May 9

John 6

Jesus asks Philip a question already knowing the answer but I think He wanted to see maybe how much Philip really had learned to trust Him beyond what was visible and obvious. Of course neither Philip or Peter could see where Jesus was leading them. How many times are we often faced with impossible like issues not realizing that Jesus already knows the answer and where He wants to lead us.  It always amazes me how when we're in these places of what seems like impossibility, we forget that nothing is impossible for God.  I, for one, have great difficulty seeing beyond what looks like obvious and impossible.  As we read on we learn that in God's Kingdom 5 +2 = 5,000 with 12 remaining. (Not exactly how we teach math in school)  Later in the reading we see Jesus do yet another impossible barrier breaking act -- He walks on water.  In her wonderful book, Josiah's Fire, Tahni Cullen gives the account of her autistic son who was non verbal. Her son learns to speak God's word by using an IPad. It is a true story of finding hope when the obvious looked like impossible.   Oh Lord forgive us for not being able to see through Your eyes. Lord, stretch our limited vision and grant us a glimpse of Your reality. I pray Lord You take us beyond what we see as visible, obvious or impossible so that we look at life with hope in and through You.

Randi

Blog Post Monday May 7th

Your Prayer Of Pouring Out Your Grief (1 Samuel 1:15-18)

 

"I am a woman who is deeply troubled." 1 Samuel 1:15

"I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."  1 Samuel 1:16

 

These two verses stuck out to me today because I know there are many people who have or know others who are struggling in different ways.  It could be you, a family member, neighbor, coworker, classmate or friend.  It could be financial hurdles, health challenges, addictions, a weak or nonexistent faith, school work, difficult marriage, broken or struggling relationships, infertility, temptations, shame or guilt, hurts from the past, depression, anxiety, battles with weight or food, and on and on the list could go.  We all have or know someone who we grieve for, with whom our hearts can at times become deeply troubled for.

 

In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah recognizes that she is not strong enough to carry the burden of her grief or the struggle any longer and that she truly wasn't meant to ever carry it around.  Her time in prayer is such a great example of how the Lord welcomes us to bring our pain, to bring our raw unfiltered emotions before him and to pour them out and leave them with him.  That is no easy task.  Hannah spent years childless and tormented before she got a place where she finally poured it all out before the lord and left it with him in faith.  Over the course of time she was given a child and she was able to keep him and enjoy him but for only a brief time.  Just like her grief she was also willing to give the Lord her blessing and leave it with him.  She had no guarantee of other children but it didn't matter.  She was trusting the Lord with life and making him her source of joy and peace.

 

Rather than me write out a prayer today I want to encourage each of us to bring to the Lord our own "Hannah" type of prayer.  Who in your life is weighed down by grief or deeply troubled?  Who in your life are you deeply troubled for, is your heart burdened for?  What is the source of your own personal grief that you need to surrender?  I encourage you to go to the throne of grace and pour out your heart and concern to the lord.  Keep going back and praying until, like Hannah, you are able to leave it with the lord and walk away without a downcast heart (1 Sam 1:18).  Then you can simply lift up prayers of confidence in who you know the lord is and that he truly is a God who knows (1 Sam 2:3) and a God who is able to sustain us however he knows and sees fit.  Remember, God always answers our prayers he just doesn't always answer them the way we want and when we want (kind of like a parent who doesn't always say yes but always seeks to do right and bless with what they know is best).  When you leave your grief and trouble with the Lord be open to however God is ready to answer and don't give up hope if it feels it is taking a bit of time.  God hasn't forgotten his timing is just not always ours but it is always perfect.

 

So be like Hannah and take the time today to lift up your prayers to the Lord and if able leave that grief with him and be filled with his peace and hope.

May 6

 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, "Jesus told him, "you will never believe". John 4:48

I believe that signs and wonders are not a thing of the past, but they happen in our everyday life. One of the ways we become blind to the signs and wonders, is by getting stuck in the why. Sometimes I find myself so busy trying to figure out why a certain thing happened to me, that I completely overlook the way things unfolded.  The Lord is calling us to focus on Him and not the problem.

The other day, I decided to go for a walk with my one-month old baby and my dog. We went to a quiet street near my house. One mile into our walk, out of nowhere, this huge wind started to blow. There were branches flying everywhere. The storm was furious. It felt like the end of the world was coming. I was completely terrified. I didn't know where to go and what to do. All I could say was "Lord help me". Instantly I heard, "I am the Lord of the storm." Looking around I saw a house not far away. I ran there, and the people were nice enough to let us all in. The storm passed, and we got home safely.

I wish to say that the first instinct was to be grateful for the Lord's protection and assurance. On the contrary, the first instinct was to get upset, why the Lord allowed that storm to happen. Am I not His child? It's very easy to get lost in the why. I am sure the father in today's reading didn't understand why his son had to be sick. However, I can focus on trying to corner God and demand an explanation to my Why, or put that aside and look at the whole picture. The Lord is present and in control of any circumstance. The Lord is above any life storm we might face. He is always with us even when we are alone with our deepest fears.

Lord don't let our need to understand the "Why", block us from seeing your miraculous signs and wonders.

May 5: Of Balance and Relationship

Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22

John 4:4-42

Psalm 105:1-15

Proverbs 14:25

Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband.  The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not our husband.  What you have just said is quite true."

