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Emails to God – What does a harvester look like? (Matthew 9:35-38)

03 Jan

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Dear God, this description paints an interesting picture. Jesus, openly performing miracles from town to town is starting to attract a lot of desperate people. I would imagine that people in one town would find him and then follow him to the next so that the crowd became quite large. Such a crowd would require some logistical support. They would need food, places to sleep and bathe, etc. I wonder if city officials would get wary when they heard that Jesus was coming to their town.

I would also imagine that the people Jesus saw in the crowd were not the wealthy or even middle class (if such a thing existed in that area at that time). They would have been the “harassed and helpless”. They would have been the desperate and disenfranchised. They would have been the sick and hurting. They would have been those who were broken and ready to stop. I wonder what kind of harvest Jesus envisioned for them. If there were plenty of “workers” to work the harvest, how would things have been different? Would fewer people have been following Jesus because fewer people would have been desperate?

I guess the question I ask myself is, What kind of worker are you looking for and how can I help? If the harvest is all around me, then how would you have me work it? Is there something I should be doing that I am not? Is there a need I am missing? Should I be more evangelical, generous, service-oriented? What does your harvest need? Those are the questions that roll around in my head.

Father, teach me to be a harvester. I need to understand what that looks like and, if I am not doing it, learn to do it in a way that will enable you to work your will through me. Be glorified in my life, and help me to see your vision for how I should live my life.

 
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Posted by on January 3, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – How Much Should I Advertise It? (Matthew 9:27-34)

01 Jan

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

34 But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”

Dear God, I find it interesting that Jesus ignored the blind men until he got inside. He was really trying to keep the range of his power under wraps. I guess I can see a few reasons for this. First, he probably knew that the crowds would go nuts if they saw it and try to point his ministry in a direction in which he didn’t want to go. Second, he was probably trying to avoid a run-in with the Pharisees just yet, although they were about to see the exorcism and not like that either.

One of the thing that each Christian has to deal with is how publicly should we live our lives as Christians. Should we be more like Tim Tebow and talk about our faith at every opportunity? Should we be more like RG3 and mention our faith and that it is important to us, but not talk about it all of the time? Or should we be private to the point where people are not sure what we believe in, if anything at all? I think option #3 is definitely out, but the answer probably lies somewhere between Tebow and RG3.

In my own life, it can be hard to find the balance. I want to let people see you through me to the point where they are drawn to you and want you for themselves. On the other hand, I don’t want to be oppressive about my faith to the point where people are turned off and see a relationship with you as unappealing. It is a hard line to walk, and I fear I fall off of it more than I stay on it.

Father, help me to represent you well, starting with my children and wife. Help me to be your humble representative. Help me to lead them into your presence and foster and environment that is conducive to them accepting you and seeking you out. Love them through me. Love friends and neighbors through me. Be glorified through me so that others might be drawn to you and not pushed away from you.

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – “You may now dismiss your servant in peace.” (Luke 2:28-32)

26 Dec

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel

Dear God, I am going to break with the normal routine of going through Matthew and use http://www.biblegateway.com for the verse of the day. I wonder what it would be like to perceivably reach the end of my life and be ready to go. Since I have had this job I have gotten more used to the idea of my own death because I see so many memorial donations come through for loved ones who have died. I can see that it truly happens to everyone—none of us are going to get out of life alive.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with my wife’s 97-(soon to be 98-)year-old grandmother. It was a nice visit with her, and I think she is doing remarkably well. It was our last conversation right before we left that struck me. I think she is feeling her time ending. She told me that my wife and I need to be thinking about what we will want to say at her memorial service. She talked for a few minutes about the end and how her doctor told her he was trying to get her to 100, and she said that she didn’t really want that. I think she is about to the point where she is physically done. She is emotionally spend after having lost her daughter (my wife’s mother). She is even getting mentally spent.

