Then Came Morning

John 2:4 NLT

“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

So right now I'm in the middle of Jeremiah in my read through the Bible. Not a terribly encouraging book I might add... But I'm also reading through John at the same time and I ran across this verse.

Now I know just like you do,  that we live between the already and the not yet. Jesus has come. We are thankful but we long for his rule in our world.

Here, his mom asks Jesus to intervene...it is before his time...yet she knows he will act. Why? The same reason He intervenes as he sees in fit in our lives. Love.

Now for the time being it is always a party that he brings with him...sorry that just isn't the way it is. But even in the dark he reminds us of the morning, of hope, light of forgiveness received and of a time when all tears will be dried. He always points us toward the light.

Plan for the day: Follow the light and see where He leads. It is always an adventure.

On the Outside Looking In

We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. . . . At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in...

The Case For The Psalms NT Wright

Love this quote...and what it brings to mind.  We should never settle for something less than what we were intended to be.  It is only in participation with Christ in a life journey that we even have the insight to know that we stuck between the already and the not yet.

Notes to the Lord from NC

1John 1

2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim you the eternal life,which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

The Life appeared

Lord Jesus --You are the life. Nothing else is enough. Nothing else compares to life lived out within your call. Life lived in you is real. Your resurrection and accession mean that you represent me to the Father. The Father is reminded of your DNA every time he looks in your direction. That is what I hold on to in the times when my heart loses tract of my place...you speak words of grace to the Father on my behalf.

You are the example we have of eternal life. A life that was lived to create relationship...and lived out the implications of grace personally.  It wasn't  abstract at all but a sweat and blood drenched offering of grace.

3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

Lord Jesus--This journey of faith never comes to a place where it is over or where we are finished. Relationship is what you call me to over and over again. Forgive me for those places where I wander from the simple reality of your grace. Grace leads naturally to relationship.  When it doesn't something is wrong.

So where is the up
close and personal?   Living with eternity in mind flavors every relationship with grace...remind me today of this simple truth.  There are no throw away interactions with people.  All of it is sacred.

Tidbit from watching the Grandkids...Collin is my one and only, at this point grandson, ...he is just working through separation anxiety and I am one of the people who he is getting used to take care of him.  Separation anxiety makes him fearful and tearful when his parents leave him.  Adult Jesus followers don't need to have separation anxiety when it comes to You.   Do we Lord Jesus?  Your life is within us...your Spirit inhabits our days.  So why is to easy to fall into that trap when there are times of quiet?  It is so easy to get distracted.

Notes From Vacation

1 John 1:1
New International Version (NIV)

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

Lord Jesus- John had an immediacy that was present in all his writing. It was a result of interacting with you during your ministry. There are times when it seems as if there is that same sense of being right in the mix with you in my life. I have heard. I have seen you work...my hands have touched what you have done. There is a cutting edge to life in the spirit...and then there are those times when it all appears to be past tense.

Even in those times John reminds me that there is proclamation to do. He has worked. He will work again. This is not the place where His work ends. This reminds me of the beginning of the John’s gospel, pretty sure he meant that to be the case.

Don’t let me miss that this is about the "word of life...the word of life" Life is the theme. Life where your word has cutting edge application.

ISA 55:11 ESV

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

This is the word of life it will not return to You empty.  Even when it seems like there is no impact that is visible.  Your word changes all it touches. It changes me...inside and out, It changes those who hear it just by washing over them one more time.  Sometimes they just feeling like words....but that is just how it looks from where I am sitting.  I can't be fooled anymore. There is power that is released in each hearing.

Romans 10:17 ESV

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Don't let me forget that it is the word of life...it needs to be heard and lived out in my life in a way that shows first to those closest to me and then outward...the word of life that we touch...the word of life that is lived out today...the word that faith comes as we live it out day by day.

So Lord Jesus how do I live it out today? In this place with little ones surrounding me and the lady  that you gave me looking on? How do it make it all work...how does it become the word of life today in my little world. That is the job for today...to wrap little ones in your love and to live out the word of life today.  Jesus help me. Help when I feel like sighing...help me when I get distracted...help me when my frustration rises to know that the word of life is with me no matter how I feel. Let me enjoy that time that passes so quickly....almost before I know it.

