Burdened?
Father, as I look out at the beautiful creation before me I am in awe of Your majesty and greatness! It is hard to grasp why someone so awesome would love me so…but I am so glad You do! Praise Your name!
Matthew 5:17-20 (<<click the green)
One thing that has come out in our recent Bible studies at church is Jesus’ relationship with the “law of Moses”. We might not be able to put all the pieces and parts together but it seems to boil down to Jesus bringing a new covenant onto the scene – as communicated in the New Testament. The word used for “testament” is a translation of the word “covenant”. So we have the Old Testament (Covenant) and the New Testament (Covenant).
So the question is, did the covenant Jesus laid out replace the covenant given to Moses? Jesus himself states very clearly in verse 17, and again the Amplified Bible plainly communicates it,
“Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
Jesus didn’t change anything. He didn’t eliminate it or destroy it. He fulfilled all of it! By the time Jesus came on the scene, Jewish religious leaders had added to and expanded and “explained” the law to the nth degree. And if you expected to please God, you had to abide by it all! It was so burdensome that no one could possibly do so!
The new covenant didn’t replace the old covenant, it clarified it. Jesus didn’t eliminate the core importance of the law but He did eliminate all the man-made layers it had accumulated over the millennia. Jesus lifted our burden!
Humanity – in trying to be diligent in honoring God’s law – had made it into a confusing mass of rules and regulations. Jesus, when asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” summarized the entirety of the law in just a few words.
“The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-34)
Lord, in Your life here amongst us You showed us how to fulfill the law in our lives by following Your example. By giving ourselves over to You each and every day, and throughout each day, Your Spirit will guide and direct our heart, soul, mind, and strength to love You and to love others as You do, as well.
Oct 18th, Wed, 9:59 am
Fix My Thoughts
Father, it has surely been a busy day – busy at home this morning and then busy at work from mid-afternoon through the evening. Thank you for being in my thoughts. Thank you for being by my side through it all. May I continue to strive each day to live a life that is pleasing in Your eyes. Amen
Philippians 4:8-9 (<<click here)
Lord, how appropriate this passage is today. Our world is so full of distractions. Sometimes they are innocent enough, but they take time that is designated for other more important things (Facebook!) Sometimes they play on our weaknesses and lure us into things that are detrimental to our relationship with You. Sometimes these things are subtle, a harmless show – then a commercial pops up and that seed is planted in our mind. Sometimes our own minds truck down the path of destruction. A brief thought pricks our mind and we dwell on it, we mull it over…and look at it…examining it from different angles. You send warning flares up and we turn our backs. Before you know it we are up to our necks in trouble. So how do we avoid this oft repeated scenario? We’re “fixing our thoughts” in the wrong direction.
Through Paul, You tell us in the passage to “fix our thoughts on what is true…admirable.” We are to “think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” What goes in is what’s going to come out. We can’t expect to put garbage in and to get purity out. A nice clean glass of pure water can be ruined with just a pinch of dirt. Help us not to soil our hearts.
Then also we are called to “fix our thoughts on” good stuff but if we don’t put it into action how are we the better for it? Just as sin can flutter thru our mind and if we reject it and don’t act upon it – we’re good. But if we play with it and act on it – we get hurt.
Just as sin impacts us this way Paul’s list can impact us, as well – or not. Good can flutter thru our mind and if we reject it and don’t act upon it – we either hurt ourselves or others by not running with what positive and encouraging things could have come out of our actions.
It is much more, “it” being our fellowship with You and the outcome of that relationship, it is much more than good thoughts. Action is a requirement. Long-term impact in our lives and in the lives of others depends on us acting on Your guidance and direction, as a result of filling our hearts and minds with what “is true and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.” When we “think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” and put those things “into practice” then that’s when You, Lord, “the God of peace will be with [us].” And again it’s a “peace that passes understanding.” Thank You, Lord, for Your love and patience as we learn to follow You.
June 3rd, 2015, Wed, 7:11 am
Shine Brightly
What a privilege to be Your child, Father. The assurance of Your unconditional love gives me great comfort regardless of my circumstances. Thank You for the wonderful blessing that You are to my life!
Matthew 5:14-16 (<<click the green)
I have heard it argued that in reality darkness does not exist but in actuality, darkness is the absence of light. We have flashlights that cast beams of light into the darkness but there is no such thing as a darklight the can cast a shaft of darkness into the light.
As followers of Christ, we are responsible to “shine out for all to see”. Lord, You are the Great Light within us but how often do we try to throw a blanket over You so that we can do what we want? We try to hide Your light.
My fear is that many have no problem with shining a little light while in church or visiting dear old grandma but throw them out into the world and many are quick to throw their lamp “under a basket”. Lord, how often, when we live this kind of life, is Your reputation soiled?
We like to think that no one will know but quite often that is not the case. People have a way of finding out lots of things on either side of this scenario. We may try to hide the fact that we go to church from those we work with or live next to but word gets around.
Years ago I ran into an old acquaintance and through the course of conversation, I shared where I was ministering at the time. He told me where he worked and I made a connection to an active member in my church. Just by the look on his face, you could tell that he was surprised – the member’s reputation wasn’t reflecting a whole lot of light in regards to his relationship with Christ.
