seek first

Opening Prayer: “Don’t fret or worry.  Instead of worrying, pray.  Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.  It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” (Philippians 4:6-7, The Message)

Read: Matthew 6:25-34

Reflect: It is so easy to allow the worries of this life to consume us.  We get so busy trying to manage and control our little kingdom that we lose sight of his.  We lose sight of what is important, what is eternal. 

Then along comes Jesus, who tells us not to worry about that which we cannot control.  He tells us not to labor or spin or store away in barns.  He tells us not to seek comfort and ease and earthly security, but instead, to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.  Because if we do that, everything else will take care of itself.  “Only one thing is necessary,” wrote Charles de Foucauld, “that is to do at every moment what is most pleasing to Jesus.”  That’s what really matters.

So I guess the real question is: What am I seeking these days?  How and where has worrying about my life kept me from living it?  And what would it look like to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness?

Journal: What’s consuming your life and thoughts these days?  What would it look like to give it all to Jesus, to seek him first?

Pray: Give Jesus your worries and concerns in prayer today.  Let them go.  Now give your heart and mind (and prayers) to his kingdom and his righteousness.  Seek him, not yourself.

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, I can’t seek your kingdom and your righteousness unless you give me the ability to.  Give me the strength and the courage and the grace to be about you today and not about me.

grave clothes

Opening Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you brought me from death to life.  Free me now from the things that bind and hinder me from the life and the love you desire me to know and experience.

Read: John 11:43-44

Reflect:

“Lazarus come out!”

The dead man came out,

His hands and head

Wrapped with strips of linen,

And a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them,

“Take off the grave clothes

And let him go.”

It reads like a poem.  Because we know, all too well, exactly what he means.  He’s talking to us too.  The things that bind us and keep us from the life he desires for us must be removed and left behind.  Yes, he has raised us from death to life and brought us out of the tomb, which is glorious indeed, but still there is work to be done in order for us to live fully and freely.  Walking with God in newness of life means leaving the grave clothes behind.

Journal: What still binds you?  What grave clothes do you need to leave behind in order to live fully and freely in the newness of life Christ is offering you?

Pray: Ask God to show you how you still need to be unbound, so that you can live fully and freely in him.  Listen to what he says.

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, free me from anything and everything that binds me and keeps me from the life and the love you want me to experience.

thorns

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to understand that weak is strong in your kingdom.  My weaknesses are meant to help reveal your strength.  Forgive me when I try to hide them rather than embrace them.  They are actually invitations to a deeper life with you.

Read: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Reflect:

the deeper the need

the bigger the grace

the deeper the weakness

the greater his power

the deeper the desperation

the more vibrant his life in you

the deeper the thorns cut

the sweeter the revelations become

 

i guess the thorns

ain’t so bad after all

Journal: How is Jesus inviting you to discover his grace in your weaknesses?  Be specific.  What is your thorn these days?  How is God using it to make you more dependent on him?

Pray: Ask God to help you embrace your weaknesses so that you might reveal his power.  They are opportunities, not obstacles.

Closing Prayer: Forgive me, Lord Jesus, when I try to hide my weaknesses so that people will think better of me.  Because my weaknesses were meant to help display your power.  When I refuse to be vulnerable and embrace my weaknesses, I make life about me rather than about you.

last

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, I get it backwards so often; please forgive me.  Forgive me when I make this life about me, rather than about you.  Forgive me when I seek praise, acclaim, and admiration more than I seek you.  Forgive me when I try to climb up, rather than following you on your downward way.  Help me, O Lord, to always have in mind the things of God, rather than the things of men.  Have mercy on me. 

Read: Matthew 20:1-16

Reflect: When we start to think we are more deserving of the attention, affection, recognition, or renumeration that others are getting, we need to pay careful attention.  Because we are falling into the trap of comparison, which never turns out well in terms of the kingdom.

On the one hand, we see people we don’t think we’re as good as, which makes us incredibly insecure.  And on the other hand, we see people that we think we’re better than (sadly) but who are getting more recognition, affection, or renumeration than we are, which makes us frustrated, envious, and jealous.  It’s a no-win game.

So, Jesus comes along and tells a story to show us what kingdom living is really all about.  And the point of the story is this: In the kingdom of God the first are last and the last are first.  Walking with God is not about jockeying and posturing, but about going to the back of the line.  It’s about lifting others above ourselves.  It’s about celebrating others, not competing or comparing.  At the back of the line is where we will find Jesus.

