the death of i

Opening Prayer: Jesus, please make this life—my life—about you and not about me.  Amen.

Scripture: John 12:23-28

Journal: How is God calling you to put the “I” to death today?

Reflection:

the death of i

to live in the i
is to never become
what we were
intended to be

the i must die
else there will
always be only
a single kernel

however if the i
falls to the ground
and dies
more is possible

the single kernel
becomes many seeds
death becomes
the avenue to new life

life that is about
more than just i

so let us learn
to die to i
that much more
might be born

for like jesus
this is why
we have come
to this very hour

now is the time
father glorify your name

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Father, glorify your name!

we

Opening Prayer: How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. (Psalm 133:1-3, NIV)

Scripture: Psalm 133

Journal: Do you typically think in terms of “I” or in terms of “we?”  What will it take to make the leap from I to we?

Reflection:

     we

the leap

from i to we 

is a large one

indeed

it takes courage

and conviction

to lay aside

our opinions 

and preferences

for the sake of unity

living as we

invites us into 

the very life of God

to live like the trinity

a life of fullness and blessing

that cannot be attained 

by flying solo

we puts an end

to individualism

and isolation

in favor of

community

and commonality

so jesus asks us today

will you lay aside i

so you can receive

the blessings of we

will you take the leap

Prayer

Closing Prayer: How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in peace! It is like the finest oils poured on the head, sweet-smelling oils flowing down to cover the beard, Flowing down the beard of Aaron, flowing down the collar of his robe. It is like the gentle rain of Mount Hermon that falls on the hills of Zion. Yes, from this place, the Eternal spoke the command, from there He gave His blessing—life forever. (Psalm 133, The Voice)

open door

Opening Prayer: O God, God, my Father, I have no words, no words by which I dare express the things that stir within me.  I lay bare myself, my world, before you in quietness.  Brood over my spirit with your great tenderness and understanding and judgment, so that I will find, in some strange new way, strength for my weakness, health for my illness, guidance for my journey.  This is the stirring of my heart, O God, my Father.  Amen. (The Growing Edge by Howard Thurman)

Scripture: Revelation 3:7-13

Journal: How are you like the church at Philadelphia?  How does the message to that church speak to you?  How does it encourage you?  How does it challenge you?  Is there an open door before you these days?  Where is it and what would it look like to walk through it?

Reflection: Nothing is more inviting than an open door; especially a door that has been opened by God.  And that is the image we have before us today.  God has set an open door before us, which no one is able to shut.  No one!  What does that mean?  What is this mysterious door?  And what is the invitation that this open door beckons us to?  

     The church at Philadelphia was a delight to God.  It was small in number (and apparently in power), but large in stature.  In fact it is the only church mentioned in these seven letters that God had absolutely no criticism of.  In fact, even in the midst of significant trial and opposition God commended them for keeping his word and not denying his name.   

     My guess is that this is where the open door comes in.  It is the open door of ministry opportunity.  The same door that Paul writes about, and requests prayer for, in Colossians and 1 and 2 Corinthians.  Somehow their faithfulness to Christ, even in the midst of strong opposition, had proven them worthy of such a door of opportunity being held constantly open for them.  As in, “The man who is faithful in the little things will also be faithful in the big things.” (Luke 16:10, JBP)   

We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. ~Romans 5:2 (The Message)

Prayers

Closing Prayer: Come, Lord, and speak to my heart.  Communicate to it your holy will, and mercifully work within it both to will and to do according to your good pleasure. Amen. ~Thomas A Kempis

tolerance

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, you whose eyes are like a flame of fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze, you who searches the mind and the heart, may we always hold fast to your ways and your standards, and never let the culture around us determine what we will do or how we will think.  Let our thoughts and our deeds, Lord Jesus, always be determined by you and you alone.  In your name.  Amen.

Scripture: Revelation 2:18-29

Journal: How are you like the church at Thyatira?  What does the vision of Jesus as having “eyes like a flame of fire” and “feet like burnished bronze” do within you?  How does the message to the church at Thyatira speak to your life right now?  Are there things I tolerate in myself that cause God great sadness?

Reflection: Being tolerant is generally thought of as a positive virtue in this day and age.  And in terms of being loving, caring, and accepting of those around us, that would seem to be a good and right thing.  After all, didn’t Jesus eat with tax gatherers and sinners?  Wasn’t it Jesus who said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13)  Jesus seemed very at home with, and embracing of, people from all walks of life, people who were lost in an abundance of ways.  So we too, as his people, should always have a loving openness to people in this broken and hurting world.