Our Christian friends can’t be fooled either…at least not for very long.
Lord, Your proclamation in Luke 6:45 rings loud and clear,
“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”
Lord, we all struggle at times. May I diligently be storing up a good treasury in my heart so that I may be a producer of good things. May my light shine forth brightly so that I may bring glory to You. Amen.
Oct 16th, Mon, 6:25 am
Worth My Salt
It has been a good day, Father, but I am weary. I have taken time to speak with and listen to You but have not written for the last couple of days. Bless our time together, may it be at time for me to draw closer to You. Amen.
Matthew 5:13 (<<click the green)
Salt can bring to mind all kinds of connotations. It’s a seasoning. It’s a preservative. Some idioms involving salt are “rubbing salt into a wound”, meaning to make someone’s bad situation even worse. We can take someone’s advice with a “grain of salt”, insinuating that the advice is taken with a certain amount of skepticism. But when it comes right down to it, as a follower Christ am I worth my salt? Am I deserving of my “wages” as a believer?
In the footnotes of the Amplified Bibles translation of this passage, it states, “In ancient times salt was often used as a preservative. Similarly, followers of Christ are to preserve both the gospel message and Christian values in the secular world.”
I have devoted myself to this calling…and I am not speaking of my calling as a pastor. When I accepted Christ’s offering of forgiveness for my sins I also accepted the calling of Jesus’ Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20,
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Every follower of Christ is called to share the Good News of Jesus – that’s what the Gospel is. The Good News is the fact that Jesus freely gave of himself to take the punishment for the sins that I (that we all) have committed. He paid for our sins with his very life and offers us freedom from those sins. We are saved out of our lostness so that we can share our stories with others who are lost – to show them the way to the Savior.
So, Lord, when You say that I am the “salt of the earth” am I busy as I should be about preserving the truth of the Gospel message? Do I live out the values that You have set into place in the world in which I live each and every day? I strive to do that but I also know that I can do so much more. Lord, enable me to be the salt You need where and when You need it. Amen.
Oct 15th, Sun, 7:41 pm
Why Me? Will It Ever Stop?!
Father, today has been a good day. I am so grateful for everything You do for me. Helping me to focus…especially to focus on You…helps me to keep myself on the straight and narrow, which is the only place to be. All praise to You!
Philippians 4:7 (<<click here)
To worry less – pray more! Lord, doing this will bring about a peace found only in You and as the old translation reads, it will be a “peace that passes all understanding”– from the world’s perspective, it makes no sense!
Something has been rattling around in my head for some time – as Your children, how do we respond to the absolutely horrific thing’s this life thrust upon us? Death, disease, heartache, financial woes, loss, and rejection – the list goes on and on. We cry out, “Why me!?” “Will it ever stop?!”
Now Your Word tells us in Romans 8:28 that “… in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” So the question we deal with then is, how does all of this gel? If You love us why do we experience so much pain in life? And how does pain which is included in the “all things” of Romans 8:28 work for our good? Again going to Your Word tells us in order to stress less we must pray more and that will bring about a peace that is beyond comprehension.
First of all, You do not bring about the pain. We, the whole of humanity, have brought that upon ourselves. Eve’s yielding to sin started it and every one of us since has perpetuated that sin – our depravity knows no end. Our great propensity for wondrous creativity from being created in Your likeness has been pushed to all limits by our perversion and wickedness. We have so polluted the world with our rebellion that inevitably we encounter pain.
Secondly, because You love us so much – which is proven by the fact of how far You went to bring us back into right relationship with You – the giving of yourself to the point of a horrific death at our hands – because You love us so much You can take all that is ugly and revolting about ourselves and our lives and make it good! The impossible becomes possible!
Lord, most of us would have no problem acknowledging these two points through most of the ebb and flow of life. But when those times of pain and suffering are so intense that we feel like we are going down for the count, is the answer to worry (which seems like an awfully small word in this context) less and pray more? ‘That’s it?’ we yell? ‘With all Your power and might and “love”, that’s all You have to offer?’ And Your answer is…a resounding ‘YES!!’
We absolutely cannot wrap our minds around it, but giving ourselves over to You and praying in place of worrying brings us peace – not peace of the world which is shallow and, oh so temporary, but Your peace. Your peace is deep, and rich and most importantly – never ending!!
Miraculously, You take the absolute worst of our lives and bring the absolute best out of it! From a worldly perspective – it makes no sense at all, but Your peace is not of this world. Being Your children, whom You love, You give it to us freely and in abundance!! Lord, all the praise goes to You for this awesomely overwhelming gift!! In the midst of the hurricanes of life – You are there – solid and strong- FOR US!!
Help us, Lord, to trust in You – to throw ourselves into Your mighty arms. Give us Your peace we plea! When we do so the glory will be given to You! Others will ask how we do it and we can proclaim that it’s only because of You!! You are our only answer to everything this old world has to throw at us! Even if death is what is thrown our way, yes, even death, You are the answer – being escorted into Your presence, what could be better?
Praise You, Lord!! Strengthen us! Enable us! Empower us!! Use us through all of life to hold our lights high, showing the world that there is HOPE and LIFE found only in You! AMEN!
June 2nd, Tues, 8:07 am