Category: Faith Ponderings

Devotional Pondering: “Sharing in the Father’s Passions”

I was in a guitar store recently with my youngest son. Going to the guitar store is kind of my personal kryptonite…I love it. I love the smells of the new guitars. The gleam of the new varnish on the dark mahogany acoustic bodies. I love the sounds of plucking fresh strings, it’s like…well, music to my ears.

Okay, I digress…

I was in this guitar store with my 6 year old, very impressionable son, and I was explaining and showing him the various styles of guitars. I was in My glory there in that store. I was reveling in this passion. I was excited to hopefully share this passion with my son. Then I handed him a guitar to hold. I showed him how to correctly hold it. How to strum it. The guitar looked huge in his tiny arms…yet it made me smile. There I was sharing one of my passions with my son.

Later that day…

We were out on an errand at another store (no guitars in sight), and my son looks up at me with his big blue excited eyes and says “Dad, when are we going back to the guitar store so that I can pick out MY guitar?” At this point if was smiling ear to ear, my son wanted to learn, he had caught the gleam in my eyes and wanted to share in my passion for music and now he wanted his own guitar to play.

I was a proud Father.

Guess what? God is a proud Father too…of you and me.
He wants so desperately to shares His passions with us, His love for the world, His joy in creativity and music, His artistry…and He revels and smiles broadly when the lights finally go on in our eyes and we begin to catch just a glimpse of THAT passion of the Father.

He longs to share with us His love and passion…are we catching it? Is it in our eyes and our hearts? Do we possess a fraction of the Father’s passion in what we do, in who we are…in Whose we are? He stands there beside us ready to share it with us. He longs for us to capture His glimmer. He smiles broadly when we ask Him to teach us, to be with us, to lead us…are we?

Prayer: Lord, I am Your child, teach me. Here I am, show me. Lord grant me a glimpse of your glory, your love, your passions for the world around me…ignite these passions In me and allow me to revel in Your presence today. Inspire my heart, soul, mind and body to love and serve you today. Father I love you. -Amen.

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Finding Freedom…stop the madness!

What are you 
                            Enslaved to?

ImageWhat holds 
You
Captive? 

 

So many victims…
                                          so many chains.

Enslaved to the things we own…
                                                  or is it the things which own us?

 

 

Image what is it that is clasped to your life
                                                                   threatening to drown you?   Image

 

How the pressure builds and builds
                                                     and
                                                          builds.

What holds us back, keeps us chained
refrained and sometimes
 Insane? 

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Wouldn’t you rather be 
set free? 

To find relief.
                    from the grief, 
                                        the chaos
                                                      this burden?  

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I don’t want to lug this anymore…
To push and pull 
and never improve this lot…

 

Why would we EVER
be satisfied with this? 
When there is real Peace
                       real Hope
                       real Life
                       real Freedom Image …

BUT…
The burning question is…
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Why do we still live like we are still enslaved

                                                 still imprisoned
                                                 still chained…?  

 

Something to ponder today…and find freedom, live freedom, be freedom for others still blind and chained.  

                  

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Devotional Pondering – A Hard Truth: His will isn’t always our will!

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“May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” -Matthew 6:10

Many times, if we’re honest, our prayers contain a very personal aspect – our will.  There are certain things that we pray for that we want to happen, outcomes and accomplishments, dreams and aspirations.  Often times we want God to answer our prayers in the manner that suits us.  Sometimes He answers the way that “we hope” He would answer, while other times His answer isn’t what we expected.  

When we submit ourselves to Him, we are making a conscious attempt of complete surrender – come what may.  Jesus taught His disciples how to pray.  We call it “the Lord’s prayer”, and yet we should understand that Jesus was modeling how prayer should be.  Sure the words are important but so is the attitude in which we say those words.  The Lord’s prayer isn’t a “magic” saying either, it is not the only way to pray, but it models for us the type of prayers that should leave our lips and hearts.  