Journal: Where do you find yourself in this story?  What does God want to say to you about that?

Pray: Ask Jesus what the last shall be first needs to look like in your life.  Ask him to be specific.

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to know the beauty and the joy of making myself last, less, and least.

rejoice

Opening Prayer: Every day is a gift from you, O Lord, help me to treat it as such.  Help me to receive it and to live it with joy and gratitude, regardless of its contents.

Read: Philippians 4:4-5

Reflect: Joy is a choice; it is deeper than happiness and can endure sorrow.  Each day, regardless of its contents, we can choose to live as if life were a gift or a burden.  But that gift must be recognized and received in order to be experienced, valued, and appreciated.  We can either savor each day or endure each day, depending on how we look at it.  We can either count our blessings, or we can recite our woes.  The choice is ours.

“Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!”  Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote these words.  He didn’t allow his circumstances to determine his mindset and attitude.  Instead, he chose joy.  He had an attitude of gratitude.  We can live with that determination as well.  Choose joy today.

Journal: What have you got to be grateful for?  Write it all down.  Reflect on it.  Savor it.  Thank God for it.  Allow it to help you to choose joy rather than anger, bitterness, or indifference.

Pray: Tell God what you are grateful for.  Hold them near to your heart and allow them to permeate your mind and soul.

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to live a life of deep gratitude for who you are, who I am to you, and all you have blessed me with.  Help me choose joy today.

like a little child

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, I get it backwards so often; please forgive me.  Forgive me when I make this life about me, rather than about you.  Forgive me when I seek praise, acclaim, and admiration more than I seek you.  Forgive me when I try to climb up, rather than following you on your downward way.  Help me, O Lord, to become like a little child.

Read: Mark 10:13-31

Reflect: Walking with Jesus is different than we may imagine.  It often leads down, rather than up.  Take the contrast in this passage, for instance.  These two encounters with Jesus come one after the other for a reason.  Mark is very intentional in this way throughout his entire gospel.

The disciples thought the kingdom of God was about power and position, influence and importance.  They wanted to be rulers, while Jesus was trying to teach them to be children.  They wanted to be high and mighty, while Jesus was trying to teach them to be least and lowly.  They wanted to be independent and self-sufficient, while Jesus was trying to teach them the necessity of dependence and desperation.

Enter the children.  They were small, lowly, and innocent.  They were needy, weak, and dependent.  They were unimportant and insignificant, the least of these from a societal perspective.  Yet they were first in the kingdom of God.  They were open and trusting and receptive.  They were the ones Jesus blessed.

The rich young ruler, on the other hand, was the direct opposite.  He was wealthy, successful, powerful, influential, and self-sufficient.  He had no need, just a gnawing feeling inside that there was something he still lacked.  And in response to his question, Jesus looked at him and loved him.  In fact, Jesus loved him enough to tell him the truth: he must give up everything and come follow Jesus.  In essence, Jesus told him he must become like a little child if he wanted to enter the kingdom of God.  But that was too much to ask of this powerful, important man.  So instead of being blessed, he walked away sad.

Journal: Where do you find yourself in this story?  Who can you relate to most?  What does becoming like a child look like for you?  Are you willing to do it?

Pray: Put yourself in this scene as you pray today.  Where do you find yourself?  What does Jesus have to say to you?  How does it make you feel?  What is your response?

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the wisdom and the courage and the grace and the strength to become like little children today, whatever that may mean.

submit

Opening Prayer: O God, teach me what it means to submit to you, because I’m not very good at that.  Help me to flee from evil and run to the truth.  Help me to draw near to you, knowing that if I do, you promise to draw near to me.

Read: James 4:7-10

Reflect: Walking with God requires a movement from autonomy to submission.  We aren’t the ones in charge, he is.  He calls the shots, he sets the agenda, he determines the course.  Therefore, our lives must reflect that. 

But what does it look like to submit to God?  The Greek word (hypotassō) used here by James gives us a great clue.  It means to station yourself under.  When we submit to God, he becomes the point.  Life is not about us anymore, it’s about him.  He leads and we follow.  He, and not us, becomes the center of the universe around which everything revolves.  Our lives are completely under his rule and his reign.

