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Luke 7:36-38

18 Sep

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

Luke 7:36-38

Dear God, we often read this story–okay, I often read this story and kind of skip over the woman. What she was experiencing in her life in that moment. What she felt compelled to do. Why she did what she did. I skip to the judgmentalism of the Pharisees, but when I read the story this morning, I just stopped with her. What her week had been like. What she thought when she heard Jesus was around. What drove her to bring her expensive perfume, enter that home, and just break down, literally, at his feet.

The movie Forrest Gump is interesting for so many reasons, but this story reminds me of Jenny, Forrest’s life-long love. So damaged. Acting out in so many ways. I watch “reaction videos” on YouTube of young people watching old movies for the first time, and I would say nine out of ten of them are always mad at Jenny for how she acts and treats Forrest. But the other one or two out of ten harken back to the trauma from her childhood and give her empathy. To use the phrase a lot of us know, they are curious and not judgmental.

There are people I love whom it would be amazing for them to find themselves at your feet like this woman. They have childhood trauma. And they have acted out for decades. What would it be like for them if they were able to come to the foot of your cross, pour our their most precious earthly possessions that have not brought them the peace they sought, and then worship you? Accepting your forgiveness? Accepting your healing?

Then there is me. Is there anything I’m holding back? Am I holding back any possessions? Am I holding back any repentance? That is something for me to really consider today. Holy Spirit, speak to me this morning. Help me to see if there is anything I am denying you, and, in turn, denying myself of you. And help me to also see the people in my life who are like this woman. Help me to love them well. Help me to guide them to the foot of your cross.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 18, 2024 in Luke

 

“Come to the Table” by Michael Card

17 Sep

Come to the table and savor the sight
The wine and the bread that was broken
And all have been welcomed to come if they might
Accept as their own these two tokens

The bread is His body, the wine is the blood
And the one who provides them is true
He freely offers, we freely receive
To accept and believe Him is all we must do

Come to the table and taste of the glory
And savor the sorrow, He’s dying tomorrow
The hand that is breaking the bread
Soon will be broken

And here at the table, sit those who have loved You
One is a traitor and one will deny
But He’s lived His life for them all
And for all be crucified

Come to the table He’s prepared for you
The bread of forgiveness, the wine of release
Come to the table and sit down beside Him
The Savior wants you to join in the feast

Come to the table and see in His eyes
The love that the Father has spoken
And know you are welcome, whatever your crime
Though every commandment you’ve broken

For He’s come to love you and not to condemn
And He offers a pardon of peace
If you’ll come to the table, you’ll feel in your heart
The greatest forgiveness, the greatest release

Come to the table and taste of the glory
And savor the sorrow, He’s dying tomorrow
The hand that is breaking the bread
Soon will be broken

And here at the table, sit those who have loved You
One is a traitor and one will deny
But He’s lived his life for them all
And for all be crucified

Come to the table He’s prepared for you
The bread of forgiveness, the wine of release
Come to the table and sit down beside Him
The Savior wants you to join in the feast

Come to the table He’s prepared for you
The bread of forgiveness, the wine of release
Come to the table and sit down beside Him
The Savior wants you to join in the feast

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Michael Card / Niles A. Borop III

Dear God, I’ve kind of had the “glums” over the last day or so, and I don’t have a great reason for it outside of my normal sorrows. So, as I sat down this morning I wondered what I needed to do in this time with you to really tap into you. The answer that came back to me was “worship.” I need a song that I would love to have running around my head all day. One that will draw me to you. One that will remind me of your love and forgiveness. One that I can carry to others.

I then took my phone and started to roll through the songs on my Christian play list, and while there were a lot that would fit the bill, I came across this one from Michael Card. It’s catchy from a tune standpoint. It’s upbeat. And it speaks truth. It reminds me of Jesus’s love, teaching, sacrifice, and power.

As I sit here and think about the Last Supper, I cannot help but think again about the controversial Olympic sketch during the opening ceremony that appeared to mock this precious event. And when I think of this, I think of my disappointment in the church’s response to this event. And maybe I’m wrong, but why oh why didn’t the church come out and love the people who did that? Just like me, those people need your love. They need to be reminded that this event was as much out of your love for them as it was for me. Even if they were mocking, it was a reminder of the power of that moment–your last meal with your disciples before you gave everything for all of us. It was a moment that was on the precipice of history’s pivotal moment. “Savor the sorrow. He’s dying tomorrow.”