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The Danger
Taking our will out of our prayers might cause us some anxiety.  Our will is sometimes (in my case very, very, very) stubborn.  Our will is probably the last ounce of our old selves that remains within the face of complete surrender.  The will of God, however, can be dangerous to our personal dreams and aspirations because He might call us elsewhere…but...if we chose to accept His will over ours, He provides us with something far better than we could have ever hoped and dreamed of.

We serve a dangerous God.  
That doesn’t mean that He sets out to cause us pain or discomfort, but God calls us and prompts us to this attitude of complete surrender.  Faith is blind sometimes.  When we utter the words “Your Will be done” we have released our self-chosen pathways, our wants and our often selfish wishlists in life, which we have clutched tight-fisted and unwavering in resolve.  His will is not always our will, but can we face a simple truth that releases us to see this dangerous God?  That truth – He knows better than we do.  He can and will guide us.  He wants to lead us.  He is prepared to help us on this journey of Holiness, but we must utter those four, sometimes frightening, words – YOUR.  WILL.  BE.  DONE.

Confessions:
I still struggle with those words…do you? 

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Sometimes I find myself fighting against His will.  I think that I know better and so I pray my will into things, people and aspirations once again.  I take back that which I had surrendered to Him.  I take back my trust in His leading.  I take back my faith and choose my will over His..do you find yourself here as well?  I believe God wants us to honestly inventory our lives.  I believe He desires an honest relationship with us and we must actively decide whether or not those four words are true of us.  Are they true of you today? 

 

-Prayer: Dear Lord, I confess that I have not always prayed and surrendered to Your will.  Forgive me when I have taken You for granted and that of Your love.  Teach me to trust you more deeply.  Show me how I can live within Your will more fully.  I know that You long for a deeper relationship with me, guide me, break me, melt me, mold me again.  -Amen.

 

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3 Warning Signs – When Leaders Are Out of Touch with Reality.

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It happens from time to time in every organization.
Perhaps those appointed, elected, or assigned to the responsibilities of leadership forget what it was like to be led.  Perhaps along the way of corporate or organizational “ladder climbing” they lost touch with true tangibles which are grounded in reality.  It can be true even within the Christian world that power corrupts absolutely.  

What are the warning signs as leaders that we ought to be aware of?  What kinds of tools can we utilize in our leadership models in order to stay relevant and lead with passion and vision so that others will follow?  I think it begs to be said but authoritative leadership cannot be respected or maintain just by brute force.  The result of leading in such a way is a leadership of fear and not respect.  Good leaders strive to make additional leaders along the way, not subjugation and “my way or the highway” philosophies.

3 Warning Signs – tools to help leaders stay in touch with reality:
1.  Cultivate a spirit of authentic humility:

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When the veneer and “polished” shine wears off of new leaders it is important to live within a spirit of authentic humility.  Those with whom you are leading need to know you are human and that you do not place yourself above their needs.  Humility within good leadership is usually developed not born.  It is much easier to lord over followers barking out orders and playing favorites.  It is easy to become a bad leader.  It is much harder to be a good leader.  Good leadership takes work and deep consideration of the needs of their followers.  Becoming humble despite the potential privileges that leadership can offer speaks volumes to those being led.  When we adopt a true spirit of humility within leadership, the paradigm of “top down” organizational structure is turned on its head…and this is a good thing!     

Humility in leadership has the ability win advocates not just “followers”.  What I mean by that is this – some followers will just follow out of obligation, but to cultivate productivity, respect and genuine leadership one must gain advocates within those you lead.  Being humble while leading is absolutely one way to cultivate these kinds of relationships within your organizational base.  

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2.  Listen to opposing arguments & perspectives

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Good leaders aren’t afraid of criticism, in fact they willingly engage in productive ideas sharing.   This doesn’t mean that the vision or mission of the organization should be sidetracked by opposing views but rather a good leader will listen to alternative methods to accomplishing the same mission and vision.  All too often I think insecure leaders are unwilling to be challenged because they lack the confidence in their own leadership abilities.  They see opposing or alternative views as threatening, even insubordination, when in fact others (even followers) are striving to accomplish the same goals and objectives.  Suddenly, instead of listening to other people’s opinions and ideas, the insecure leader will shoot them down and reprimand because they feel their leadership abilities are in question.  Lack of true listening as a leader is a warning sign for poor leadership and a polarized organizational vision.  

