Notes to the Lord:Changing Times

^{Scripture Reflection: Matthew 24}

¹⁵"Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

Lord Jesus--These words refer to the desecration of the temple and the ending of sacrifices. There is debate as to what it all means right now. Was this referring to the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in 70 AD? Is it still to occur at a future date during the end times? If that is the case then a temple must be rebuilt and temple sacrifice re-initiated. The debate of what all this means continues to be discussed within those who call themselves your followers.

The events of the culmination of history continue to be debated. What can I know for certain?

I can be sure of the simple fact that desecration of what is holy signals a time when extreme caution needs to be practiced. The events that surround me right now are not the desecration of what is holy...but there are hints that point to a time in the not to distant future when this might be the case. For the time being, this is not the case

¹⁶then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

¹⁷"Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.¹⁸"Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.¹⁹"But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰"But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

Lord Jesus--As I write this I am living in a safe time and place. A time of relative peace, a time when the darkness is not at my door. The rule of law prevails. The Holy is not profaned as much as it is simply ignored.

I understand your warning, that this time of peace may end in a climactic and chaotic way before I am aware of what is happening. Help me in this time of peace to be aware of the dangers of complacency. This time is a blessing, help me to use it in the best way possible for your kingdom.

Lord Jesus--If this age of relative peace ends during my time, let me meet the challenge of the days with your grace and leadership...with courage and the knowledge that you are in control.

Notes to the Lord:Even So Come Quickly Lord Jesus

Scripture Reflections:Matthew 24

7"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8"But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Lord Jesus--If these are the birth pains...I am wondering what the delivery will be like. I got a feeling that we might just find out in the next few years. But that has been the hope of the church for the last 20 Centuries, that you would come back. Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus.

9"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

Lord Jesus--Listening to NPR today it sounds like we might be on the way there. Stem cell research debate was being discussed and Evangelical Christians were taking a beating...as if a tag name describes God's people. We are not a bumper sticker, but our values have been compressed down to bumper sticker slogans.

The public debate has gotten so shrill and with so little ability to allow for difference. The polarization and shrillness may be a part of the preparation for your return.

10"At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.

Lord Jesus--Love is the very distinction that was to be our hallmark will be under fire in this time of tribulation. You said that we would be know by our love...but under the new conditions even love will fail us.

11"Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12"Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. 13"But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Lord Jesus--Watching the Glen Beck controversy and the reaction of my brothers and sisters to this Mormon man speaking about the need to for change. He maybe speaking elements of truth, but he is following a false prophet from a century or two ago.

There is hope here. Endurance to the end will have its positive outcome, and the time line for your return is set by the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom to all nations. We must be close then...

Every morning as I look to the eastern sky, I look with hope that this will be the day that you come back for your people. Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Notes to the Lord:Things that Should Impress

Scripture Reflections: Matthew 24

1Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down."

Lord Jesus--The temple was impressive to the disciples. What was it that impressed them I wonder...was it the impressive workmanship? Was it the history the foundations of which reminded them of the past glories of their people. In the middle of this history and maybe even patriotism that your disciples were feeling you bring in the reality of the coming storm.

What are the things that impress me?

Lord Jesus--Remind me that the past is not enough...religious relics are not enough, you want to be a present reality. There is a future that is coming which will change old balances and call into question the assumptions that have endured for generations.

3As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

Lord Jesus--These men who had lived with you for three years didn't have all the pieces put together. They were living through the time of the pieces of unfolding revelation being put into place. But in the middle of it all there appears to be the understanding that you would have to go away...that this coming was not the end of the age.

Never noticed that before...I wonder where they thought that you would be going? If these men who had watched you for three years didn't get the picture...I guess that I can expect the picture will be unclear to me at times to.

4And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 5"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.

Lord Jesus--These are times when many are mislead, where truth and error is mingled so much of the time. You told us that there would be those who would come and make claims to be you. Help me to have a discerning spirit and to hear your call in the middle of all the voices of my cluttered culture and time.

6"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

Lord Jesus--I am safe within your care no matter what age I am living in. These are times which could very well be the end of all things and be the building crescendo that will bring about your return. These times could also just be the end of the things that I have known.

It seems clear to all thinking people that the world that we live in is fundamentally not sustainable. There is fear on every side, everyone wanting to hang on to the things that they had gotten.

Let me be content with what you had given me and the time that you had given me to live in. Help me to follow you through these days. The simple fact that you can lead in the middle of these days of change and transition is something to hold on to. You will continue to keep your people safe and unafraid. This simple fact should be what impresses your people...not buildings, either of the past or the present.

The temple crashed to the ground to the trample of steel shod Roman sandals and yet your people were kept safe. I am certain that you can do the same in my age as I watch the transition of many institutions that have been thought to be just as enduring as the temple was then.

