Stretching

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Luke 14:12-14

Jesus is really stretching this Pharisee – inviting him to go out of his comfort zone. As a leader in his community, he is used to surrounding himself with those who think like he does, acts like he does, believes like he does. Jesus invites him to talk to people he usually doesn’t talk to, interact with people he usually doesn’t interact with, realize that God is within the least unlikely people!

That same invitation is given to you also.

Don’t limit yourself to a lunch or dinner – our lives are God-soaked if we open our eyes.

For Journaling…

God is stretching me by inviting me to interact with …..

Stepping out of my comfort zone makes me feel….

I hear God saying to me….

A Sacred Temple

Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

Oh wow! What a gift God gives us in this scripture!

“…but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.”

These are our ancestors – holy ones, members of the household of God, Apostles and prophets and finally Jesus himself. That’s our lineage as Christians. And we are part of that – we BELONG here.

And more than that – we are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit! What more could we as Christians want? In terms of our eternity, what else is more important?

We – you and I and all around us – are growing into a temple sacred in the Lord. What dignity and value and worth that gives us!

What an awesome God we have who loves us so much!

For Journaling….

For me, being built into a temple sacred in the Lord means…

When I stop to think about all that God gives me, I…

I hear God saying to me…

Too Good to be True?

Brothers and sisters:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He did not spare his own Son
but handed him over for us all,
how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?
It is God who acquits us.
Who will condemn?
It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised,
who also is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.
What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
As it is written:
For your sake we are being slain all the day;
we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31-39

Let this soak in!!! Realize all that God gives us!

‘What will separate us from the love of Christ?’ NOTHING! Nothing is more powerful than God. Nothing we do will stop God from loving us. If we hang on to God, no matter what happens to us, our relationship with God cannot be destroyed.

That is mind-boggling! For us human beings who are used to human experiences of love, we don’t understand that kind of love and so it’s hard for us sometimes to trust God in his love for us. It can be a giant leap of faith to do just that.

Please remember that God is God and he cannot lie – he cannot be other than Love. We can trust that.

Go back and read the scripture again and let it soak in to your very bones…..

For Journaling…

This scripture makes me feel….

A time when God hung on to me in the midst of a hard time was….

I hear God saying to me…

Gratitude for Promises Given and Kept

Brothers and sisters:
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God’s will.

We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.

Full reading – Romans 8:26-30

This Scripture gives me great comfort and hope. When someone asks me to pray for them and I don’t know how to – when I can’t find the right words for what is so deep inside me – ‘the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings’!

How reassuring that ‘the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit’!

Sometimes I just don’t get how lucky I am to have God on my side…. ‘We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.’ And I don’t say ‘thank you’ to God often enough!

Just look at the gifts promised in this short scripture alone….

For Journaling….

I find it hard to pray for…. and knowing that the Spirit is helping me do that, makes me feel….

What things are working together for you – how is God working in your life?

I hear God saying to me….

Mustard Seeds and Yeast

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”

Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”

Luke 13:18-21

Jesus is talking about the littlest things making a huge impact.

It’s that way with our actions also. Nothing is too little to make an impact on someone else. I don’t know about you but sometimes I think anything I have to offer to too small so I don’t do anything. I forget what someone’s smile has meant to me, or how much I appreciated that card someone took the time to mail (or e-mail), or how much that unexpected phone call (or text) brightened my day.

None of those things are big or take much effort! But if everyone did one of those little things every day, imagine how many people would feel better! Imagine how the Kingdom of God would be spread through those simple actions!

The Kingdom of God is that we love one another. How are you loving today?

For Journaling….

The ‘mustard seeds’ I have planted so far today are…

The ‘yeast’ that others have given to me today include…

I hear God saying to me….

A Spirit of Adoption

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”

Full reading – Romans 8:12-17

What an amazing gift!!!

Part of this comes from the long standing history of the pagan gods our spiritual ancestors experienced. The pagan gods were powerful and demanding, vengeful and controlling – to be feared.

