Intelligent obedience

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 119:25-40

TO CHEW ON: "Make me to understand the way of Your precepts;
So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works." Psalm 119:25-26.

Do you remember student days and studying for tests? For me, rote memorization of concepts rarely worked. I had to have an outline—a framework—of facts in order for me to remember them. I needed a certain level of understanding to ensure recall.

The writer of this psalm requests in several ways that God help him know and understand His will and ways (called statutes, precepts, commandments, testimonies, judgments, word, works, and law). I appreciate his emphasis on intelligent obedience.

We can see by what he says that he has already given a good deal of thought to what keeping God's ways will do for him, for he:
- asks to be revived and strengthened by them (Psalm 119:25, 28, 40).
- expects them to help him resist the temptation to lie (Psalm 119:29).
- prays that they keep him from shame and reproach (Psalm 119:31, 39).
- assumes that running the course of life by God's ways will give him the spirit to persist ("enlarge my heart ... I shall keep it to the end" - Psalm 119:32,33).
- wants to live for God whole-heartedly (Psalm 119:34).
- assumes that living by God's ways will keep him focused on worthwhile things (versus having a covetous attitude that looks longingly at "worthless things" - Psalm 119:36, 37).

Do we likewise have such a thoughtful approach to how we live? Have we, for example, considered the various sinful options that we face, taking them, in our imaginations, to their logical conclusions so that we understand why God has forbidden them? If we have, we may find that some temptations lose their lustre because we understand that God has put them off-limits for very good reasons.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me understand You and Your ways better, as I meditate on the benefits of keeping them, and the downside of breaking them. Amen.

MORE: "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me" - Chris Tomlin

Let God be your promoter

TODAY'S SPECIAL: James 4:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." James 4:10

In his book Make Love, Make War: Now is the Time to Worship Brian Doerksen tells the story of how he came to write "Father, I want You to Hold Me." The moment the song was conceived was one of special connection to his baby daughter.

"The first of our six children, Rachel, arrived on August 8, 1988 (8/8/88!). I was both delighted and scared to death. There was a moment that I shared with Rachel on the west coast of Vancouver Island that changed everything for me. She looked up at me with those big brown eyes and held her arms out, and without words she said, 'Daddy...I want you to hold me.' This is what I always wanted to say to my earthly father...and ultimately to my heavenly father: Father, I Want You to hold me'" (p. 73).

He went on to write "Father I Want You to Hold Me." He called it "my secret song to God" (p. 74).

It was sometime later that Andy Park, the worship leader of the church he attended, asked him to share an appropriate song after someone had talked about the Father-heart of God. Brian says of that moment, "I sensed it was time for my secret song to become public (at last with those twenty people), and so I shared it" (p. 74).

A few months after that, this time at a John Wimber and Vineyard Ministries Conference, Andy asked him to play that specific song again. John Wimber came up to Brian after the meeting and asked, "Can we publish this song?" Later that year, Wimber did just that — published Brian's "private song." It was his first song to be published.

What I love about this story is how it illustrates today's verse about God lifting us up.

The concept of waiting for God to promote us gets little traction amongst even Christians in our competitive culture. Within the world of writing and publishing words, with which I am most familiar, it's all about getting seen and being active on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Linked-in, the blogs). It's about creating buzz around your name, your product, your brand, about gathering followers,  and building a platform. Where is God in all this promotion, I sometimes wonder. Brian's story is a refreshing reminder that He can and does have a marketing plan for the things that honour Him. He is very able to lift us up if that's where we belong.

As Brian Doerksen says in his "Songwriting Tips" at the end of this chapter:

"Let God bring you forward. Don't promote yourself and your own songs. This is a really challenging area. You could move through seasons when it is time to be bold and share what God has given you. But don't start there. Start in a place of hiddenness and service. God knows what you have written, and He is fully able to call it forward at the right time and in the right place." p. 83.

PRAYER: Dear God, You know my own struggles in this area. Today again I commit to You the things I write. Help me to never lose sight of the fact that my first and main goal is to honour and bless You — my Audience of One — with and in all I do. Amen.

MORE: "Father I Want You to Hold Me" by Brian Doerksen




(From the archives)

Godly wisom vs. the other kind

TODAY'S SPECIAL:  James 3:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." James 3:17

For anyone pursuing godly wisdom, James 3 is a little goldmine.

