifts. I will go through the money I have and figure out how you will have me use it. I will work on my Parents of the Bible project. And I will enjoy the Super Bowl with a friend. Is that all you would have me do today? Of course, I will love my wife. I will pray for my children, their significant others, and my relatives. I will reach out to some of my relatives and offer love. I will submit myself to you. Father, thank you for touching me with Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Make me a fisher of people. Make me a lover of people with your love.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2025 in Hymns and Songs, Isaiah

 

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Hebrews 13:20-21

08 Feb

20 Now may the God of peace—
    who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
    and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
21 may he equip you with all you need
    for doing his will.
May he produce in you,
    through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
    All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21

Dear God, I like this blessing. I especially like the part of verse 21 where he says, “May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus…” Several months ago, instead of praying “in Jesus’s name,” as I was taught to do as a good Baptist, I started praying “in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit” to more accurately reflect how I feel when I am praying. I am coming before you “in Jesus” and then I am sitting here praying “with your Holy Spirit.” I need Jesus, my intercessor between me and you. I need the Holy Spirit to guide my prayers and to keep me from going too far afield, even though I know my prayers are imperfect and often ignorant. I am sure some of my theology is heresy. I need the Holy Spirit to be guiding me so that even the wrong paths I take will ultimately bring me back to you.

I am about to go and help serve others this morning through a volunteer activity. I ask that you please equip all of us with what we need. May you produce everything in us that is good and of you. May the fruit of your Spirit living within us pour out for others. May our work be pleasing to you, and may be pass on to those who are being served everything we have so that your good might flow from their lives as well. All glory to you, Father, forever and ever.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 8, 2025 in Hebrews

 

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Life is cheap?

07 Feb

Dear God, I don’t really have a verse to go with this thought today. Or, better said, I’m not starting with a verse today. I’ve just had a thought festering in my mind for the last two or three weeks that I wanted to work out this morning (not that I’ll get to any real resolution because I’m too ignorant to get that far).

I have a friend’s funeral today. She was a precious woman. She was loved by her family. It was a long struggle for her with various ailments. In and out of hospitals. In and out of physical rehab facilities. A real concern for how she would be cared for after her mom passed. And now her mom has outlived her. Her mom has other children facing physical ailments. Her mom is unbelievably strong and resilient, having survived her own bout with serious cancer about five years ago. And here she is now, burying her daughter today. I cannot imagine how her heart must be breaking right now, even as I type these words.

So my friends life was precious. Her life brought some of your presence into the world. Her life was not cheap. Or was it? It seems like lately, on an aggregate scale, we have started to treat human lives as cheap. I read yesterday that 40,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza in the last 16 months. Even if that number is inflated and only half that many have died, how can we just blink and move on when we here that that many lives have been snuffed out unnecessarily. Then there were the Jewish lives that were snuffed out in a day back in October 2023. Then I read another story yesterday that the Russians are taking the North Korean off of the front lines in Dursk because of their heavy losses. As I understand it, these North Korean soldiers were literally cannon fodder. But each one was a life. Each one was a soul. then there are all of the Ukrainians who have died over the last three years simply because a leader in one country decided he wanted their land as his own. Tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands on both sides?) dead at one man’s whim. And now in our own country, people groups are being marginalized and discriminated against. Racism has reared its ugly head, and people are judging others–bullying others–based simply on the color of their skin. We don’t see these lives as precious. We see them as cheap and something to be exploited for our own advancement.

But what if my life, in the end, is that cheap too? What if it is simply not important that I continue to live? Yes, it would leave a hole like any one of the other hundreds of thousands of people I’ve mentioned here left holes. Just as my precious friend leaves a hole this week. But in the end, am I not just 1/8-billionth of the current population of the earth?

Father, in the end, the value I add is that I get to worship you and the bring your kingdom and your will into this world my treating the lives around me as precious as you treat them. To love them. To encourage them. Maybe to admonish them, but lovingly. Love my neighbor as myself? Well, I think my life is precious, so I think what that really means is that I see each person’s life as being as precious as my life is. Life is not cheap. Their lives are not cheap. At the same time, I could die today and leave the hole that all of us leave because while life is not cheap, it is certainly fleeting. Even a life lived to 100 is still such a small piece of history. So help me to feel the value you place on me, respect and appreciate the value you place on us all, and then act on that. And please comfort the family and friends of my friend who died. She was loved by us. She is loved by you. She is precious still.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Mark 6:6b-11

06 Feb

Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. 7 And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. 8 He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money. 9 He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

10 “Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. 11 But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

Mark 6:6b-11

Dear God, there seem to be so many things happening around me that disappoint me. I don’t like how some things are unfolding in the culture. They concern me. And there is so very little I can do about them. That’s what I thought about this morning when I read this story. I would guess that if I had asked any of Jesus’s disciples or even Jesus himself how they felt about what they saw happening around them and unfolding in their culture, they would have been concerned too. So what did Jesus tell them to do? Go out and cast out demons and, I assume, preach repentance and reconciliation with God, although, ironically, they still did not even come close to grasping what all you had in mind through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection.

So here I am today. I have work to do. I have a job that needs me to be loving and compassionate. I have a friend who needs some comforting today. I have a wife who needs my love and support. I have children who need my prayer. I have these writing projects I’ve felt led to, wondering what exactly I’m supposed to do next.

Father, help me to not look to the world or the culture for my comfort or my peace. It’s okay to lament. It’s okay to see things and prayerfully take action. But you are my hope. You are the only thing that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You are the only thing in which I can rest. So I start this day just loving you. Appreciating you. Thanking you for the blessing my wife and I got yesterday and praying over it and what we are trying to pass to someone else through that blessing. Cover our actions, Father. Guide my wife and me. Care for our children, siblings, nieces, and nephews. My parents. Lord, be glorified in this earth.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2025 in Mark

 

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