It is all about Goodness, Grace and Glory

I ran accross this quote recently...

God did not bring you into the world because He had any need of you, useless as you are; but solely that He might show forth His Goodness in you, giving you His Grace and Glory. And to this end He gave you understanding that you might know Him, memory that you might think of Him, a will that you might love Him, imagination that you might realise His mercies, sight that you might behold the marvels of His works, speech that you might praise Him, and so on with all your other faculties..-- Francis de Sales

There are days where we all feel useless...but even then we have a purpose. We are designed to show God's goodness, His glory and His grace. So in the day that awaits we have work to do. We need to live the day with our eyes wide open to the movements of His grace, our hearts listening for His voice, our memories rehearsing His acts of mercy to us, and words pointing toward His glory.

Harvest Workers?

Scripture Reflection: Matthew 9: 35 – 38

35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Jesus, you really saw the people….with eyes of compassion…help me to see through your eyes the people the surround me.  Help me to understand the needs in a way that I have not in the past.  Help me to see beyond the present presentation to the kind of person that they can be,  if touched by your Holy Spirit.

Jesus you saw the people that presented to you in need in a way that only you can.  As people who needed your touch, your healing, your ministry to their hurts both physical and emotional.

You knew that they need leadership and direction.  You knew the need that surrounded you.  You knew the need for workers for your harvest. Help me to remember that it is your harvest and not mine… you are the one that owns the harvest…the seed and the field…I am just the farm hand.

This request that you made of the disciples,  you asked them to pray to the Father for the workers that were need.  You who were the agent of creation…were limited and were unable within the present context to do the whole job…unless the Father sent the needed workers.  It is interesting that all but one of those who were asked to pray became the answer to their prayers.  Funny how that works...

You walked the cities, the streets, towns and the villages, you knew the need up close and personal.  You saw the death…you saw the twisting that was going on of peoples hopes and dreams and of what could be...and you asked the disciples to pray not just for the harvest but for harvest workers.  In fact the harvest was assumed.

In this day that will start all too soon, give me your eyes to see the people that surround me with you eyes, to identify the needs with eyes like yours.

Trust Verses Moral Muscle

Romans 8:5-8
5-8 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. 

I can only trust that you have lead me to the place where I am at for a reason.  I am here with the blessings and the growing edges as a part of the plan.  It is not coincidence or luck that has brought me here but blessing and grace.   

Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God!

So the point is not moral muscle but grace and hope worked out over a lifetime of trusting for the next step to be shown. So really you call me to trusting for the next step to be able to sense the Spirits power at work. The validation of the Spirit comes as I step out in faith and trust.

Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. 

Ok so the lesson to learn is not to focus on where I am but where you are Jesus?  You are at work in your people…you are at work shaping and impacting events and forces that shape my world.  You are at work shaping and changing me in that process at the same time. 

You are at work in this place so it can be a place of holiness and of hope a place of dynamic and sustained vitality…a place of new challenges…a place where the Spirit of the Living God can work freely and without constraint.

The focus needs to be on you and on your grace not on legalism and on dotting “I’s” and crossing “T’s” not on self in the sense that the Law can some how fix what is wrong inside…it just can not happened. 

So what is the next step?  How do I begin to focus on you instead of self? 

Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.


The start is in thanksgiving and gratefulness for what you have already done.   I am blessed and I am cared for and I have been lead.  All of that is because of your grace at work within me.  That has been a work of power…to take me and bring me to where I am right now.  You have been the one to provide and sustain, to strengthen and to protect. You have been at work throughout my life and I trust you to continue that work. 

Thoughts From Back of the Bus

Started this a couple of months ago and never finished it. It was late fall and I was on my way out of town Psalm 25 just came up in my devotions as we were starting our trip down to OBX.  

There were no enemies surrounding me that I know of...but the journey just reminded me of this psalm. We know so little on the left and the right our our path...and yet we are protected and provided for in such good supply.