A good leader desires to actively listen to those they lead and seeks to consistently improve the mission through innovation and ideas sharing.  When a company or organization values the thoughts and ideas of others within the team, the mission can advance faster and more efficiently.  Great leaders are willing to fight for the ideas and thoughts of those who are subordinate yet passionate about mission.  Listening, really listening is crucial to great leaders.  Without such an ability, common leaders (which far out number great leaders) will ignore, plod on, and become out of touch with reality.  

3. Invest in People not the Product (or Mission): 

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Equipping, discipling, and developing future leaders must be a valued focus of great leaders.  Yes the mission or product is important to the success of whatever organization but without the people doing the hard labor behind the mission or product the organization will eventually fail.  All too often the mission (or product) gets placed above the people.  Suddenly people are not treated like people but rather just another number or warm body to facilitate the desired outcomes.  When this happens the company or organization can become a cold place to work.  Those who work there might be begin to feel unimportant, morale might be low, vision can be misplaced for simply “survival”, and the passion for the mission might evaporate entirely.  

In the vein of this warning sign, leaders might sense something is wrong with the organization or company, but because of their disconnectedness to the reality of those they serve in leadership, they may conclude that the remedy is another program or ‘relabeled’ slogan.  Without the aforementioned characteristics of great leaders, (Authentic Humility and Active Listening) the common leader will strive to improve the company or organization through more program and success driven ideas without the inclusion of its followers.  When this happens the common leader has decided that they will invest in the product or mission over the people.  All too often, through this impersonal leadership method, common leaders will sacrifice the few (or the many) for the sake of marginal product/mission success.   

These are the warning signs of leaders who are out of touch with reality.  The reason I write this today is to help us decide what kind of leader that WE want to be both in life and in our places of employment.  These are very common threats to any organization or company, and without corrective steps and measures, attrition rates within the organization or company will increase.  Coupled with that loss, the mission and vision will become harder and harder to accomplish and the investment in people instead of product (programs and mission) will be abandoned.  

I, for one do not want to become disconnected and out of touch…do you?  

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-Just something else to ponder today…be the kind of leader that you aspire others to be!!!

 

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Devotional Pondering – “This is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you!”

“In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
    but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;
    the child he embraces, he also corrects.

God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children.” 
Hebrews: 12:4-10 (The Message) 

No likes to be disciplined.
I remember as a kid getting in trouble with my mother and she sent me to my room.  Then she said that horrifying phrase: “Wait until in your room until your father gets home!”  I remember sitting there on my bed, empty pit of a stomach just dreading the punishment that I knew I had coming to me.  I contemplated many things while waiting.  I thought of the various phrases I would say like, “I’m sorry” or “I didn’t mean it“, or “I’ll never do that again!“…they all sounded hollow and empty.  Humorously (not then though) I also contemplated things about my punishment, like “how many books can I put in my underwear without my father noticing so that my spanking won’t hurt?”  I was very dramatic then.  

No one likes to be disciplined.  I didn’t then and I still don’t enjoy the moments when it happens today.  

“Wait until your Heavenly Father gets home!“
God has a way of shifting us from our own private spaces of ignorance and sin into correction and discipline.  It hurts.  It’s not fun.  It is most certainly not enjoyable and yet it needs to take place.  

Just as a parent disciplines and shapes a child so that when they grow up they have learned their lessons and are good people, so too God disciplines us (His Holy Children).  Did you know that you’re a child of God?  He loves us so deeply and He longs for us to grow up as health and strong righteous men and women who are worthy of being called HIS!

Sometimes He disciplines through the words of a friend or an elder.  These truthful words can be painful to hear and they strike directly at the heart.  But these moments are never to wound us or harm us, they are for our correction and growth.  

