Κύριος Notes: A Warrior's Kind of Faith

Scripture Reflections: Matthew 8:5-13
5When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6"Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."

Lord Jesus--This Roman soldier saw the pain of his servant…his friend…there must have been a close connection. The soldier was far from home, was this servant someone who he had with him since home? Had he grown up with the person a part of the woodwork?

At some point there had developed a caring relationship with this servant. This man battle scarred from his job still saw the pain of his slave who had somehow come out of the woodwork of his world to become a person. This fighter could see the pain of his friend and want to fix it. If this warrior could still see pain and had not developed calluses on his soul…Lord don’t let me overlook the pain of those that surround me.

7Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."

Lord Jesus--Your willingness to heal this servant of the overlords of the land of promise stretches my soul. Did you see the care in eyes of this warrior who had seen so much pain…who had caused so much pain? Did you see that in the middle of a life that could have killed his soul, this man still could feel…still could reach out and …still could want to bring healing to this person who cooked his meals and cleaned his house.

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

Lord Jesus--This man whose name has been forgotten in the mists of time, may have had more faith than I will ever have. He waited for your word and it was all that he needed. If you said it he believed it.

10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.

Lord Jesus—Your people, your disciples, the people of promise did not have the kind of faith that this soldier had. Where did he learn this kind of trust? Teach me the kind of faith that knows that if You say it, then it must be true. Teach me the kind of faith that has ears to hear Your call and then follow no matter where You lead.

Κύριος Notes:Change in a Moment

Scripture Reflection: Matthew 8
1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

Lord Jesus—In the middle of the mix, how often do I ask for your healing hands to come to the point of my need? Here the simplicity of this needy man’s request impresses itself on my soul. He had heard of You Lord…maybe some of his friends had already been healed. The news of hope must have spread like wild fire among his needy community.

He knew that You had the ability to met his need. In one touch, in a moment the struggle of his life, the defining part of who the world saw him as… could be changed. His disease defined him, it constrained him, it formed his struggle to survive…and even with the isolation that leprosy brought him, he had not given up hope.

3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. 4Then Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Lord Jesus—You were willing to meet this man’s need. You continue to meet needs today. Lord Jesus at your command life can change in a moment at the very places where we have struggled and made vain attempts at change. This man needed the words of healing spoken in love to the point of his need. You continue to speak the words of power and grace. With the same voice that spoke creation into existence you spoke the words of power to this man's need.

This man wanted change in his life and he was not afraid to hope or ask even when it seemed as if his life was all over. He had lost family, friends and position to the ravages of a disease that kills in degrees. Yet he still went looking for help, when he heard that You were preaching on that mountain he headed straight for You. I want to always head straight for You Lord.

Lord Jesus--Teach me the kind of hope that does not give up but depends on your healing touch and your words of power.

Κύριος Notes:Wise Building

Scripture Reflections Matthew 7:24-27

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Lord Jesus—You ask me to more than hear the sound waves and read your words but to practice them…to work out the implications of Your words over a life span within the context of an ever changing back drop.

Practice reminds me of playing music and going over the same song again and again until the sound and the fingering is not so much learned as intuited and a part of me. Practice your words within a world that can be distracting at best and an enemy of faith at worst. Practice your words even when I get the melody wrong from time to time and just can’t seem to get in sync with the rhythm of your life song for my life. Practice your words even when it sounds like a cacophony to my untrained ear the song you would have me play. Practice because you are the Word made flesh and you know my fame.

Foundation and integration is something more than an add on, I need to make Your words so a part of my life that streams rise and winds blow and storms beat, but there is resilience and safety within the confines created by faith.

26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

There is a price to not practicing Lord Jesus that I do not want to pay. A price that is to high to pay…destruction.

Lord Jesus--Help me in these days of my life that fly past with increasing speed to build well on your words and to practice with diligence the building blocks of faith. You have the plan, you are at work my part is to keep to the work and to listen. I have to practice the song that you continue to teach me.

