Notes the Lord:Mercy is More Important Than the Rules

Matthew 12
Lord of the Sabbath 1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

Lord Jesus--You were there on that 7th day of creation and you knew the need for rest. You were the agent by which creation came into being. It is such a strange observation that these men were making to the Lord of all creation. Calling the You to be accountable when you were there during the first sabbath. Thank you for you patience with these men and with me, when I can't see the big picture and I am lost in the trees and looking for the forest.

3He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.

Lord Jesus--You used this as a teaching moment in their lives, even if there were not open to the lesson. One of their heroes was David. He broke the law when necessity left no other route. Do let me get lost in the details and miss the real message.

5Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?

The message to these leaders was that there was no intent on the part of the disciples to do anything other than meet the need of the moment, just like the priest do every Sabbath.

6I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Lord Jesus--There is such a need for mercy. I need Your mercy everyday, and I need to show Your mercy to those who are around me. You don't look for rituals to be observed so much as a heart of mercy to be demonstrated everyday.

In this day Lord that will start around me in just a few hours help me to show mercy and to accept Your mercy.

Notes to the Lord:Pulling Together

Scripture Reflection Matthew 11:25-29

25At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

Lord Jesus--It is not always the people that should hear your call that ultimately follow. It was to regular people that you revealed yourself in glory as miracle maker, as giver of life and sight. The religiously educated saw the miracles and yet missed their significance. It was the people who were supposed to understand and be able to hear the call of God that missed it.

Coming to the place where I see and understand your work in my life is something that is not just rational, but there is also an element of the Father's active participation in the process. Every time that I open your word and hear the Holy Spirit speaking to me, it is an act of Divine intention and grace.

27"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Lord Jesus--Continue your work within my heart. Show me the Father continue your work Lord Jesus in revealing yourself in my life.

Come as a rest to the weary

Come as a balm to the sore

Come as a dew to my dryness

Fill me with joy evermore

Come Holy Spirit, I need you now

Come, Sweet Spirit, I pray

Come in your strength and your power

Come in your own gentle way

Brian Duncan

Without the power of You Holy Spirit actively at work in my heart and my life, these are just words on a page. But the mysterious thing is whenever I come to this quiet place, you are here. Here in the middle of the night. You are here when I simply come, knowing that I desperately need you to work.

28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Lord Jesus--The invitation that you gave is not restrictive. You invited everyone, even the people from the towns where all you miracles were done that had rejected you. With the invitation comes the need to accept your partnership in the journey. Thank you for the fact that I am not alone, that you are on this journey with me. You accept me as I am and ask me to partner with you and learn as I go. Sometimes the learning process is not pretty, Lord. But still you partner with me.

Lord Jesus in this day that will start in just a few hours, open my eyes to the reality of your presence with me. Help me to pull with you today.

Notes to the Lord:Don't Let Me Miss You

Scripture Reflections Matthew 11:20-24

20Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21"Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

Lord Jesus--Some of those healed people from these towns may have been in the crowd that was listening to your words. They may have been heart broken by the response of their neighbors. Sadness must have been in the hearts of those who had felt your touch and yet their neighbors and relative were still untouched by the by the miracles that were surrounding them.

Am I missing miracles that you are doing around me? What are you doing in Saratoga Springs? Remind my heart this morning of your grace experienced, and of miracles already experienced.

23And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

Lord Jesus--Sodom was destroyed and there were no miracles performed to initiate revival, and yet Capernaum has experienced so much. So where does that leave me this morning Lord Jesus? I have experienced so much of the movement of Your Spirit and yet...

You remind me that the movement of the Spirit of God in my heart and life calls to me and needs to motivate my restive soul. The people of Capernaum were no different than I am...they were busy, involved people trying to make a living and a life for themselves. They missed right in front of their eyes what the prophets and the men and women of God in the past had been longing for.

Thank you Lord for the movement of Your Spirit that I see in the nooks and crannies of my life and the lives of those that surround me...I see you at work in the lives of those who are called by you to this group you are calling together right in front of my eyes. Lord Jesus give me the vision that can see you at work all around me.

The movement of Your Spirit does not always hit the newspapers nor are you always found where the TV and radio preachers point me to...but in holy places like a dinner with friends who sincerely want to raise their children and to live their lives like Jesus would.

Lord Jesus continue your work in my life! Don't let me miss even a moment of your Spirit's work and impact.

Notes to the Lord:The Dance

Scripture Reflections Matthew 11:16-19
16"To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: 17" 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.'

Lord Jesus--So much of the time I am like a child...I always want something other than what I have been given. So often, I have Attention Deficient Disorder of the soul. I am quick to lose the beat ...and to start another song ...or just not play at all at the times when I am called. But you call me to the dance that surrounds me...the dance and the steps that you would love for me to learn. Why is it so hard for me to learn?

18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."

Lord Jesus--It was the same in the generation that you ministered in. They struggled to dance even though they heard your music. They did not fully identify with John and thought that he was a bit out of step with his culture and his relevance was in question. He was too much the ascetic, his example and his diet was more than the people could handle. But when you came to them they found fault with Your presentation, you were too close to them...you were at their dinners and parties and did not play the "Rabbi" role well from their point of view. They wanted to find a reason to find fault, a reason to not believe.

