Detrimental Distractions
I know it’s unusual to be at it twice in one day, Father, but I am compelled to go through the rest of this passage. My first writing wasn’t where I thought I would go, but You had other ideas. Guide my thoughts and my fingers. Amen.
Matthew 8:28-34 (<<click the green)
In my readings of study helps for this portion of scripture, Lord, I came across Charles F. Stanley’s Life Principle Bible Notes and they struck a nerve.
After their large herd of pigs was drowned, “the entire town came out to meet Jesus” and “they begged him to go away and leave them alone.” Some commentators believe they were motivated by fear but many hold that Jesus hit them where it really hurts…their pockets!
This is what Charles Stanley had to say,
They were worried more about their financial welfare than their spiritual health. When they saw Jesus approaching their city, they asked Him to leave. Sadly, we are guilty of this same thing. We have grown accustomed to living with sin, and we don’t want to think about God removing it, especially if it would mean a loss of perceived pleasure or income. But clinging to sin is one of the most deadly things we can do.
As a believer, Lord Jesus, I realize that You are with me 24/7/365. Often when I don’t feel You near it is because I am not looking at You. There are times when the worthless things of this world catch my eye and the here and now bring me up short and I stop and watch. I ignore Your call to safety and security. I am lured to the danger zone which leads to death.
For example, I take advantage of technology all the time. It is a wonderful asset to preparing for worship each week. It makes this blog possible and those two things alone touch untold numbers for eternity and Your Kingdom, Lord. But, as I wrote about earlier, evil is lurking – waiting for a chance to gain entrance, ready to pounce when my guard is let down.
Often it is not something overtly evil but is a distraction. It is something that takes my mind away from what is important – truly important. How much do I miss out on?
Lord, help me to focus on You. As I said, I realize You are with me 24/7/365 – help me to consistently acknowledge Your presence as well. May I not be so easily sidetracked but give my attention to what is of eternal value and not just of the here and now. Amen.
Mar 1st, 2018 Thurs, 8:59 am
Lurking Evil
It is bright and early, Father, but yesterday just didn’t come together. Speak to me this morning and may I hang on to every word. Amen.
Matthew 8:28-34 (<<click the green)
This particular passage brings a very interesting story in Your life, Lord. Two men, desperately in need of a supernatural intervention, found it in You. They were miraculously released from an oppressive spiritual bondage that I truly believe is still very much a reality today.
Today’s society laughs it off as a legend kind of thing but I am convinced that a lot of the evil we find in our world is because we have delved so deeply into evil, we have revelled in it, we have immersed ourselves in it so that connections are readily accessible for demonic influence in our lives. And it is truly no laughing matter.
A few years while working at Kohl’s there was a family present that had a little girl with them. She couldn’t have been more than three. I didn’t work with them but something had transpired that had set the girl off! She was literally raging with anger and I truly believe that it was not just a toddler’s temper tantrum. Her level of rage went far beyond what any three-year-old could come up with on their own. It was disturbing, to say the least! The only thing that made any sense to me was that she was possessed. The family quickly left the building and to my knowledge, I have never seen them again. I can only imagine what she, and all those around her, was going through!
Lord, You saw these two men and You knew what they were going through. The demons in them knew who You were, too. It is not recorded that You even said anything but we can tell that the demons were terrified finding themselves in Your presence, begging to be cast out of the men and into a “large herd of pigs feeding in the distance.” And at Your command that is exactly what happened. When “the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs… the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.”
Lord, there is more in this account to write about but that will be for later. Right now I would sincerely pray that You would open our eyes. Help us to see what we are exposing ourselves to. The lurking evil that we consume regularly as “entertainment” is adversely affecting us far more than we are willing to acknowledge. Lord, have mercy on us. Touch us. Free us. Amen!
Mar 1st, 2018, Thurs, 5:27 am
Storms of Life
A Father like no other
Is what you are to me
You created all that I can know
And You created me.
The mighty love that You have shown
Is beyond my finite mind
But my calling in this life I live
Is to live Your love in kind. ~ me
Amen.
Matthew 8:23-27 (<<click the green)
My study Bible* has given me things to ponder this morning.
There are times, Lord, when we most assuredly bring trouble upon ourselves but often trouble comes crashing upon us due to no fault of our own. A prime example is in this particular passage.