There’s something about  a Rose Bush:

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In order for a rose bush to grow the next season following autumn and winter is for the gardener to prune and cut it back.  So the gardener cuts the branches and the excess away despite the sharp thrones this plant is beautiful and magnificent when it blooms.  The gardener knows this and so takes great care to cut just enough away in order to make room for the rose bush to grow again.  When the next season comes around the rose bush thrives in the sunshine and the rich soil that the gardener has placed it in, and because of the pruning process it flourishes and grows even more beautiful.  Soon roses bloom in full and the scent of its aroma fills the air and many people come and admire the beauty of this rose bush.

Stand firm in your pruning!  

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 I believe that God is not done with us yet!  There is still more to prune from us.  Sometimes the pruning process is painful.  Sometimes there will be tears as He corrects us, but He does this so that we will bloom and grow until we are Holy just as Christ is Holy.  When we allow stand firm and allow Him to prune us through His discipline we are able to flourish and produce the kind of love that has a sweet aroma of God.  Without the pruning process in our lives, we cannot grow, we will be stunted and limited in this life.  

Discipline hurts for but a moment and then when we allow it, God brings to us peace of His presence and the assurance that we can bloom and grow in His holiness.  

 

 

Questions to consider:

 

What pruning has God done in your life so far?
What is He teaching you through this discipline?
What still needs to be pruned?
Are you willing to stand firm amidst His loving correction? 

Prayer:  Dear Lord, thank you for loving me so much that you seek to discipline and correct me.  Forgive me when I have been stubborn and refused your correction on my life.  Show me what your holiness looks like in me and how I must change and surrender that which stunts my growth in you.  -Amen.  

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Devotional Pondering: Death, Lions, Stinky Dark Pits & Prayer.

“Don’t mess with nature.”  This phrase is so true.  Many people have gone out into nature, whether on the plains of the Serengeti or in the vast expanse of the ocean or else where, without respect for the elements and the wildness of nature and have paid for it.  Nature is wild.  Nature is fierce.  Nature is hungry.  

…so are lions. 

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We all know the story of “Daniel and the Lion’s den’.  We’ve heard it in Sunday School or at a Vacation Bible School some where (maybe long ago) in our childhood.  I want to re-examine that story today.  I’ve been pondering something in my heart, and I feel the Lord has led me to this passage once more.  

The narrative is found in Daniel chapter 6.  Perhaps you would like to take some time and read it again for yourself.  

Here’s the context: Daniel (a prophet and servant of God) is an official in the Persian empire under King Darius.  In those days Kings of Persia were considered gods.  No one would dare defy an edict of the king, for to do so would mean that they defied the very gods the Persians worshiped.  

But…Daniel served God, the only God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.  Despite the tricks of others who had been appointed to serve under the king to trap Daniel, Daniel never wavered or faltered.  Daniel chapter six describes what kind of man Daniel was –

“10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. 12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”

Did you catch that?  
Despite outward pressure to conform, Daniel did what he always did – He prayed.  He went upstairs, faced Jerusalem and prayed to God.  

How Serious Is Prayer to Us? 

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Daniel, despite a death sentence, continued to talk to his heavenly Father.  Our conversations with God ought to be like breathing to us.  It is vital.  It is imperative.  It connects us to the only certain, consistent, true power in the universe.  God loves it when we talk to Him.  In fact in the very beginning of time scripture records that He would physically come down and walk with Adam and Eve in the evenings…He wants to fellowship with us.  Prayer connects us to His fellowship and His love.  Prayer is serious business.  It ought not be taken lightly.  God doesn’t need a lot of “religious jargon” or flowery words to accompany our prayers.  They can be simple.  They should be honest.  They should be sincere.  Our prayers to Him are not prayers to a Genie in a bottle, or a litany of wish lists that we want from God.  He wants us to share with Him our lives, our concerns – both the large and small concerns…even the lions prowling around us ready to consume us.  

What are your Lions?