Psalm 25 

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, in You I trust,

Do not let me be ashamed;

Do not let my enemies exult over me.

Starting points are important. Trust is the place to start my journey each day...trust in the goodness and the grace of my Lord. I forget that so often...so much of my journey is about when I start and where I end up. So much of it is circles...

This morning I lift up my soul to you. I lift up the thoughts of my heart in these early morning moments. Even though I over look it often, I have experienced your protection this week, even when I wasn't aware of it you were still protecting. The call is to trust in your protection even, when enemies seem to be everywhere.

Am I investing my trust in you? There are times when I sense the enemy of my soul pacing me...stalking me. You are my only hope Lord...the one to whom I can run. I put my trust in your watchcare and your goodness, for this day that yawns out before me.

3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.Wait for the Lord...hmm novel thought. Not something that I do very often.

4 Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.

5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,For You are the God of my salvation;For You I wait all the day.

There is much more intention and direction to the journey than I am aware of, Lord. From my view of the back of the bus it looks as if we are just barely within the guard rails...but then how much can you see from the back seat?

Timing is in your hands not in mine. I do not and cannot force the duration of your blessing or of those times of trouble that come my way. All that I can do is praise your wisdom, grace and mercy given to me at the beginning of each day.

Fish Lips and Faith

Matthew 17:24-27
24 After they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” 

This is a little vignette of irony that just jumps off the page at me…

Lord Jesus--You are the son of God, your father owns the temple and here this temple tax collector is asking for the temple tax.  I wonder if this person put it together after the resurrection…I   wonder if this person was ever a believer.  This little incident would be something to remember and say…I can’t believe that I ever did that.

25 He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes—from their sons or from foreigners?”26 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.

Lord Jesus-You picked up on the irony of the situation.  They were calling you’re a foreigner in your own father’s house. I wonder if there was a slight sardonic smirk that crossed your face.

 27 But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

Lord Jesus-You know where the money is coming from that we need. You know if it is by usual means or by your active intervention.  You are engaged in the process that supplies the needs of your people.   It is your intervention that has allowed us the skills that we have and the level of successes that your people have experienced.  We participate in that blessing  and you continue to lead and guide.   It is not ours to hold to in fact the more we hold on to stuff the less we can trust in the giver of every good gift that comes our way.  The provision that evidences comes from your hand not matter who's name is on the signature line of the check.

Remind us of the fish story and what it means…stewardship is trust that the fish will be there when they are needed. Our job is to keep fishing in all of the ways that are available to us in all of the places where we can, in all the ways that we can, for as long as we can.  

Maybe the problem at times is we just don’t go fishing enough in the right place and look enough fish in the mouth.   

James 1:17

¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

The Road Runs Through Me

I could have anticipated that the road is more than a metaphor in my life...the journey has in so many ways come to define my life.  Life is traveling around sometimes over the same itinerary again and again. It is a part of the job but beyond that it has become a part of my life.  The car, the open road  with tunes playing in the background and a goal in mind for the day.

The travel is not the point it is a part of the process to resolve the issue, to problem solve and to be able to move on.  So much of life is like that...process that leads to resolution that results in outcomes that require more resolution.  Problem solving that in it's self creates reactions that were not anticipated.  That in turn needs fine tuning that leads to further needed action...points me toward the spiritual.  The reality is: that process continues in my heart not just my head.  There are issues, problems which lead to resolution which leads to the challenge of an new set of changes that are called for.  And the road goes on right straight though my heart.


Lord Jesus--When you called me to follow you, I never realize that it would be a dynamic process over time, space and a life time of change.  Why did I get this picture at the beginning that one decision and the matter was settled? I chose to follow you and that has lead to a million decisions that rested on that first choice. It has been a journey...no more of a adventure. The road to kingdom come runs straight and true even when from my end all I see is asphalt.

The connection between process and product is not always direct.  The connection between journey and destination sometimes is a twisted blindsided highway.  That does not mean that I have somehow gone off track if I end up places that I didn't anticipate.  It just means I have to trust the One who led me and that He will continue to lead.

