Prayer and a Good Grilled Cheese
Today, Father, has been like many other days – with the exception of a root canal being completed… And even that is not nearly as bad as they have been in the past. Regardless, I am weary in mind and body and feel the need to just crash tonight. May the word given continue to impact as it has in years past. Amen.
Colossians 4:2 (<<click here to read the passage)
“Devoted to prayer” “alert mind” “thankful heart”
Some of the best things in life are not complicated. We can make them complicated but at their core, they are quite simple, sort of like a grilled cheese sandwich. Even I can make a good grilled cheese. All it takes is bread, cheese, and butter. It’s not that difficult.
Prayer – it’s not that difficult. Paul’s recipe is quite simple – devotion, an alert mind, and a thankful heart.
Lord, help me to pray. Sometimes we feel like it has to be this huge list of requests that are tough to get through and we just can’t take the time to go through it in one sitting. Paul elsewhere directs us to “never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and our initial response is usually “I can’t pray all the time – I have way too much to get done!” When Paul says to “devote ourselves to prayer” it’s more of a mindset. “Lord guide and direct me throughout this day.”
Prayer is not just about talking – it’s also about listening. Getting in the habit, devoting ourselves to prayer helps us to be more attuned to hearing God’s voice of guidance. And that’s where an “alert mind” comes in. Lord, we have to pay attention! So many things distract us! And we have to be alert because as Peter says in 1 Peter 5:8 our “enemy the devil prowls around like a raging lion looking for someone to devour” Prayer helps us to pay attention to do good and to avoid and/or stand up to evil.
The last ingredient then is a “thankful heart.” There is nothing better to keep us focused in life. Humble gratitude enables us to realize that we didn’t get where we are through sheer talent and hard work. Those are surely elements but they are also gifts our Creator has given us. Understanding that keeps us focused on Him – we need His support and guidance to get us through this life. Being thankful also goes a long way to keep our own pride in check. Acknowledging God’s generosity in our lives keeps us humble. This makes us better servants, too. We all are part of God’s loving creation and we are called to love each other.
Lord, this day and in all the days ahead, may I be devoted to prayer, help my mind to be alert to You and what’s around me and help me to give thanks when it is due and to humbly serve You in my interactions with others. Amen!
July 2nd, 2015, Thurs, 6:59 am
Know Without Being Told
Father, I need this time tonight. Help me to focus on You and to clearly hear what You have to share with me. Amen.
Luke 21:29-33 (<<click here to read the passage)
In looking at today’s picture, what comes to mind? You can tell that it is not dead. It is most definitely alive. It is vibrant. It is new growth. It has not reached its fullest potential. It’s just getting started. But…we know it’s headed somewhere. It is just a hint of what it will become.
This is a picture of a fig tree in Artas, Palestine, budding. Budding means its spring but, “When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near.” v30
It is not a difficult concept to comprehend. Children understand the differences between the seasons.
I think one of the big problems we have with what Jesus had to say about end times, is that we make it far too complicated. I’m going to go with the idea that it is not complicated. I am not too proud to announce that I can tell when spring arrives. It is not a challenge to know that summer is just around the corner when the leaves come out.
On the Church calendar, this coming Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent. We often speak of Jesus’ first coming – his first Advent. The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival”. The ancient Greek uses the word parousia and it means the same thing but to flesh it out a bit more it can mean presence, arrival, or official visit.
We get His first coming, but we struggle with comprehending His second coming – His second Advent. For whatever reason, we balk at it. But just as we readily see the signs of spring’s arrival and know, without a doubt, that summer is near. Jesus is coming back!
In poking around a bit concerning Advent, I came across this wonderful quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
“The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.”
Hm…seems to fit me to a T. I know beyond doubt that I am the Lord’s, and He is mine, but that doesn’t mean I have my spiritual act together 24/7/365. There are times when I am troubled in soul. Jesus understands and accepts me though I am poor and imperfect. But most exciting of all, I am looking forward to something greater to come.
And if there is any doubt to the validity of this truth? Latch hold of Jesus’ words in verse 33,
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. AMP
No confusion. No fear. Only hope at the promise to come!
Nov 23rd, 2020, Mon, 7:28 pm
What Does the Future Hold?
Promotional picture from “The Day After Tomorrow” movie
Father, thank You for a much-needed quiet day at home. This past week has been something else, but You brought us through it. May we feel – and acknowledge! – Your presence with us in the up-and-coming week. Amen.
Luke 21:25-28 (<<click here to read the passage)
I enjoy watching movies that deal with people’s visions of what the future may hold. Some are positive and hopeful, but many are sad and depressing, featuring a post-apocalyptic world in which the Earth’s technological civilization is collapsing or has collapsed.
One of my favorites is The Day After Tomorrow, released in 2004. It details massive climate change that leads to a new ice age, anything caught in the eyes of these massive storms is subject to a -150 degrees Fahrenheit drop in temperature! Many survive but there is lots of craziness, to say the least.
The first few verses of Jesus’ dialogue here towards the end of chapter 21, sound like it could be a great starter seed for a new Hollywood blockbuster. The catch though is this is undoubtedly not fiction. It will take place…we just don’t know when.