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Daniel was thrown into a dark, smelly pit that contained wild, blood thirsty lions.  He was all alone in that frightening situation.  All around him, in the inky darkness, prowled a fierce predator of nature.  Scripture doesn’t record Daniel screaming for his life.  The bible doesn’t record Daniel confessing his regret for defying King Darius’ edict – no!  Daniel was thrown into a pit of lions (a death sentence) and despite all odds, he continued to pray to God.  

What kind of lions are you facing today in your life?  What kind of pressures are you under?  Many within our world want Christians to buckle under these pressures, the father of lies Satan himself would love nothing more than for people of God to disobey and turn away from God.  The easy path in the midst of our lions is to conform to the world around us.  The easy path is to look, dress and act like everyone else around us…to fit in, to party it up, to do whatever pleases us.  But if we do, we will be consumed by the lions and we will be lost.  

That night, in the blood thirsty lion pit, a miracle happened.  God closed the mouths of the lions because a faithful servant of His needed saving.   

“My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”  The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” -Daniel 6:22-23

Whatever lions you may be facing right now in your life, God says to us – “have faith in Me and have no fear!”  
1 Corinthians 16:13 says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”  
Are you facing wild, fierce pressures around you today?  Be bold, be strong and stand firm!  God will always be with you!

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me today to face my lions.  Forgive me when I have wavered and have given into the pressures of the world. Strength and equip me for today and help me to be Your faithful servant despite the prowling lions and looming pressures.  I long to be Yours and Yours alone!  -Amen.  

Something else to ponder today!  

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Devotional Thought – “Lord Humble me, and Cleanse me”

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“Create in me a clean heart, O God” Psalm 51:10

This is a psalm of David.  He wrote these words after his sins were found out and the prophet Nathan had confronted him.  When someone else knows about your sin, let alone God, the devastation can be total.  David doesn’t try to go “on the record” and defend his actions.  He doesn’t move away or run from his mistakes.  He confronts his sins.  He was a murderer, a liar and an adulterer.  He had been caught, found out, and left wanting.  Yet, David returned to the only place one can return to when humbled by crippling sin – God.  Scripture records this sinner to be “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) but what made David fulfill this kind of criteria in life?  How can we also be men and women after God’s own heart?  

Humility

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It should be noted that David was identified as such a man before his downfall; but this psalm and his actions following his downfall should also give us a clue into His humble character.  David was a shepherd as a young person.  He worked a lowly job which, at times, was considered one of the dirtiest and most undesirable jobs.  While working as a shepherd he wrote songs of praise to his God.  He understood where his joy came from and also his blessings.  

Following His downfall into sin, his reaction to being caught was not one of indignation but rather humility and grief.  He had broken God’s heart, and David pens these words of regret, remorse and was in search of God’s forgiveness.  Right relationship with His Salvation was his desire.  Sure he had messed up royally (no pun intended), but he longed to recover that which had been tarnished and nearly destroyed.  Scripture records David tearing his cloak, putting on sack cloth and pouring ashes on his head.  This is a sign of grief and mourning but is also a very humbling picture for us to see of a king.  

How humble are we?  Do we recognize how in need of a Savior we are daily?  We are all far from perfect people.  We all struggle with sin and temptation.  Do we seek after God with great passion just as David did, or do we merely think about Him on Sundays or special holidays?  Our lives were given to us as a gift.  Each one of us comes with struggles and concerns, but we don’t have to carry them alone.  Connecting with The Father connects us with the Divine and unburdens us, but we must first become humble.

Psalm 51:10-12

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Prayer: 
Dear Lord, I confess my sins to you today.  Forgive me when I have stumbled along this path.  Help me to be who You have called me to be.  Restore me, renew me and cleanse me.  I long to be a person after Your own heart, show me how I ought to live.  Instruct me in Your ways, and walk beside me every moment of every day.  -Amen

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How Does Grace Work?

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It is more than just saying a prayer at dinner time.  It is more than being “gracious” on a sports field after a loss.  Grace is something that can be offered to more than just a friend in need.  Grace is something that can be profoundly life changing when offered to a complete stranger or even an enemy.  

