Author: Good Life

Scripture:  

(Jesus said) “Truly, truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone; but if it dies it bears much fruit.

Whoever loves his life loses it…and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me he must follow me…and where I am there will my servant be also.  If anyone serves me the Father will honor him.”  John 12:24-26

Observation:  

What act of worship is surrender?   What does “dying to self” really mean?

Application:  

The chapter began with a tale of celebrity: people came from all over to see Jesus and his rockstar sidekick, Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha.  Martha is running around serving and Mary is weeping over perfume.  The authorities plot to kill Jesus even while his reputation and celebrity grows.  After a parade there were some Greeks that wanted to see Jesus—and understanding that Gentiles were being reached and time is running short, Jesus had some more hard things to teach the Disciples. 

Christianity has so many things that are counter-intuitive, counter-cultural, so far out of society’s norms as to be a “head-scratcher” cubed.

Take “dying to self”: In a society where I am encouraged to be all I can be; to have it my way;  and look to be satisfied in every respect—surrendering and giving up my will is presented to be pretty wimpy.  And yet my Lord indicates that I must put my own desires aside and embrace His Will….for what?  Oh, nothing much—Eternal Life, being with Jesus, getting kudo’s and back slaps from the Father of all Creation.

The reason this is so hard is because folks like me are not wired that way from birth.  In fact I inherited the “me, me, me” gene from my great-great (to the 40^th power or so) grandfather, Adam.  That “gene” is the Original Sin.  “I will do it, stay out of my way…” is one way it manifests in me.

Jesus is the Atonement for Sin.  Sin is something I do but sin is also written in my DNA.  I need Redemption.  I need to be Transformed.  In geek speak I need my Operating Code rewritten—and Jesus made that happen when I surrendered, when I was converted.  His rewriting of my Operating Code is why I am a New Creature in Christ—old things are passed away and (look out!!) all things are new.

So, dying to self, surrendering to Jesus has now become easy-peasy?  Wrongo.  It is a fight every single day.  I have to pay attention to surrendering because if I don’t it is too easy to fall back into the habitual reflexes I have honed very well from my birth to the present.

Surrender isn’t only a mindset born from the “will of man” (see John 1), it is foremost an act of Worship.  Laying my will, my wants, my attention and anxieties, my ambition, and all the other “my’s” at the foot of the Cross is an everyday Worship event.

Prayer: 

Lord God, you see the struggle I have every day to surrender and what conflict it raises in me.  There are times I am frozen in place because I want to act and I don’t have a clear understanding of what or how to act and please You.  Take my current struggle Lord; help me understand what to do and give me peace—peace as only You can provide.  AMEN

Scripture:

John 11:4, 25-26, 35 – (4) But when Jesus heard this it he said, “This illness does not lead to death.  It is for the glory of God, so the son of God may be glorified through it.” (25-26) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (35) Jesus wept.

Observation:

Jesus, upon learning of Lazarus’ sickness delayed going to Bethany so his compassion and glory could be revealed through the resurrection of Lazarus.  Jesus is the resurrection and the life and all who believe in him will have everlasting life. Jesus has compassion and identifies with our pain and suffering.

Application:

There are many situations that we face, illness, death of a loved one, separation from someone we once loved that we may not understand why we are going through or the timing but God can use this situation for His glory.  This can be an especially hard lesson if we have to wait on an outcome when we think we have an answer. Then we can use our story for God’s glory. We can know that the resurrection of Lazarus was a precursor to the resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus loves us, cares for us and laid down his life, defeated death so that we may believe and live.

Prayer:

Father,

Thank you for your love, grace and mercy you have for me.  Help me to be patient in difficult circumstances to know you work things for your glory.  Let me life my life answering yes to the question that I believe you are the resurrection and the life.

Scripture:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  3  To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:1-3

Observation:

What door is Jesus referring and where does it lead to in verse 1? Well what does He say in 7? “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” The cultural context of what a sheepfold looks like also helps us paint an image of Jesus’ analogy to these people. The sheepfold was a place where homeowners would gather their sheep near their house and have a gatekeeper protect them from thieves and robbers.

Application:

The sheepfold is being in community with God and community with God’s people and Jesus makes it clear how many different routes one can take to enter: 1.