     But here in the letter to the church at Thyatira there is a different kind of tolerance that Jesus gives a pretty strong warning against.  It seems that the people of this church were subtly being seduced into thinking that certain practices were okay, when the truth of the matter was that these very practices, ones they thought would have little to no impact on them individually or corporately, would actually impact them significantly—over time.      

     Thus, the message of Jesus to the church at Thyatira seems pretty simple, “Watch out what you tolerate, because, in the end, it can lead you miles away from your desired destination.”  Oh it might not seem like a big deal at first.  In fact, it could be a very subtle thing, only one or two degrees different from the intended course.  The problem is that one or two degrees difference, over time, amounts to a pretty significant difference in the long run.  In fact, it is an easy way to get lost.  And Jesus doesn’t want us lost, he wants us home.  Therefore, he warns the church—not just the one at Thyatira, but of every time and every place—what an enormous impact tolerating a few things can have on our lives.

Prayers

Closing Prayer: Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.  Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.  Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wilder seas where storms will show Your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.  We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push back the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.  This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ. ~Sir Francis Drake

cost

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, the cost of following you is indeed high.  Forgive us when we try to rationalize or water down that call.  Help us to have the courage to truly follow you no matter where it might lead, no matter what it might cost.  In your name and for your glory.  Amen.

Scripture: Revelation 2:8-11

Journal: How are you like the church at Smyrna?  How do the things said to that church speak to something in your heart or life today?  How is it an encouragement to you in whatever you may be suffering these days?  What is your biggest trial or tribulation right now?  How is God working in and through it?

Reflection: The cost of following Jesus is high.  It is easy to lose sight of that fact in the country and the culture we live in.  For most of us following Jesus in America has cost us very little, especially compared to those who live in other parts of the world.  It seems that our culture is much like the one of the church in Laodicea rather than Smyrna.  That is probably why we can tend to be a little on the lazy and lukewarm side in our journey of faith; we have gotten far too comfortable.  

     So it is a little hard for us to imagine what it would be like to get a letter from Jesus telling us, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer.”  That would get our attention, wouldn’t it?  How would you deal with that news?  What would it do within you?  Would it cause you immediate distress or resolve?  Would it make you determined to stand firm in the midst of the coming trial, or try to figure out how to escape or avoid it in any way you could?  Would it cause your faith and trust in Jesus to be strengthened, or would it cause you to question the goodness of his heart?  What if following Jesus was to cost you everything?  It does you know.  What is your reaction to that?

     You have to wonder how the church in Smyrna received this hard and challenging word, as well as the call that followed, “Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.”  I’d like to believe that they handled it with all of the courage and resolve that Jesus hoped they would, realizing that this world was not their home, but only a temporary stop on the road to eternity.  Realizing that their life was not about them, but about God’s Kingdom and his glory.  Resolving that no cost was too great to pay because of their immense love for their Lord and Savior, Jesus.

     What about us?  How have we somehow escaped the notion that following Jesus costs us everything?  What has following Jesus cost you lately?  How have you responded to that?  Are you willing to give everything to him the way the church in Smyrna was being called to?

Prayers

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that you are the first and last, who died and came to life again.  Give us the strength and the courage to be faithful to you in all things.  Amen.

a new name

Opening Prayer: My God, let me know and love you, so that I may find my happiness in you.  Since I cannot fully achieve this on earth, help me to improve daily until I may do so to the full.  Enable me to know you ever more on earth, so that I may know you perfectly in heaven.  Enable me to love you ever more on earth, so that I may love you perfectly in heaven.  In that way my joy may be great on earth, and perfect with you in heaven.  O God of truth, grant me the happiness of heaven so that my joy may be full in accord with your promise.  In the meantime let my mind dwell on that happiness, my tongue speak of it, my heart pine for it, my mouth pronounce it, my soul hunger for it, my flesh thirst for it, and my entire being desire it until I enter through death in the joy of my Lord forever.  Amen. ~St. Augustine

Scripture: Revelation 2:12-17

Journal: What name do you think will be written on your white stone?  What name do you long to be on it?  How does it make you feel that God has a name picked out specifically for you?  What other things said to the church at Pergamum speak to your heart or life right now?

