Our sorrows

When I was younger I used to wonder if God could see when I am sad.  


Now, I am certain that God not only sees us, He stands with us in our sorrow.  


Isaiah 53:4 says:

our sorrows....weighed him down.




As we prepare to celebrate Easter, remember why Jesus came.  He carries our sorrows.

Seriously?

The last part of Micah 6:8 in the Message version of the Bible says:

And don't take yourself too seriously—
   take God seriously.

My Senior Pastor at my church reminds us of that from time to time.  

In Micah 6:8 the prophet Micah reminds us of that as well.

Take some time relaxing in God – rest in Him.  When thoughts come to your mind, write them down and continue with resting. 

Ask God what it would look like for you to stop taking yourself so seriously.

Falling Short

On sin – Romans 3:23 “all have sinned”

“we fall short of God’s glory”

So, turn to God.  When you fall short, turn back to God and take in His glory.

Spend some time letting God’s light shine on you.

Blessings!

Psalm 23:5 says, “My cup overflows with blessings.”

Spend time with God today, and receive His abundant blessings!

Jesus' Experience and Our Experience...

Mark 15:34 “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  The suffering of Christ…

The promise of the resurrection – John 11:25 “I am the resurrection, and the life.”

Christ has promised those who believe will be raised with him. 

What do these verses mean to you? 

God's Unfailing Love

Psalm 31:21 talks about the “wonders of (God’s) unfailing love”

God guards and guides, ever so gently back to Him.  

How is God calling you? 

What wonder does He bring?

Oh, what to DO...

What do you do with difficult people who are in your ‘community’?

You know who I'm talking about...the people whose voices sound like fingernails screeching on a chalkboard? 

Matthew 5:44 is really clear about how we are to approach them.

Jesus said, “love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you”.

Really?  I mean - REALLY?  Do you know what they DID to me? 


Yea, Jesus does know.  .


Look what they did to him, and He prayed for them.



Today, choose one difficult person and pray for them.

The Greatest Act of Obedience...

What if our greatest act of obedience and love is simply to “come”.

Matthew 11:28 begins with “come to me”. 

As you sit with that phrase, receive what God has in store for you.

Turn Back...

“As you turn back to the Beloved,

Listening for Love’s voice within your own heart.”

(Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness, p.155)

What would this world be like if a community “turned back to the beloved” and listened?

Their Lens...Our Lens

“I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work…” Phil 1:6

Being a product of our culture, we often ‘view’ scripture from that same lens.  The truth of the matter is that the 1^st Century lens was quite different than our lens. 

Having said that, it begs the question – what exactly DID Paul mean in Phil. 1:6? 

Philippians was written by Paul while he was in prison.  He was writing to the church at Philippi.  Clearly, he loved this community and wanted them to know how deeply he cared for them.

As you pray into Philippians 1:6, what else is the Spirit telling you?

How did it apply to the church in Philippi?

How does it apply to you today?

Does it speak to your ‘community of faith’?

What does it say?

Rejoicing for YOU

Zephaniah 3:17 says:

The Lord your God is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over your with gladness,
he will renew you with his love...

Did you know the Lord rejoices OVER YOU? 

Sit with God and let Him speak blessings over you...let Him proclaim His love for you.  Let His love renew you.

Come and Rest

It occurs to me that a lot of Americans read scripture backwards.  We read it from a cultural vantage point of what we are expected to do.  We seem to get significance from what we can "do". 

Christ wants us to learn to receive.  Even if we are called, He wants us to receive what is needed to accomplish His purposes.  The problem is, we continue to strive for what we're supposed to "do".

Matthew 11:28 is a perfect example.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

No doing.  No test.  No getting it right.  Just "come" lay down your "burden" and "rest"

Practice receiving that with no striving.

The Apostle's Creed

Something has happened to me by repeating the Apostle’s Creed week after week in church.  Each time I recite it, I feel connected to those I recite it with, but I also feel connected to all who are reciting the creed all over the world and I remember those who have recited the creed before. 

The creeds were implemented as a statement of what we (Christians - the people of the Way) believe.  

Often as I recite the creed I remember those who have died for the right to state their belief in Jesus the Christ.  They died for the right to say the words “I believe”.  I count it a privilege to be able to freely state these words:

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead.* On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.

Every Word

People often tell me they don't think God hears their prayers.  I smile and shake my head and tell them God hears every prayer - every word - every thought we have of Him.