Jesus portrays the gospel so clearly here. He goes on to say in verse 9: I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…”

Lastly, let us soak on the words in verse 3 for the day: To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. As we head into a busy week let us be reminded that God pursues us and does it personally. BY NAME and LEADS.

With a week filled with “to do” lists let us focus on “being”, being sheep and allowing Jesus the gatekeeper to lead us.

Prayer:

Lord I thank you for pursuing me. I thank you for leading me. I thank you for laying down your life so that I may know you, for making a way to be in community with you. Father remind me today that the cross was enough and fill me with your everlasting joy as I head into this busy week.

Scripture:  

Jesus heard that they had cast him (the formerly blind beggar) out and having found him (Jesus) said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”  (The beggar) answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”  Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you.”  He said, “Lord I believe,” and he worshipped him.

Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world “that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind.”” 

Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to (Jesus) “Are we also blind?”  Jesus said to them, “If you were blind you would have no guilt; but now that you say “We see” your guilt remains.

John 9:35-41

Observation: 

It is very cool that Jesus healed the blind man.  However, He did that to make a point.  Am I a Pharisee because I see?  Or because I say “I see…”?

Application:  

If I am ever going to learn from the Scriptures I need to look at and find the purpose or principle behind what He says.  Sometimes that is very difficult and I think that I have fallen into the trap of looking for something that isn’t there.

Like fishing sometimes trolling on the surface works and other times the bait needs to run deep.  Surface is easy; deep waters are tougher to get a catch from. 

The single statement above:  “For judgment I came into this world “that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind…”” can be puzzling.   So what can this mean?

I am not a biblical scholar but I think I have to go back to a principle from Ps 119: “I will delight in your statutes” (v16); “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors” (v24); “When I think upon my ways I turn my feet to your testimonies” (v59), and; “The unfolding of your words gives light; It imparts understanding to the simple” (v130).

So here is what I think: 2 principles.  1) He is God and I will have no other gods before me, and; 2) I am, at my core, a treasonous person to the Trinitarian Creator of all things, my eyes full of “me.”

If I truly consider my ways I will realize I am blinded by my self-absorption with the face in the mirror.  That was the issue with the Pharisees in this passage.  Because they asserted “we see” they proved they were blind to the Son of Man and all Jesus means.

The “we see” phenomenon is why I need redemption and salvation only found in Jesus’ act of atonement.  This is the Gospel that I should preach to the face in the mirror every day because every day in some way I forget the Gospel. 

Always go back to the Doctrines of Grace, the Precepts and Principles found in the testimonies of the Most High—maybe the Word of God will unfold under these strong foundations.

Prayer: 

Lord God, thank you for dropping insight into my heart about this.  I will be thinking upon this for a long time I think, trying to smooth out my understanding of your Word in John 9.  AMEN.

Scripture:

John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Observation:

In John 7, we see the feast of booths taking place. One of the big elements of this feast is light. Each night candles are lit to serve as a reminder of God’s past deliverance and future hope. After this festival is when Jesus makes the statement, “I am the light of the world”.

Application:

The light doesn’t take the darkness away it exposes it. As we follow Jesus’ light the darkness is exposed around us and, most importantly, in us. If we walk in light, we can’t simultaneously walk in darkness. As we follow Jesus, he brings our darkness to light not to shame us but to sanctify us. His light leads us, comforts us, and convicts us so that we may be made more like Him.
If Jesus is the light of the world, no one/nothing else is or can be. It’s either Jesus or darkness. May we continue to press into the light that gives life and not retreat back to the false security of darkness.

Prayer:

Father,
Thank you that because of Jesus we have hope and we have life. Fix our eyes on the light. May we not be
deceived by darkness disguised as light but continue to follow the true light that is Jesus.
Even when darkness falls around us may we continue to press in.

Scripture:

[26] Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. [27] Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
[28] Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
[29] Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Observation:

Most of these people were searching after Jesus for the wrong reasons.  They wanted provision – the bread; They wanted an earthly king to stand up against the Romans and what better person than the one who was performing miracles.

As they are concerned about earthly provision and things, Jesus tells them they are wasting their time and effort.  Material things will disappear so they should be more concerned with the food that will give them eternal life.  That which can only come from Jesus Himself, the Son of Man.  That is, they should be way more concerned with spiritual things than worldly things.

