Jan. 20

Matthew 13

 

I often wonder why Jesus spoke in parables. The message He had to deliver was so important.   I was wrestling with why, aside from fulfilling scriptures, wouldn't He just come out and say what He meant to say.  Then, as I was thinking about it, I remembered what it was like growing up listening to my grandparents and relatives speak in Yiddish. They would have entire conversations and laugh among themselves and I longed to understand what they were saying.  When I would ask my grandmother to "teach me", her answer would be "just listen".  I spent quite some time "just listening" and was quite shocked that I began to learn and understand what everyone was talking about.  I think Jesus wanted the disciples to do the same, and as disciples, we must follow suit. He wanted them to listen, He wants us to listen.  Not just with our ears but with our hearts and minds open and willing to learn. The learning that took place was beyond the scripture.  It's the desire and the longing to understand that stretched the disciples to seek God and see Him revealed in their lives.  Just as my grandmother would explain the context of her conversations to me after I listened, Jesus explained the context of His parables to His disciples as they were ready to discern His words.  "He who has ears, let him hear." (v. 43)  The treasure won't be handed to us, it will be revealed as we listen.  I pray we all take time today to hear and discern what God has to say.

 

 

 

 

Randi

January 18: You can't squeeze blood from turnips, or "who is good?"

Genesis 37:1-38:30

Matthew 12:22-45

Psalm 16:1-11

Proverbs 3:27-32

"...how can you who are evil say anything good?  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."

What is it we used to hear?  "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."  And it's true - because what is inside ultimately finds its way out into the open,.  You don't see a fish come out of a cocoon, and you can't squeeze blood from turnips.  I was talking about this with my daughter the last couple of days, trying to explain to her why it is impossible to exhibit a persona that does not begin from the heart, why it is tough to make people feel appreciated if, deep within,  you don't really do.  

Our Lord points this out when he makes reference to goodness, in counterpoint to his calling the Pharisees a "brood of vipers".  Such vile condemnation would make it seem as though the Pharisees were refusing to be something it was so easy to be - "good".  But we know from yesterday's psalm (Ps 15:1-5) just how difficult it is to be good.  The psalmist asks who may dwell in the Lord's sacred tent and live on His holy mountain.  And the answer is one whose walk is blameless, does what is righteous, speaks truth from the heart, whose tongue utters no slander nor casts slur on others nor does wrong to a neighbor.  Folks, I don't know about you, but there are, like, 17 different reasons in those words why I am not "good".  I suspect that, upon reflection - and upon reflection of the certainty and pervasiveness of our sinfulness - you, dear reader, will agree.

So who can be good?

Well, the psalmist by whose words we understand how we are condemned today gives us hope.  He speaks of a God in whom we can take refuge, "apart from [whom] I have no good thing."  And that is the answer - our goodness isn't in ourselves, it is in our God.  We don't have to be good - we enjoy His goodness, His salvation, when we make Him, and Him alone, our portion and cup.  When we make Him the Lord "who counsels me".  When we "keep [our] eyes always on the Lord." When we do this, He will "make known to me the path of life; [He] will fill me with joy in [His] presence..." - presumably on His holy mountain, in His sacred tent.

Folks, I don't just struggle with goodness - I fail at it.  Repeatedly.  Constantly.  Perpetually.  Consistently.  I am so grateful that the goodness I require does not depend on me; that I can turn to Him whose love for me, whose sacrifice for me, is far greater than all my sins combined.  Thank You, Jesus, for Your salvation, upon which our dependence is complete.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Saturday, January 16, 2016

[Matthew 11:28-30]

Rest.  In our culture, and particularly in the Northeast, rest is one of the most elusive states of being ever sought after.  When I'm out shopping and I ask salespeople and cashiers how they are doing they almost always respond saying, "I'm tired" or "Busy" or "I'm overwhelmed."  In my own life, I can say that I am very familiar with the feeling of being overwhelmed.  We exist in a busy, fast-paced, over-the-top, "I'm-a-get-mine" world and the busy-ness only seems to be increasing!  Between work, play-dates, soccer games, church, school plays, and my own laundry list of problems, WHEN am I ever supposed to find time to REST?

"Come to me."  

