Pull in the Reins
It has been a full day, Father. Though I struggled with it, I know what kept us occupied most of the day was of utmost importance. Thank You for the love that drove it all, and may that love continue to burn brightly. Amen.
1 Corinthians 16:1-9 (<<click here to read the passage)
The Apostle Paul frequently refers to the fact that he is open to the Lord’s discretion of how his time is used. This is exemplified in today’s passage. He is wrapping up this letter, which speaks of his involvement in his “missionary” journey and his desire to visit with them there in Corinth. He says in verse 7,
This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. NLT
For Paul, it is a state of mind. He has plans. He has wishes for things he’d like to do and places he’d like to go, but as a devout follower of Christ, he is 100% open to doing and going wherever Christ leads him.
I need to be honest here. I alluded to it in my opening prayer, but most of today was spent with Karen’s mother. As some know, her mom is dealing with advancing dementia. Over the weekend, she fell and broke her nose. They sent her to the E.R. to ensure there were no other issues. We spent several hours with her yesterday after the hospital sent her home, confirming that there were no other issues.
Through the course of events, she was given medication to deal with pain and the combative nature that had arisen from everything. Long story short, it put her to sleep…like a hard, cannot-wake-you kind of sleep.
She’s never been a napper and still doesn’t sleep long at night, but she was out! We left yesterday, never really talking with her because of it. After hearing she was up this morning and had eaten breakfast, we stopped to see her, and upon our arrival, we found her once more sound asleep in her room. We could not wake her.
Mid-afternoon, we grabbed some lunch and headed back to see how she was doing. She finally woke up enough that we got her to dinner and returned to her room, with plans to connect her with Karen’s brother out of state. I thought we were heading home at that point…well we didn’t. Over an hour later, we headed home. After a long and wearying weekend, I was not a happy camper. I didn’t start writing until almost 8:00, and I try to be in bed by 9:00.
When I started to write, the Lord called me out. What was most important? My schedule…or Karen’s mom, and for that matter Karen, too.
He showed me that I needed Paul’s mindset. I wished for something (selfishly), and God pulled the reins in on me and accomplished what His love wanted to accomplish. I know Karen feels much better about the whole situation and will sleep better tonight, having done what she did.
Lord Jesus, I am still a work in progress after all these years. Continue to pull the reins as needed. Refine my mindset to continuously be, “…if the Lord will let me.”
Apr 1st, 2024, Mon, 7:50 pm
Flashing through Our Minds
Thank You, Father, for the energy and drive to accomplish as much as we did today. May our time be productive as well. Amen.
Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, John 18:15-18, John 18:25-27 (<<click here to read these passages)
Something that happens pretty regularly while driving my school bus is that in my head, I hear my trainer from over five years ago correct me. One thing that flashes through my mind is to keep my hands on the steering wheel at 9:00 and 3:00. Learning to drive as a teen, I was taught to keep them at 10:00 and 2:00. Somewhere along the line, they decided you had more control in case of an emergency with your hands a little lower on the wheel. I often felt that if she could have, she would have rapped my knuckles with a ruler to drive home the point.
In today’s passage, I think we have to give Peter a little bit of credit. John was the only other disciple closer in proximity to Jesus than Peter was at this point, because John had some family connections. No other disciple was to be found anywhere in the vicinity. Though his bravery was well-meaning, that was as far as it took him. Remember that the freight train was still out of control (An Out-of-Control Freight Train!), and Peter’s mind had to be scrambling to figure out how things had gotten so crazy so fast.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, his reverie was broken.
A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.” Matthew 26:69b NLT
With everyone’s eyes on him, his knee-jerk reaction was.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mark 14:68b NLT
Later, as they stood around a fire to warm themselves (John 18:18), someone else said,
“This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said. Matthew 26:71b-72 NLT
A little of the old pre-Jesus Peter oozed out…the pressure was on, and the heat was coming from more than just the fire.
In rapid succession, one more person proclaimed for all to hear,
“You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.” Matthew 26:73b NLT
And despite his efforts, despite his bravery, in the blink of an eye, the old Peter came out in full. Verse 74 of Matthew 26 says,
Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” NLT
Luke’s rendition states,
And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. Luke 22:60 NLT
With the crowing still echoing throughout the court, three of the four Gospel writers record that Jesus’ words flashed through his mind,
“Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
Only Luke specifies that when the rooster crowed…
At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter.
He was done; despite his best intentions, despite his determination, he had done exactly what Jesus said he would do…he had failed and failed miserably.
Often, we are in the same boat as Peter. When we fail, Jesus’ words may flash through our minds, but hold tight. Just because we can’t seem to forgive ourselves doesn’t mean that Jesus won’t, for though He knows us through and through, He still loves us.
Mar 26th, 2024, Tues, 7:46 pm
An Out-of-Control Freight Train!
It was a productive day on many fronts, Father, though some things didn’t go as planned. May the Holy Spirit’s presence hover over those other things, and may His will be done. Amen.
Matthew 26:17-75, Mark 14:12-72, Luke 22:7-71, John 13:1-18:27 (<<click here to read these passages)
Wow! That is a lot of Scripture! And amazingly, it all happened in a roughly 24-hour period. One of my favorite lines from this Sunday’s service spoke of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The line read, “That donkey might as well have been an out-of-control freight train as far as some of the Pharisees were concerned. They hoped that by squelching the shouts of the people they would break the momentum and somehow stop this significant moment of proclamation.”
An out-of-control freight train… From the disciples’ perspective at the get-go, it was just going to be another Passover Meal with Jesus, nothing more, nothing less. But their preparations were just the train pulling out of the station. I am not the least bit surprised that the disciples’ reactions were all knee-jerk ones. They had no time to think, much less process what was happening. Yes, Jesus had told them – more than once, mind you – what would transpire, but it had never sunk in. And the thing is, in those kinds of circumstances, the “prepared, thought-out” you ceases to exist, and the real you is all that is left standing.