The road is about process and movement toward an end that is known from the start of the trip.  It is occasioned by all sorts of things...but the end result is that there is the need for relationship building.  One way or another that is always a part of my travels.  That is the direct connection to my Jesus walk daily...

Amos 3:3
Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?

If there is any fundamental lesson that I learned in this walk with Jesus it is that all of life is about relationship building.  This picture of Sweet and myself is one of my favorite.  First, it is at a place that we love to go.  The sand and the sea of the Outer Banks is my favorite.  I am not sure why I like this picutre so much.  I guess it is that we are headed in the same direction and the sun is shining...it is late fall and we remain together.  How much better does it get?

Does the road run through me? Yes, and it is the highway of the King.

A Step or Two Beyond A Lewis Quote

"If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown."
C. S. Lewis ~ Mere Christianity

This quote got me thinking. Clearly, Lewis has in mind that a Christ follower has something occur that is a fundamental difference in kind from what they were before. The difference between grass and wheat.

Most of the time in the church we look for differences in degree. Better attendance, better giving, more baptisms, professions of faith. The church in Saratoga Sunday attendance is...

Numbers in general are counting out differences in degree. It was 83 yesterday. John Doe hasn't missed a Sunday all year, or has brought 15 of his friends to church...or has read his Bible through every year for the last 15 years. All are good things, but not the best thing.

What Lewis is pointing to clearly is if we are looking for something that numbers can never indicate. He is pointing to a difference in kind. Grass and wheat are both plants but one is ground cover and one is a source of food. One looks nice and one is productive. One according to Jesus is burnt up and the other is gathered into barns for safekeeping.

Here is the thing...I am clear that a fundamental difference occurs at conversion. It is written across the gospels in love and in large print letters. But that change is on going and points toward a harvest that occurs repeatedly. The harvest itself creating the seeds for the next years harvest. So difference in kind leads to ongoing organic growth that is not forced or stilted but instead the natural thing that wheat does. It requires ploughing and sowing and reaping. It is a field,  a life and an organic process that continues to be tended.

Lord Jesus--So where are the places that ploughing is required? Where are the places where planting is taking place? Where in my life do I sense without any doubt the blessing and fruitful harvest of the Holy Spirits work?  Thank you for the Holy Spirit's ongoing tending in my life.

More Not Just More

Mark 10
[10.17] As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?” 

Lord Jesus-This person was someone who was thoughtful, motivated and resourced. He comes with exactly the right questions. A great start, but...

[10.18-19] Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.” [10.20] He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”
[10.21] Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him!

Lord Jesus--You could see into his heart and mind..and your reaction spoke volumes.  You loved him. What was about this person that tugged at your heart?  Was it the sincerity with which he followed the commandments?  Was it his need for something more?  Something beyond stuff?  More not just more...

It is so easy to get lost in stuff that will eventually rot, rust and crumble. There will always be the latest and the greatest which we will be told is the best.  Lord Jesus--You did not fall into that trap.  You want more for us than just stuff.

 He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.” [10.22] The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.

Lord Jesus-The hard part is to know when to let go and when to hold on.  So often, it is after the fact that is is clear that holding on is just exactly the opposite of you want for me.  This person could not let go...could not open his hands and put them in yours. It sounds so easy as I write this but it isn't.  Following you is a full time job.

A very wise person once said, "The good is always the enemy of the best."  A great start is not enough...a strong finish is what is needed.  We really don't know the rest of the story with this man.  We know that this interchange ended with the price too high for his willingness to commit.  Truth be told,  the same could be said of me at junctures of my life. Yet you bring me back again and again to a place where my original "No" is transformed into a grateful "Yes." I wonder if the same happened with this man.

In this day that will pull me towards it with the force of gravity, let me find my resting place in you...a place of more not just more.  A place where "Yes" comes naturally... spontaneously.

Peterson, Eugene H. (2006-06-15). The Message Remix 2.0: The Bible In contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 30897-30904). NAVPress - A. Kindle Edition.

Forbid Them Not

  Mark 10

[10.13-16] The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom.

