August 31

2 Corinthians 4

"What We Do in Life Echoes in Eternity" Maximus Decimus Meridius

One of my favorite movies is Gladiator; in it General Maximus utters those awesome words. I love this quote because it has its source in the writings of the Apostle Paul.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18   For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Life is short, eternity is long, but our lives can make an impact on eternity. I want to be a part of something that makes a difference for eternity, I mean who doesn't?  So why does so much of my life seem focused on the world's passing show? The scramble for popularity, riches, pleasure and power are so empty, yet their pull is so strong.

What is the key to release the grip of this world and strengthen our grip of eternity?  Here are three questions that can help us transition to an eternal focus.

1. Who will remember anything about your life in 100 years from now? If we are only living for the moment, our life has no more value than a mosquito. But if we live for an audience of one, Jesus, then every act will be remembered by the King for all eternity.

2. Do the things of earth satisfy? If money, power, pleasure and popularity satisfy the human heart, why did Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain take their lives?

3. Will what I worship be enough to save me?  If we worship the things of earth, will they serve us well when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death?

So the key to a successful life is living for an eternal impact. It would be wise to focus our lives on activities that will count for eternity. As far as I know only three things will make it through eternity; God, His Word and the souls of people.  As we contemplate our actions today let's make it our goal to invest in these three eternal opportunities. 

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Thursday, August 30

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ....  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:6,7)

In this most personal letter, Paul reflects on his ministry and what has transpired.

He recognizes that his competence flows from God and that He must enlighten the hearts of those to whom Paul ministers.  God must reveal "the light of the knowledge of... [His] glory... in the face of Christ"; that is, people must experience and perceive the beauty and excellence of Christ, not just the fancy tactics of a skillful preacher.  The transformation that the Gospel brings reaches to the heart and not just the mind.

The second verse discuss the "treasure in jars of clay."  Here, Paul refers to the everlasting "treasure" of the Gospel, deposited securely in human hearts.  Yet, we recognize that we carry around this Gospel in our earthly, temporal bodies.  The resulting contrast between the timeless nature of the Gospel and our humanness underscores that the Gospel's "all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

As the Bible records, the early disciples took care not to flatter themselves with people's adulation or to take advantage of their position for personal enrichment.  Instead, Paul, Peter, and their co-workers experienced tremendous hardship in carrying the Gospel around the Mediterranean world.  Their selfless love for cities and people whom they had never visited and their willingness to surrender themselves even unto death point to the reality of the "treasure" in the Gospl and its "all-surpassing power."

In our day, we desperately need the "all-surpassing power" of the Gospel to heal broken lives, relationships, and families.  We know that God's power remains undiminished, but our reliance on our own systems has caused us to become less attuned to God's treasure.  How can you remember the priceless value of knowing God today?  How could you trust Him more for the road ahead?

Lord God, thank You for the faithful witness of the early disciples.  Thank You that the "treasure" and "all-surpassing power" of the Gospel remain undiminished today.  Help us to rely more fully on You and to see Your work in our lives, relationships, and families today.  Bring healing for our brokenness and freedom for the captives.  In Jesus's mighty Name, amen.

Aug. 29

Psalm 43

On Monday we went back to school for Professional Development.  A video was played on the topic of finding your joy and your purpose in life. It started out on the right track in saying that joy cannot be found in material possessions.  As I was watching and listening, I wrote in my reflection book that if the speaker doesn't mention God she missed the point.  There was some mention of spiritual awareness and perhaps because it is public school the video chosen couldn't mention Jesus, but the point was clear, (at least it was to me and then my co worker sitting next to me who had to listen as I had to verbalize the obvious). Chasing material "things" will never bring true, everlasting joy. This point was also clear to the Psalmist in today's reading.  "There I will go to the altar of God, to God - "the source of all my joy".  (v.4)  The Psalmist is clearly struggling with deceit and injustice and in his crying out to God. There are a lot of "why's" being asked from a place in his heart of longing to understand. Then, the psalmist shows us the turning point, he changes to a position of praising God asking for light and truth to lead the way to where God is. It was in his praise that the Psalmist came to the tabernacle of God, the tent of meeting, the place where God lives and waits to meet with us.  With gratitude, he can now fellowship with God. Whether or not the circumstances changed was no longer the focus.  The focus was now praise and worship. The change took place in his soul.  As we get ready to go into 40 days of prayer, I think it is crucial that we too set up a place where we come to the tabernacle of God. Set up a tent of meeting where it's just you, your Bible and journal, and the Lord.  While there are a few circumstances I would love to see change in my life,  I pray even more for for myself and everyone on this journey that God blesses our souls and meets us where we are as we draw closer to Him in our praise and worship.