Think about it. In a 24-hour span, they had experienced the first Lord’s Supper with all of the ramifications of sacrifice and atonement – it, of course, was far from their comprehension at the time…but they would remember. The shocking announcements of betrayal and denial. Jesus’ pouring himself out in agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, along with the disciples’ inability to stay awake. Then, in the stupor of sleep and exhaustion, Jesus is betrayed and arrested. Their minds had to be racing! Peter reacts but does not know what he is doing; it is not what is needed at the moment. In confusion and fear, they all scatter, and Jesus is hauled before Caiaphas, the high priest. Peter and John find their way to where Jesus is before a kangaroo court, and though all the accusations are false and conflicting, He is still found “guilty,” and the fury of the entire Jewish religious hierarchy is expelled. In the midst of it all, Peter, the Peter who had sworn his loyalty and undying love for Jesus, crumbles in fear and disbelief and fulfills Jesus’ second prophetic statement, and he runs weeping bitterly.
The out-of-control freight train has done its damage…
Over the millennia, people have tried to point fingers…but to no avail. Yes, they all should have stood valiantly by Jesus’ side, but in fear and utter confusion, they ran.
I would have done no better…none of us would in those circumstances. Yet, Jesus bore it all. In a matter of hours, as He hung on that cruel cross, His plea to the Father, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” Luke 23:34 NIV would apply to all there and everyone today as well. That’s why He did what He did—out of love for us all.
Mar 25th, 2024, Mon, 6:28 pm
The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back
I come before You this evening, Father, ready to listen. I would pray for open ears and an open heart. Amen.
Matt 26:6-16, Mark 14:3-11, Luke 22:3-6 (<<click here to read these passages)
As we head into Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter), I felt I would benefit from delving into the important stories in this time frame. Each day focuses on where, what, and who Jesus was involved with. Limiting myself to five days of writing, I decided to look at the last five days of this time frame.
This first of these five focuses on the story of a woman breaking open a very expensive jar of perfume, which she pours onto Jesus’ feet. This act was not well received by Jesus’ followers. I don’t think we can totally understand why Judas volunteered to betray Jesus, but being that he did so immediately after the perfume incident may point to that being the straw that broke the camel’s back for Judas.
Today, we still struggle with who we think Jesus is. Even His followers, who had spent pretty much every waking moment with Him for three years, couldn’t really grasp who He was and what His goals were. He repeatedly told them, but as we can relate, they all had preconceived notions of what the Messiah was supposed to be like. Many believed that He would be the catalyst for throwing off the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. They believed He would be a warrior King and establish the nation of Israel once more as the powerhouse country it once was under the leadership of King David.
But those ideas were too heavily based on their own heart’s desires and not on reality. I think it would be accurate to say that they weren’t being obstinate; they weren’t trying to be on opposite sides of the court when it came to who the Messiah was to be; it was just where they were in their lives.
Most of us want to be obedient; we want to do what God wants us to do, but our heads get ahead of our hearts, and our hearts cannot convince our heads that we are in the wrong.
Judas was a prime example. This whole experience with the perfume may have thrown him over the edge. Selling Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver may have been his idea of pushing Jesus into getting the ball rolling. Instigating the confrontation that was sure to follow would give Jesus no choice but to step up to the inevitable. It did just that…just not the way that Judas had intended.
May we all take a moment and focus on who Jesus truly is—not who we want Him to be—not who we believe Him to be based solely on what we have been taught or understood Him to believe from all of our life’s experiences. May we be determined to develop such a close relationship with Him that we will truly see Him as He is.
Mar 24th, 2024, Sun, 8:15 pm
What Are You Hyper-Focused On?
Thank You, loving Father, for allowing me to be a vessel of Your love and compassion today on many fronts. I pray that You will continue to instill in me the desire to love people for who and where they are. Amen.
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I recently saw a video of Jason Banks, a veteran stand-up comedian from Columbus, Ohio, sharing a conversation with his “child.” Here’s the transcript.
Okay, this is the last time I’m going over this with you, okay? If a stranger says, get in my van, you do what?
Get in the van on the passenger side.
No, you don’t get in.
So don’t even get in the van.
But if they have a Reese’s Cup.
Now, you get in the van.
No, you don’t.
That’s gonna be hard.
What if they have two Reese’s Cups?
I’m in that van like Peter Pan, baby.
No, you still don’t get in.
I don’t know if that’s possible.
What if they have two Reese’s Cups and a Snickers?
Van time!
No, never get in.
Never get in?
No, never get in.
Never get in. Right.
And if they have Skittles?
Get in the van. I didn’t know they had…
Derek, no…no!
Even with skittles?
Even with skittles. What if they have M&Ms?
And that’s just part of it! (If you’d like to listen to it, click here for the link – Don’t Get in the van)
It is communicated with humor, but here’s the point I want to make: How often do we get into these kinds of conversations with God? Far too often, our minds are hyper-focused on temptations or anxiety or many other things that are not necessarily bad for us, but we just want them so badly.
This can be extremely exasperating in human interactions, but God is patient and keeps driving home the point of not being hyper-focused on other things but keeping our hearts and minds and bodies focused on Him. Our problem is that we don’t think He really wants us to be “happy” when His greatest desire is to bring us joy.
I love how the Amplified Bible puts John 15:11. Jesus says,
I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.
The New International Version puts in a bit more succinctly,
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Today’s challenge is to hyper-focus on God and the joy He has waiting for you in an overflowing supply!