Κύριος Notes

Adoration/Praise

I will praise Him!

I will praise Him!

Praise the Lamb for sinners slain;

Give Him glory, all ye people,

For His blood can wash away each stain.

Scripture Reflections: Luke 8
1-3He continued according to plan, traveled to town after town, village after village, preaching God's kingdom, spreading the Message.

Even in the face of John not really understanding You kept to the plan. You did not ignore his pain, you told him of your plan through his disciples. You were not distracted from the plan by going to John in prison. You kept to the task. You kept to the plan.

You continued to preach the message. Help me to keep on task…to not be distracted from the race that you have called me to.

The Twelve were with him. There were also some women in their company who had been healed of various evil afflictions and illnesses: Mary, the one called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's manager; and Susanna

You kept those close to you who understood what the task was. They were also a part of the group who had been impacted by your ministry. There were those who were committed and following through…who had been changed in the process of that work. They were drawn to the life and the experience of being with you.

Draw those to this ministry that can be changed by it, and those who will commit to it. Lord Jesus may we see lives more lives transformed by the work of your Holy Spirit through this church.

—along with many others who used their considerable means to provide for the company.

Your ministry was supported by those who were a part of it… who were impacted by it…who had experience the power of your grace and ministry.

That is the way it works. Your work in my life impacts the way that I view money…time…energy…reputation and career.

Lord Jesus increase the impact of your work through Living Springs Community…Impact lives with the power of your grace active and alive in this community. Release Your power in this place and among these people. You are free to do what needs to be done to see that happen.

Κύριος Notes

Adoration/Praise

Just as I am, thou wilt receive,

wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

because thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Scripture Reflections:Luke 7

40Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Oh? Tell me."
41-42"Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?"

Lord Jesus that is exactly the place where you found me. In over my head, not able to do what was needed on any level. And yet you forgave me.Then the question who is more grateful...

It is interesting that You assume the Simon has been forgive at least some.

43-47Simon answered, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most."
"That's right," said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal."

Lord Jesus I rejoice in the forgiveness that I have received at your hand. This women expressed her thankfulness in a practical way...without judging the Pharisees, and without making a scene...this job was usually done by the lowliest servants of the house in homes where hospitality was practiced.

Simon may have been busy, or the preparations may have been rushed, but for whatever reason this task of the practical had not been done.

The women's gratitude was expressed in a practical act ministry to an identified need. What are the unmet needs that you would have me address Lord Jesus? Where are the places where you would have me show my gratitude to you for what you have done?

Is my gratitude minimal?

48Then he spoke to her: "I forgive your sins."
49That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: "Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!"
50He ignored them and said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

Sometimes our confession needs to be performatory...the very act expresses the confession...James tells us that faith without works is dead. What he is saying is: there are times when words distract us from the point. Heart work done is expressed in action. There are no recorded words from this women...she did not pray a sinners prayer that we know of...this women's confession was in her tears and her hair and in the sweet smell of the perfume that she poured on your feet.

I am sure that this was just the first of many changes in behavior and life style that she would be making in the next little while.

I don't even need to mention that the contrast is between this sinners act of faith and the inaction of Simon.

Lord Jesus in this coming day, show me ways to demonstrate my faith in quiet ways in this day. Help me to come to you Lord Jesus not just with words but with actions that confess my faith in your finished work on my behalf.

Κύριος Notes

Adoration/Praise

Jesus, Lover of my soul,

Jesus, I will never let you go

Youve taken me from the miry clay

You've set my feet upon the Rock, and now Iknow

I love you, I need you,

Though my world may fall,

I'll never let you go

My Saviour, my closest friend,

I will worship you until the very end

Lord Jesus,

There is reason to praise you this morning as the sun just rises through the trees, I praise you. Worship and praise I give to the One who is the lover of my soul as the sun rises my praise rises to the Son.

Scripture Reflection 7

36-39One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee's house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him."

I wonder if this Pharisee ever came to a place where he could accept you for who you were Lord Jesus. It is clear that he came from a place where he could not see the person, only the sins that they had committed.