“So let God work his will in you,” says The Message translation of James 4:7-10.  “Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life.  Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.”

Journal: Where and how do you need to submit to God?  What does that look like?

Pray: Place yourself under God in prayer.  Take a posture of submission, whatever that may look like.  Ask him to show you who he is and what he wants.  Listen carefully to his answer.

Closing Prayer: O God, forgive me when I try to rule and run my own life.  I am terrible at it.  Teach me what it means to submit to you and give me the grace and the strength and the courage to do it.

resisting rest

Opening Prayer: “O Lord my God, tell me what you are to me. Say to my soul, I am your salvation. Say it so that I can hear it. My heart is listening, Lord; open the ears of my heart and say to my soul, I am your salvation. Let me run towards this voice and seize hold of you.” ~Saint Augustine

Read: Isaiah 30:15-18

Reflect: “In returning and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” (Isaiah 30:15)

Our resistance to rest is both baffling and fascinating.  Who in their right mind would “have none of it?”  Why in the world would we say, “No,” and run off to follow our own agendas, plans, and devices.  Is it all ego?  Are we so full of ourselves that there is no room for God?  Are we so determined to make a name for ourselves that we would risk all in doing so?  Are we so dead set on becoming a flagstaff on a mountaintop that we would sacrifice all that is good and holy to get there? 

Do we really believe that we are what we do?  Are we really convinced that we are who people say or think we are?  Do we really believe that our worth and value are determined by our successes and achievements?  Do we really believe that stopping and resting is only for the weak?  It would certainly appear so.

But the truth is that in returning and rest is our salvation and in quietness and trust is our strength.  It is God who determines all those things, not us.  All we have to do is be who and what he made us to be.  And leave the rest up to him.

Journal: Are you resistant to rest?  Why?  What do you do instead?  How might you enter into the returning and rest that is your salvation?  How might God be inviting you into the quietness and trust that is your strength?  Will you go there?

Pray

Closing Prayer: Rest in God’s loving embrace today in prayer.  Be who he made you to be—nothing more, nothing less.

“Come, find your rest in me today, my beloved.”

born from above

Opening Prayer: I belong to you, Lord Jesus, do with me as you please.  Be born in me anew today.

Read: John 3:1-9

Reflect: “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born from above.’” (John 3:5-7)

Born from above; what a loaded phrase!  No wonder Nicodemus was dumbfounded.  I mean, how is that even possible? 

But of course, Jesus was talking about much deeper things than mere physics.  He was talking about spiritual transformation.  He was talking about how a life is changed, which always seems to involve some sort of new birth—leaving behind our old ways of being and seeing in order to live and see anew. 

The hard part, both for us and for Nicodemus, is that it’s not a process we can control.  We can no more control the renewal of our hearts and souls than we can control the day we are born.  It is all up to God.  It is a work of the Spirit, not something we can manufacture, manipulate, or control.  Flesh can only give birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 

Thus, we must be born of water and the Spirit; it involves both a cleansing and a renewal.  And Jesus is the only one who can do both of those things, all we can do is receive and respond.

It’s what Ezekiel had written about over five hundred years beforehand: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27) Notice how many times God says, “I will.”  It is he who produces this change, not us.

And it’s also something Paul wrote about years later: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:4-6) The two parts of being born from above are cleansing and renewal, both of which are totally up to God.

Maybe that’s the part Nicodemus struggled with the most.  Maybe he was simply unwilling to surrender his life and his knowledge and his position and his history to God and start all over again.  Maybe he was unwilling to let go of control and become a child again. 

And maybe that’s what you and I struggle with as well.  Surrender is not an easy thing; it takes the ball out of our hands and puts it squarely and wholly in the hands of God.

Journal: What is the Spirit of God doing in you these days?  How is he asking you to surrender to him?  What does it look like these days for you to be born from above?

Pray

Closing Prayer:

"Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me."

— St. Ignatius of Loyola 

 

alive: encountering the risen jesus

 

Eastertide is coming quickly.  If you are looking for a good companion for the journey of resurrection, here's an option: Alive: Encountering the Risen Jesus

big need, big cross, big love

Opening Prayer: Forgive me, O God, when I think I need to be forgiven little.  Help me to see the depths of my need so that I can begin to understand the depths of your love.

Scripture: Luke 7:36-50

Journal: Who do you relate to most in this story?  Why?  Do you realize that you have been forgiven much?