Κύριος Notes:Obedience Lived Out in the Everyday

Scripture Reflection:Matthew 7:21-23
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus--Saying is not doing. Talking is not walking. Obedience isn’t just lip service to the reality of Your call on my life. There is the need to listen and to obey.

22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Here is a spot that is not easy to hear…even in the doing is it possible to get it so wrong that separation from You Lord Jesus is the only option. There will be those who have performed miracles and have had success in telling evil where to go, and yet lose the battle for their own soul. I am thinking of Judas who was a part of the twelve, participated in healings and in being sent out to do miracles and yet lost his soul.

Great deeds can be done and I can still lose my soul in the process. There is the need for daily diligence in the things of God…building the principles of the kingdom in my life. Hearing and doing have to go hand in hand. It is not something that is lived out in a big splash, but in a life given over to you one day at a time, an action at a time…offerings laid on the altar one at a time.

Lord Jesus help me build well the life of faith that you have called me to.

Κύριος Notes: Fruit? Really?

Scripture Reflection: Matthew 7:15-20
15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Lord Jesus—When You were saying this there were many who were preaching and teaching and seeking to gain a following among the people for their own ends. They wanted to create a revolt, develop a following and their reasons were their own.

A few years in the future when you said these words people would revolt against Rome. Masada stands as a mute testimony to the hopes of a people oppressed and who looked to leaders who ultimately lead then to ruin.

16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Leadership over time results in fruit: either good or bad…either well formed and usable, or a bitter harvest. I look for the harvest Lord Jesus…people who are changed by the work of your Spirit in their lives. Fruits like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self control.

18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Lord Jesus—There is an organic nature to the growth of your Kingdom. It is not by accident, but almost a genetic quality. A tree produces fruit of its kind…oranges from orange trees, apples from apple trees, grape from grape vines. Nothing radical about that, except that you are seeking to transform people…seeking to see fruit from trees that could never have produced them without your intervention.

Lord, you call for change again and again in my life…transformation from what is…to what you would have me become by your grace. Fruit comes from fruit trees, and the miracle of your grace is that you can bring about change in kind not just change in degree.

That was what you meant when you talked to Nic at night …

John 3
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

A change in genetics can occur. This transformation leads to a change of outcomes: a change from thistles to figs. Amazing. That change in outcomes is what I can expect because of Your death and resurrection working within me.

Κύριος Notes:A Gate To Grace

Scripture Reflection: Matthew 7:13-14

Lord Jesus—What did you mean by narrow gates and entrance into life? Apply your word to my heart today in these few moments of reflection.


13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

The narrow gate opens from the starting point of fulfillment of the love as I experience the Father’s care which prepares me to be able to live out reciprocity with those who surround me.

John 14:6
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

You are the door. That exclusivity is something that many struggle to accept. I don’t understand all that it means, but I understand enough to be thankful for grace experienced. Scandalous grace, that You should save a person like me…that you should continue Your ongoing work in my life…leaves me speechless and amazed.

Lord Jesus this grace is nothing that I can take pride in. It is not anything other than your work from beginning to end...then pointing people to the gate becomes only a gesture of hand and life in the direction of your grace received.

Κύριος Notes: Golden Thankfulness

Scripture Reflection: Matthew 7: 9-12

9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Lord Jesus—The Father gives good gifts. I am thinking about the blessings that are a part of my life. So much more than bread and fish…Lord Jesus thank you this warm house…this sense of your leading and your provision for all my needs.

12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Blessings received at the Father’s hands, have implications for the way that I treat those I come in contact with. Not based on trying to get even, but rather on what we have been given by the Father and how that should inform that way we respond to those around us. My interactions should be reciprocal because of the blessings received at the Father’s hand not because I can expect reciprocity from everyone I meet. There are times when life is practicing random acts of kindness. The summing up the law and the prophets to the golden rule only makes sense within the context of thankfulness.

I am thankful for Your grace Lord Jesus may my thankfulness inform this day and everything that I do.