Focus
Good evening, Father! Thank you for such a wonderful day with Karen! You enabled us to get away for some much needed time together. The day together was truly a blessing. Thank You, especially for her, I could ask for no better companion for this life’s journey. Bless her, Father!
1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 (<<click here)
Lord, a serious question I must ask of myself this morning is: What do people think of You from watching me? Am I a good or a poor reflection of You? Do You shake Your head at my antics?
In this morning’s passage, Paul points out several things that will help me to better focus my reflection of You in my life. First, I am called to act as a child. Now my study Bible* points out that this doesn’t mean I am to be “immature or untrained. Rather…like children” I am to be “honest, straightforward, and without guile” in presenting the Good News through my life. Lord, help me to live a life of transparency – that people never have to guess what I am up to but know that what they see is who I am. And may You continue to buff and sand off all the rough edges in me so I will become more and more like You.
Secondly, Lord, help me to be diligent – giving my best effort throughout my daily walk with You. Be it at work or home or church, may I always be “devout and honest and faultless toward” others. I am like everyone else – I get weary, I get apathetic. But Lord, again, help me to keep my focus in the right place – on You! You deserve my all, not half or three-quarters. You deserve my best! If I strive to please You in all I do, others will be taken care of, too!
Lastly, then, if I live as I should, I will be able to encourage others to do the same. We will all then be able to live our lives in ways worthy of You! Amen – so be it!
July 12th, 2015, Sun, 6:20 am
*New Living Translation Application Study Bible
Repetition
It is a struggle to get up out of my toasty bed, especially when another hour of sleep sounds so enticing but Proverbs 6:10-11 from the Amplified Bible helps me bring my thoughts back on track.
“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to lie down and rest”— So your poverty will come like an approaching prowler who walks [slowly, but surely] And your need [will come] like an armed man [making you helpless].”
King Solomon may have been pointing to a physical poverty but it applies just as readily to spiritual poverty. Father, our time together is vital to my spiritual wellbeing. My relationship with You must be cultivated. It is of the utmost importance. Bless our time together. May I hear clearly what You have for me this day. Amen.
Matthew 6:7-13 (<<click the green)
It’s interesting in this passage to read Your warning against “repeating [our] words again and again” thinking that that is how our prayers are going to get answered and to see that it is immediately followed by a prayer You gave us, that many of us know by heart, that we repeat every Sunday in our worship together.
I have read where some think we should eliminate the Lord’s Prayer from public repetition but I think what’s important to remember, once again, is the relationship aspect.
Several years ago I attended a funeral service where the minister lead those gathered in the Lord’s Prayer and honestly I felt he was trying to make sure he finished ahead of everyone else! It felt like it was a race to get through it as quickly as possible! Now I’m not questioning his relationship with You, Lord, but his prayer sure did not reflect that relationship.
Every Sunday both of my congregations repeat this prayer at the conclusion of our prayer time together and I purposely do not rush when I lead them in reciting it. I have preached on the importance of prayer and highlighted the wonderful aspects of this prayer You set before us as an example of how we should pray. But again, it comes down to our relationship with You. Repetition is not the problem – complacency is the problem.
Lord, help us to keep our hearts and minds in the right place. Help us to keep You in the right place. Repetition is a benefit, not a detriment if our hearts are set in pursuit of our relationship with You.
Dec 6th, Wed, 6:47 am
Vital Relationship
Thank You, Father, for answering my prayer. I am up early enough to spend some time with You. May I be attentive and receptive. Amen.
Matthew 6:5-6 (<<click the green)
I think we would all agree, Lord, that communication is of the utmost importance in any and every relationship. We have all experienced the budding of relationships, be they romantic or friend based…and communication is key. We talk about who we are, what we’ve done, where we’ve been, what we are passionate about, our struggles, our victories – anything and everything can be discussed and shared. It’s what brings us together. It’s what strengthens the ties between us. Interdependence and love make for a rock solid relationship upon which we can build our lives. If we truly care about someone, we make sure that we cut out slots of time, no matter how crazy our schedules are, to interact with them.
Doing so for others is vital to our relationships here on earth. So if it is so important in these instances, why do we struggle to do the same with You? I regularly stress the importance of developing an intimate relationship with You to my congregations. If our relationship with You is to grow, we absolutely must spend time with You.
Once again Ephesians 1:4 tells us, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” We don’t need to spend time with You for You to get to know us, we need to spend time with You to get to know You!
The lines of a hymn written by Joseph M. Scriven in 1855 are fitting,
What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Lord, help my love for You to always be growing – may it never wane. May my heart’s desire always be to be about spending time with You each and every day. Amen.
Dec 5th Tues, 6:24 am
Ulterior Motives
Father, I would ask for Your help. This time of year is exhausting! I need Your help to get up and meet with You on a regular basis – I truly realize the utmost importance of it. Help me, I pray. Amen.
1 Thessalonians 2:3-6 (<<click here)
Ulterior motives…they fill our world. We – and that includes me – are guilty of them. We say or do something to or for or with someone in the hopes that our “hidden” desires will be fulfilled. Our desire for power, possessions, sex, and sustenance drive our actions. Many will do absolutely anything to get what we want!
Of course in this passage Paul is speaking of his work for You, Lord – basically his ministry, his calling. But Lord, aren’t we all called to serve You? We may not be planting churches, as such, but aren’t we all either building – or tearing down – Your kingdom?
Lord, You call for us all to have as our purpose “to please [You], not people. [You] alone examine the motives of our hearts.” I would ask that my motives be motivated solely by my love for You! If my love for You permeates me to the very core of my being, that love will impact all of my interaction with those around me, be they people I love, people I know or total strangers! If the motive of my life is love then ulterior must never factor in! Dictionary.com defines ulterior as “being beyond what is seen…intentionally kept concealed” Lord, help my love for You and others to be everything but an ulterior motive. May my love be blaring and blatantly obvious to everyone with whom I come in contact!
July 10th, 2015, Fri, 6:30 am
Choices
Father, please use this time together to draw me closer to You and to strengthen my determination to be faithful and true to You. These last few days have been a battle; sin has been battering me from all sides. I pray that I would do as Paul commands in 1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.” I am victorious in You, Almighty God, only in You.
1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 (<<click here)
Jesus, I pray that Your word would ring out from me to people everywhere just as it did with the believers of Thessalonica! May every aspect of my life be a proclamation of the victory that is found only in an intimate relationship with You. Every day in every situation I have choices to make – to be loving or hateful, forgiving, to pass along gossip, to feed the monster of discontent, to go with the flow and complain about people or situations beyond my control, to stop, listen and encourage when it would be easier to ignore the whole thing – and the list could go on and on. But Lord, You have called me to be salt and light in my world (Mathew 5:13-16) Grant me the desire to do so willingly and eagerly! And as Paul proclaims at the end of this passage, what I do is all the more important for Your return is imminent! Help me to strive to make You the focal point of my life so others will be encouraged to stay true to You and walk with You faithfully. And if they do not know You that my actions would be a beacon shining on You showing them the way.
July 7th, 2015, Tues, 7:01 am