Jesus tells His disciples quite clearly that rest is not always something that you need to find time to do - it's a way of life.  He says, "Come to me...and I will give you rest."  Rest is not something that we DO; rest is rather something that we RECEIVE.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me."

What we receive is not necessarily a "holy nap, in Jesus' Name."  What we receive is a way of living that centers on Jesus and His ways of doing everything.  It's hard to imagine sometimes that Jesus has a plan for EVERYTHING that we do and a way that He wants us to do it.  He promised that the Holy Spirit would "teach us all things" (John 14:26).  I checked the Greek for the word "all" in that verse.  It means "all" in English, too!  Now, just because the Holy Spirit is helping us, guiding us, and teaching us doesn't mean that it'll be easy; but, it will be worth it. 

"Jesus doesn't offer a life of luxurious ease - the yoke is still an oxen's tool for working hard.  But, it's a shared yoke, with weight falling on bigger shoulders than yours.  Someone with more pulling power is up front helping.  Suddenly you are participating in life's responsibilities with a great Partner."   (excerpted from NIV Life Application Study Bible. Tyndale House, 2005)

Father, in our overwhelmingly busy reality we sorely need your true rest.  Jesus, thank you for inviting us into it, to receive this amazing gift.  In your power, Holy Spirit, please grant us the humility and the courage to RSVP, come to you and learn what you've been itching to teach us.  All for your glory!  In Jesus' Name...Amen

January 15

Genesis 32

"In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups… then he prayed.

I can only imagine all the "If only's" that were flooding Jacob's mind at that moment. "God, how did I end up in this mess? You made such great promises to me. You told me you would guide me, keep me, and fulfill your plans in me. How could any of this be your leading? What kind of covenant walk is this? Lord, I simply have no future."

Now, you may reason to yourself, "Maybe Jacob didn't seek God about some of the choices he made. Maybe he acted out of his flesh." Well, perhaps he did, but all that is beside the point. God could have intervened on Jacob's behalf at any time but He did not.

The fact is, we can be committed to following Jesus and still have problems in life. You can read your Bible today and still get a flat tire on the way to work. You and your spouse may both love the Lord and still have to work through relational disconnections. 

Most of us think, as Jacob did, that praying believers should not have to endure great sorrows. We should not have to face awful times or fearful conditions in which our very future is threatened. Yet, the reality is, praying Christians still go through great storms in life.  

Nowhere in the Bible does God promise to keep us from problems. Never does He promise us a smooth ride in our job, our relationships or in life itself. Nor does He promise us exemption from affliction. In fact, He says:

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

                                                                                   Psalm 34:19   ESV

This verse does not say God delivers us from troubles, but out of them.

Jesus put it this way to his disciples, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."                                                       John 16:33

The apostle Paul speaks of knowing the heights and depths of God's love for him. Yet the Lord didn't keep Paul's ship from sinking. In fact, He allowed the apostle to be stoned, beaten and disgraced.

At times we may weep, wondering, "God, where are you? Why haven't you taken me out of this?" But even though the Lord allows us to go through things that try our souls, in one way or another He delivers us out of them all, just as He did Jacob and Paul.

If you find yourself in a storm today, pray and ask God for overcoming deliverance.  

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Thursday, January 14

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Genesis 30:1–31:16

Matthew 10:1–23

Psalm 12:1–8

Proverbs 3:13–15

 

 

In both Matthew 10 and Luke 10, we find Jesus’s working on succession planning, and the blueprint clearly included a broad swath of disciples.  Intriguingly, Jesus started on this plan only months into his ministry, deviating from the world’s pattern of making such arrangements well into a leadership tenure and exercising strong control (“hand-picking”) a small follow-on team.  Here, as with many other details, we find the Kingdom ethic quite different than that of the world.

 

Let’s consider the world’s approach to succession planning a bit further.  Typically, CEOs or politicians take advantage of prevailing power in order to stamp their legacy into an organization -- and to guarantee longer-term influence for themselves.  They surmise that their hand-picked successors will remain true to their visions for the organization and will afford the outgoing leader a voice well into the future.  This arrangement fuels loyalty among would-be successors during the leader’s tenure, supporting their power consolidation.  As this analysis suggests, pride lies at the center of most human leadership.