This passage, with its lists of words begs for a word study. Rather than look at the modern definition of the words used by translators, we're going to look at what the Greek words used in the original text mean — for they are eloquent.

First, James tells us what godly wisdom isn't (vs. 14-16).

Godly wisdom isn't:

Jealous* (#2205 - zelos):  an envious, contentious rivalry.

Characterized by selfish ambition (#2052 - eritheia): electioneering or intriguing for office; a desire to put oneself forward, a partisan fractious spirit.

Earthly (#1919 epigeios): existing upon earth, earthly, terrestrial.

Sensual (#5591 - psuchikos): of or belonging to breath; the principle of animal life which men have in common with the brutes;  the sensuous nature with its subjection to appetites and passions.

Demonic (#1141 daimoniodes): resembling or proceeding from an evil spirit, demon-like.


Godly wisdom is:

Pure (#53 - hagnos): exciting reverence, venerable, sacred, pure from every fault, immaculate, clean.

Peaceable (#1515 - eirene): harmony, concord, peace between individuals, security, safety, prosperity (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous).

Gentle (#1933 - epieikes): equitable, fair, mild.

Reasonable (#2138 - eupeithes): easily obeying, compliant.

Full of mercy (#1656 - eleos): kindness or goodwill towards the miserable or the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.

Full of...good fruits (#2590 - karpos): 1) fruit of a tree or one's progeny— descendants; 2) that which originates or comes from something, an effect, result, work, act or deed.

Unwavering (#87 - adiakritos): without dubiousness, ambiguity, uncertainty. The NKJV translates this "without partiality" - which was the topic of our meditation yesterday.

 Without hypocrisy (#505 - anupokritos): unfeigned, undisguised, sincere.

Oh my - what convicting lists! Do you find yourself in any of the words that describe what godly wisdom isn't? Sadly, I do.

Let's set our hearts on seeking after and fleshing out in our lives true godly wisdom.

*I used words from the NASB translation, because that's the translation of my concordance which has the Strong's Concordance numbers.

PRAYER: Dear God, I so easily pursue the methods of earthly wisdom. By Your Spirit, please point out places where I do that, then help me grow the attitudes and actions of godly wisdom in my life. Amen.

MORE: Astute wisdom or the supernatural equipment of God?

"When looking back on the lives of men and women of God the tendency is to say — what wonderfully astute wisdom they had! How perfectly they understood all God wanted! The astute mind behind is the Mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God's wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God." Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest  October 26 reading.

(From the archives)

Shame and hiding

Eve and Adam - painting by Phillip Ratner

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Genesis 3:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "And they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." Genesis 3:8

Adam and Eve in sweet companionship with each other and God  (Genesis 2:23-25) is ripped apart by sin. Adam and Eve's eating the fruit of the Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil tree did a lot more than set them in the direction of death. One thing that happened was an immediate urge to hide.

This urge grew out of guilt and shame.

[guilt: The fact or condition of having committed an offense, especially a willful violation of a legal or moral code,

shame: a painful sense of guilt or degradation caused by consciousness of guilt or of anything degrading, unworthy or immodest...a state or condition of regret, dishonour or disgrace."]

So they went from "naked and unashamed" (Genesis 2:25) to hiding their bodies from each other and hiding themselves from God.

Throughout the Bible we discover a similar urge to hide in the presence of guilt over having committed sin. It was often accompanied by drastic results which impacted more people than just the ones who sinned:

• Achan took spoil from Jericho, hid it in his tent and as a result 36 men were killed in the battle with Ai before he was discovered. Then he and his family paid the price (Joshua 7).

• Gehazi, Elisha's servant, tried to hide the fact that he had taken Naaman's gift, offered earlier to his boss. He ended up with leprosy (2 Kings 5:20-27).

• We smile at the irony of the Israelites secretly building "high places" for idol worship. "High places"! And they thought God couldn't see? (2 Kings 17:9).

David, whose hiding episode included adultery and murder, got it right when he asked, rhetorically in Psalm 139, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?" and answered, in effect, nowhere (Psalm 139:7-12).