Father, my prayer for her is that she will get to Simeon’s point of peace. That is the only thing that was missing from our conversation yesterday. She is tired, and she is girding herself for death, but she is not yet at peace with the idea. Help her, regardless of how many days, months, or even years she has left, to be at peace. Administer your peace through her remaining daughter. Administer your peace through her sons-in-law. Administer peace through her grandchildren, great grandchildren, and friends. Administer your peace through your spirit as she sits alone and ponders all that you are, all that you have been, and all that you will be to her.

 

 
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Posted by on December 26, 2011 in Luke

 

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Emails to God – What Would I Have God Do? (Matthew 8:5-13)

14 Dec

5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

Dear God, first, let me say that this has to be a top-ten Bible story. It is always fun to find someone who impresses Jesus. Nicodemus does. The woman who argues with him and says that even the dogs get the scraps from the master’s table does. The widow who gives her money in the temple does. Even Peter impresses him every once in a while. So these stories are fun to see. I wonder if my response to something ever impresses you.

Then there is this passage itself. I don’t think I ever noticed verse seven before. Jesus asks him if He should come and heal him. He “asks” him. He was looking for faith, and in the next few verses he found it.

As I sit here today I wonder if Jesus isn’t asking me, “What would you have me do?” Hmm. There are so many things I would have you do God. First, there are my children. Please help me to raise them. I want them to eventually be completely submitted to you. Please help me to love my wife. Give her peace, and give her what you need her to have through me and through her friends, family, and work. Please help me at work. Bless our efforts and use them for your glory. Whether it be in raising money for our work or finding services for our patients, bless our efforts. Please help our friends. My wife mentioned a friend last night who is really struggling. Please help her with the loss of her mother. Help her with her marriage. Help her with her children. If you are willing, please help her.

Father, I give all of this to you and more. These are the things on my heart, and they are what I would have you do, provided that you are willing. So I hope you are pleased with me. I hope you are pleased with my heart because it truly longs to serve you well.

 
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Posted by on December 14, 2011 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Prayer Requests (No Verse)

25 Oct

Dear God, our Center received two prayer requests from patients today, and I want to focus on them this morning instead of figuring out where I will go next since I finished Genesis yesterday.

The first one is from a woman who has been to our clinic a few times. She has a hurt knee, for which she needs your healing, but she also asks for prayer for her family, including for “my husband to stop using drugs.” Her prayer broke my heart because it is one thing to face the frustrations of physical pain, money, etc., but it is another thing to be in a situation with a family member where you feel like they are out of control and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Some will ask why she doesn’t just leave him, but it is likely that she cannot afford to leave him. She needs your help. He needs your help. She doesn’t mention children, but if they have children then they need your help. Please be with this woman and her knee. Lead her to healing, whether you provide it through us or your Spirit just moves through her body and heals her supernaturally, provide for her healing. Relieve her pain and help her to be able to fully work. And then I pray for her husband, her, and her family, and how they all interact. It is hard to know how you can help them, but I pray that you will be able to be there for him. Make him the man you need him to be. Help him to turn loose of drugs and other things that he thinks can provide a peace and joy that only you can truly provide. Help him to be at peace, and use this entire situation as an opportunity for him to find you and then bring glory to your name through his life’s transformation.

The second one was from a man who, coincidentally, is recovering from alcohol/drug addiction. His prayer request is for “balance in [his] life with work and personal growth.” He is having trouble because he cannot make enough per hour to make ends meet for his family. He says he doesn’t want to work 60-80 hours per week because that tends to get him out of balance. Frankly, God, with the way the economy is going, there is a faithless part of me that doesn’t know if you can answer this one, but the truth is that I know you can. I know you can help this man in his recovery and you can provide for his family’s needs. He also asks for prayers for his kids. So I do, God. I pray for this man’s recovery, that it will continue and that he will be strong in you. I pray for his job, that you will somehow multiply his income like Jesus did the fishes and loaves. I pray that you will love and parent his children through him and through their mother. Like the other family, use this as an opportunity to show up in their lives and reverse what could be generations of curses and vices that have passed down. Encourage this man. Give him hope. Give him your peace. Help him to bask in the middle of your presence.

 

 
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Posted by on October 25, 2011 in Uncategorized

 

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