They still didn’t get it though.  When they ask what work God requires of them to get what Jesus spoke of, He tells them simply that the only work is to believe in Him; that He was sent by God the Father; that He was sent with God the Father’s approval; that he was the Son of Man.  They needed to understand that it had nothing to do with works.

Application:

First comes faith in Jesus, knowing that He is Lord, then comes the process of sanctification – becoming more pure and becoming more like Him.  As our heart become more pure, our outward acts will show it.  Never is it the other way around, where our acts earn our way to eternity closer to Him.

Prayer:

Lord I love you.  Thank You for removing my heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh.  Thank You for my salvation and for knowing that you don’t hold my past sins against me.  Guide me with Your Spirit and help me to become more and more like you every passing day.  In Jesus mighty name I pray, Amen.

Scripture:  

“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool (in Aramaic called Bethesda) which has five roofed colonnades.  In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.  One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time he said to him “Do you want to be healed?”  The sick man answered him “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up and, while I am going, another steps down before me.”

Jesus said to him “Get up, take your bed, and walk.”  And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked.”  John 5:2-9a.

Observation:  

Sometimes there are things to pay attention to that may not be the stuff that is commonly talked about in Scripture.  “All scripture is profitable…” 

Application:  

If I pay attention the same general circumstances that John writes about Jesus is presented to me.

Not the waiting by the pool, or the supernatural stirring of waters to heal, but the circumstance in which the sick, the invalid, the blind, the lame, etc. come passing in my path.

I would like to say I jump up to meet the challenge of courage and faith to pray publicly for these folks like (in my mind) a disciple should. So, the full of faith guy that I am, what do I do?  Like the old song says: “Walk on by…”

The grocery store is my constant example.  A person in a wheelchair: I stopped to pray for that person once; I passed by three dozen or more wheelchairs or more since that time.  Broken arms/legs?  Silence.  Even sick folks in my house (my HOUSE)—aw, I prayed once; if I pray again is that lack of faith?  All the while the Spirit is saying to my spirit:  PRAY!!  So I toss up a half-hearted prayer and call it a successful obedience.  Oh yeah, like that prayer is holy and effectual…right.  Jesus is in heaven: “I see your lips moving but nothing is coming out, at least nothing I can hear…”

I used to heap condemnation like burning coals all over my head about what I considered failures of opportunity.  Then I started to understand the Doctrine of Sanctification: I am in a process of being changed by the Grace of God into becoming more mature, seasoned if you will.  I cooperate with the Holy Spirit in this transformation.  When I fail (and I will a lot of times) God doesn’t snap His fingers and say “Goodness, I thought he had it that time.  Well, back to the drawing board and let’s start again…”

I diminish God’s Glory and Character when I think like that.  He is omniscient: Of course He knows all of my life; there isn’t a place of my life that He isn’t aware of right now of all my days.  Being Eternal and Omniscient has some advantages that creatures like me do not have.

So what do I do?  Practice.  Practice where?  Practice in the places God has provided to learn in: the Home, instances of Fellowship, the Small Group, the gathering of the Church.  As much as I really don’t like the phrase, these “safe spaces” are Instruments of Grace that God has given to mature in.

Prayer:  

Lord Jesus, you have provided the Grace I need to address and accomplish what I have written above.  Lord, I don’t want to be a half-hearted disciple—I need You to help keep my nose to the grindstone all my days.  AMEN.

Scripture:

John 4:39-42– Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”  So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word.  They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this indeed is the Savior of the world.”

Observation:

The Samaritan’s woman life was changed forever when she encountered the love of Jesus at the well.  Her response was to go back into her town and tell everyone about Jesus. Jesus takes the time and accepts the invitation of the Samaritans to stay with them.  Through that encounter/time many more believed and heard for themselves that Jesus is the savior of the world.

Application:

The radical love of the gospel is the most powerful thing in the world.  The woman came to the well thirsty, living in sin. She left changed having believed in Jesus as the savior.  My response needs to be that of the Samaritan woman. I must remember the love of the gospel when I first believed and share that with neighbors, colleagues, friends I encounter who are hurting and seeking hope that only Jesus can provide.  After sharing the gospel, then I have to take time to disciple people so they don’t just believe me, but they grow and know for themselves.