Grace is defined in the spiritual realms as “God’s unmerited favor”.  This means that grace or God’s love and forgiveness is offered to those who don’t even deserve it.  It’s like going to an execution of a known guilty convict, and just before they “flip the switch” the governor calls to say the guilty convict has been pardoned. Image

 

 It just doesn’t seem to make sense.  Shouldn’t that person pay for their crimes?  That person certainly didn’t deserve anything but punishment, and yet grace was provided without merit.  

God comes through to us in our wretched state.  Jesus was sent to us despite ourselves, despite how undeserved we were.  God knew that in our total depravity we were hopelessly lost and doomed to suffer our sinner’s fate…yet He still sent Christ.  Jesus took upon Himself the sins of all mankind and they were nailed to the cross with Him.  Knowing this brings John 14 into perspective: 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus declares to His disciples and to us as well that grace has come into the world.  He also reminds us of the way to the Father is through Him alone.  

Receiving Grace: 

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We can receive this grace from God the moment we cry out to Him.  We can not only be forgiven from our wretched sins and shame but we can be washed clean from them.  God’s grace is like that.  It is His desire that no one suffer death because of sin.  Jesus has given us the way to receive His grace – declare Him to be God’s one and only Son!  Ask Him to forgive your sins, and live this new life through Jesus!  http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_crd_ss_EforESpec_ABCs-of-Salvation_pdf.pdf

To keep on “the way” and living within His grace perhaps begin by reading the words of the gospel of John, or another of the gospels.  Spend time reading a chapter a day, pray for God to guide you as you read His truths, and ask God for direction.  Lastly find a church to call home.  Find a church family to get plugged into and to connect with.  When you have roots such as these in the Christian faith you will grow!  

Giving Grace:

 

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Lastly, I want you consider something.  Here it is: forgive those who have wronged you!  I know, it’s hard to fathom ever forgiving THAT person, but when we forgive as Christ has forgiven us it not only frees other people but it frees us too.  We no longer have to curry these grudges and hurts around with us.  We no longer have to be burdened by pains that happened to us.  Surrendering these hurts and grudges may be the hardest thing we ever do, but trust me, it is worth it.  

 

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God gave us unmerited grace.  We didn’t deserve it, and yet it is offered to us.  Can we learn to forgive as well?  Can we truly learn to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44)?  Grace is real, free, and available.  Accept it and then offer it to others! 

-Just something else to ponder today!  

Prayer: Dear Lord help me to accept Your grace today!  Guide me in Your truths, I want to serve you and love you with every fiber of my being.  Forgive me of my sins.  Help me to accept Your grace and in turn forgive those around me.  Lord I need to be freed of these burdens.  Grant me Your strength and wisdom to love my enemy.  Show me practical way in which I can show love and forgiveness today.  In Your name I pray all of these things.  -Amen.  

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“Sermon on the Mount” Part 1 (Listening to the Teacher)

 

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

  1.  When Jesus sees us, he makes time for us.

An item in “The Report Card” told of a study done in Colorado in which 3000 high school seniors were asked about their best teachers. From their responses this composite was drawn. The ideal teacher (1) is genuinely concerned and interested in students as individuals; (2) requires students to work; (3) is impartial in dealing with students; and (4) is obviously enthusiastic about teaching. 

Today In The Word, Oct, 1989, p. 25.

 

  1. What do you want Him to teach you?
  2. Are you ready to be taught?
  3. What kinds of barriers prevent you from hearing His teachings?
  4. Are you ready to do what he says?
  1. When Jesus teaches us – we need to come to Him. 
    1. What does coming to him require from us?
    2. Our time?
    3. Our obedience?