I ask myself, am I keeping secrets from God? One sign that I am may be is a reluctance to meet with Him (just like Adam and Eve). For I have found that when such is the case and we do get together, He invariably puts His finger on my supposed secret.

If we're not sure, we can pray the prayer David prayed at the end of Psalm 139:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;

         Try me, and know my anxieties;

 And see if there is any wicked way in me,

         And lead me in the way everlasting."

If God exposes concealed sins, Psalm 32:5 is the perfect way to deal with them:

"I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.  Selah  

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to realize the futility of trying to hide things from You. Help me to recognize "secret sins," to acknowledge and confess them, and to deal with any interpersonal fallout. Amen.

MORE: Shame versus guilt
Mark Yarhouse in his book Homosexuality and the Christian, makes a distinction between guilt and shame:

"Guilt is about feeling bad for something you've done. Shame is about feeling bad for who you are" - p. 158.

Keeping that in mind, shame would be the appropriate response to humanity's (and thus our own) reluctance to appear before God caused by Adam and Eve's sin. But through belief in Jesus and His death on the cross, the shame of our inherent sinfulness is no longer necessary (see Revelation 3:18-20).

(From the archives)

Implicated

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 19:1-16

TO CHEW ON: "Therefore when the chief priests and officers saw Him they cried out saying, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him!'" - John 19:16

Here we see enacted what we read about in Proverbs yesterday. The Jews' rejection of Jesus was the coming true of:

"...scorners delight in their scorning
And fools hate knowledge ...
...I have called you and you refused
I have stretched out my hand no no one regarded
... you disdained my counsel
And would have none of my rebuke
... they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord  - Proverbs 1:22, 24,25,29.

It's easy for me to shake my head and think, I would never do those things. But then I am reminded of the list of sin's fruits (yesterday's devo) and how I have tolerated them in my own life. Why all I need to do is think back to yesterday to find contention, dissension, selfishness, an 'outburst of wrath.' What Isaiah said is so true:

"All we like sheep have gone astray
We have turned every one to his own way
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" - Isaiah 53:6

So I find myself—we all find ourselves—in the scene of Jesus before Pilate and feel a pang when He says, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." For we are all implicated as "the one who delivered Me to you."

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for letting Yourself be put in Pilate's hands and paying the death penalty for my sin.

More: Above All - Michael W. Smith

The fruit of one's own way

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Proverbs 1:20-33

TO CHEW ON: "They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies." Proverbs 1:30,31

One of the things that persuaded me to give my life back to the Lord when I was backslidden was this principle of fruit. For the fruit of even a few years of living away from the Lord was not that good!

The Bible speaks often of sin's fruit. It is:

Bitter - Moses prophesied that Israel would rebel against God and in rebellion her fruit would be "...the vine of Sodom and the fields of Gomorrah / Their grapes are gall" - Deuteronomy 32:32.

Disappointing: Just like the vineyard owner was disappointed by his workers' efforts in Isaiah's vineyard song, targeted to Israel's leaders who had become unjust and oppressive  - Isaiah 5:2.

Selfish: According to Hosea, talking about Israel in her backslidden state - Hosea 10:1.

Deceitful: Another fruit of going one's own way that Hosea mentions - Hosea 10:13.

Corrupt: Giving evidence of the kind of tree (life) really on display (Jesus in Matthew 7:17).

Diverse and plentiful: Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 where he lists some of the fruits in sin's fruit bowl: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, cursing, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, "and the like" (just in case he's missed any) - Galatians 5:19,20..

It sure makes one want to have the other kind of fruit—wisdom's fruit—doesn't it?


PRAYER: Dear God, this list of sin's fruits shows me again how important it is to give You—the source of all wisdom—the control of my life. Help me to do that day by day. Amen.

MORE: The fruit of the Spirit

"The the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." - Galatians 5:22,23

Muddy vision

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 8:1-26

TO CHEW ON: "'Having eyes do you not see? And having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?' .... Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him." Mark 8:18, 22

Have you noticed how in several stories of Jesus, what He was trying to teach His disciples and the miracles he did went hand-in-hand? Here for example, he was troubled that they didn't get it when He said "watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees" and called them blind. Then a little later He healed a blind man.