Reflection: “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much.  But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” (Luke 7:47) In reality, no one has been forgiven little, some just think they have.  The beauty of the gospel is that only when we know how big our need for forgiveness is, will we ever be able to comprehend how big the cross is, and how big the love of God is.  Big need leads to a big cross, which leads to a big love—a bigger love from God, a bigger love for God, and a bigger love for others.  God’s love becomes bigger than we could have ever asked or imagined.

By contrast, the Pharisees had a small love because of how small they perceived their need to be.  They spent their whole lives trying to reduce their need and had somehow convinced themselves that they had succeeded.  But all it did was make them judge more and love less.  Sound familiar?  It does to me.

Most of us think the goal of spiritual life is to reduce the gap between us and God.  We think that if we can just be better and perform better then we might get closer to him.  But the truth is that the older we get, and the more we get to know God, the larger the gap gets rather than the smaller.  Thus, the cross does not get smaller and smaller but bigger and bigger.  And the bigger the cross gets, the bigger love gets.  The bigger the cross gets the more we realize how wide and long and high and deep is the love of God, which makes our love for him grow in return.  We love because he first loved us.  That’s what the “sinful” woman had learned that the Pharisees had not.  Let’s be like her and not like them.

Pray

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that those who have been forgiven much love much.  Help us to see the enormity of your forgiveness so that we might also see the enormity of your amazing love.

weary and burdened

Opening Prayer: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91:1-2)

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30

Journal: What is the state of your soul these days?  Are you weary or burdened?  What load are you carrying that is not yours to carry?  Why?  Will you come to him, give that load to him, and receive his rest?

Reflection: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Weary and burdened.  Two words that just seem to go together, kind of like thunder and lightning.  Two words that are somehow intimately connected.  And, sadly, the two words I most often hear as I sit with people who are in ministry.  They are tired and weary, and most often because they are loaded down with the burdens, demands, and expectations of ministry.  Some that have been put upon them and many they have put upon themselves.

The word weary comes from the Greek word, kopiaō, which means to be exhausted with toil or burdens or grief.  And the Greek word for burdened is phortizō, which means to load one with a burden or to be loaded down.  So, it appears that weariness comes about as a direct result of being weighed down with the demands, expectations, toil, and pain of life and work.  It is the residual effect of carrying the overwhelming load of the fears and the joys and the pain and the sadness and the hopes and the dreams and the oughts and the shoulds of both ourselves and others.  No wonder we’re so weary!  No one can possibly carry all of that. 

But Jesus tells us that we do not have to.  He says, “Come to me.  Do not try to carry that load yourself.  Give it to me; I will carry it.  Take my load yoke upon you, not the one you have made for yourself, and not the one the world or the culture has made for you.  My yoke is easy, which literally means well-fitting, and my burden is light.  Attach yourself to me and I will do the heavy lifting.  Come to me and give me your burdens.  If you do, I will give you rest.  I will renew your strength and restore your soul and help you to recover your life.  But you must come to me and let go of the burden.  It is mine to carry, not yours.”

Pray

Closing Prayer: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message) 

knock, knock

Opening Prayer: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-11

Journal: What kind of God do you think is waiting in the other side of that door?  How does that impact your knocking?

Reflection: What kind of God do you think is waiting on the other side of that door?  Is it a God who is too busy and preoccupied to be bothered?  Is it a God who is distant and disinterested in answering for someone like you?  Is it a God who gets irritated and frustrated when someone knocks?  Or is it a God who takes his sweet time answering, if he answers at all?

But what if God is different from all those pictures.  What if he’s a God who has actually been excitedly waiting for you to come and knock.  What if he’s a God who really wants to see you, to talk to you, and to welcome you.  What if he’s a God whose heart is so full of love and affection for you that he can’t wait to open the door and sweep you up into his great arms of love.

When my two grandsons come over to our house, they run from the car to the front door.  They can’t wait to knock because they know the heart that’s waiting on the other side of the door.  They know what kind of reception they will get.  So they rush to the door and press their noses against the glass on either side of it with big smiles and full hearts.  And as they knock, they jump up and down in anticipation of the welcome that’s to follow.