Randi

Blog post Monday Aug 27th

A Prayer For Grace Experienced and Grace Passed On  (2 Corinthians 1:12)

Lord I want to make sure that the relationships you put in my life are lived out by me in the holiness and sincerity that can only come from you.  I do not want to react, assume, or make decisions in my relationships based on worldly wisdom or my own, often times, tainted sinful emotions, hurts, or failed expectations.  Lord I want and need to have your spirit fill me with the knowledge of your Grace and then the strength to express your Grace towards others, in the relationships I have.  The only way I can show God grace towards others, especially when it isn't easy, is to ponder and reflect on the constant Grace you show me.  I recognize that I take your Grace towards me for granted every single day.  I horde it selfishly as if I earned it and don't always easily show it towards those whom I don't feel deserve it.   If I ever feel that I am deserving of your Grace I ask you to help me to remember that Grace from you is unmerited favor, I did nothing to deserve it but despite my sin against you, you chose to lavish it upon me.   So, I need to go forth and likewise show unmerited favor to those with whom need it not just those I deem deserve it.  Lord make me aware today of the relationships in which I need to surrender my heart, my hurts, my frustrations, my expectations and so on to you.  When you do I ask you to fill me lord with your unmistakable Grace.  May I experience it, it's comfort, it's freedom, it's healing, it's power and realize that if I choose to share that Grace with others then I open up a door for them to experience these same blessing in my earthly relationship.  I will learn to trust you and in that trust I will learn to let you use my sincerity and grace in the hearts of the ones I am showing it towards and leave it to you to work in them just as you are at work in me.

Thank you Lord for your unmatched selfless love and gift of Grace.  You truly do amaze me!

AMEN

Blog post Monday Aug 27th

A Prayer For Grace Experienced and Grace Passed On  (2 Corinthians 1:12)

Lord I want to make sure that the relationships you put in my life are lived out by me in the holiness and sincerity that can only come from you.  I do not want to react, assume, or make decisions in my relationships based on worldly wisdom or my own, often times, tainted sinful emotions, hurts, or failed expectations.  Lord I want and need to have your spirit fill me with the knowledge of your Grace and then the strength to express your Grace towards others, in the relationships I have.  The only way I can show God grace towards others, especially when it isn't easy, is to ponder and reflect on the constant Grace you show me.  I recognize that I take your Grace towards me for granted every single day.  I horde it selfishly as if I earned it and don't always easily show it towards those whom I don't feel deserve it.   If I ever feel that I am deserving of your Grace I ask you to help me to remember that Grace from you is unmerited favor, I did nothing to deserve it but despite my sin against you, you chose to lavish it upon me.   So, I need to go forth and likewise show unmerited favor to those with whom need it not just those I deem deserve it.  Lord make me aware today of the relationships in which I need to surrender my heart, my hurts, my frustrations, my expectations and so on to you.  When you do I ask you to fill me lord with your unmistakable Grace.  May I experience it, it's comfort, it's freedom, it's healing, it's power and realize that if I choose to share that Grace with others then I open up a door for them to experience these same blessing in my earthly relationship.  I will learn to trust you and in that trust I will learn to let you use my sincerity and grace in the hearts of the ones I am showing it towards and leave it to you to work in them just as you are at work in me.

Thank you Lord for your unmatched selfless love and gift of Grace.  You truly do amaze me!

