Thursday, March 9

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with humility comes wisdom." (Proverbs 11:2)

This proverb struck a chord with me today because of its piercing truth.  It encapsulates much great wisdom in just a few words.

Essentially, our pride leads us to consider ourselves better than others and perhaps even superior to God.  We become enamored with our own ideas, plans, and actions.  At the same time, we become very fragile in the face of criticism, as any shortcomings might tear down the pedestal that we have established for ourselves.  Insecurity wracks our thoughts, and we look over our shoulders.

Meanwhile, humility causes us to think rightly about ourselves.  True humility remembers that we are each created in the image of God and therefore have dignity.  While we may tease about ourselves, humility doesn't include attacking the value of our createdness.  We each exist according to God's set purposes.  Humility looks up to God, recognizes His sovereignty, and allows us to gratefully receive dependent dignity.  In humility, we find great freedom because the world no longer revolves around or depends on us.  Humility sets God in His proper place as King and Guide.

Over the past few months, it has become clearer to me that humility also opens the channel of God's grace.  When we live depending on ourselves, we can't really experience grace because we have made our performance to be our "law."  To receive God's all-sufficient grace, we must first recognize our desperate need for Him.  It appears that many believers have trusted God for salvation but question God's ability to intervene in day-to-day matters.  This lack of trust steals our joy.

How has your pride led you astray?  How can you become dependent on God's grace?  In what area of your life could you better apply His grace?

Lord God, thank You for making us in Your image with dignity and honor.  Thank You that we may depend fully on You and find You completely trustworthy.  Give us the grace to see ourselves rightly and humbly and to resign our self-reliance.  You are awesome and powerful.  We love You and worship You today.  In Jesus's Name, amen.

"Calling Out Your Name" by Rich Mullins

https://g.co/kgs/9qrjYz

March 8

Mark 14

I learned that 2000 years ago it was customary when guests came to dinner in your home to anoint their heads with oil.  Jesus rode into Jerusalem as a King, so it would only make sense that His head be anointed with oil when He entered the house for the Passover meal.  However, His head was more than anointed, this woman went much farther than the customary greeting.  She poured the entire flask on the Lords head. I think this woman had more discernment than the disciples at this point because their opinion of her and what she had done didn't really phase her.  The disciples thought that this extravagant anointing with oil was a waste, but Jesus received it as a good work (Kalos in Greek - meaning winsome and lovely). With her simple love and devotion to Jesus, the woman seemed to understand what the disciples did not - that Jesus was about to die, and she intended this gift to be a preparation for his burial.  It seems that the disciples did not want to think about the death of Jesus. When Peter heard of it, he tried to talk Jesus out of it. The woman in our reading had a different perspective, and instead of debating or denying His death, she turned it into an occasion of deep devotion and worship.  So as I read this in the context of the Passover setting and all that it symbolizes, I thought about my own love and devotion for Jesus. My hearts desire is to  worship with more than my words in a song. Like the woman, I pray Jesus sees my heart in my worship and devotion. I was having trouble putting my thoughts and emotions into words and I found this quote by Charles Spurgeon: "Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior. Get you close to Christ, and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to day, and you will do right royal deeds. Come, let us slay sin, for Christ was slain. Come, let us bury all our pride, for Christ was buried. Come, let us rise to newness of life, for Christ has risen. Let us be united with our crucified Lord in His one great object - let us live and die with Him, and then every action of our lives will be very beautiful." Our love, worship and devotion to Jesus must be expressed personally -- straight from our hearts.  The woman in today's reading poured out a flask of oil to express her love for Jesus and it was received as a good work although others thought it foolish.  My prayer for all of us today is that as we worship and express our love for Jesus, we are confident in knowing that it will be received as lovely and like the woman in the passage, we won't be phased by anyone else's opinion.   Be Blessed.


Randi

March 6th bible reading

Finding God in the Redundancy

 

Every Monday, before I read the passages for the day, I pray and ask God to give me wisdom according to James 1:5.  Today I prayed something different.  I told the Lord that I wanted to know him more.  I didn't just want head knowledge but I wanted to know him intimately, I wanted to experience God and in doing so gain a wisdom greater than any I have known.  I wanted to be empty of me so I could be filled by the Lord with a deeper understanding of him and to have that impact my life. 

 

I said amen and opened up my one-year bible to March 6^th.  What did I find?  A repetitive list of the offerings that each of the 12 tribes brought to the Tent of Meeting.  Twelve, nearly identical, paragraphs of silver plates, gold bowls, oxen, lambs, and fine flour.  Not what I had hoped for when I had just prayed to know God more.  I read the first three tribal offerings and then I started to do what I guessed many others might do, I told myself that it was ok to just read the name of the tribe and then skip the repetitive offering and go on to the next and do the same until I made it through all 12 (saving myself a lot of time).  After all, each tribe brought the exact same thing so what did it really matter if I read each one? 