Lord Jesus--Help me to faithful to your call today...to live as you would have me to live in this day that will dawn in just a few moments.

Notes to the Lord:Live it Don't Just Say It

Scripture Reflections:Matthew 23

1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

Lord Jesus--An essential for teachers in the kingdom is that they practice what they preach. There must be a connection between what is said and life as it is lived out. Any disconnection must be repaired. The ability to have a continuity between thought, word and action is the essence of the message of grace. Grace can so become a part of my life that the message is not so much taught as lived out.

4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;

Lord Jesus--Let me always carry the load that I am talking about. Don't let me just tell people but help me to show people the message in flesh lived out before them. It should not be about how things appear, it should be about how things are. Teach me the way of internalizing your grace and mercy in ways that don't need to be seen because they can be experienced.

6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' 8"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Lord Jesus--They way of the grace is a way that is counter-intuitive. You call me to something more that externals and the trappings of leadership. You call me to real, honest and lasting leadership that is not about, but something deeper than perception...or even the roles that people are put in. Greatness in the kingdom is based on humility and servant leadership.

13"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Lord Jesus--Let me always be someone who is keeping the door open. Finding ways to not close the door but instead keep the Kingdom door open in as many ways as I can think of.

Lord Jesus--In this day let me be a person of grace and authenticity.

Notes to the Lord: Looking at the Key and not Knowing it

Scripture Reflections:Matthew 22

41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" "The son of David," they replied.

Lord Jesus--You were walking these men right up to the essential question that they needed to answer.

These men may have been thinking that it was possible that you were the Christ. Yet, they were rejecting the possibility by the way that they were framing their questions. You took the risk to ask them who they thought the Christ would be.

Whose son would the Christ be...son of David... son of Joseph...son of God? I am sure that they had made their investigations of your life and history Lord Jesus. They had heard the stories of a birth that was "premature" at the very least and the questions of your birth.

So whose son the Christ might have been playing in the back of their minds. As they saw the people healed...the blind seeing and the lame walking again, it may have come back to their thoughts like waves of questions. Who is this guy and how does he do this?

43He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says, 44" 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." ' 45If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?"

This passage comes out of Psalm 110. I wonder if these men, who clearly are trying to identify who you are in the scope of God's revelation, were reading this psalm as referring to the messiah. Did they remember the rest of the Psalm...were their lips moving to the remembered words even as you were talking? Did they remember the priest, king and judge that it describes?

46No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Up Close and Personal:
I have dropped my keys before...I have missed the key that would unlock the door right in front of me. A thousand times if not once....I have been in the place these men who were questioning You found themselves.

I dare not judge...no room to talk about them. My prayer today is to be able to see the essentials that you are teaching me right now and not miss the theme that you are working to drive home in my heart right now.

What is that theme? That you are Lord of all the pieces that make up my life...that you are in control...that you will lead, guide and control the events and stream of this life that you have pushed me into. I just need to keep swimming.

Notes to the Lord:Simple Commands

Scripture Reflection: Matthew 22

34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

Lord Jesus--Even when these legal experts were testing you to trap you...you still use the opportunity to teach them if they were willing to hear.

36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment.

Lord Jesus--This was the beginning of the Shema...the prayer that may have been the first prayer that a young child would learn in synagogue. You brought these questioners back to the very simple things of God. The most important is many times what is learned at the beginning. Lord Jesus--You call me to love God will all that I am...emotions and thought life.

39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Lord Jesus--The law is summed up in the simple command to love you and to love others as much as I love myself. It is so simple and yet in it's simplicity it calls for the best from within me.

In this day Lord Jesus help me to show love as you would and to let go of everything else. Keep it simple for me today Lord Jesus.

Notes to the Lord: On Weddings and Paying Attention To The Call

Scripture Reflections:Matthew 22

1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'

Lord Jesus--The preparations are made and the invitations have been sent...even a second invitation was sent. There were those who just couldn't hear the message...not sure why...maybe it was the things that occupied their minds, maybe it was rebellion. The reality is the invitation is not heeded. That was true of many to whom you were working with everyday.

My context is different, but can I expect anything different? Some will listen and many wouldn't...but that does not change the call or the mission.

5"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Lord Jesus--There is a cost to not paying attention to your call in my life and in the lives to whom I seek to see come to you.

This city...Saratoga is a city with such a history. It is rich in victories and defeats of the past. This place was the turning point in fight for Independence all those years ago. This morning I pray for this city that a place where history was made might find renewal in your grace.

May this city see a movement of God. Lord Jesus work...in me and those who are like minded...may we see lives changed by the power of your Holy Spirit alive and active in hearts and minds.