What was Jesus calling leaven, and what did He want them to understand?

He had just performed a miraculous feeding of 4000 people, then crossed Galilee. No sooner had he touched land than He was met by a group of argumentative Pharisees asking for a sign. Jesus refused. I can think of several reasons why:

• His miracles weren't crowd-wowing magic tricks, but divine interventions to fulfill real needs.

• It appeared the Pharisees were suspect of anything that they hadn't experienced or seen themselves. Surely the news of Jesus' miracle feeding had reached them but the word of others about Jesus' signs wasn't enough.

• Jesus knew their hearts, which were determined to doubt Him no matter what. They inevitably twisted His miracles into something bad (e.g. Matthew 12:24).

I believe it was this skeptical, rigid view of life that refused to see God breaking through that was the leaven Jesus was warning the disciples about. For it was in the setting of them worrying about their own lack of bread that He said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees."

And then a few verses further on, He healed the blind man—though in stages. Does this tell us anything about the healing of our spiritual blindness? Two lessons come to mind: 
1. Jesus needs to touch our eyes. We can ask / beg Him to do that like the blind man's friends implored Jesus for their friend.

2. Sometimes sight / insight is gradual. It took several washings for the blind man's vision to clear up completely and so with us it might take repeated washings of the mud of naturalism, skepticism, and our rigid explanations of how God works before we see.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to wash away the debris of skepticism and doubt that continues to cloud my vision. Amen.


MORE: He Touched Me (an oldie but a goodie)

Test of faith

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 7:24-37

TO CHEW ON: "And she answered and said to Him, 'Yes Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs.' Then He said to her, 'For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter'" Mark 7:28,29

Jesus had made a little trip into non-Jewish territory—the only time He did that, according to my Bible's footnotes. Perhaps He needed a break from the crowds that pressed close day and night when he was in Galilee or Judea. But if He expected to escape into anonymity, He was disappointed.

The Syro-Phoeneician mother was despairing and desperate. Jesus' response seems calculated to add to that despair when He chides her—a Gentile—in a seemingly prejudiced way, for asking for a miracle.

But she has nothing to lose.

She turns His insult inside out. I may be a Gentile dog, but even dogs get table scraps (my paraphrase of  Mark 7:28).

My Bible's footnotes again: "Actually assuming the appearance of traditional Jewish prejudice, Jesus was drawing from her a confession of triumphant faith" - Notes on Mark, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1363.

And then Jesus pronounces her daughter healed!

This story makes me ask, am I too easily discouraged in my prayers? When the answer is "No," do I give up, or persevere?

Maybe it was just for this woman that Jesus made the trip into Tyre and Sidon. Maybe faith, tested in just that way will be precisely what she will need in the days and years ahead, as other circumstances challenge her and her daughter.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for these Mark 7 stories of Your power over dark spirits, and disability. Help me to have faith for crumbs, no, whole loaves of Your power in my life. Amen.

MORE: "He Saw It All" - the Booth Brothers

The story in our reading goes on to tell how Jesus returned to Galilee where He opened the ears and loosed the tongue of a man who had been deaf and mute. The onlookers "...were astonished beyond measure..." Mark 7:37.

"He saw It All" sung by the Booth Brothers is a fabulous expression of that awe and an invitation to trust for our own miracles.

Secure because He is faithful

Modern Jerusalem - photo by beggs

(on flickr, via everystockphoto.com - used with permission)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 125:1-5

TO CHEW ON: "As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever." Psalm 125:2

Psalm 125 is a "Song of Ascent"—one of the songs Jewish pilgrims sang on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the yearly feasts (Psalms 120-134).  In this one, the writer likens the travellers' security to the security of their destination, Zion (Jerusalem).

Eugene Peterson in his book about these psalms talks about Jerusalem's physical situation and draws a spiritual parallel:

"Jerusalem was set in a saucer of hills. It was the safest of cities because of the protective fortress these hills provided. Just so is the person of faith surrounded by the Lord" - Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 85 (all page numbers below from the same book).

If we are so secure ("surrounded by the Lord") why do we often feel insecure? Peterson points out three possible sources of insecurity and how God anchors us even in them.

