April 2009

Scripture

“As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you. Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!” Matthew 12:46-50 (NLT)

Observation

When we follow Christ we gain an inheritance. God has given us the inheritance through his Son Jesus, we were called and now are united as brothers and sisters with Jesus. Because we have accepted Christ we are now one big happy family. (Ephesians 1:11)

Mary & the Pot Roast

Mary and Jesus brothers were standing outside, what did they think about what Jesus had said? I don’t know, I venture to say that they were used to the fact that Jesus was Gods only begotton Son at this point. Mary could have been like “just tell Jesus that dinner is at five and we were wondering if he will be having dinner with the prostitutes and tax collectors again.”

Application

I don’t know how you relate to Jesus. I have a fairly dynamic relationship, it changes based on the circumstances. Sometimes I do relate to Jesus as a brother or as a close friend. I know that I take Jesus with me and we do all kinds of cool things. Perhaps we should reconsider going to places that we cannot take Jesus?

Prayer

Hey Jesus, going on bro? I really appreciate our relationship.

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Daily Reading

1 Samuel 25-26
Psalm 63
Matthew 9

Scripture

David is offended by Nabal:

²¹ David had just been saying, “A lot of good it did to help this fellow. We protected his flocks in the wilderness, and nothing he owned was lost or stolen. But he has repaid me evil for good. ²² May God strike me and kill me^[c] if even one man of his household is still alive tomorrow morning!”

As David is on his way to kill Nabal, he meets Abigail who says,

²⁶ “Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, since the Lord has kept you from murdering and taking vengeance into your own hands, let all your enemies and those who try to harm you be as cursed as Nabal is.”

David takes back his rash words:

³³ “Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands.” (1 Sam 25:21-22, 26, 33)

Observation

As we read through many of the psalms of David, the theme is the similar: “Lord, evil people are out to get me.  Please rescue me.  My hope is in You.  You are my vengeance.  I praise You.”  He tells the Lord he has been wronged and then leaves it to God to take care of it.  So, what is different here?  I think David was blind-sighted by the simplicity of it all.  By the power of God, he has fought bears and lions and even a giant.  He is running from the king of Israel who usually has about 3,000 soldiers with him, but he leaves it in God’s hands.  When he asks Nabal for a simple thing, Nabal insults him and refuses.  I think because it is such a small thing, David lets his humanity take over and he rashly takes off to solve this problem on his own.  He doesn’t think first, and therefore doesn’t ask for God’s help.  Luckily, God is a graceful and allows David a way out of his rash decision.  David, who truly is a man of God, boldly admits he was wrong and even thanks the person who told him so.

Application

How quickly I am sideswiped by small things.  I am a person of integrity in all the big things.  I don’t steal or lie or murder.  I ask God for help making major decisions in my life.  I can gracefully take care of a patient who is verbally abusive because I have asked God in advance to give me grace and empathy.  But when I am cut off in traffic, my anger instantly wells.  When my kids fight, I yell.  When I feel I’ve been insulted by my husband, I get defensive.  When the grocery teller is snippy, I get snippy.  Why is it that I can land the biggest fish in the ocean, but I struggle bringing up the small throwbacks?  Is it because they are throwbacks and so I don’t ask for God’s help?  Maybe I don’t think each small encounter with humanity is important to God?  Oh, but it is!  I need to ask for God’s favor in ALL things!  Don’t I feel silly when I am offended by someone because they said something offensive to me and later I find out they’ve just experienced something horrible?  If I was asking God for direction in ALL my encounters, I would have not been so self-centered to think that attitude was directed towards me.  God’s spirit would have given me empathy and perhaps asked me to encourage that person.

Prayer

God, help me to ask for your directoin in ALL areas of my life.  Let each encounter with Your creation be directed by You.  Don’t let my emotions make my decisions for me.  And help me to be like David, who, when faced with his wrong ways, quickly changed and did not defend his actions.

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Scripture

“When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake. Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:18-22 (NLT)

Observation

james: “Jesus! I want to follow you!!”

JESUS:  Are you sure that you want to follow me?

james: Yep! anywhere you go, I’ll follow you!

JESUS: Do you really know what you are saying? Are you really prepared to stay on with me until the end?

james: Oh yeah, not a problem, I just had a cup of coffee and I’m feeling great!

JESUS: Oh, wait, I just had a thought… you’re going to fall flat on your face.

james: Jesus, that’s not cool, that’s not a great way to encourage me!

Jesus: James, you’re a knuckle head. You’re not going to be able to anything in your own power. Following me, being a disciple,  isn’t like taking a walk in the park when you feel good. It’s a consistent walk, one that you need to be prepared to die for.

james: Oh, it’s starting to sound like a pretty big commitment. I’m having doubts as to my preparedness for this journey. Maybe I should take a break, read a little, go to school again, get really prepared to follow you until I die.

JESUS: Uh, how about you just follow me right now? I’ll teach you as we walk.

james: Jesus, I don’t know how to walk…I can’t feel my legs!

JESUS: Dude, get off the ground! Here, take my hand and I’ll help you…good, now walk with me.

Application

Being a disciple isn’t a decision that can be made easily. It’s not a decision that can be made half-heartedly or only once in your life.

You: “Oh, so I take it you’re not a once saved, always saved person”

I’m not talking about salvation, I’m talking about discipleship. Being a disciple is something that you need to work on every single day of your life. It’s a walk that you need to work on, a walk that requires consistent dedication…a daily walk.

I’ve got a long way to go. Too many times in my life I’ve allowed my feelings to dicatate my actions. Thank God for grace. Take heart! Wake up each day with the understanding that it’s a walk that can be made with Jesus at your side. You’re not walking alone.

Prayer

Help me to wake up each and every day and first focus on you. Help me to choose to walk with you daily. Thank you for the grace that you have extended to me when I fail.

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Daily Reading

1 Samuel 24
Psalm 57,58
1 Chronicles 8
Matthew 8

Scripture

⁴ I am surrounded by fierce lions
who greedily devour human prey—
whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows,
and whose tongues cut like swords.
⁷ My heart is confident in you, O God;
my heart is confident.
No wonder I can sing your praises!
⁸ Wake up, my heart!
Wake up, O lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn with my song.
⁹ I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.
I will sing your praises among the nations.
¹⁰ For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. (Psalm 57:4-4,7-10)

Observation

David was a man after God’s own heart, as it says in the Bible.  His psalms are full of human emotion.  He laments his circumstances, but always goes back to trusting in God and praising Him.  He was unfairly persecuted throughout much of his young adult life, but he continued to praise God.

Application

Every morning, no matter what our circumstances may be; no matter how bleak our future looks; no matter how impossible things appear, we should be like David and WAKE THE DAWN with our praises to God.  This implies that it is the VERY FIRST thing we do when we wake up.   We should thank God for everything He has done for us and have confidence that He is in control.

Prayer

Lord God, I know You are not always the first thing on my mind when I wake up.  I think of my day, of my responsibilities, all that must be accomplished.  But I need and want to think of You.  I want to WAKE THE DAWN with my praises to You.  So, this morning, I thank you for everything.  I thank you for this beautiful morning, for my job, for my health, for my children, and yes, even for my responsibilities because I know that you are in control.  I love you, Lord Jesus.

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