 

In contrast, Jesus considered God’s Kingdom purposes with each aspect of His ministry, including His succession planning.  He sends out the disciples to make further disciples, fully recognizing that the disciples had real shortcomings and little experience.  He gave them a simple message of repentance and endued them with power through the Holy Spirit to testify with words and miraculous signs.  Even at its beginnings, Kingdom ministries included a holistic ministry of renewal and unwavering commitment to grace and truth.

 

Reflecting on this teaching, I strive to “empower and release” those whom God has brought into my life.  It would be great to see those who are newly walking with Christ building into others.  The multiplicative math behind this approach represents the great hope for bringing hope to a world heavy with depression and discouragement.  May we join these early disciples in proclaiming the simple, bold message of “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near.”

 

As an action plan, please brainstorm on how you may make following Jesus a priority in your life; how you may invite others to follow with you; and how you may build into them so that they may love and develop other leaders.  Whom has God put into your life?  For what purpose?  Would you choose to boldly love in 2016 -- for the sake of the Kingdom?

 

 

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us such a clear example of godly leadership.  Thank You for demonstrating Your awesome humility and Your unwavering commitment to grace and truth.  Help us to see opportunities to love and develop other leaders in the manner You prescribed.  Open up doors through which we may influence Stamford and our surrounding communities through a selfless and humble love.  Prepare us to serve boldly by sending Your Holy Spirit (Acts 4:24-31).  To You be all praise, honor, and glory forever!  In Your Name, amen.

 

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January 12

Matthew 9:18-30

 

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don't see -- what we see is not made out of what is visible." (Heb. 11:1, 3)

 

It is hard for us to grasp and believe that which is not tangible. As I was reading the account of the woman who was bleeding for 12 years, and the blind men, I found myself envious of their bold faith.  I know this is very similar to yesterday's blog, but perhaps this is just confirmation of an important message that God wants us to embrace.  Jesus changed and restored this woman because she was sure of what she hoped for.  Even though Jesus didn't heal the blind men immediately, He did in fact heal them. He told them their request was answered in accordance with their faith. In both cases the healing that took place didn't come from what is visible.  When Jesus looks into our hearts, I believe He is looking for our persistent faith in action.  Believing in what is not tangible, being sure of what we hope for based on the word of God, and certain of what we don't see, is all part of the mystery of God.  We'll never understand it, but we are called to walk in it. When we read accounts of healing like in today's passages, it demonstrates God's love and faithfulness to us.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8)  and that gives us hope.  Just as the woman who reached out to touch the hem of Jesus' garment, the author of this gospel stepped out in faith as well to follow Jesus. He knew the cost of this leap of faith but he didn't hesitate. I pray we all take the next step in reaching out and stepping out in faith in accordance with Gods word. I believe Jesus will reach out His hand to meet us and perhaps even ask us "why did you doubt?"  (Mat. 14:31)

 

 

 

Randi

 

 

January 11: Of sleeping in boats (the remix)

Genesis 24:52-26:16

Matthew 8:18-34

Psalm 10:1-15

Proverbs 3:7-8

I've written about this episode in our Lord's life before.  And I wish I could say I've learned what He was trying to teach me the first time I reflected on it, some 2 or 3 years ago I think.  

You see, what struck me about this story wasn't that Jesus calmed the storm, or that He admonished His doubting disciples - what struck me was the example of faith we are called to have.  You see, our Lord was asleep.  He was so confident the storm posed no danger, He was so peaceful, He was asleep.

I realized when I went on vacation the last week of 2015 just how stressful the year had been when it took 5 nights of holiday before I was actually able to fall asleep before midnight and not wake up at either 3 or 4 in the morning.  I was stressed, I was worried, and I certainly wasn't manifesting the faith our Lord demonstrated.

Here's the crazy thing - the stress and worry did nothing.  They didn't make my job easier, they didn't guarantee the results I wanted...they didn't even assure me that the results I wanted were the right results.  All they guaranteed was that I was exhausted at the end of the year.  

Lord, I don't know how we get there, other than via prayer and scripture.  In any case, please teach us to do what You did.  Let us get to know You and our Father so well that, even when the storms come, we can sleep in the boat knowing we are in Your care.