AMEN

August 25: Of Grief and Guidance

Job 16:1-19:29

1 Corinthians 16:1-24

Pslam 40:1-10

Proverbs 22:1

It's only been a month, and four people whose families I know have passed on, leaving the families in inestimable grief. Had all the deceased been like my uncle - almost 80 years old, a full and joyful life behind him - the passing might have been easier to understand. Not so. The other three - one, a mother of two in her mid fifties, from an illness that gave her barely 8 months, her children in their teens; the other, a father in his early forties, who passed away suddenly, leaving behind a widow and three children, ages 6 and younger. And the most tragic of them all - a three year old little boy, a car accident, leaving a swath of heartbreak that cuts through parents and 4 year old sibling, aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins and grand uncles and grand aunts…

When faced with tragedy, well meaning friends try to fix things. They try and provide comfort through reason, to find purpose in what happened, as if somehow that would ease the pain.

Today's readings suggest a different course of action. We are in the middle of Job. He's a good man who has served God faithfully. But for reasons Job does not understand, God has permitted the loss of all he holds dear -children, household, worldly goods, health. And the friends who started out supportive - they wept, tore their robes, sprinkled dust on their heads, and sat on the ground for seven days and nights without saying a word - these friends have not been able to help themselves, and have insisted God is rightfully punishing Job for sin. They thought a reason for what happened would make the pain easier to bear.

They weren't helping. Consider a sample of Job's response to them: "you are miserable comforters, all of you! Will your long winded speeches never end?" Job cries out "God has turned me over to the ungodly…[God] shattered me…His archers surround me…He pierces my kidneys". And they did nothing to change the truth - that his "hands have been free of violence and [his] prayer is pure".

In the end, where does Job try to find solace? From past conviction - "I know that my redeemer lives…and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God." His comfort is in the One whose thinking is beyond Job's understanding.

Today's psalm gives us the same counsel: "I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." Because the truth is, in times of indescribable grief, He really is the only one who can give comfort and help.

Father, when I am confronted by grief You will have permitted, remind me that You hear me; remind me to wait for You to answer me. And when I am faced with a grieving friend, remind me that I cannot fix, and that the best I can do is sit in sorrow with them and wait for You to answer their cry.

August 24

Psalm 39

As we draw to the end of our summer I reflect on how quickly it has disappeared. I distinctly remember setting goals around Memorial Day and thinking how far in the future Labor Day was. I fondly remember the simple joys of this summer, vacation time with our families, men's cookouts, book club meetings, and playing baseball with our grandchildren. I also remember the struggles many in our church family had this summer. There you have it; the whole summer is gone.

King David must have had a similar experience because he wrote at the end of one season of life, "Let me know how fleeting my life is. Each man's life is but a breath." Psalm 39

Life is like being outside on a cold, brisk morning when you exhale warm air from your lungs and it forms a definite cloud. The cloud is real; you can see it, but just as quickly as the cloud was made, it disappears. The dissipation of that cloud is a reminder of the frailty and the brevity of human life.

A few years ago a group named "Five for Fighting" sang a popular song called "100 Years."  The premise of the song is that if you've only got 100 years to live, then 15 is a great age to be because you've got plenty of time—"time to buy, time to lose, time to choose."  22 isn't bad either, as you're just crossing the threshold into grown-up pursuits. At 33 or so it feels like things are coming together—you have people in your life and work to do. But at 45 you're nearing the halfway mark, and time is slipping away. At 67 the sun is falling toward the horizon, and before you know it, you're 99, wondering where the time went and wishing you were 15 again, even for a moment.

David said it is a good thing to question how we spend our lives. He asks this exact question in verse 7, "But now, Lord, what do I look for?" We need to evaluate and consider how we are living our few, brief days on earth.  A short life should be spent wisely. We would be foolish to misspend a single hour.

So where do we find the answer?  David points us to a relationship with the living God. He says, "My hope is in you."  Life is more than the events that happen in a summer. Life is growing to know and love God more each day. Allow God to teach you what really counts in life. If you don't, one day you will be "99 simply wishing you were 15 again."

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"