Lord Jesus--Here in this passage you were interested in the children that were being brought to you.  They didn't need to be healed they were just brought to you for no other reason than to be blessed by you.

Some of these children would be alive in the years that would see the destruction of their home land.  You knew that as you blessed them.  Some of these children were bound for happiness and some for great sorrow. As they were there before you,  they represented the future, the hope, and the investment of their parents.  There were loved little ones who their parents had taken the time to bring them to see the new Rabbi.

You took the energy and the time to publicly correct the behavior of your disciples.  As you were highlighting the essential role of these children in the kingdom, were you lifting them to the Father in prayer?  Were you asking for their protection? I have a sneaking suspicion that you were.

These words are almost haunting:  “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me." They repeat in my mind.  Lord,  don't let my action or inaction get between you and the little ones that you bring my way.

I wonder about the ways that we push children away right now in the church and in this culture. Family rooms where children are segregated in church...as if a little noise is going to hurt us? Nursing mom's made to feel as if there is something wrong with feeding their children? You said, "Don't push them away."

 Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.

Lord Jesus--My acceptance of your kingdom is like a child. What are some implications of acceptance as a child?  There is vulnerability. There are almost limitless questions.  There is trust. There is energy. There is emotion. There is unbounded enthusiastic acceptance. Yes, I have to accept your kingdom's rule in my heart and life like a child.

Remind me of the blessing that comes with acceptance as a child when the vulnerability gets overwhelming.  Push me toward trust at the critical moments.  In the day the will begin before I am ready for it...let me live out your call in this day...a call to trust, vulnerability and accepting what this day brings as from your hand.

Peterson, Eugene H. (2006-06-15). The Message Remix 2.0: The Bible In contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 30893-30896). NAVPress - A. Kindle Edition. 

Hardhearted?

Mark 10

010 [10.1-2] From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?” [10.3] Jesus said, “What did Moses command?” [10.4] They answered, “Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.” [10.5-9] Jesus said, “Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways.

Lord Jesus-Concessions and hardheartedness are themes that have dogged the steps of your people. You were there when Moses made this decision to allow divorce.  These leaders who were tracking you around the country really were not interested in divorce   They just wanted to trip you and trap you.   You weren't interested in legality.  You were interested in soul work. You met them at the point of their questions...I would not have been that generous.

As I write this I wonder, where are the places that  I am hardhearted?  Where are the places where I just don't want to listen? If we were sitting on this park bench talking to me you might point them out...places where I hold on to tradition in stead of your grace.  Issues that I find it easier to avoid, than to look them squarely in the eye.

There are are those places where I think that I am being tenacious and you know me for who I am...stubborn and set in my ways.  Forgive me for the confusion and move me beyond my blind spots by your grace.  You continue to be interested in soul work and you call me to being open to you call in all sorts of places.  Lately,  I have noticed that you seem to be handling my blind spots differently.  It seems as if you edge me right up to them.   Then somehow you allow them to break through to the still, quiet place in my heart and the tears come.  I am not sure I like this recent turn of events and the Spirit's work, but I will follow wherever you lead.

In this day help me to follow you and to listen in the quiet place that the Spirit speaks to my heart words of grace, hope and courage.

Peterson, Eugene H. (2006-06-15). The Message Remix 2.0: The Bible In contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 30884-30892). NAVPress - A. Kindle Edition.

Friends in Darkness and Light

Mark 9

[9.43-48] “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell. [9.49-50] “Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames.

Lord Jesus--This is one of those spots that the words get twisted and the message gets lost.  The message is of the importance of focus on your kingdom not on body parts thrown away.  The focus is on your kingdom not necessarily the church. The focus needs to be on the message and on the interactions with that message among the people we meet along the way.  Anything that distracts or distorts that interaction needs to be jettisoned for the sake of the mission.


My interactions with the people that surround me are important. The relationships are of eternal importance.  This warning is found just after you pointed to the fellow travelers on the road to kingdom come and reminded me of the need to protect those who are just putting their roots down into the faith.