But what’s going on in their hearts pales in comparison with what’s going on in mine.  I’m so full of love and affection these two little guys that I can’t get the door open fast enough.  And when I open it, they leap into my arms and wrap me up in their embrace.  Needless to say, when this happens my heart is so full of love that I’m about to burst.  And God never fails to remind me: “You know that’s how I feel about you, right?  So, come.  Run.  Knock.  I can’t wait to open my door, my arms, and my heart to you.”

Pray

Closing Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to get a clear picture of exactly who it is on the other side of that door, because the picture I have of you will impact everything else in my life, particularly how I ask, seek, and knock.  Help me to know you as the good and loving Father that you truly are.

thy will be done

Opening Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Read: Matthew 6:9-13

Reflect: Has prayer become a tactic?  Has it become something we use simply to try and further our own plans and agendas?  Has it become a way of trying to get God to fall in line with our will, rather than a place where we seek his?

Prayer is about submission, not manipulation or coercion.  It is a place where we surrender our schemes, plans, desires, and agendas in order that we may follow his.  It is about aligning ourselves with God’s will, rather than seeking our own.  Thus, it has a lot more to do with listening than it does with speaking.

Journal: What is prayer to you?  What does your practice of prayer look like these days?  How much of your time in prayer is devoted to seeking his will rather than seeking your own?

Prayer

Closing Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

two sighs

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive us for the things that make you sigh.  Forgive us for the situations and circumstances that are far from what you intended them to be.  Forgive us for the attitudes, behaviors, patterns, and dysfunctions that are far from who you intended us to be.  Touch and transform our lives so we can be who and what you created us to be.

Scripture: Mark 7:31-8:13

Journal: Are there things in your life that make Jesus sigh?  What are they and what would it look like to allow Jesus to touch them and make them whole?

Reflection: Two encounters, two sighs.  Both are filled with tons of meaning.  The first happened as Jesus prayed over a man who was deaf and mute.  And the sigh that Jesus uttered on that day was actually more of a groan, at least that’s a much more accurate translation of the Greek word Mark used (stenazō).  Which begs the question: What in the world made God-in-the-flesh groan?

What made him groan was seeing a life that was not at all what it was intended to be.  What made him groan was seeing the brokenness and pain and struggle of one whom he had made in his image, to reflect his beauty.  That’s what broke God’s heart.  In other words, our pain makes God sad.  So sad that it makes him groan, so Jesus groaned.

The second sigh occurred when Jesus addressed the unbelief of the Pharisees, who were demanding a miraculous sign even though he had already given so many.  In fact, he had just fed well over four thousand people with just seven loaves and a few small fish.  You would think that would’ve been enough, right?  But no, they were demanding even more.  The fact is, they did not want to believe.  That made Jesus groan as well.  But this time the word used is even stronger word, anastenazō.  This word means to groan deeply, or a groan that comes up from the depths of your being.  There’s probably not anything that made Jesus sadder than unbelief, and the Pharisees were experts in the field.

But what about us.  What in our lives causes Jesus to sigh?  What about our lives brings a groan up from the depths of his being?  What are the things that cause us to live lives that are far less than what he desires and intended for them to be?  In what ways is unbelief living and active in us?  Maybe it’s time to ask Jesus to touch and transform those places.  Because my guess is that those things cause us to groan as well.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Touch us and heal us, Lord Jesus.  Heal our brokenness and heal our unbelief.  Help our live to be all you created them to be.

walking in humility

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive us when we get too full of ourselves.  Forgive us when we get too big for our britches and start demanding that you behave the way we want you to behave and do what we want you to do.  Forgive us for our entitlement and demandingness.  Help us to know what it means to walk in humility rather than arrogance.

Scripture: Mark 7:24-30

Journal: What do you appreciate most about the attitude and the posture of the Syrophoenician woman?  What does it invite you into in your own life with Jesus?

Reflection: “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” (Mark 7:28) Our world is so full of demandingness and entitlement that we would never expect an answer so beautiful and humble from the lips of one who was in such a desperate situation.  In fact, we would have expected her to storm in, shouting protests, and demanding something be done.  But not this woman.  She knew exactly what Jesus was saying and wasn’t offended by it at all.  Maybe it was because of the smile on his face or the tenderness in his voice.  Or maybe it was simply because this woman knew exactly who Jesus was, knew exactly who she was, and was responding out of reverence, respect, submission, and humility.  There was no demand in her voice and no entitlement in her heart.  Jesus knew that and he wanted everyone else to see it as well.

