Κύριος Notes: We Need To Start At The Start

Matthew 7
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Lord Jesus--So often I am the one who just starts the work whatever it is without including you in the process…as if the completion of the task is the point.

The real point is always the same your heart, mind and your will enbedded in my life right smack-dab in the middle of Saratoga Springs. That is the point of this life that I am living. Seeing your will and your way worked out in the mix of my life, as confusing and challenging as it is at times.

So the beginning is not action, it is prayer. Prayer that your will can be worked out in this fractured, muddled up world that I live. Your will can be worked out within this fracture and muddled up heart of mine.

You remind me Lord Jesus, that the reason that the start of activity is prayer: is simply that you want to be included in every part of my life. That is simple yet it is not easy for me to understand that the God of all creation want to be a part of my everyday.

8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Lord Jesus--I look to you…I ask for your direction and your grace in meeting the challenges that confront me. I know that you are here right now, even when I am not consciously aware of you. I hear the promise of answers when I ask…answers and opened doors. Sometimes they are not the doors that I even knew enough to knock on, but your promise is: answers, open doors and finding when I seek.

Lord Jesus I know that you have already begun the process of opening closed doors that I have been knocking on. Help me to be faithful in the asking, the seeking and the knocking in this day.

Κύριος Notes:Do I really want Justice?

Matthew 7
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Judgment is always something that is reflexive and a mirror to my view of the world. Lord Jesus I have such blind spots that I do not want to be shown. There are so many areas that I am able to conceptualize but not actualize what I know to be your will for my life.

I end up like Moses able to see the land of promise and even smell the wind of the land of milk and honey but not quite ever get there.

3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

I can never get the plank out of my eye Lord with out the Holy Spirit’s continued direct intervention and power. Why does anyone else’s stuff even come to mind when my sight is so full of wood? Distraction…so many of my defenses in this area really boils down to slight of hand that forms my limitations of sight and insight.

Sometimes the prophetic work of the Holy Spirit is so close to home that I my eyes can’t take in the light on the log that I have been looking at front and center for so long. Until I can let go of the log that my eye has been massaging further insight becomes difficult.

6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

So how does judging with unequal measures give what is sacred to those who have no appreciation for it, Lord? Offering opinions on things that I have no handle on is just a place where I will end up getting hurt by those who have no interest in anything except damage. It is better to keep silent and keep my ruminations to myself. Being one thing and saying another will always lead to hurt.

You know as well as I Lord, that I could never stand justice. I need unmerited, scandalous grace flowing in my life from begining to end or that log right in my sight of vision will never move.

Lord Jesus that leads me to a dangerous prayer. Guide my hand as I reach for the log each day, and may your grace flow in an unending stream...until one day the log doesn't return.

Κύριος Notes:You Have It Covered

Matthew 6

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?


Lord Jesus you were there when thousands were feed by your hand. Yet there were times when you were hungry and thirsty. Life is so much more than the next meal or the clean clothes that I am sitting in right now.

If you feed people who were just in the crowd that day listening, how much more will you continue to care for those who have trusted in you for all of life’s needs?

26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single
hour to his life?

Lord Jesus you care the birds who don’t doing any prudent planning, I am sure that you can take care of me through out life’s transitions. All of my concern does not really do anything, then why does anxiety dog my steps sometimes?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Lord Jesus--Running after things that will end up in the trash does not make sense…worrying about the next step when you have faithfully lead up to this point does not make sense. You are able to lead, even when the way seems dark to me and my steps hesitate. You are still there Lord Jesus guiding my hand even when I am unaware of it. In fact, it may be in those times when I am unaware of your presence with me that you have more freedom to work. It is then that you are not bounded by my expectations and limits.

33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Seeking your kingdom first, Lord Jesus is what you call me to. Help me to seek your leadership in this day.

Κύριος Notes:Clear Eyed Service

Praise

Psalm 7:17 (New International Version)
17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness

and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Scripture Reflection Matthew 6:22-24

22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Lord Jesus--Focus is essential. Being clear about what surrounds me is essential. You are the one that brings clarity. My job is to walk in the light that you bring into my life. There are times when you need to open the eyes of my heart, help me to see what has been there all a long. Sometimes my eyes just are not able to see what is right in front of me. Even when I don’t understand, understanding is not the point. Obedience is what is required.

24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Serving implies obedience, follow through and loyalty even when it is difficult. Loyalty even in those times when I don’t understand and the way is dark. Who am I loyal to? Who do I think about? How well am I following today?

Jesus help me to be clear eyed today...attuned to your call. Serving you in the middle of all that surrounds me.

Κύριος Notes:Treasures where?

Praise

Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. "

"Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. Nehemiah 9:5

Scripture Reflection

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

Lord Jesus--This is one that I have to watch all the time. Where am I investing? It all surrounds simple questions: like what is the point anyway? Where am I attaching meaning? Is my talk lining up with daily walk?

20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So then Lord Jesus the question is how invested am I in my coming reward? What am I doing now to maximize impacts for your kingdom in my everyday life?

Your place is a place that is safe and secure…where if my heart is fully invested I need not worry about heart attack, or a heart that is broken beyond repair. If my heart is broken in your work it will only bring increase to your kingdom. Easy to say Lord Jesus until the tears begin to fall...then it somehow looks different.

Lord Jesus--In this day help me to focus on the truly important issues that surround me...to be touched by what breaks your heart.

Κύριος Notes:The Spiritual Disciplines

Praise

"He is good; his love endures forever."
2 Chronicles 5:13

Scripture Reflection: Matthew 6:14-18 Fasting
16"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

Fasting like loving and giving and prayer has everything to do with who we are aiming at and who's attention we are seeking. The focus is God our Father. The example is God our Father…the point is God our Father. So being discreet does not miss the point, it enhances the point. Fasting, in the time of Christ, many times was done as a part of the ritual of grieving sometime over sin, sometimes over loss.

17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Lord Jesus you are teaching me that fasting just like prayer and giving is a spiritual process intended for the Father’s attention. The point of fasting is to focus my spirit on the point that you are aiming me toward. It is to create the conditions where change can occur.

Lord Jesus, work in my heart and life to bring about your will in this little part of planet Earth.

Κύριος Notes: Prayer continued

Praise

"Praise be to you, O LORD,

God of our father Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power,

and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;you are exalted as head over all. 1 Chronicles 29:10

Scripture Reflection Matthew 6:11-13

11Give us today our daily bread.

12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Lord Jesus more than any other simple fact, you taught that God cares about people. You care about my daily needs for food, and for the basics of life. You provide for those needs in ways and at times that you see best. It is not because I am bright, hardworking or resourceful, it is because of your giving hand of grace extended right down to me. You ask me to pray for my needs and to be thankful when they are met.

Lord Jesus--In the middle of it all, there are debts and trespasses…places where I mess it up. There places where I take what is given only to see it slip through my hands. Forgiveness comes from your hands Lord Jesus, as I forgive those whose debts I hold. Help me to forgive today as this day progresses.

13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.


Where ever you lead Lord Jesus I will follow. There are times when it feels as if the evil one is talking in my ear. I have never noticed how closely temptation, deliverance and forgiveness are all tied together. Deliverance and the abatement of temptation are all tied to my willingness and openness to forgiveness.


Lord Jesus teach me the lessons of forgiveness.