An Easy Yoke
Thank You, Father, for a productive day yesterday and for some quality time with Karen. As I prepare for work soon, may today be all You intend for it to be in my life as well. Amen.
Matthew 11:27-30 (<<click the green)
Lord, this metaphor is one that comes to mind readily for me, especially when I pray or speak inform of my congregations. I am so grateful for the fact that You will never leave me nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6) and that I have You by my side to carry the bulk of the load.
One of the cultural mindsets we lug around is the idea that we can shoulder the things of this life just fine by ourselves. And if cannot do so we are deemed weak. Well, so be it! The great Apostle Paul wrote in Your word, “…when I am weak, then I am strong.” This was in response to his struggle with a recurring difficulty in his life (his “thorn in the flesh”) and Your response to him was “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
Just because You are my yoke partner certainly doesn’t mean that I can just sit back and let You do all the work. I must be about the work of Your kingdom, Lord, but I can do much more than I can by myself for “you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).
Bless my efforts for You, Lord Jesus. Together may we impact the world today. Help me listen and learn from the Master. Amen.
Apr 6th, 2018, Fri, 5:22 am
Wickedness
Father, at times life’s circumstances can be daunting. Things don’t go as we would like them to and sometimes we feel stuck but we are only seeing the here and now. You, Father, see it all – every possibility – all the way to the end of our life here on earth. I, at times, have to repeatedly lay it all at Your feet…but You know best. I trust You to do what You will with what I have to offer. Amen.
Matthew 11:20-26 (<<click the green)
I have heard it said in Christian circles that if our country isn’t made to pay for its rampant wickedness that God will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for the destruction they received for their own wickedness. We are not told in Scripture how long God bore with their sin. We are not told how many times and in what ways He tried to turn them from their wickedness.
In Jonah’s story, we are given a glimpse of God’s concern for those who have nothing to do with him. The city of Nineveh finally reached the end of God’s patience (and I, from personal experience, know that his love is long-suffering – to say the least!) and called Jonah to proclaim His pending judgment. Jonah was less than willing, to say the least, but finally went and warned them of their pending doom. And God’s love won out. They saw their depravity and repented of their sins and God’s wrath was withheld.
How long will God allow us as a nation to travel down this path of wickedness? Only He knows but I will do my part to bring others into a saving knowledge of a forgiving Savior. Lord, give me the courage and the wisdom I need. I would pray for a burning sense of urgency…for the days are short and Your coming is near. Amen.
Apr 4th, 2018, Wed, 10:16 am
Selfishness
Father, as I do every day, I need You. May everything I encounter today be filtered through You. May I walk close beside You and listen closely to Your word. Amen.
Matthew 11: 16-19 (<<click the green)
Lord Jesus, the attitude of Your generation sure sounds a lot like this generation. My study Bible* states,
“No matter what [Jesus] said or did, they took the opposite view. They were cynical and skeptical because he challenged their comfortable, secure, and self-centered lives. Too often we justify our inconsistencies because listening to God may require us to change the way we live.”
It’s all about me! Do it my way and…I might…accept you. Of course, another element in this generation is tolerance…but most often that means as long as you agree with my perspective then I am tolerant of you.
I believe that for the most part SIN = SELFISHNESS. Our culture doesn’t help but in the end, it truly is our decision and we can blame no one else. We alone feed the monster of self. We are the ones who choose to meet our wants and desires above those of others.
Love is what flips it on its head. Lord, when we love You – with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength – and we love others – as ourselves – that’s when sin is squelched. (Luke 10:27)
Lord, help me to fight that selfishness in my life. I am around it all the time, watch it on TV, hear it on the radio – selfishness permeates our society. The more time I spend with You the more that I will become like You. Make it be so!
Apr 3rd,2018, Tues, 7:02 am
SNOW!
Yesterday was a very busy day, Father, so I am definitely slow on the draw today. With a full day of work ahead, please help me to…stop…and think of You. And before I act, on any front, to do as You would do. Amen.
Lord Jesus, I have to write about the beauty displayed before me this morning! It is not unusual to have snow here in Ohio during the spring but a five-inch show at home was followed up by a 30-mile exposition all the way to work! Roadways were perfectly clear, and by the time I headed off to work at 8:20, so were the skies! The entire route to work including I-71 was laden with trees covered in glistening white snow! I truly don’t remember ever seeing such a spectacle of utter beauty!
Lord, is that what you see when You look at us? For the untold millions that have accepted Your free gift of salvation, are we a sea of white before You?
King David, a man after Your own heart, wrote,
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7
This past Lenten season has given me a fresh reminder of the sacrifice You endured, ensuring that I could stand before You purified of my sins, clean, whiter than snow.
You proclaimed through the prophet Isaiah,
“Come now, let’s settle this…Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18
There is no mention of us making our sins white as snow, only You can do so. All praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ “for his indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15 NIV
Amen and amen!
Apr 2nd, 2018, Mon, 6:49 am
Beautiful Feet?
What a wonderfully productive day yesterday, Father! Thank You for Your guidance and the tenacity to stick to it. I know I take lots of breaks, I stand up and stretch, take care of a couple things, then back to it…so thank You for Your patience as well. We all benefited from Your presence in our Holy Week service last night – may we be unable to escape the realities of that day as we go through our routines this day. Amen.
Matthew 11:7-15 (<<click the green)
A regular occurrence at my job in the Jewelry Department at Kohl’s is asking a customer if I can assist them and being told, “I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for but I’ll know it when I see it.” Others come in and know exactly what they are looking for and all I have to do is get it out of the case for them.
As sojourners on this trek of life are we any different?
When John the Baptist began his ministry, people were drawn to him. Lord Jesus, You asked, “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed…? …a man dressed in expensive clothes? No… Were you looking for a prophet? Yes…”
I believe people of every age are looking. Some may know for what they are looking and others hold firmly to the belief that don’t know exactly what they are looking for but that they’ll know it when they see it.
It is an old adage that we all have a God-shaped hole in our soul. And though we may attempt to fill it with a wide assortment of things – fame, power, food, drugs, alcohol, sex and on and on only one thing will fit…You. We may or may not realize it but every one of is looking for something and that something is You. Some of us embrace the reality of who You are and many do absolutely everything within their power to shove that reality so far down in their psyche that they come to believe their own created reality.
There are also some stuck in the middle. They don’t know enough to embrace You or reject You. They are in sort of a limbo.
Paul proclaims in Romans 10:13-15,
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
Lord, may I have beautiful feet! I earnestly pray that I proclaim Your message not just from behind a pulpit but may I proclaim You through every word and action of my life. May I be attuned every moment of every day to You so that I may help seekers find that for which they are seeking. Amen.
Mar 3th, 2018, Fri, 6:36 am