Father, thank you for loving me. Thank you for this sacrifice. Please help me to be sensitive to every person I meet today. I’ll come across staff, volunteers, patients, people from outside agencies, and friends. Not to mention my wife. Help me to carry you with me and to them today. Give me the words to speak in every situation that will minister to them. For your glory, Lord. My utmost for your highest.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 17, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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James 3:13

16 Sep

13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 

James 3:13

Dear God, I was thinking about this while I was in church yesterday. The New Testament reading was from James, and I was thinking about how James gets a bad rap because some accuse him of being “works-based.” But I tend to see it more like the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is raising the bar and setting a high standard, but he isn’t saying that we have to do those things for our redemption and justification before you. He is saying that we should be doing those things out of our relationship with you and growing into being more and more like you. And they are for our good.

I was reading more of The Year of Living Biblically last night (I know, I’m a slow reader and I haven’t been making much progress lately), and A.J. Jacobs finally got to the New Testament. What surprised me was how nervous he was about it. He is culturally Jewish, so I think there is a natural thought he grew up with that Jesus is dangerous. He is a false prophet and not the Messiah. And he has spend the first eight or nine months being so dogmatic about the commands of the Old Testament, he is now trying to figure out how he will unravel some of it and replace it with Jesus. I have a feeling this might be my favorite part of the book. Watching someone come to you with fresh eyes. Feeling you out. Truly and thoughtfully exploring the difference between what he has spent the better part of a year experiencing and now the unexpected twist you added to the equation 2,000 years ago.

Father, I don’t love others because I have to. It’s because I get to. I don’t avoid temptation because I have to. It’s because I get to. And the closer I get to you the more…well, the words of “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” fit pretty well. 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

Help me, Father, to remember to turn my eyes upon you today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 16, 2024 in James, Uncategorized

 

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Mark 8:27-38

15 Sep

27 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”

29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”

30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.

33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:27-38

Dear God, as I read this passage this morning, I was wondering about how close Peter was and yet how far. He knew Jesus was the Messiah, but he didn’t know how to define Messiah. His Messiah would conquer. That’s what he thought he was signing up for. Yes, we are going to fish for men, but we are gathering them together so that Israel will be great again. Yes, they will be devout Jews in this new era. Yes, they will be closer to God, but with Jesus here, it’s just about “go time.” So he defines him as the Messiah, but he puts his own definition on what Messiah means.

Then Jesus starts teaching them the real definition of Messiah, but Peter isn’t having it. I don’t know the exact words of Peter’s rebuke, but after Jesus begins to “teach” them that the Messiah must suffer greatly, be rejected by the Jewish leadership, and be killed, he decides that Jesus is teaching the wrong thing. It’s Jesus who does not understand what Messiah means.

In “The Grand Inquisitor” by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the grand inquisitor during the Spanish Inquisition makes the same mistake Peter makes. Here’s a summary from Wikipedia:

In a long diatribe directed at Jesus Himself, who has returned to Earth in Seville at the height of the Inquisition, the Grand Inquisitor defends the following ideas: only the principles of the devil can lead to mankind’s unification; give man bread, control his conscience, and rule the world; Jesus limited himself to a small group of chosen ones, while the Catholic Church improved on his work and addresses all people; the church rules the world in the name of God, but with the devil’s principles; Jesus was mistaken in holding man in high esteem. Jesus remains silent throughout the Inquisitor’s speech.

Father, help me to not repeat Peter’s mistake. Help me to really know how you defined Messiah. In fact, let me take a shot at defining Messiah now. How did you define it compared with how Peter defined it. I think my definition is somewhere along the lines of, “A piece of God that came to earth to teach us directly who God intended us to be and how to act, and then offer himself as a sacrifice so that we might be rightly related to God and, through that relationship with God live out what Jesus taught. In the process, we invite everyone we can to join us. That’s the Good news. Help me live that today.