You are so right... wisdom is known by her children. Some of these same people to whom Your were preaching and ministering would in just a few short years see their children died in the sack of Jerusalem. Literally true...wisdom was known by the children of these very people to whom you were speaking.

So what is the application Lord Jesus to me? What are you asking of me? To listen to Your call closer...to follow the steps even when my feet want to move in a different direction. When I fail to listen, I just plain fail. The music of Your dance surrounds me, you ask me to let it move me with grace. You call me to the dance.

Lord Jesus in this day that will begin in a bit, help me to dance Your dance with grace and courage, even when I might want to run, help me to stick to the song with endurance and determination.

Notes to the Lord:Role and Call

Scripture Reflections--Matthew 11:7-15
7As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces.

Lord Jesus--The People followed John into the Judean desert for many reasons. Some followed because of the spectacle. A man who was standing against a system that left no place for a man of God to be but in the desert. Some followed because that sensed that there was going to be a change which they longed for. They could connect with the power of John's message, they could understand that John was a man of God...they may have even surmised that he was just the leading edge of a change that would sweep across their world.

9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written: " 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'[c] 11I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Lord Jesus--You were pointing people to the real mission of John, his job given to him by God was one of a revivalist, a person who pointed people back to the work of God. That work was not about temple building or palaces populated with people wearing fine clothes, but obedience, heart change and being willing to stand toe to toe with a corrupt system and call it to accountability.

You remind me this morning of the heart call of Your Kingdom to my encrusted heart. A call to obedience that springs not from any other motivation than to do what you have called me to do.These are words of high praise you gave to the person who stood at the close of the old covenant while heralding in the new. Yet anyone who participates in the kingdom of God...who has given their heart to you, and actively seeks your direction has gone farther than John could go.

12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15He who has ears, let him hear.

John was the climax, the crescendo of the old covenant and all the work that had gone into its progression and advance. John was the Prophet's prophet...all the rest as great as they were did not fulfill the role of messenger before the Messiah. In a way they all stood behind John...

Lord Jesus--John had a role to fulfill he was the one who went before you and announced your coming. He prepared the hearts of the people for the continued outpouring that would come in your ministry. As his disciples were leaving you affirmed John's completion of his mission...this was your "Well done good and faithful servant" to John who was questioning his own work in a prison cell in Herod's dungeon.

Lord Jesus--Help me to be faithful to the role that you have given me to fulfill in this day I long to obey from the heart. Give me the courage and endurance to listen and obey today.

Note the Lord: Life Lines

Scripture Reflection-Matthew 11:1-6
1After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. 2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

Lord Jesus--There is pain behind these words coming from John in Herod's prison. He had put his hope in You and had trusted his mission was completed. Now in the dark dank prison cell with the walls surrounding him and the chains rattling on his feet, he wondered if he was wrong. Questions like: Did I really hear that voice from heaven saying...affirming Jesus as God's Son? Or was it thunder like everyone else thought it was...

These were hard times for John and painful questions to ask and to hear. I am sure that John must have wondered if he should have just kept quiet about Herod and his choices in wives. All these thoughts and more must have rattled around John's mind.

4Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

Lord Jesus--I am glad for what wasn't forwarded back to John. You did not chide John for his questions and for his thoughts of failure as he sat there in the dark. You just pointed John toward the light...

You pointed John toward the Prophet Isaiah and words that would have been familiar to John.

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners

I wonder if John started to quote Isaiah 61 to himself as he sat in his prison cell after his friend left him alone to his thoughts. I wonder if Isaiah's words rang in his ears as he was taken away to the executioner's axe. They were words of light...a life line to a man alone in the dark.

Come to think of it that is what you do with me at times, you point me toward the light. Just at the right time a word or two of scripture comes through just when I need it. Sometimes I notice it...and then sometimes it just flies right over my ducked head.

Lord Jesus in this day, point me toward the light.

Notes to the Lord:Following in Big Things and Small

Scripture Reflection:Matthew 10: 37-42
37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

Lord Jesus-- You want first place in my heart. Family does not come first, they come second. You are the one that should be my first thought in the morning and my last thought before sleeps finds me. The web of relationships that radiate out from my life should be impacted by the relationship that I have with You. Forgive me Lord when relationships become functional and fractured.

38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Lord Jesus--You want first place in my direction. Moving toward You in this life is moving toward the cross...toward a life that is found in You.

Implications generate out from that center. You remind me that control is in Your hands not mine. You nudge me toward the fact that there are more lessons about finding and losing that I will need to learn. Or just the simple fact that I need to keep moving toward You...toward the cross one step at a time..."keep your feet moving, Kurt."

40"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.

Lord Jesus--You remind me that rewards and receptions are linked. Who are the people who I have received because that have come from you? I can think of the names and the faces...people who have imprinted themselves on my heart and mind. People who have contributed to my spiritual formation. Some by the books they have written...some by the sermons they have preached...some because of the relationships that have been establish over a life time.

Thank you Lord Jesus for those people You have brought into my life. But there is also a promise here...it is amazing to me that as I have received them, I participate in their reward. It is a blessing that I receive now and later on. You continue to call me to receive those You bring into my life...as if they were coming from You. It doesn't always look that way Lord...forgive me when I miss it.

42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

Lord Jesus it is encouraging to me that even little things will not be forgotten. In this coming day help me to follow you in the big things and in the small things.