Psalm 34:17 says:
The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help.

Know what the "criteria" is for being His people?  You gotta wanna be God's people.  Turn TO Him and speak His name.  Tell Him your thoughts and take your cares to Him.

God hears EVERY word and saves them all IN His heart.  He remembers you.  Knows you.  Loves you. 

Forever

Psalm 79 is power packed with loads of anguish.

Picture this.

The people of Israel had been ravaged by their enemies.  Everything was taken from them. 

Then to top it off, their enemies defiled the holy temple.  The holy place where God had visited them again and again.

Then, after they slaughtered their fathers and their sisters they didn’t even have the courtesy to bury the Israelites.  They left them in the field to be eaten by birds and animals.

Then they mocked them.

It’s no wonder they asked God, “how long?”

What’s key here is that at the end of the Psalm the Psalmist says, “we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever. “

Even in the midst of terrible anguish and pain.

And waiting….

They remembered WHO they belonged to and they were thankful.

As you pray into “we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever.”

Praise God or a sing the words – stay with it for as long as it takes for the words to be absorbed into your whole being... 

FOREVER

Thomas Merton Prayer

I love this prayer - mostly because Thomas Merton is a renoun contemplative prayer - and yet he is so humble and authentic with God.  It reminded me that my "papa papa" prayers really are okay.  (Sometimes, I don't have words but can only call for papa...have you experienced that?)

Enjoy this prayer!

Thomas Merton, Trappist monk and mystic wrote this prayer which was taken from Part 2 of Thoughts in Solitude (The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, 1956, 1958), p. 79. 

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Awesome Peace

Some days I like to just sit with God. 

The absolute best peace in the universe is found when we “sit” with God.

Silence.

Safety.

Awesome peace.

Today, spend time sitting – no expectations – just receiving what God has for you.

...in hope

As we look at the first community of believers in Acts 2 and consider what they were experiencing, notice that in Acts 2:25 and 26, Peter quotes King David’s Psalm 16:8-9 that says:

King David said this about him:

I see that the LORD is always with me.
   I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is glad,
   and my tongue shouts his praises!
My body rests in hope.

Because God is WITH me…nothing shakes me up.  That’s because God is always with me.  I’m so glad that I shout God’s praises!  My body rests in hope.

When I sat with these verses, MY BODY RESTS IN HOPE jumped out at me!  I don’t need to worry about anything because the Lord is always with me! 

What verse ‘spoke to you’?

Signs and Wonders

The last part of Acts 2:43 says,

“The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.”

Let’s set the scene…

First, Pentecost where the Spirit came, Peter preached, and over 3,000 came and received Jesus. 

Next, there had to be some organizational changes so the 3,000 all had a “group” or a house where they could gather (can you imagine organizing a church of 3,000?).

Then, they met in regularly and were devoted to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, sharing meals, the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer. 

After that, came AWE and…many miraculous signs and wonders. 

As you sit with this verse ask yourself…have you prayed for miracles in your church and have you waited to see what God brings? 

If you ask, God will answer. 

One final word…let God be in charge and you will be blessed! 

Awe and Wonders

Following the Pentecost experience, the people the The Way continued to meet together, break bread together, and pray together.

The first part of Acts 2:43 tells us:

"A deep sense of awe came over them all."

The word here for awe is φόβος or phobos which is translated "fear or awe".  Now, it seems to me in English there is a lot of territory between "fear" and "awe", but not so much in the Greek.  The word phobos here means fear in the sense of respect or AWE.  They couldn't believe what had happened and what was happening.

Today, spend some time with this phrase, and wait on the Spirit...

Wait to see what God brings. 

The people of the Way

Acts 2:42 says:

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper, and prayer.)

In other words, the people of THE WAY (that’s what the followers of Christ were called at that time) regularly met together.  They were so hungry for the Word and the Spirit that they spent as much time as possible meeting together.  They ate together, shared together, had the Lord’s Supper, and prayed together.

Sit with this verse for a while.  Let it penetrate your entire being.  Talk to God (and listen in return) about your experiences.  If you would like to change anything, ask for it…

Want Wisdom?

Proverbs 11:2
Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

This is such a great verse…not quoted often, but there’s a lot of opportunity for the Spirit to teach us about pride and humility. 

To turn the verse around, we would say if you want wisdom, be humble.

Cool, huh?

Spend some time listening to God with this scripture and see what the Spirit brings…