How we admire the obedience a dog shows to its master! Archibald Rutledge wrote that one day he met a man whose dog had just been killed in a forest fire. Heartbroken, the man explained to Rutledge how it happened. Because he worked out-of-doors, he often took his dog with him. That morning, he left the animal in a clearing and gave him a command to stay and watch his lunch bucket while he went into the forest. His faithful friend understood, for that’s exactly what he did. Then a fire started in the woods, and soon the blaze spread to the spot where the dog had been left. But he didn’t move. He stayed right where he was, in perfect obedience to his master’s word. With tearful eyes, the dog’s owner said, “I always had to be careful what I told him to do, because I knew he would do it.”

Our Daily Bread.

  1.  
  2. Our Attention?

 

  1. Our faithfulness?
  1. Are we ready to hear Him today?
    1. Or are there distractions along the way?
    2. What is He teaching you?
    3. We are all guilty of ignoring Him.
    4. Holiness begins with our commitment to follow Him. 
    5. Will you sit at His feet and listen?
    6. Do you have a daily devotion time carved out?
    7. Are you giving Him your best not the rest?
    8. These teachings are so important in this life…may we commit to Him this week..and study what He is telling us! 

 

 

“Sermon on the Mount” Part 1 (Listening to the Teacher)

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Simplicity…Warning, it’s not for the faint of heart!

simplicity

Today I lost a friend.  
He died suddenly, he’d been struggling with health issues…but he was so young.  

It puts things into perspective for me.  Bringing life, death, and this tangible reality so much closer to me, so much so that I can almost touch it…it is all that I can see right now.  I know that it’s the dull ache of what’s missing.  I know that it’s the raw emotions that are welling up within me, but it also makes me appreciate things a little more.  The small things.  The immediate things.  The intimate moments with my family.  The laugh that I can extract from my small 6 year olds as I tickle them just before bed time.  I don’t want to miss any of this.  I take these vital moments all too often for granted.  

STOP TAKING LIFE FOR GRANTED!

I think I am only scratching the surface in my own life, but what I am realizing is that I have a deep need for simplicity.  We often make life more complicated that it really should be.  We tangle ourselves up in frustrating lives with debt, stress, pursuits of the “next big thing” and we fail to appreciate what we already have.  

 

I think that’s the whole reason this tiny home culture has taken off.  Since the housing market crash a few years ago, people have begun to see how futile the push for success, money, fame and materialism can be.  We are working ourselves to death, we are becoming slaves to our stuff and we can’t seem to find the exit to this mad merry-go-round that won’t stop going around in circles.  So people are downsizing, taking a step back, reanalyzing their lives and the importance of certain things.

Tiny home construction

In a very real sense it is a spiritual journey.  A spiritual awakening or re-awakening in some.  
How can we crave less stuff, find happiness and realize how much we have been taking the simple things for granted?  
This journey towards simplicity looks vastly different to many people.  I think it’s cathartic to begin the quest and to see where it takes us.  I don’t want to look back at my life twenty or thirty years from now and realize how much I missed because I was so consumed in my own selfish little world that I missed my opportunity to watch my children grow up and my chance to leave a positive lasting impact on them.    

Simplicity is a spiritual discipline and yet I think all too often we look at these spiritual disciplines and view them as rigid rules and the finality of a goal that seems very far off.  I also believe many view simplicity as too difficult for them to accomplish or too drastic of a lifestyle to ever seriously consider adopting.  Yet, every road that we journey on has to begin somewhere.  We have to make a conscious decision to take those first steps.  Living a discipline of simplicity doesn’t begin with a run, it begins with a crawl.

Obviously living a life within the spiritual discipline of simplicity is more than giving up “stuff”…it calls for a deeper faith, a stronger trust, a determined heart.

Questions to consider:
Am I a victim of the rat race?
Am I enslaved to my stuff?
Could I benefit from downsizing and “uncomplicating” my life?
What have I sacrificed or missed because of my present priorities (making it to kid’s events, spending time with the family, lost time with my spouse, lost time with my friends, my church)?

Living a Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity isn’t easy…no one ever said it wouldn’t cost us something; but think of what we will gain from this path. We all have to start from somewhere, perhaps it’s time to find out.

-Just something else to ponder today.

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