Prayer:

Father,

Thank you your love and truth in the gospel.  Let me be forever changed like the Samaritan woman at the well ready to tell others about Jesus.  Help prepare me to lead and disciple others for your glory.

Scripture: 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already…Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. v17-18a, 36

Observation:

1. Jesus came to save.
2. If we believe in him we aren’t condemned.
3. If we don’t believe in him we are condemned.
4. Believe = Obey

Application:

There is no gray area for us. Sometimes, I think we feel as though there is this gray area with people & God, as though there are 3 types of people.

1. There are people who deny Christ and want nothing to do with him and they are actively choosing to live their own life how they want. These people have made a conscious, out loud, decision to choose their own way.
2. There are people who believe in Jesus, who are walking with him daily and therefore no longer condemned.
3. There are these people in the middle, good, nice people, who haven’t chosen to write God off but just haven’t decided one way or the other but they are pretty good people.

This passage shows us: The 3rd group doesn’t exist.

There are people who have believed in Jesus which means they are no longer condemned and there are those who are still condemned. See, we are are born in sin. Born, dead in sin, far from God, the Scriptures even say an enemy of God. Condemned before God, worthy of wrath.

But Jesus was sent on a rescue mission for his enemies. And those who believe, those who have been given the grace to believe, they are no longer condemned. As John 3 states, they no longer have the wrath remaining on them.

The 2nd part of this that I think is really powerful is the last verse of this chapter: “Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath remains.”

In the line right before Jesus states, “Whoever believes…” then states, “Whoever does not obey…” – What’s my point? Jesus sees believing and obeying as two sides of the same coin.

If we believe, then we obey.
If we obey, then we believe.

Our culture has created this sort of belief in Jesus that doesn’t obey. He is our Savior, but not our Lord. But the Bible is very clear: If your belief is not lived out action, you don’t have saving faith. If Jesus isn’t the King of your life, but simply some ticket into heaven, you have no hope. If he isn’t your treasure, he isn’t your salvation.

Yeah, but what if I pray a prayer?
What if I was baptized?

Saving faith is obedient faith. Saving faith = life change. I am not talking about perfectionism, but I am talking about a true salvation. If Jesus came to save you, what did he save you from? Just the punishment of sin, but not the sin itself?

Jesus comes to save us from sin, the punishment but more importantly, the presence & power of it. Run to Jesus & obey him, but remember, we only do this, we only truly begin to obey him by believing him and believing him when he says, “I will do this. I will create obedience in you.”

So we believe him, we hope in him, we have have faith in him, that he would create in us a new heart, a heart that truly obeys him. This doesn’t happen by raising your hand at the end of a service or walking down an aisle, it happens by daily looking to Jesus as the King of everything, the very reason you breathe.

Prayer:

I pray our body, myself, our family would believe this, would hope in nothing else but Christ & his finished work. I pray we would be a holy people. We would run from sin, hate sin, hope in you alone. Don’t let us settle for “belief” but give us a radical life change, that we would see Christ is all.

Scripture:  

The Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting there.

And making a whip of cords he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen.  And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  And he told those who sold the pigeons “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

His disciples remembered that it was written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”  John 2:13-17

Observation:  

Is the Gospel found in this passage?  Yes, yes it is found—but not in the practice of making a whip… 

Application:  

I am probably not alone in using this passage, spoken or not, as a justification for what I thought was “righteous anger and/or fury” about church stuff.  Scratch that: I KNOW I am not alone; I have been around various folks I know bitten with the same bug over the years.

Here is what I have found over my years: Zeal is not the same as Anger.  When Zeal is expressed as Anger somehow a line has been crossed where I should retreat from.  Does that mean I change “whip” to “wimp?”  Not at all.

I think the key to this passage is not the Sellers, it isn’t the Whip, it isn’t the violence of overturning tables and such—it is the House.

It is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me” or in other words zeal for the Church, the Body, the Elect, the Bride.  All of these are biblical synonyms of each other.  For sure zeal towards a physical house is wasted zeal.  Here’s why:

It is the Cross where Jesus’ zeal for his Father’s house is fully expressed; not in anger or in self-righteousness (where I would be) but in zealous, fierce, submission to the plan of the Gospel.  “I am so zealous for the Bride that I willingly become the final Sacrifice to atone for Sin—forever.”  Jesus took the full Fury of God’s Wrath meant for me—I don’t think about that enough.  I should–even though if I think only a little bit I can start to feel that crushing realization that the Innocent died for the Guilty…and how much I don’t deserve His Love for me.