You want me to be a light the shines in the darkness even if the darkness doesn't notice.  There are times when it feels as if the darkness that surrounds is suffocating.    There are also, those times when it feels as if the darkness is intoxicating. Your quiet and reoccurring call to me is to shine without distraction. The call is to focus on you on your life and light, on your grace and hope,  not the darkness that surrounds and at times seeps inside me.

In this day, help me to be redemptively aware of the hope that infuses every moment that I allow myself to focus on you.

Peterson, Eugene H. (2006-06-15). The Message Remix 2.0: The Bible In contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 30877-30881). NAVPress - A. Kindle Edition. 

Don't Miss The Friends Along the Way

Mark 9
[9.38] John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn't in our group.” [9.39-41] Jesus wasn't pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down.

Lord Jesus-I am sure that I miss allies all the time because they don't fit into my little view of your kingdom. The more I walk with you, the more I am aware of the inclusive nature of your call. You call me to following you and to being aware of the people who are headed in the same direction.

If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

Today help me be aware of the cups of water along the way sometimes I miss them because they come in many different forms. A word of encouragement at the right time...a smile at the needed time...

 [9.42] “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn't  You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

Lord Jesus--It is a scared trust that you call me to.  To be aware of and encourage the trust of those whose faith is just taking root.  There can be no Crystal Cathedral's in my future.  Just places of grace where fellow travelers on the road to Kingdom Come share the journey.

So in the day that is going to start in just a couple of hours let me be hope, and light in this day for you.

Peterson, Eugene H. (2006-06-15). The Message Remix 2.0: The Bible In contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 30871-30877). NAVPress - A. Kindle Edition.

First? Right? Left or Down the Middle

Mark

[9.33] They came to Capernaum. When he was safe at home, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?”

Lord Jesus--There are sometimes that the gotcha comes after the fact. They had been discussing pecking order.  You knew it. I wonder if they knew you knew.

[9.34] The silence was deafening—they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest.

I wonder what criteria they were using? Who had done the most miracles? Who had cast out the most demons?  Who had heal the most sick?  How did they parse it out?  How many repented?  Did they keep a count on how many notches they had on their gospel gun? 

The criteria of evaluation is something that is important to you. Isn't Lord?   It is not a standard that is comfortable. All of the activities are not the standard. In the church too long we looked to the wrong criteria   At times we have thought that it about we we have done.  There have been times when we think that the standards are about not doing behaviors and activities. There is always talk about lowering the standards...but really the standard could be any higher. 

[9.35] He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.”

The standard that you set was servant-hood. Everything else is out of my control. I can choose to serve.  You choose to bless as you see fit.  Everything else is window dressing on a window that doesn't exist. 

I guess this is where political agenda's of the christian right, middle and left need to come face to face with you.  My political agenda needs to be yours...serving the needs of the oppressed, living out a generous orthodoxy that doesn't throw stones at anyone but serves with grace in the middle of need. 

 [9.36-37] He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me—God who sent me.”

Lord Jesus--So where does the child come it? Service and love with no thought of reciprocity? So much of the church is about giving with the implication of reciprocity...of receiving at some point in the future. Yet, servants serve because that is what they are called to do.

Lord Jesus--Today help me get this right...it is really so simple...to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with you. That is the job description for today, give me the strength and grace for the task.

Micah 6:8 

He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Except By Prayer

Mark 9

[9.25-27] Seeing that the crowd was forming fast, Jesus gave the vile spirit its marching orders: “Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you—Out of him, and stay out!” Screaming, and with much thrashing about, it left. The boy was pale as a corpse, so people started saying, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking his hand, raised him. The boy stood up.

Lord Jesus--I would not want to miss the happy ending in the middle of thinking about belief and trusting you.  The story of this boy and his oppression by evil end in what some thought was death but was really the last gasping breathes of evil kicking and screaming as it left.

[9.28] After arriving back home, his disciples cornered Jesus and asked, “Why couldn't we throw the demon out?” [9.29] He answered, “There is no way to get rid of this kind of demon except by prayer.”