I pray this in Jesus the Messiah and your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 15, 2024 in Mark

 

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Philippians 1:27-2:4

14 Sep

27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. 28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Philippians 1:27-2:4

Dear God, just a side note here really quickly before I get started. Bible translations do matter. I first read this passage this morning in the NIV that was updated a few years ago from the original NIV. In that, Chapter 2 does not start with questions in the NIV. It starts with, “Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then…” It was the “Therefore” that sent me back to chapter 1 to see what Paul was “therefore-ing.” If it hadn’t been there, I’d have probably just started there at chapter 2. I’m grateful I saw it. We are sometimes disserved by the chapter and verse designations because they artificially split thoughts the original author didn’t intend. It would be interesting to have a version of the Bible that just had verse numbers but no chapters. We’d end up with some huge verse numbers but it would change how we read the Bible.

With all that said, the translation we read does make a difference. Almost no one in the world is reading scripture in the author’s native tongue. We are all getting someone else’s translation. Frankly, there is so much opportunity built into the system I use to learn from scripture to misinterpret and get bad teaching, and that’s not even counting my own inability to read scripture or lack of education to know what they are really saying. It’s a flawed process. My prayer this morning is that it will somehow be redeemed through you.

With that said, what is Paul encouraging the Philippians to do here? What is the reminder to me? What are the directives he is giving to us as individuals as we join together as your Church:

  • For all of us to contending (The NLT uses “fighting” but the NIV uses “contending.” Interesting.) as one for the Good News.
  • If you do it right I/we won’t be frightened by those who oppose me/us.
  • Our unity will be a sign to them that we are right–their path leads to destruction and ours leads to life through Jesus.
  • Our path will lead to suffering.
  • Jesus unites us.
  • Jesus’s love comforts us.
  • The Holy Spirit gives us fellowship.
  • God gives us tenderness and compassion.
  • Be likeminded and united through the Spirit with my fellow believers.
    • Same love
    • Same purpose
    • Same selflessness
    • Same self sacrifice
    • Same humility that elevates others over ourselves
    • Same interest in looking after others

Father, I’m kind of there on some of these, but I have not come close to accomplishing this list as an individual, and it seems that the vast majority of our American churches are not here as well. We are afraid of a culture that fights against us. But we don’t approach that fear through you. We grasp on to idols that we think will give us power. Politicians. School boards. Judges. Those are the idols that will win the day for us. At least, that’s what we think. The dirty little secret of those idols is that they will be here today and gone tomorrow. those idols are not worthy of our love or our enemy’s love. If we use them, they will not persuade one enemy, but they will harden their hearts. No, the only thing that will persuade our enemy is the love of our God. If we live our lives as Paul directed here. So help me to do that today. Oh, Lord, help me to live that life today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 14, 2024 in Philippians

 

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1 Peter 3:8-9

13 Sep

8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

1 Peter 3:8-9

Dear God, my wife and I were talking over breakfast this morning about some hurts in our lives and how we have responded to them. How we have healed and are still healing from them. Part of it is what Peter is talking about here. Not just forgiveness, but sympathizing with the person who hurt me. Loving them. Being tenderhearted towards them. Being humble myself. Don’t retaliate in action or in words, but care for them instead. Bless them instead.

And it’s not only for their sake. It’s for my sake too. It’s for my wife’s sake. We need to do these things so we can be healthy. Some of the most unhappy people I know are those who do not follow what Peter is teaching here. What Jesus taught Peter. That’s one reason I don’t understand the image a lot of people have of the Jesus of Revelation coming to just lay waste to people. As if you’ve been holding back your anger all this time and just stuffing it down. As if you’re waiting to explode on us. No, that’s not you. The blood on Jesus in Revelation is his own blood. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That includes Revelation. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. That includes Genesis to Revelation. You long for us. And if you are calling us to treat those who are bad to us in this way, how much more do you do that yourself?

Father, thank you for the freedom to turn loose of my hate. Thank you that you have given me so much love that I don’t feel like I have to conserve my own love for myself, but I can share it with others. Yes, sometimes I fail. Sometimes I return an insult with an insult. Sometimes I return mockery with mockery. I’m sorry for those times. I’m grateful those times are fewer and fewer in my life. But continue to purify my heart. I offer it and all of my rights to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 13, 2024 in 1 Peter

 

Toxic or Not? Forrest and Jenny from Forrest Gump

12 Sep

Dear God, I finished watching this video as I got ready for work this morning, and it kind of fit in with the theme of the week for me: How do we understand we are loved regardless of what we bring to the table?