Outward stuff is so temporary; it doesn’t have an Eternal footprint.  The Church has an eternal footprint—not the stuff I see and do but the stuff I yearn to become: The Image of the Son; A Royal Priesthood; the Body; the Bride of Christ.

I want the conviction of ‘zeal for His house’ to run through my veins, to occupy my mind.  Goodness, I wish it were as easy as that.  What it takes is a ‘nose to the grindstone’ approach to pursuing the Most High God all my days…

Prayer:  

O Holy Spirit, hear my prayer!!  Change my heart, O God.  Expose waywardness in me and help me to effectively repent.  AMEN.

Scripture:

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. v12,13

Observation:

Being a child of God is a right given to those who receive, & believe in the name of Jesus. These are people who are born by the will of God.

Application:

We miss this sometimes. We have, through faith, through grace, become children of God. Not just a friend of God, not just some person God is saving, but a child of God.

Before receiving him not a child of God.
Before believing in him not a child of God.

After believing in him, given the right to become a child of God. This is something we have become in our faith, which is a gift. God gives us this gift of faith, and by it we become children of God, heirs with Christ.

This is a powerful truth. Rest in it. Rest that you have, by believing in, not just professing, but by truly believing, you have become a child of God, something you weren’t before, and now the God of the universe will keep you and hold you and mold you and care for you.

If good parents know how to love their children, how much more the God of the universe? But, lest, we think that somehow this love of God, this becoming a child of God, gives you the keys to “your best life now”, let’s be reminded that good parents discipline, and love their children by giving them what they need, not want.

Sometimes my son can’t have a popsicle. He wants one, man, he really wants one. But I can’t. It isn’t for his good. I love him too much to give him this popsicle. Sometimes my son thinks I keep good things from him, but I don’t. He doesn’t realize. I want what’s best for him, not just what’s good for him, or what he wants.

Prayer:

I pray that we would see the joy of being your child. Give us eyes to see Lord.

Scripture:

Vs 1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
vs 2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
Vs 6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;
Vs 7 … yes, I would wander far away;
Vs 12 it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him.
Vs 13 But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.
Vs 14 We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.
Vs 16 But I call to God, and the Lord will save me.
Vs 17 … and he hears my voice.
Vs 18 He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage,
Vs 22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
Vs 23 But I will trust in you.

Observation:

The Psalmist is deeply despondent over the fractured relationship of a dear loved one.
The Psalmist pleads continuously with God to console him.
The Psalmist shows no confidence in himself … he wants to run away and hide from his trouble.
The Psalmist shows no confidence in his adversary, former friend.

All confidence is in God … “the Lord will save me”!
And not only “save”, but so much more … “hear” and “redeem” and “sustain”.

While people are untrustworthy, the Lord is entirely trustworthy!

Application:

When I am troubled by relationships, particularly close relationships, what is my first response?
Is it to complain to the person directly? … Is it to moan to others around me?

David does, indeed, “complain” and “moan”, but interestingly he takes it directly to God from the beginning.

“Give ear to my prayer, O God! Hide not yourself from my plea!” David takes his complaints and moans to God in the form of prayer.

“How you doing?” is a popular introductory statement. “No complaints!” is a popular response … followed by “Nobody would listen if I had ‘em!”

Listening to David this morning, I think God wants to hear my complaints. I think God wants to know what’s troubling me. I know I always want to know if any of my kids are down about something … I want them to share it with me.

God wants me to share my plea with Him, as well.

God wants everything in my circumstances, particularly troubling circumstances, to draw me closer to Him! Because only He can save and redeem and sustain …. He is the one who provides ultimate mercy!

When I can’t trust others I may be burdened by …
and when I can’t even trust myself because I just want to run a hide from my problems …

I must “cast my burden on the Lord”! In Him I can trust.

Prayer:

Thank you, Father, for your word. Help me to trust You even when I can’t trust myself or others. Help me see to you and hear you. Help me to know you hear me. Help me to make my pleas first to You!