 

But when I started to do that I felt the lord tugging at me saying, "No, you always say you believe that every word was written for a reason, don't rush through this."  I exhaled and slowly read through the tribe of Zebulun's entire offering just as I had for the 3 tribes before.  Then Reuben and their offering, then Simeon and their offering, then Gad and their offering, then Ephraim and their offering.  Before I got to the last one though, as if God was smiling with excitement, I felt him showing me why I needed to read each one individually, why he had recorded them all individually:

 

"Each tribe was special to me, each gift was special to me.  It doesn't matter if they all gave the same offering, it was uniquely theirs and I looked upon each of them with individual delight and joy.  I don't lump those I love into one, I love each of my own individually.  That is why these gifts are listed separately, to help show you that I am a God who sees you alone, who knows you alone, who loves you alone, who cares about you alone, and who delights in you alone."

 

I think I audibly said, "Wow".  Then I read the new testament reading in Mark and God drove the point home with the story of the widow giving her coins, her all, her offering to the Lord:

 

"See, nothing goes unnoticed by me.  If you bring me the smallest gift or one of plenty, as each tribe brought me, I see it all and I know it is you.  You are not a nameless, faceless child to me.  I see you Ruth and I love you for you."

 

My heart melted.  God answered my prayer using the least likely thing, the redundancy of Old Testament tribal offerings that I was ready to deem not important.  I was thankful that God stopped me from skipping it over, as I would have completely missed the answer to my prayer.  It has caused me realize that I need to pray this prayer every day and I need to enter every day ready to see God and not just in the big and obvious but in the mundane and the redundant things that are so easy to over look.  God is always speaking, desiring to get our attention and reveal his love, glory, grace, and beauty to us in ways we have yet to discover.

 

God wasn't finished answering my prayer.  When I was done reading I stood up and was singing along to Christian music and replaying what God had revealed to me in his word.  Then all of a sudden the knowledge he had just shown me of who he is, that he loves me individually and deeply broke deep into my heart and I experienced the truths of it for myself (in a way words can not describe) and I did something I don't do often; I cried out of joy.  The lord sings over us and I finally got to experience that (Zeph 3:17).  Why?  Because I finally prayed the way I should have all along, from a place that desired to know my God and my savior from deep within.  It wasn't just wisdom I sought but experiencing who God is. 

 

I have always had the knowledge that God loves me but today he made that truth live in me.  He clarified and caused it to be very personal.  I know the Lord more then I did when I woke up and I am blessed for it.

 

God loves you!  God loves you!  God loves you!  God loves you!  He looks down and he sees you individually, your heart, your pain, your needs, your offerings, your prayer, your surrender.  He is not looking or comparing it to anyone else.  He is not lumping you in with the crowd.  He has taken notice of you individually and he is delighting in you and lavishing over you in his love.  I pray that the Lord will break through your day today.  I pray that the power of who he is, his love for you and his delight over you would fill your heart and mind.  God may choose to use the big and obvious to reveal himself to you but I think he likes to show us every day a bit of who he is in the small, mundane and redundant things that allow us to find him and hear him singing his songs of joy over us. 

March 4: The Cop Out

Numbers 2:1-3:51

Mark 11:27-12:17

Psalm 47:1-9

Proverbs 10:24-25

Great reading in the NT today, about the Jesus and an interaction with the elders more confrontational than usual.  

Can you say "cop out"?  Because that's what the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders did when Jesus responded in kind to their confrontational approach.  They demanded to know the source of His authority, not because they were interested in discerning whether He was who He said He was, but because they wanted to demonstrate the illegitimacy of His teaching.  They weren't interested in discussion because they weren't interested in considering the possibility they were wrong.  And so, when Jesus responded with a question of His own, one that put them in an untenable position, they copped out.  

As sinners, we do that a lot.  God speaks to us - through scripture, through others, through our consciences, and often when confronted with the truth of our intentions and our actions, we rationalize them, even worse sometimes we dodge the challenge entirely, knowing we are in the wrong.  Like the elders and the chief priests, whose cop out left them wallowing in ignorance, our cop outs leave us wallowing in our own sin.  

Now some might say, so what?  Well, the second part of the NT reading very clearly shows that sin has consequences, consequences both unnecessary and terrible to contemplate.  