Of course, I talked already this week about Fr. Mike Schmitz’s homily on “Nothing to Offer” and how we make a mistake when we avoid you when we have nothing to offer and when we come to you trying to justify our presence before you by all of the good things we’ve tried to do. No, the way to come before you is just by humbly accepting your grace.

This made me think of Jenny and Forrest as they discussed them in the Cinema Therapy video above because it really didn’t matter what Jenny brought to Forrest. She could bring her best. She could bring her worst. She could bring her physically abusive boyfriend. She could reject him. She could abandon him or ignore him. She could try to seduce him in her college dorm room. It didn’t matter. The good. The bad. He just loved her with a very simple love. He wanted to be there to protect her as much as she would let him protect her. He wanted to provide for her as much as she would let him provide for her.

I can’t help but wonder, as I sit here this morning, if this isn’t at least a glimpse of you with us. We keep orbiting you in an oblong path. Sometimes we get a little closer and enter into your gravitational pull. Sometimes we move away from you and spin out on our own. Kind of like Jenny did with Forrest. But there is a need in us that, once we’ve been introduced to you, draws us back to you time and again. And so, like Jenny, we try to bring you things. Maybe a nice pair of Nikes (in Jenny’s case). Maybe giving money to a nonprofit (in my case). And you are pleased with that like Forrest was pleased with the Nikes, but it’s not why you’re there. It’s not why you love us. You just love us because we are here.

I had a difficult, scary man in my office this week who has been arrested many, many times. He has really been on my heart this week. How do I introduce him to your love for him in a way that keeps my coworkers safe? Show me what to do in that relationship.

Last night, coworker sent me a Casting Crowns song that goes with all of this. It’s called “All Because of Mercy.”

I’ll close by praying some of the lyrics of this song: 

I could stand here and try to tell you
I found my way here on my own
Brought to life this heart of stone
Made up my own mind to change my own life
Workin' my own way to good, 
As if anybody could

But the truth is, I've been broken
Since my very first breath
And the truth is, I've been wanderin' 
Since my very first step

I know the only reason 
I can stand here unashamed
It's not because I'm worthy
It's all because of mercy
There's no way I could earn it
Praise God, my dept is paid

It's not because I'm worthy
It's all because of mercy
I still remember the day He found me
Six feet under all my cshame
I heard Him call me out by name
Hallelujah, the cross has spoken
Jesus, my Savior, bled and died
To bring this dead man back to life

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 12, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Luke 6:12-23

11 Sep

12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:

14 Simon (whom he named Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15 Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot),
16 Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

17 When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. 19 Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.

20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,

“God blesses you who are poor,
    for the Kingdom of God is yours.
21 God blesses you who are hungry now,
    for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now,
    for in due time you will laugh.

22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

Luke 6:12-23

Dear God, I’ve never pictured this before, but the beginning of this passage paints a picture of a group of people sitting there and Jesus picking among them like a team captain picking his players. I can imagine the people looking around as he made each pick. “Will it be me?” “He picked him?” “Yes! He picked me!” “Why didn’t I get picked?” I would imagine there were all kinds of things going on in everyone’s minds. It’s also interesting that Jesus did this so publicly. That he identified these 12 among everyone else. It’s not that the others stopped following at that moment. It’s just that these guys got to the next level with the Messiah.

Then they come down the hill and I can imagine the pride that those 12 felt. I can imagine it because it’s the kind of pride I would have in that moment. Looking around at everyone looking at you and thinking, “Yeah, I’m special. Did you hear about him choosing 12 special people? Yeah, that’s me. I’m in that group.”

Then Jesus starts talking and things start to take a different turn: “What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.“

Excuse me. What? People are going to hate me? But I’m a lieutenant of the Messiah. They are going to exclude me? Mock me? Curse me as evil? Well this doesn’t sound nearly as cool as I thought it would be. I mean, he’s talking about a reward waiting for me in heaven, but I really don’t want to be treated like Jeremiah and some of the others. Wow.

As for me in my life today, I must admit that I don’t suffer much for following you in my current South Central Texas culture. It’s politically correct for me to love you. Worship you. Talk about you. Yes, there are times when I see an injustice and I poke my head up with as much discernment as I can muster. And I take a risk when I do it. But for the most part, the more I wear my faith in you on my sleeve the more rewarded I am in my community. In fact, I have to be more careful about pride and ego than I do about avoiding scorn and hatred.