In Jesus name

Amen

Scripture:

v1-2, 10

[1] Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

[2] Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

[10] Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Observation:

David was broken – he was at rock bottom
David was repenting – repenting of adultery and murder. You can’t get much worse.

He asked for forgiveness and mercy – mercy as great as the Lord’s unfailing love.
He asked the Lord to forget his sins ever happened and not hold them against him – to blot them out.

David asked to be totally cleansed of his sin.

Then, after all of that, he asked expectantly to have a new start – to have his heart replaced with a pure heart and a spirit within him that is unwavering toward the love of God.

Application:

This is Gospel in the OT

We should not label ourselves as sinners, and stop there. We should however recognize our human form and that our flesh is hardwired to sin.  We are hardwired to chase after worldly things like pride, money, power, or possessions.  David felt this and through his prayer we can see an important formula long before God sent His Son to die for us.

In our brokenness, first recognize our sin

Repent of our sin

Ask for forgiveness
Ask for mercy
Ask the Lord to forget our sin – blot it out
Ask to be cleansed of our sin
Ask for a pure heart filled with the Holy Spirit

Ask expectantly for all those things.

All we really need to do is recognize our sin, repent of it, and accept Jesus as our Savior.  Through His death. resurrection and grace the rest is free.

Don’t wait until you are at a rock bottom in your life.  I challenge all of us to recognize on a daily basis, that we are broken and to ask expectantly for forgiveness and mercy, to be cleansed of our sin, and to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and guide us.

Prayer:

Lord let me recognize that I am a broken messy individual and that while I try not to be, I am victim to my flesh at times and sin against You.  Thank you Jesus for dying for  me; for justification and my salvation.  Thank You for the grace and mercy You pour out on me every day.  Help me keep my eyes and heart fixed on You and my heart filled with Your Spirit, leaving no room for Satan to interfere.  Amen

Scripture:  

“We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.  As your name (reaches to the ends of the earth), O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.

Walk around Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels that you may tell the next generation that THIS IS GOD, our God forever and ever.  He will guide us forever!”  Ps 48:10, 12-14

“These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought I was one like yourself.”  Ps 50:21

 Observation:  

Thinking well or thinking bad—there is a hairsbreadth of distance between these two polar opposites.  What is the difference between a good theologian and a bad theologian?  Not much if effort is not applied to being a disciple…

Application:

Thinking. 

It is tough to train my noggin to think.  Usually what constitutes thinking is acknowledging that my mind wanders….a lot.  “What are you staring off into space about, honey?”  “I don’t know, just letting my mind wander…” or, “Not thinking about anything special, dear…”

Make no mistake; thinking is an exercise to train myself to do especially if I want to think about God.  There are so many things that oozes through my gray matter on my shoulders that has me think about anything else BUT God. 

But if I don’t think about God, if I don’t meditate (think a lot and think hard) about His Word (precepts, principles, doctrine, law), how do I get to a place where His steadfast love overwhelms me and the praise He is due is found in my mouth?  If I don’t THINK hard about God, am I only underwhelmed or less?

There are three things that are directly related to thinking: 1) Praise and affection to and of God; 2) Effectual storytelling about the magnificence and majesty of God to the next generation; 3) A lowering of respect towards God (“…you thought I was one like yourself…”

At the risk of coining another inadequate phrase I neglect the “Power of Godly Pondering” quite a bit.  But I shouldn’t.

Storing up the Word in my heart is not limited to memorization; it is thinking about, turning over in my mind, and imagining “what does He mean” here and there?  It is chatting about it with friends, not shifting into Christian or Church gear, but making such thinking a reflex of my mind all the time.  It is the ability and conviction to apply that profound theological statement “I don’t know” and ask God to reveal the substance in His time and be patient for Him to answer.

Being a disciple in name only is not enough.  Like asking for the directions of “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?  Answer? Practice, practice, practice.

Prayer:  

Lord God, I am amazed at what you are doing in me.  You give an Instrument of Grace to understand and reinforce your Ways: “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean…How marvelous!  How wonderful! And my song shall ever be; How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior’s love for me…” (CH Gabriel/arr. Tomlin).  This is what I want the result of my pondering You to be.  AMEN