“And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. v25-26 NLT
Everything about the world around us will be in upheaval! It will not just be a scary storm even on the scale of tornados and hurricanes. The New Living Translation says people will be terrified. The Amplified Bible says, people fainting from fear and expectation, where the King James Version reads, Men’s hearts failing them for fear. Definitely not an afternoon at the movies!
But even though it may feel like the end, in reality, it is simply the end of the beginning for as verse 27 tells us,
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with [transcendent, overwhelming] power [subduing the nations] and with great glory. AMP
And there we have the beginning of eternity as we shall know it! While the world may cringe in fear, we as followers of Christ must be about introducing them to the Son of Man, as Jesus referred to Himself, so that when these truths come to fruition, they too will not fear but rejoice at the coming of Christ!
So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!” v28
Nov 22nd, 2020, Sun, 6:04 pm
I Trust Him!
Oh, what joy for those
….whose disobedience is forgiven,
….whose sin is put out of sight!
Yes, what joy for those
….whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
….whose lives are lived in complete honesty! Psalm 32:1-2 NLT
Luke 21:9-24 (<<click here to read the passage)
To be perfectly honest I struggle with passages of this nature. I have seen and interacted with so many people who have been caught up in trying to figure it all out. They spend hours lifting every leaf of “evidence” in hopes of finding the “answer”. It’s taking everything in me to continue typing because I absolutely abhor the obsession with it all!
But…it is important because Jesus, our Lord, and Savior, mentioned it not just once in His teachings but several times over throughout His ministry. It is a worthwhile line of study, but the problem lies in the fact that there is only so much that we can know and the rest – all of it – is known to God alone! All the particulars, the fine details, the whos, the wheres, the whens are known to God alone!
And I am secure enough in my relationship with Him to trust Him. I don’t need to know it all to trust Him. I don’t need to understand it all to trust Him. I don’t need to have all my questions answered because in Jesus we find all the answers to all of life’s questions, both great and small…and I trust Him.
One thing of importance that I glean from this passage is the fact that we will not go through one minute of it by ourselves. God will continue to be our Emmanuel – our “God with us”. He will give us the right words when we need them. We will show forth His wisdom…but we most assuredly will go through it.
I don’t know about all the pre-trib (tribulation), mid-trib, post-trib points of discussion but we will go through some sort of tribulation and it will be no walk in the park. It will be hard – and even that word is too soft! Look at some of the words in what Jesus had to say: persecution, dragged, stand trial, charges against you, betray, kill, hate.
Those are all very hard words. But Jesus makes it very clear in verse 19, “By standing firm, you will win your souls.”
What we have to comprehend is that this won’t be the outcome of our relationship with Christ if we don’t truly have a relationship with Him.
Many of us in our formative years had a test for which we needed to be ready. And at some point, amongst them all, there was one for which we were not ready. We played instead of studying and in the end, we failed. We neglected what we needed to do to achieve the desired end result.
If we are to be ready for whatever tribulation we must endure, we cannot neglect our relationship with Jesus. If we are to hear His voice, we must listen to Him speak now. If we need His word to come to mind at the time He needs it to, we have to read it and study it now! He has given us everything we need…Himself. May we use it wisely. Amen.
Nov 19th, 2020, Thurs, 6:50 pm
Hoodwinked!
Father make Your presence known in a very palpable way. We should be heading into a relative time of peace and gratitude but with all that is about us, the norms for many will not be the norms any time in the near future. No matter how much we may say we do not need You, the reality is that we most definitely do. You know that we do. Help us to see You. May Your radiance pierce through our darkness. Amen.
Luke 21:5-8 (<<click here to read the passage)
Charlatans seem to have always been amongst us. They may be in it for wealth or power. One would think that average everyday people wouldn’t buy into whatever they were selling but that is most definitely not the case.
Another word that comes to mind in this line of thought is the word hoodwink. Cambridge Dictionary’s definition is to deceive or trick someone.
When Jesus’ disciples commented on the beauty of the Temple in Jerusalem, He made it very clear that though a formidable structure it would be a pile of rubble in the not too distant future. Though it had been in existence for over six centuries, shortly after Jesus’ time here on earth it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Of course, they asked,
“Teacher, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to happen?” v7 AMP
And He replied with a warning,
“Be careful and see to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name [appropriating for themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me alone], saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not follow them. v8 AMP
Enter the charlatans ready to hoodwink. Did you realize that even in the “enlightened” time in which we live there are numerous – yes, numerous! – individuals who claim to be the Messiah…Jesus Christ returned to earth?
One such individual is a man by the name of Vissarion, the Christ of Siberia. A traffic policeman in the 1980s, his first revelation that he was Jesus Christ came at the same time as the breakup of the Soviet Union. Since then he has gathered a following of 5,000–10,000 disciples in the Siberian forest. They live there in separate villages with their own infrastructure and social systems.
Do not be hoodwinked by charlatans! Again Jesus’ words,
“Be careful and see to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name [appropriating for themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me alone], saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not follow them. v8
I don’t know what took place in the minds and lives of the individuals who all believe they are God’s Anointed One…but He has yet to arrive. We will know, for Jesus Himself in Mark’s Gospel tells us,
Then everyone will see the Son of Man [a title Jesus used for himself] coming on the clouds with great power and glory. Mark 13:26 NLT
What a day, glorious day, that will be!
Nov 18th, 2020, Wed, 1:03 pm