There are times when that is just what I do...I see the sin and judge the sinner. This women that came to you at dinner knew what it would cost her to come to this house of the Simeon the Pharisee. This incident took place somewhere near the little town of Nain about 25 miles from Capernaum.

So it was a small town...these men sitting around eating knew this women. They probably were some of her clients. She was a women who must have had some success in her trade, this is clear because of her extravagance in this act of love, honor and devotion to Your Lord. I am willing to guess that it was a bit warming in that room as this women entered. Some of these men must have been uncomfortable on multiple levels.

There was no room for judgement in the room that night, just grace. You allowed her to wash your feet with her tears. I know don't know about the reasons why she found herself crying at your feet that night many years ago now. Life presents us with choices that are difficult at best, and change who we are at worst. She grieved over the way her life choices had changed her.

Lord Jesus praise You for Your amazing scandalous grace that reaches me with forgiveness and acceptance no matter where I have been. You really only care where I am going from here. This women knew who she was when walked in. She was a comodity to be bought or sold, when she walked out she was a child of God saved by Your simple word of forgiveness. She was walking down the road to Kingdom Come. She had met the Lover of her soul.

Thank You Lord Jesus for the fact that fogiveness remains available to me today. Lead me along this road to Kingdom Come in this coming day

Κύριος Notes

Adoration

Turn you eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Scripture Reflections:Luke 7

^28-30"Let me lay it out for you as plainly as I can: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer, but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. The ordinary and disreputable people who heard John, by being baptized by him into the kingdom, are the clearest evidence; the Pharisees and religious officials would have nothing to do with such a baptism, wouldn't think of giving up their place in line to their inferiors.

Lord Jesus--It is not about who we are...what we have accomplished, gifts we have been given, or what we know. This road to Kingdom come runs right through any position or status I may have achieved...l come to you as a sinner in need of your grace...

There is nothing that I can hold on to in this life except Your grace freely given. There is no hope outside of Your will and your way for my life.

^31-35"How can I account for the people of this generation? They're like spoiled children complaining to their parents, 'We wanted to skip rope and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk but you were always too busy.' John the Baptizer came fasting and you called him crazy. The Son of Man came feasting and you called him a lush. Opinion polls don't count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Where are those times that I am being a spoiled child Lord Jesus? The message of John was lost on those who would not listen to a person who did not fit the usual categories. Your message was lost on the same crowd because they judged that you were not spiritual enough. If I am being defensive I will always be able find reasons why I should not follow you and be what you would have me to be.

The issue with the spoiled children is they just want their way no matter what...and they will twist their way of looking at the puzzle to try to make the puzzle turn out the way they want it to...that just leaves a puzzle unfinished. I am that way sometimes...

Where are the unfinished puzzles that can only find their completion when I let down my defenses and listen to Your call on my life? I turn my eyes to You Lord Jesus...intentional, without defenses, knowing that I am just a sinner saved by your amazing grace.

Κύριος Notes

^{Adoration/Praise}

My Jesus, my savior
Lord there is none like you
All of my days
I want to praise
The wonders of your mighty love

My comfort, my shelter
Tower of refuge and strenght
Let every breath, all that i'm
Never cease to worship you

Shout to the Lord all the earth let us sing
Power and majesty praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your Name

^{Scripture Reflection:Luke 7}

^24-27After John's messengers left to make their report, Jesus said more about John to the crowd of people. "What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A messenger from God? That's right, a messenger! Probably the greatest messenger you'll ever hear.

John was a person of the people a person who spoke to the longing of the people of Israel. They longed to hear the word of the Lord clearly and when they found someone who spoke with authority they flocked to him. John wore the clothes of a prophet and ate the food of the prophet Elijah. John was a prophet in the mold of the Elijah and the prophets of the Old Testament. He was forthright and blunt, clear and direct.

He is the messenger Malachi announced when he wrote,

I'm sending my messenger on ahead
To make the road smooth for you.

John was all about the message. His message was a simple one: "Messiah is coming and we need to get ready for him." Preparation was not a matter of roads and bridges...John was preparing a road from the hearts of the people to your feet Lord Jesus.