1. We listen to our feelings which change with circumstances. One day we're up, the next we're down.
To counter that, Peterson says, "... we learn to live not by our feelings about God but by the facts about God .... My security comes from who God is, not from how I feel" - p. 87.

2. We experience pain and suffering.
But these conditions are not permanent: "Nothing counter to God's justice has any eternity to it - 1 Corinthians 10:13" - p. 89.

3. We fear we will defect, give up, backslide.
About this insecurity Peterson says, "It is not possible to drift unconsciously from faith to perdition .... Defection requires a deliberate sustained and determined rejection.... We are secure not because we are sure of ourselves but because we trust that God is sure of us" - pp. 89,90.

Whatever life throws at us in the form of feelings, physical challenges, or self-doubts, we are secure because our security is not in ourselves but in our God who never changes!

PRAYER: Dear God, I am so glad that in You there is no "shadow of turning" and that You never change and that I can trust You to hang onto me even when I am discouraged, hurting or fearful. Amen.

MORE: Great is Thy Faithfulness sung by Chris Rice

Partiality

TODAY'S SPECIAL: James 2:1-26

TO CHEW ON: "Have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:4

I can't help but think, as I read the first part of James, how partiality-based is the culture in which I live.  On my local TV lineup is an hour-long daily news show devoted to examining the mundane minutiae of the lives of entertainment and sports personalities. It is these people who set the social and fashion trends so that years ago we all got Farah Fawcett and Beatles haircuts, while now little girls swoon for Justin Bieber and want to look like Taylor Swift.  As a society we give people acceptance and adulation because of their appearance, wealth, and how well they play sports or entertain us.

I understand partiality very well, for I struggled with it as a youngster. If a person who acted odd or dressed funny came to school or church, I sure wasn't the one to befriend her. I see now that my cold unfriendliness was based on insecurity and lack of self-confidence. They were related to the fear of being identified with or appearing to be the same kind of person as the outcast was (the flip side of befriending a popular person to gain acceptance by association). Pride and covetousness (especially when there is the hope that by fawning over the popular person, he or she will include us in his generosity) are two more roots of partiality.

James gives an easy-to-understand example of partiality in verses James 2:2-4, describing how, when his readers meet together they give special treatment to the people who look rich while ignoring the ones who look poor. He points out how nonsensical this way of acting is in the natural because the people to whom they are showing special favour are the ones who are oppressing them.

The clincher in his argument against partiality, though, is that it's not God-like. James calls these biased Christians "judges with evil thoughts" because they are judging by the world's standards, not God's. Showing special favour on the basis of appearance, wealth, popularity, performance, and status is not at all consistent with the upside-down Kingdom of God way of evaluating. James describes that in verse 5: "Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"

Consider Jesus' standards of Kingdom greatness:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit...those who mourn...the meek...those who hunger and thirst after righteousness...the merciful...the pure in heart...the peacemakers...the persecuted...the reviled and falsely accused..." (Matthew 5:1-12).

There's not one mention in Jesus' list of physical appearance, worldly wealth, or influence mattering to God accepting us. That's the standard we need to use when we respond to others.

PRAYER: Dear God, I so easily show partiality. Help me to understand the source of this shallow way of responding to people, and to adopt Your way of looking past outward appearances to the inner person. Amen.

MORE: Seven Reasons Why We Should Not Show Partiality:

1. Partiality contradicts faith in Jesus Christ as the Lord of glory (vs.1)

2. Partiality reveals a judging heart and behind it evil thinking (vs. 2-4).

3. Partiality to the rich contradicts God's heart, because he has chosen many of the poor for himself (vs. 5).

4. Partiality dishonors people created in the image of God (vs. 6a).

5. Partiality to the rich backfires and becomes your downfall (vs. 6b,7).

6. Partiality makes you a transgressor of the law of liberty (vs. 9-11).

7. Partiality is not mercy. But if you don't show mercy, you will perish (vs. 13).

From "The Peril of Partiality" By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

(From the archives)

The real thing

"Church at Auvers" 1890 by Vincent Van Gogh

 

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

TO CHEW ON: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

With the invention of the printing press and photography, the world is full of copies. Years ago I visited the Van Gogh museum. After studying Van Gogh in history of art class, I was excited to see his actual paintings. There was one in particular that caught my eye. The colors, especially the red roof, of the “Church at Auvers” were stunning. Later in the gift shop, I flipped through the poster bin, eager to own a red roof of my own. But what a disappointment. None of the representations came even close to the brilliance and liveliness of the actual painting.