I struggled all day to figure out what to write about in today's reading, and try as I might, I kept coming back to this verse.  So I did a little digging to see what others might have said about it, and was shocked - although I probably shouldn't have been - to see how many interpretations there are.  Many of them seem to ignore the suggestion the woman was living in sin, choosing to focus on how the Samaritans have "married" false gods.  Others go so far as to suggest Jesus is victim-shaming; the woman was a victim of circumstance.  Even others take the reading through to the end, and argue Jesus was not condemning the woman's seemingly sinful marital state, but accepting her and her sinfulness - that one's seems to be a popular interpretation in the increasingly "don't judge me, I can do what I feel like" world we live in. 

The thing is, reading all the way through to the end, Jesus's words seem to have had a profound impact on the Samaritan woman.  After encountering Him, she goes and tells others about Him.  What made the encounter memorable?  IMHO, three things - first, He spoke with her.  Jews didn't speak with Samaritans.  Second, He pointed out her sin - He didn't ignore it.  And third, He doesn't shun her.   He engages with her. 

As Christians, we are tempted to take the lazy, self righteous way out - "Sinner - unclean!  Avoid!"  On the other hand, the world demands that we accept, even condone what is wrong.  Our Lord strikes a beautiful balance.  And the result is a person so affected they drop what they have to speak about Him.  

Jesus, thank You for Your example.  Teach us to strike the same balance - rejecting the sin, but loving the sinner - so that, through us, others might come to know You the way the Samaritan woman did.  

May 4

Judges 19

 

I have always joked with people that Judges 19 is the "Nightmare on Elm Street" chapter of the Bible. This chapter makes the lawlessness of the wild west look like a Baptist Sunday School picnic. The levels of depravity reached in these chapters are staggering even to "slasher" fans. How the people of God could fall to these lows should cause all of us to consider that subtle and dangerous slide of sin. "Think about it," is the reminder from the author. No one starts out at this level. It is a slow gradual slide into hell. Here is the commentary on why Israel sank to this level of depravity.    

 

Judges 19:1 In those days Israel had no king.  

 

This is the recipe for moral anarchy. We are told no less than five times that the idolatry, debauchery, and atrocities recorded here happened during a time when Israel "had no king." The implication is that because there was no king, everyone did whatever they wished. But wasn't the Lord their king? Didn't the Lord give them the 10 commandments to live by? Whenever there is an absence of moral authority (God), a vacuum is created in which nothing but chaos can reign. For either a higher moral authority is in charge, or we are. There is no moral middle ground.   

 

Dostoevsky realized this in his novel "The Brothers Karamazov." He has Ivan say, "If God does not exist, everything is permitted." We in the USA believe that we can live without a king (God). We can just throw God out and live life according to our own plans. We have thrown God out of our schools, our government, our courts, our churches and out of our marriages.  

 

In the end a society is little more than the sum of its parts. If you want to know the future of America without a king just turn on Jerry Springer. As you watch Jerry Springer you get to see a nation where everyone did as he saw fit.  Think about it!!

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Thursday, May 3

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

"This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." (John 3:19-22)

These verses highligh a common theme that runs through John's Gospel and the his letters:  light and darkness.  The Light comes from God Almighty and reveals truth, while the darkness represents worldliness and runs from the truth.  John starts his Gospel by declaring Jesus to be "the true light that gives light to everyone." (1:9)  Jesus later describes Himself with this title:  "I am the light of the world.  Whovever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

From the holistic portrait of John's Gospel, we may see that these statements from John 3 tie together with the rest of the narrative.  Importantly, the "light" does not refer merely to a concept or a set of ideals.  Rather, God reveals the "light" to us through His Son.  By following and trusting Him, we "live by the truth" so that we may "come into the light."  This transformation emerges from our relationship with the living Light of the World; we cannot create it on our own.

A battle rages within us and in the world between the light and the darkness.  It sometimes feels as if we are being pulled out with the tide — that the world's darkness will overcome us.  Yet, we have promises from the Word that Jesus is greater than he who is in the world.  Indeed, we receive repeated exhortations to "stand firm" from the Lord Himself and from the New Testament letters.  These exhortations are more than vain hopes; rather, with the guiding and empowering of the Holy Spirit, we have the resources to stand firm until the end, bringing great joy along the way.

Lord God, make us hungry and thirsty for Your presence, Your light.  Help us not to be satisfied with anything or anyone less than Yourself.  Transform our hearts and minds today so that we may bless our family, friends, and neighbors.  Strengthen us by Your Holy Spirit to stand firm today and to bring You honor in what we think, say, and do.  In Jesus's Name, amen.

May 2

Judges 16:20 

"He awoke from his sleep and thought "I'll go out as before and shake myself free". But he didn't know that the Lord had left him."

Samson was extremely strong.  No one would deny that.  Not even him.  He had total confidence in his own ability to defeat any fierce animal and break loose from any chain that held him down. How much are we like Samson?  Is our confidence in our own abilities or strengths?  As I was reading through the book of Judges I realized that each Judge had might and power only once the Spirit of Lord came upon them. Without the Spirit of the Lord we are helpless. This is illustrated when Samson was defeated when being seized by the Philistines once the Spirit left him.  We see this important concept of our dependence on God's Spirit for our strength throughout the Bible. David pleaded with the Lord that He not take His Holy Spirit from him (Psalm 51:11) Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah that "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him"  (11:2) And later when Jesus preached in the Temple He quoted from Scripture that "the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord was with Him." (Luke 4:18) Lord forgive us for all the times we think that power and strength is ours and we attempt to accomplish tasks on our own.  I pray that the Spirit of the Lord rest upon us, equipping us, guiding us, and edifying us, to be strong disciples. I pray we never think we can do anything in our own strength or power and we continually look to God praising His holy name while we work to advance His Kingdom.

Randi