Father, I come this morning to eschew all of the things the world offers me and simply worship you. Yes, I do these prayers to you and publish them publicly, but it’s not for anyone who knows me. It’s so that others will be inspired to spend time in your scripture and see how it might be a good thing for them to do as well. I want them to see some of the things in scripture or music or other things that I encounter in my life to teach me and form me into your image. I want them to understand that the Bible is applicable for today. For our individual lives. I want them to see that another human, another sojourner in this world struggles through some of the same things the struggle through. I want to worship you with them in this way. They don’t know me. If they ran into me on the street, my name would mean nothing to them. That’s fine. It’s not about me. But for the small times when it is about me, when I do get proud, please help me to repent and return to the heart of worship. It’s all about you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 11, 2024 in Luke

 

Isaiah 46:5-7

10 Sep

5 “To whom will you compare me?
    Who is my equal?
6 Some people pour out their silver and gold
    and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
    Then they bow down and worship it!
7 They carry it around on their shoulders,
    and when they set it down, it stays there.
    It can’t even move!
And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
    It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.

Isaiah 46:5-7

Dear God, I love this word picture of comparing you with the idols we make for ourselves. That I make for myself.

There is a presidential debate tonight. A lot of people have made these two candidates their idols. At a minimum, they have made the defeat of one of the candidates their idol (If XX wins then everything will be terrible. XX CANNOT win!). Thinking of the gold and silver mentioned in this Isaiah passage, how many people give more money to their favored politician than you? The hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions are coming from somewhere. How many people put the bumper stickers on their cars, the flags on their houses or in their places of business (see the guy who cuts my hair who has a huge flag on the wall inside his establishment), or the signs in their yards. Do they display you as much in their lives. Do they spend as much time, or any time with you? No, we can sit and mock the Israelites for their idols, but we do the same thing. We’ve decided that the political power equals security and success. If my side wins then I will be safe and secure. Then I will be happy.

Father, I am sorry for how I allow this attitude, this idolatry, to infiltrate my own heart. Maybe it is politics. Maybe it is my kids. Maybe it is success at work. Maybe it is my marriage. I start to think that the happy heart is found in these things instead of in you. I can be happy if my kids love me in this way. I can be happy if this or that happens at work. If my political candidate wins. If my wife does this, that, or the other. But it is all foolishness. You are the only thing that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I already have it way better than I deserve. So I submit myself to you and worship you today. In this moment. You are my God. I reject the other gods that offer me false promises and empty rhetoric.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 10, 2024 in Isaiah

 

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Titus 2:1-8

09 Sep

2 As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. 2 Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.

3 Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.

6 In the same way, encourage the young men to live wisely. 7 And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. 8 Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed and have nothing bad to say about us.

Titus 2:1-8

Dear God, there is something so sweet and basic about these instructions to Titus, and yet following them can be elusive. Now that I’ve moved into the older crowd–especially at work–my example is important. I have a young man who works with me, and I am sure I am a wholly unique man compared with the other men he knows in his life. I hope you are able to do something positive for him through me. I have many young women who work with me. While I am not the womanly example you need them to have, I am an example. Just yesterday, I texted a sermon link to a single mom who is raising her daughter and also has responsibility in raising two younger sisters who are just a little older than her daughter but not much. It was Father Mike Schmitz’s homily from the Gospel reading yesterday in the Catholic Church. It was talking about the value each one of us has. I think it’s an important message for everyone, but in this case I wanted to share it with her and her girls. I hope it makes a difference.

Then there are those I love over whom I have very little influence whether it is due to lack of proximity or broken relationships. My prayer for them this morning is that you will raise up people in their lives who be your example to them. Give them a sense of you and who you want them to be. Love them with a father’s love. A mother’s love. Give them mentors. Show them how much you love them–how much they count–through the people you put around them.

Father, I have a lot of things to do today. A lot of tasks. But the most important one is to be your example, and then also look for examples that I myself can follow. Put Godly men and women in my path today who can teach me, encourage me, and love me with your love. That starts with my wife. Thank you for the love you show me through her and what you teach me through her. She’s amazing. You do so much for me, but it all starts with her. I am grateful.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2024 in Titus

 

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