Father teach us the humility we need to be open to the possibility we are wrong, we are sinful; give us the humility we need to hear what You tell us, that we might no longer wallow in our sinfulness.

March 3

Mark 11:17 Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'?"  

In his book, "A Wind in the house of Islam," David Garrison records how God is drawing Muslims around the world to faith in Jesus Christ.

In Islam's first 12 centuries, tens of millions of Christians were absorbed into the House of Islam. During this same time, not a single voluntary movement of Muslims to Christ took place, not among Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox or any other brand of Christendom. Not until 1870, nearly twelve and a half centuries after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, do we find the first voluntary movements of Muslims to Christ. In the latter half of the twentieth century, there were eleven additional movements of Muslims to Christ. But something amazing has happened in the first 17 years of the 21^st century; 69 movements of Muslims to Christ have occurred. These movements are not isolated to one or two corners of the world. They are taking place in every part of the Muslim world. Even to the casual observer, something amazing, even unprecedented, is happening. The Spirit of God is descending on the House of Islam in staggering numbers. We are witnessing the largest turning of Muslims to Christ in history.

I believe our church needs to work with God in this movement. My challenge to you today is not only to become a house of prayer for the nations, but to become a praying house for the nations. I believe our prayers in Stamford can literally change the world. We can transform governments, political situations, and religious strongholds through prayer.  

Could I challenge you to do something for Lent this year? Not to give up broccoli or spinach but to start praying for one nation. Jesus said in verse 24, "Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." How about if we believe God for one nation to start experiencing a spiritual revival?  Let's all seek God and ask Him which part of the world he wants us to pray for and then become a prayer champion for that nation.

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Thursday, March 2

"When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.  Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that those who are regarded as leaders of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'" (Mark 10:41-45)

In this passage, we discovered a scramble for leadership positions from James and John, both of whom had become Jesus's close associates, along with Peter.  Despite having interacted so closely with Jesus, they didn't grasp the servanthood-based leadership model that Jesus had demonstrated.  Instead, they asked for positions to Jesus's right and left in His Kingdom -- an elevated position vs. others.

Jesus heads off the inevitable grumbling that came from the other 10 disciples by taking the opportunity to teach a key principle through James and John's off-base thinking.  While worldly leadership involves a heavy-handed "lording" over others and "exercising authority."  In short, this worldly method centers on power and control.

In contrast, Jesus points the disciples towards a completely different path:  putting others before ourselves and becoming their servant.  Jesus showed genuine compassion and concern for others by pouring out His time and energy in healing and teaching, and the Cross highlights the full extent of His love.  He calls us to follow Him in loving and serving others.

How may Christian leaders stick in there, given the high cost of servant leadership?  Only by relying fully on the Holy Spirit's power.  Human strength fades quickly, but God's servant flourishes through His complete empowerment.  Yes, we deal with human limitations, but God renews us daily through our time with Him.  Would you be interested in living servant leadership way?  What results might come of it in your life and those of others?

Lord God, thank You for sending Your Son to show us the reality of servant leadership.  Help us to follow His example and to bring healing and life to a broken and confused world.  In Jesus's Name, amen.

March 1

Mark 10

Once again, we see Jesus "on His way" in verse 17.  As I read this I thought - where is He going next?  Then I thought to myself, maybe there was never really a "next stop" for Jesus.  What if we look at each time we read "Jesus was on His way" it refers to His entire journey to Jerusalem and ultimate destination -- the Cross. What if each account we read about in the Gospels are incidents that happen to Him along the way while He's "on His way".  Jesus always knew where He was going. He also knew what He gave up when He left His throne.  Perhaps that's the challenge He puts before the rich man when Jesus tells him to give everything to the poor and follow Him. After all, isn't that what Jesus did -- He gave up everything for us, the spiritually poor.  Jesus knew the demand that was being placed on Him and while placing that same demand on the rich man to give up his wealth might seem extreme, I think the the real challenge Jesus is asking is are you willing to give up your comfortable life for the world. I believe that is what was at the heart of Jesus' mission.  When Jesus looked at him in verse 12, before He even spoke to the man, Jesus looked at him and loved him. He knew the man would be unable to give up his wealth, but Jesus loved him anyway never losing sight of His own journey.  As it was 2000 years ago, so it is now, wealth is considered a sign of a blessing.  So here we are, faced with the same dilemma as the rich man but Jesus looks at us and loves us anyway knowing we are challenged in so many areas of our lives.  I pray for all of us today that as we follow Jesus we are also  grasping the implied importance what sharing in each others hardships on the journey will entail.  Please let me know how I can pray for you today.

Randi