But didn’t Jesus just call her a dog?  How could he do something like that?  How dare he!  Jesus and the disciples had just come from a conversation with the Pharisees about what is clean and what is unclean.  And the very next thing you know, he was approached by a woman who was considered unclean by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.  In fact, they would have called her a dog, so Jesus was just using their own terminology to teach them something about the heart of God and the heart of man.  So, tongue planted firmly in cheek, he employed the power of metaphor to invite a “Gentile dog” into a beautiful and healing conversation with God in the flesh.

And in the midst of this short conversation, it was her heart and her attitude that put the Pharisees and teachers of the law to shame.  She was not offended.  She was not demanding.  She did not turn hostile.  She went with the picture.  She was like: “You are one hundred percent correct; I am a dog.  I deserve absolutely nothing.  I’m not asking to take food out of the mouths of the children of Israel, but can I at least have the crumbs that fall under the table, even if I don’t deserve them?”  And as Jesus healed her daughter, I wonder if anyone in the crowd thought to themselves, “I need to be more like her, because her spirit and her attitude brought joy to the heart of God. 

So, what does it look like to walk with God in humility?  It looks just like this woman.  It means fully recognizing who he is and fully recognizing who we are.  It means ridding ourselves of all entitlement and protest and demandingness.  It means living lives of reverence, respect, submission, and surrender to his will and his ways.

Pray

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to live a life of humility, reverence, respect, submission, and surrender.  You are God, and I am not.  Therefore, help me to live like it.

stewardship of your soul

Opening Prayer: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.” (Psalm 62:1)

Scripture: Genesis 2:7

Journal: What is the state of your soul these days?  How is God breathing his life and breath into you?  What does it look like to be a good steward of the soul God has given you?

Reflection: “God formed man out of the dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life.  The man came alive—a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7, The Message)

What exactly is the soul?  How was it created?  What is its purpose?  And how do we nurture and take care of it?  On top of that, what does it look like to be a good steward of our soul? 

The soul is where the life of God resides.  It is the place where God breathes his divine life and breath into us and then breathes it out of us into his world.  That’s how ministry is designed to take place; it involves both an inhale and an exhale.  Unfortunately, all too often, we live our lives in a constant state of exhale and make no room to inhale his life and his presence and his love.  Which leaves us with nothing of value, power, or substance to breath into the lives of those God has given us to care for. 

To be a good steward of our soul, then, is to recognize where the soul came from in the first place; it is a gift from God.  Thus, we have a responsibility to take care of it.  We are always asking how to be good stewards of our time, our gifts, our abilities, our money, and our resources, but what about our soul?  How often do we consider what it looks like to be good stewards of our soul?

Simply stated, it means to make time and space for God to breathe his divine life into us.  It means to stop, look, and listen.  It means to be still and sit quietly before him.  It means to be fully present and fully attentive to him.  It means to stop talking and start listening.  It means to stop running and spinning and toiling and start praying.  Only then will we be living a life of depth and quality and power that’s actually worth passing along to others.  

Pray

Closing Prayer: “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.” (Psalm 62:5)

an undivided life

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, you want all of us, not just a part.  Help us to not live divided lives, but to be completely yours at all times and in all respects.

Scripture: Mark 3:22-30

Journal: How are you living a divided life these days?  How have you compartmentalized it?  What does Jesus want you to do about that?  How is he inviting you to live an undivided life?

Reflection: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” (Mark 3:25) Wise words.  But what, exactly, does it look like to live a divided life?  Because, according to Jesus, that is an endeavor that is destined for failure.  Which means we better pay careful attention to the ways we are compartmentalizing our lives in an effort to keep our “worlds” apart. 

Does our life of faith affect and rule over all the other areas of our lives or is it just a nice little compartment that we pull out when it is most useful and convenient?  Is it something we try our best to keep separated from all the other areas of our life?  Or is our faith, perhaps, our highest priority, but there are certain areas of our lives that we keep away from our life of faith because they are not congruent with it?

I guess the main question is: Am I the same person in every area of my life, or am I a different version of myself depending on who I am around and what I am doing?  For a house divided against itself cannot stand.  Eventually one side or the other must take priority and precedence.

Pray

Closing Prayer: “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.  I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.  For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” (Psalm 86:11-13)