God gently and patiently keeps reminding us that He’s not like the pagan gods. Instead of slaves or objects to do his bidding, God calls us his children. He invites us to call him ‘Daddy’! What an invitation to trust and intimacy! So much the opposite of fear.

God gives us the ‘spirit of adoption’…. Adoption into a loving relationship where God respects and honors us as His children. Wow.

For Journaling….

When I am invited to call God ‘daddy’, I feel….

To me, ‘a spirit of adoption’ means….

I hear God saying to me…

Don’t hold it against them…

At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf,
but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them!
But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength,
so that through me the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Full Reading – 2 Timothy 4;10-17b

I would expect that most of us, in one way or another, identify with Paul in the first statement – “no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me.” We know that hurt on some level.

But can we identify with Paul in the second statement – “May it not be held against them!” That one is whole lot harder to live! We hold grudges sometimes very close and tightly and definitely hold the hurt against others who have hurt us.

The clue to being able to not hold the grudge comes in the next line – “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength…” We can’t do it by ourselves. We need to rely on God’s strength when it comes to letting go of the hurt and forgiving – and going the extra step and asking others to not hold it against them.

God is with us even before that though – “But the Lord stood by me…” We are never totally abandoned or deserted. The One who created us in love and loves us to death is always with us. What a wonderful thing to celebrate! Do you?

For Journaling….

I feel God’s presence with me when….

God has helped/is helping me to forgive ……

I hear God saying to me….

Treasures That Matter to God

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, “What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?”
And he said, “This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!””
But God said to him,
“You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Luke 12:13-21

“Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

We all know the treasures we store up for ourselves but what matters to God? This is harder – because most of these treasures are not tangible. I think it’s more about the heart and what is and isn’t there.

A treasure my heart could have would be a constant awareness of God in all that I meet and all that I do. That means there would be less selfishness and self-centeredness.

A treasure my heart could have would be an awareness of the needs of others and a willingness to help. That means there would be less selfishness and self-centeredness.

A treasure my heart could have would be an open handed attitude toward all I have when it would help or please another. That means there would be less possessiveness.

A treasure my heart could have would be a trust in God’s love for me. That means there would be less anxiety and fear and worry.

For Journaling…

What treasures that matter to God are in your heart?

Fear Is Powerful – maybe!

At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven, that is, the hypocrisy, of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”

Luke 12:1-7

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.”

Sometimes I think fear is the devil’s greatest weapon! How many times has fear kept you from doing what God is nudging you to do or say?

There are two sides to that fear – fear that things we’ve said/done will be brought to light – but what about the fear that things we didn’t say/do and should have will be brought to light?

What do we do about that fear? Jesus tells us in the last lines of today’s scripture.

If we stay connected to God, connected to how much God loves us, we will be able to do the things God nudges us to say/do and we will stay away from doing/saying the things we shouldn’t.

God catches us on both ends of the spectrum! Awesome God!

For Journaling….

The devil uses fear to keep me away from God by……

God invites me to keep connected to Him by….

I hear God saying to me….

Fools!

After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
You fools!
Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.”

Luke 11:37-41

This is quite a scene! Jesus is invited to the home of a Pharisee for dinner. Jesus knows the man, knows he is a Pharisee, knows his failings and wrongdoings. Yet he accepts the invite and comes to dinner.

The Pharisee, who are known for making laws and rules for others but not following them, calls Jesus on not observing the prescribed washing before the meal. Jesus shakes his head – isn’t this the kettle calling the pot black? He may be calling the Pharisee a fool – but then Jesus turns right around and invites the Pharisee to change, invites him to be more than he has been, invites him to new life.

Jesus does the same every day with us! Knowing our failings and wrongdoings, Jesus comes to sit with us, to be with us – accepting us as we are, not pushing us away. And he invites us to be more, to change, to new life.

Are we listening? Are we responding?

For Journaling….

I am a hypocrite when I …..

Jesus invites me to change by….

I hear God saying to me….