Of the thirteen men in the boat, at least four of them were well-seasoned fisherman. They were well-versed in handling a boat in good weather and foul…but “the Sea of Galilee is an unusual body of water. It is relatively small (13 miles long, 7 miles wide), but it is 150 feet deep, and the shoreline is680 feet below sea level. Sudden storms can appear over the surrounding mountains with little warning, stirring the water into violent 20-foot waves.”
Peter, one of the four fishermen on board, was pretty good at getting himself into trouble but neither he nor any of the others on the boat, had purposely placed themselves in harm’s way. But that is where they found themselves.
There may have been four fishermen on board but there was one Person on board who knew so much about where they now found themselves that he was actually asleep! Jesus, the mighty Creator, was not bothered in the least. The storm didn’t wake Him but their shouting did! And his response to their predicament was not fear put power!
Lord, none of us can know what life holds – it may be smooth sailing and without notice whatsoever we may be engulfed in a deluge of wind, rain, and waves. May my trust be in You, Lord Jesus, regardless of the situation in which I find myself. You may calm the storm about me or You might just calm the storm in me. Amen, so be it.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Feb 27th, 2018, Tues, 6:44 am
Straight Shooter
As I look out upon the day ahead, Father, I know that there are a multitude of possibilities as to what could happen and even more possibilities as to how I can respond. I pray that You will guide my choices and that Your Kingdom would be advanced because of my yieldedness to Your will. Amen.
Matthew 8:18-22 (<<click the green)
Lord, I continue to find it interesting that every time I read the Gospels that You are not one to beat around the bush – You tell it like it is. You are a straight shooter – one never has to guess what You are communicating. And, all who interacted with You found themselves on a level playing field – You catered to no one because of status or money or standing in the community, secular or religious.
It is no different today. We all have equal access to You. You have no favorites. Over the years I have been given reason to smile when it is stated that I have some kind of advantage with You because I am a pastor. Not in the least…absolutely no one has an inside advantage –no pastor, no church leader, not the Pope, not even great saints like the late Billy Graham, Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King, Jr. They would have been the first in line proclaiming so!
So when the teacher of the law said he would follow You wherever You went, You were quick to tell him that it was no prestigious following and that following You wouldn’t even guarantee a place to rest.
When the other disciple begged off wanting to bury his father, most commentators believed his father wasn’t dead or even dying; he just wanted to make sure he got his inheritance. You were quick to call him out for his true motive.
Lord, I would pray that you enable me to be true with you inside and out. May I also be discerning of others. As I interact with them may I be a straight shooter and may I do so with love and compassion but not be afraid to dispense tough love if need be, as well. May I be more and more like You each day. Amen.
Feb 26th, 2018, Mon, 6:47 am
Keep It Simple
Thank You, Father, for being with us this morning in worship. I would pray that Your touch would remain with each receptive heart, that each one would have an insatiable hunger to deepen their personal relationship with You – myself included. Oh, Father, may it be so!
Matthew 8:14-17 (<<click the green)
So often in life, Lord, we make mountains out of molehills; we take simple things and complicate them to our detriment. A note in my study Bible* gives me cause to stop and ponder.
As I have read the story of the healing of the leper and Peter’s mother-in-law You “touched” them. In casting out many evil spirits You did so “with a word.” There were no elaborate rituals or wordy incantations proffered. In Your interaction with those who needed You, Lord, You did so simply and directly.
So it is with our salvation, many of us have this notion that we’ve got to make ourselves presentable – we’re dirty, we’re disgusting – how could God ever love us the way we are. But He does, He most assuredly does!
Tears fill my eyes as I type… Matthew goes on to state in verse 17,
He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He Himself took our infirmities [upon Himself] and carried away our diseases.”
Oh, Lord, that verse says so much, You “took our infirmities [upon Yourself]…”
On top of it all, Lord, as I type I am listening to a compilation of inspirational piano music on Spotify and what song should play but one which so clearly highlights what You have done for me. Here is a portion of the text and the refrain of How Great Thou Art. (Click on the title and listen to the beautiful rendition I enjoyed.) Lord, You bring everything together for my good. Thank You for Your love and all that You have done, and continue to do, for me!
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Feb 25th, 2018, Sun, 6:52 pm