Reflection: One of the constant struggles in the life of faith is to pay attention to the right voices and ignore the wrong ones.  That would be especially true if you lived in a place like Pergamum.  It was the heart of Enemy territory.  The capital city of Evil.  It was a place of indulgence, immorality, and deception.  It was a place where the wrong voices abounded.  And one of the chief strategies of the Enemy is to try and make us believe things about ourselves and about our God that simply aren’t true.

     In an environment such as this it is vital to hold fast to the truth, lest we get sucked into one of these deceptive ways of thinking.  For the truth is our greatest defense against the deceptions of the Enemy.  In fact, John tells us in one of his earlier writings that when we come to know the truth, the truth will set us free (John 8:32).  Maybe that’s why in this passage Jesus uses the image of a double-edged sword (his word) as the means by which he will wage war against the Enemy.  His truth is our main offensive weapon.  It is the thing we can use to destroy the lies of the Deceiver and hold fast to the truth of our Creator.  When we hold fast to the truth about our God and about ourselves we will be free men and women.  

     That truth being that our God is so filled with love for us that he has a special name picked out for each one of us.  A pet name, if you will.  It is a name of deep affection that will bear our true identity.  One that will immediately let us know how incredibly valuable we are to Him and how extravagantly loved we are by Him.  It is a name written on a white stone that he will share with us when we are united with him in the heavenly realms for all of eternity.  It a name that is the truest expression of who we are in him.  It is a name that is just too good to be true, yet it is both too good and too true.  And I am convinced that when we hear it, a deep “yes” will rise up from the core of our being.  I can’t wait.

Prayers

Closing Prayer: O Lord, our God, thank you that you have a name picked out especially for us.  One that has been hand-picked by you with us specifically and uniquely in mind.  When I am tempted to believe the lies about who you are and who I am in you, give me a little hint about that name; that I might know the truth that will set me free.  The truth that you love me more than I could dream about in my wildest dreams.  In Christ.  Amen.

reputation

Opening Prayer: Lord, awaken me, you whose love burns beyond the stars; light the flame of my lantern that I may always burn with love. (A Traveler Toward the Dawn by John Eagan)

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Journal: How are you like the church at Sardis?  How do the words to the church at Sardis speak to your heart today?  How do the inspire you?  How do they disrupt you?  How do you need to “wake up?”  What is dead in you that needs to be revived?

Reflection: A reputation is a powerful thing.  Because a reputation (good or bad) is often not reality, but only someone’s impression of reality.  And in our day and age—as well as that of the church at Sardis apparently—impression is everything.  If you can create and maintain the impression you are hoping for, then who cares what the reality is, right?  Thus, impression becomes all about reputation management.  What people think about you becomes more important than what the truth about you really is.  As long as you can keep up the charade you are good to go.

     But keeping up the charade can be exhausting, and darn near impossible over time.  Eventually someone is going to find out the ugly truth.  There is always that one person in any crowd that is adept at spotting a phony.  Someone who is somehow magically or supernaturally able to see right through the façade—right down to the core.  And when this happens we are horrified.  Because somehow our greatest fear—and maybe, at the same time, our deepest longing—comes true, we are exposed.  

     That’s how the church at Sardis must’ve felt.  They had worked and worked at maintaining a good reputation, even though they knew deep in their hearts that there was no life in their souls.  And then here comes Jesus, into the midst of the pretense, calling their bluff and tearing their finely crafted costume to smithereens.  At that point they must have been in scramble mode.  I mean, what do you do?  Deny it?  Ignore it?  Avoid it?  Rationalize?  Or do you resort to attack?  What is the best strategy for damage control?  How can we spin it so that our reputation—which we have worked so hard on—still comes out intact?

     Or maybe there is another solution.  Maybe we do exactly what Jesus is suggesting.  Maybe we admit the truth.  Maybe we come clean and stop trying to fool ourselves—and others.  Maybe we take it as a wake-up call to start living an authentic life with God.  Maybe we repent.  Maybe we change our minds, our way of thinking (as well as our direction), and begin to see everything (and live everything) differently.  Maybe we realize that reality is more important than reputation and we start trying to be authentic people in Christ; more concerned with how we’re loving than with what people are thinking.  Like Jesus, who “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8, KJV)

Prayers

Closing Prayer: Most Holy God, wake me up from my soul’s deep slumber and bring my life under your complete control.  By your grace, awaken me daily to the reality of your presence within and around me.  And, by the power of your Spirit, make me responsive to your will and your direction.  Amen.