This incident occurred because the disciples were unable to cast the demon out of this little one.  So they brought him to you after you returned from the mountain. Peter, James and John had seen you revealed in all your glory. I wonder what Moses was talking with you about? Elijah did he talk to you of his days since leaving planet Earth? Did he have concerns about the company that you were keeping? It was a mountain top experience that overwhelmed the boys. I am sure that I would have been the amen section for Peter on that day.  "Tents, tabernacles...sound like a good idea to me...Amen Peter.  Let's get it together."  

They saw  your glory  revealed just as much when you touched this little and restored hope and life to a person who had experienced such oppression by the evil one.  The lesson that the boys needed to learn again and again was that power comes not from doing, but from being connected to the source of power.  Prayer was and still is the only way that spiritual progress can be made. 

You still release from oppression  you still call me to the work of prayer. Why is it that I still miss it from time to time that it is not in doing that real work gets done but in being in your presence?   In this day that is already pushing at me, lead me in ways of grace, and of being a person of prayer.

Peterson, Eugene H. (2006-06-15). The Message Remix 2.0: The Bible In contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 30857-30862). NAVPress - A. Kindle Edition.

"If" Revisited

Lord Jesus--That word "If" constrains me.  It was used by the this father with a son oppressed because he had come to the place where he did not trust that God would in fact intercede on the behalf of his son.

So often that is where I find myself and I allow my understanding of the past to impact your future work in my life.  There is no question that you are trustworthy...there is no question that you love with an everlasting love.  I loose track of the fact that my perspective of the past is twisted.  I am not an accurate reporter of your grace experienced in my life.  I don't see it all and can't understand it all.  Sometimes I can't even see it all.


So the growing edge is to trust even when I don't see it clearly...or don't understand it. Will never understand it this side of the pearly gates.  Trust and praise become the default...not "if."

That is the growing edge. Praise and trust release your work with in me, "if" limits, constrains and confines.

If is a Big Word

Mark 9

[9.14-16] When they came back down the mountain to the other disciples, they saw a huge crowd around them, and the religion scholars cross-examining them. As soon as the people in the crowd saw Jesus, admiring excitement stirred them. They ran and greeted him. He asked, “What’s going on? What’s all the commotion?” [9.17-18] A man out of the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my mute son, made speechless by a demon, to you. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board. I told your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn't ” [9.19-20] Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” They brought him. When the demon saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a seizure, causing him to writhe on the ground and foam at the mouth. [9.21-22] He asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?” “Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!” [9.23] Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” [9.24] No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”

Lord Jesus--I would love to be able to say that I have never felt like this father.  That I have never been on the edges of blessing and yet not yet in the camp.  But I think that all of us live the majority of our lives camped out just a step or two beyond where the blessing reaches.  “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!” Heart breaking words...yet not unfamiliar to this child of Adam.

I don't often think of this as a prayer but it was spoken to the one who was the agent of the creative process. The one who saw star's born and galaxies gestating was standing before this father with a son twisting in the agony of possession. Dose God hear our prayers?  Absolutely.  Did he hear this prayer spoken by a Father wracked with guilt and obsessed with fears that he might have been the cause of his son's malady? Yes you heard and acted.  Not only did you act but you also left the check book open for all future needs.

Lord Jesus-I love your response to this man...“If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.”  It is almost like you are speaking these words into my heart.  There are no "ifs among believers."  It really doesn't matter about what the crisis of the day is...a furnace, a car, a son in need, a job needed.  You remind me that for believers "Anything can happen."  There are no limits, no constants of money, time, space or age. You can and will act in the middle of our need.  There are no ifs...

To our world that over looks the oppressed and the twisted, you showed us a different way.  You invested time, energy and prophetic insight in addressing their needs. You spoke to a Father who the rest of his community must have written off as a sinner because of the oppression of his son's life by Satan.

In the middle of this life that moves faster and faster, Lord Jesus let my prayers be done with "ifs."

Peterson, Eugene H. (2006-06-15). The Message Remix 2.0: The Bible In contemporary Language (Kindle Locations 30846-30857). NAVPress - A. Kindle Edition.