The real painting of love is what we see in 1 Corinthians 13. Study its perfection. See what it is and does. It is long-lasting, rejoices when truth and right prevail, bears up under anything and everything that comes along, believes the best about people, keeps hoping under all circumstances, endures without weakening.

Look at what it isn’t and doesn’t do. It’s not envious, jealous, boastful, or full of itself. It doesn’t parade its accomplishments, isn’t conceited, arrogant, proud, rude, inappropriate, self-seeking, touchy, fretful, or resentful. It doesn’t pay attention to evil done to it, remember a wrong, or rejoice at injustice or unrighteousness.

No matter what personality type you are or what your love weakness is, it’s probably addressed in 1 Corinthians 13. I know mine are and then some! Can I ever love like that? Can you? Only with God’s help!

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, please change my inner self to love in the 1 Corinthians 13 way.

MORE: How does it work?

Is the Christian life a lifestyle of supernatural enabling or of try-harder in order to live up to the ideal? I believe it’s a little of both.

If we never saw the detailed picture of love painted in 1 Corinthians 13, we might think we were doing pretty well – especially when we compare ourselves to our gossiping neighbor, our jealous cousin or our self-centered star and starlet pop heroes. It’s when we come up against the real thing – as laid out in 1 Corinthians 13 (and fleshed out in the life of Jesus) that we see what a tawdry representation of genuine agape love is portrayed in our lives.

And so we come to God and pray for help – to see our fellowman differently, to let go of hurts, to be kind to annoying people, to trust Him with our future and reputation, to give up the right to manipulate it by boasting, and on and on …

We see the standard. We realize we can’t live up to it. We ask for His help – and slowly we change to become more like 1 Corinthians 13 lovers. Of course we don’t do this to earn heaven but because it’s the way of the One Who loves us and wants only our best. At least that’s the way I see it.

How about you?

(From the Archives)

It's not a competition

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

TO CHEW ON: “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” 1 Corinthians 12:18

It’s a rare person who doesn’t sometimes look at him- or herself and wish to be different. I’ve had such thoughts: If only I were funnier, more flexible, less serious, had a talent for drawing, found it easier to make small talk… Even being part of a church, where we know we should have a realistic view of ourselves, doesn’t do away with the tendency to compare ourselves with others – and feel we come up short.

But those are not God’s thoughts about us. Rick Warren says it so well:

“You are not an accident.

Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did…..

God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way he wanted it. He also determined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality. The Bible says, ‘You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.’” The Purpose-Driven Life – pp. 22-23

What is true of you in general is also true of you in the church. Whether you are most comfortable hidden away working with the babies in the nursery or heading up some high profile ministry, you don't have to justify yourself or compete with others. Rather do your job, whether hidden or public, without apology. In this way you will fulfill your own destiny and God’s destiny for earth and its people as He accomplishes it through His body, the church.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me find my place in Your body. Help me to be content with who I am, knowing that someday I will need to account for what I’ve done with the strengths and talents you actually gave me – not the ones I wished I had. Amen.

MORE: Feast of St. Bartholomew

Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Bartholomew. The day's liturgy begins with this collect:

"Almighty and everlasting God, who gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach your Word: Grant that your Church may love what he believed and preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

(From the archives)

Communion

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 6:41-59

TO CHEW ON: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.'" John 6:53-55


Communion

"Communion Service,
next Sunday morning at 10:00,"
church bulletin said.

I imagined sitting there, wafer in hand,
tiny goblet of juice in the holder,
trying hard not to think of what I'll make for lunch.
It wasn't even a prayer, just a thought,
I wish it had more meaning for me again.

Early that Communion Sunday morning
the book opened to the spot
kept by the gold crocheted cross:
"The Bread that I present to the world
so that it can eat and live
is myself,
this flesh-and-blood self."

(Ew gross!
It offended the Jews then,
'How can this man
serve up his flesh for a meal?'
People still say,'Your religion
is too bloody.')