There is preparation that needs to be done in my heart Lord Jesus...the highway of holiness, the road to Kingdom Come runs right through where I am right now...right through the successes and the foibles, the heartaches and the hopes...the blessings and the curses.

The preparation that needs to be done is-- to see that Your will runs right through the mix of the choices that I am making right now. The people saw the reality...the essence of John's message...the Holy Road was not so much about laws as much as a of change of the heart and personal choices. The laws were only the guardrails on the road to Kingdom Come. There needed to be heart change not just following a list of laws.

Jesus, Your coming changed everything. Keep me on the road to Kingdom Come today. Help me to see within the choices that the day brings...Your guidance and grace.

Κύριος Notes

Adoration/Praise

My Jesus, My Saviour,
Lord there is no one like you,
All of my days,
I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.
My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.


Scripture Reflections:Luke 7
^21-23In the next two or three hours Jesus healed many from diseases, distress, and evil spirits. To many of the blind he gave the gift of sight. Then he gave his answer: "Go back and tell John what you have just seen and heard:

The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth
have God's salvation hospitality extended to them.
"Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves fortunate!"

Lord Jesus you dealt with John's questions with concrete answers within a context of grace and love. You showed his disciples Your ministry and in a way that John could understand you pointed him back to scripture. Your answer was that you were fulfilling the prediction of Isaiah 61:1,2.

You lovingly reminded John that his expectations needed to be in line with scripture. At the same time you gave us insight into how to understand your word. All scripture is to be seen through the lens of Your coming, Your word and Your work.

In the middle of unmet expectations You remind me that You are true to Your word, true to Your mission, that Your word still remains powerful. Your Holy Spirit is still working in me and in the situations that surround me. Your promises are still effective and that just like you reminded John...Your story is still being written...in our time that story is being written into the fabric of our lives...of our church...of our community...of our world. It is a story that is just as concrete as the people who received healing at Your hands while John's disciples watched. Continue Your work with in me may your mission be made concrete as it was on that day to John's disciples.

Κύριος Notes

Adoration/Praise

Thank you Lord Jesus for this time and this day...in the quietness of this hour help me to hear your word speak to me.

I will Rise

There's a day that's drawing near

When this darkness breaks to light

And the shadows disappear

And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome

And the grave is overwhelmed

The victory is won

He is risen from the dead

Scripture Reflections: Luke 7

18-19John's disciples reported back to him the news of all these events taking place. He sent two of them to the Master to ask the question, "Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?"
20The men showed up before Jesus and said, "John the Baptizer sent us to ask you, 'Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?'"

John the Baptist was in prison and his ministry had turned from a very public ministry of calling the nation to repentance to a private witness of speaking truth to power. The high point of John's public ministry had passed he had bore witness to you to fulfilled his call. But now from his prison cell Your ministry was not what he expected. John had thought that there would be immediate judgement and fire.

Matthew 4:12--He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."

The timing of these questions is interesting. It is clear that John had received reports of the power of God displayed, acts of mercy and of healing. Not of judgement and fire .Here John is questioning if he got it right...or did he make a big mistake.

Lord Jesus, I understand John's questions...his expectations were not being met of what Messiah would be and do. He brought his questions and his frustrated expectations to you. That is exactly where you want me to bring my unmet expectations and my questions...

I have questions Lord. Everything is not working just like I thought it would. There are missing pieces...just like John saw and wondered about... Yet even with the questions and with the expectations not fully met there is a person I can bring them to...

I bring my expectations and hopes to Your feet. Your feet with the nail scares in them...Your feet that took you to dark places on my behalf...Your feet that are with me through joy and sorrow. I bring my questions to You.

So what are the lessons to be learned from unmet expectations. Here are some that just jump to mind:

• You work in your way in your time.
• I am not the one in control.
• My questions find their answers in your grace...not in my expectations.
• The lessons are never done this side of heavens pearly gates...new places where you want to work on my expectations will continue to come to the surface.
• You are continuing to work in the world around me...sometimes in a vibrant and powerful way...as you did for a widow watching her son's funeral procession...and sometimes in more quiet acts of mercy and grace.

Lord Jesus help me in this day to bring my expectation to you...teach me through it all your will and your way for today.