"But Jesus didn't give an inch.
'Only insofar as you eat and drink
the flesh and blood of the Son of Man
do you have life within you.
By eating my flesh
and drinking my blood,
you enter into me
and I into you.
... bring a hearty appetite.
... make a meal of me."*

Oh God of heaven, Jesus, Lord
On your frank invitation
I'll chew the bread, imbibe the wine
Your presence my distraction.

I cannot with my literal mind
Pretend to understand
What happens when I eat and drink,
Inscrutable, heavenly plan,
It’s mystery
And intimacy,
Communion God with man.

© 2004 by Violet Nesdoly

*Quoted passages from John 6 in The Message.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, the poem above is still my prayer. Help me to come to You and to communion with an attitude of reverence, a keen spiritual receptivity, and a "hearty appetite." Then help me to live life, nourished by You. Amen. 

MORE: "...feed us Lord"

Steve Bell & Fresh I.E. in "Everything We Need"

Bread

 Foccacia Bread - recipe below

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 6:22-40

TO CHEW ON: "Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and He who believes in Me shall never thirst.'" John 6:35

Bread - how many ways can we say it: buns, rolls, biscuits, foccacia, matzoh, challah, zwieback... Chances are whatever your culture, bread has been part of it.

I grew up in a large family. Mom had her hands full keeping eleven mouths fed. But she always felt easier about the meal when she had plenty of bread on hand. Because if other things ran out, we could always fill up on bread. Along with millions of others on earth, bread was our 'staff of life.'

Thus when Jesus calls Himself the "bread of life" we know He is making big claims. Let's go through John 6 (today's passage and a bit more) to see what we can learn about Jesus as bread.

At the beginning of our reading, we see a wowed crowd. Jesus has just fed 5000 people natural bread, supernaturally multiplied. He has met one of the most basic human needs with bread. We see that He understands and can supply bread for physical hunger

But when He senses that His miracle is prompting them to want to crown Him king (of a kingdom of everlasting loaves), He leaves. He has not done that miracle to get leverage for political power. Rather it is a set-up to make them aware of a different kind of hunger and how He can satisfy it.

On the next day, when they find Him, He explains this to them (John 6:26-27).

They start guessing about what He means: "Manna, right? Your bread to us is like the manna Moses gave our forefathers in the desert."

"Wrong," says Jesus. "The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world...I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger and he who believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:33,35).

Later in the chapter He expands even more on what ingesting Him as living bread means as He refers to the need to "...eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink HIs blood" (John 6:54). In His words we recognize the reference to the Last Supper - and our communion celebration (Matthew 26:26-28).

Then He explains the result of eating this bread, this true "staff of life": "This is the bread which came down from heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:58).

What does this mean for us? It's simple really:

Come + Believe + Eat = Live

Come: God initiates even this (John 6:44).

Believe: as in base our very lives on Jesus' death for us, trusting Him for salvation.

Eat: live by His kingdom principles. This includes trusting Him for our physical needs including bread (Matthew 6:26-33). It also means to celebrate His spiritual "breadness" by eating the communion bread (and drinking the wine), in this way reminding ourselves of His death for our sins.

Live: acknowledge and enjoy Him as enough — for this life and the next.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, what a simple yet deep concept — You my bread. Help me to eat You today and be satisfied. Amen.

MORE: Make some bread today

I love making bread! One of my favourites is foccacia. It is a slightly raised savoury Italian yeast bread that makes a wonderful companion to homemade soup. I cheat and use my bread machine to prepare the dough. Here is the recipe I use. (Of course you can use the given amounts and mix by hand).

Foccacia Bread (1 1/2 lb. loaf)

Dough
1 cup water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/1/2 - 2 tsp. active dry yeast

Topping
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup (2 oz.) Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

- Mix dough and let rise.
- Remove dough to floured countertop or cutting board.
- Oil a cookie sheet.
- Separate dough into three even sections.
- Roll each into a ball and press flat onto the cookie sheet.
- Allow to rise 30 minutes until doubled.
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- With 2 fingers poke holes all over the dough.
- In a medium bowl combine oil and garlic, then drizzle over top of dough.
- Sprinkle with cheese and parsley
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until brown.

From Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehbeg & Lois Conway

(From the archives)

The fruit of unbelief

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 78:21-39

TO CHEW ON: "In spite of this they still sinned, and did not believe His wondrous works. Therefore their days He consumed in futility and their years in fear." Psalm 78:32,33

The subject of unbelief gets a lot of Bible ink.

[The dictionary defines unbelief:
1. Absence or positive belief; incredulity.
2. A refusal to believe; disbelief as in religion.
3. In Scriptural use, lack of faith in God's promises.]

• Lot's sons-in-law perished in Sodom because they refused to believe the city would be destroyed (Genesis 19:14).

• God prohibited Moses and Aaron from entering Canaan with the people they had led for 40 years because of unbelief (Numbers 20:12).

• Israel was finally obliterated because of refusing to believe God. Their unbelief showed itself as idol worship and was the cause of their extinction, but for the tribe of Judah (2 Kings 17:14-18).

• In the New testament, when Jesus' disciples couldn't exorcise a destructive demon, the reason Jesus gave was unbelief (Matthew 17:19,20).

• Jesus' miracle working acts were dampened because of unbelief (Matthew 13:58).

• In our reading today psalmist Asaph cites the Israelites' refusal to believe in God, despite seeing His mighty works, as the reason their lives were "consumed with futility and their years in fear."

I wonder what historians will say about believers of our generation when they look back and evaluate it like Asaph did his forefathers. Will we be characterized by faith or by unbelief and its fruit of futility and fear? Even more sobering, what about you and me personally?

I know I have a long way to go. I can identify with the father who, when Jesus asked him if he believed if his son could be made well replied: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" - Mark 9:24.

PRAYER: Dear God, I don't want futility and fear to be the description of my life. Please help my faith to grow. Amen.

MORE: The fruit of faith

Faith also gets a lot of Bible ink. Here are some fruits of faith-filled lives:
1. We become children of God - John 1:12.
2. We are promised answers to prayer - Matthew 21:22; 1 John 5:14.
3. We will have power - John 14:12
4. Our lives will refresh others - John 7:28
5. Our lives are grounded - Colossians 1:23, 1 Peter 2:6.
6. We can look forward to a spiritual inheritance - James 2:5

Day of rest

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 16:17-36


TO CHEW ON: "And the Lord said to Moses .... 'See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.' So the people rested on the seventh day." Exodus 16:28-30

When God told the people to set aside one day in seven as a rest day He wasn't just making a suggestion. He meant it. Our story today shows that.

God supplied manna, the mysterious sweet wafer-like rounds that covered the ground each morning, as food and a test of obedience. One rule was to gather the manna each morning and not save any of it overnight. Another was to gather double the usual amount on the morning of the sixth day.

An interesting part of today's story is the rulers coming to Moses on that sixth day morning  to accuse people of doing what they were supposed to. It's as if they hadn't heard that part of Moses' command, or thought that the rule of no-overnight-storage trumped the double-on-the-sixth-day one.

This time the people gatherers were right. For on the morning of the seventh day — surprise! No manna. And the food they had gathered the day before smelled fine and was maggot-free.

And so one day in seven became a rest day for the Jews. It is the reason we, in our society with its foundation in Judeo-Christian thought, now treat Sundays differently than other weekdays — although more and more we don't. Where I live, stores, restaurants and even some banks are open for business on Sunday. And the temptation is to take advantage of these opportunities to squeeze a little more business into the week.

But a day of rest is one of God's founding principles of life. We keep it, not because we're under the law, but because the One who designed us knows that's what we need to function best. He Himself modeled it when He rested after six days of creation. How can we think we won't do ourselves harm by ignoring this principle in our lives?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to take seriously Your principle of Sabbath — not only as a day of rest but as a day to focus on You. Amen.

MORE: Another reason for sabbath besides rest

Isaiah 58:13-14:
"If you turn away your foot from [traveling unduly on] the Sabbath, from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a [spiritual] delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor Him and it, not going your own way or seeking or finding your own pleasure or speaking with your own [idle] words,
   
Then will you delight yourself in the Lord, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage [promised for you] of Jacob your father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it" (Amplified).

Luke 4:16 (talking about Jesus):
"So He came to Nazareth, [that Nazareth] where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read" (Amplified).

(From the archives)