Sunday, January 31, 2016

“I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.” 

~ Herbert Bayard Swope

EXODUS 25-26

“ And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.”

MATTHEW 21:1-22

“And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

JOURNAL

God does desire for us to create, yet it will only be good if that creation is in his will and in his directive for our lives. Otherwise he will come in and turn the tables over and drive out everything that competes for his allegiance.

Friday, January 29, 2016

“Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.” 

EXODUS 19-21

“The LORD called to him out of the mountain”

MATTHEW 20:1-16

“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

JOURNAL

God is God! The Bible is full of instances where his people question him. From disasters to success to heartache and joy. Man's nature is to question and to seek fulfillment. This then inevitably brings us face to face with a God whose ways often don't make sense. However the greatest fulfillment is in obedience and walking a path that seems absurd only to in the end find indescribable joy. 

Friday, January 15, 2016

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
~ William Shakespeare

GENESIS 36-37

3Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate^a robe for him. 4When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

MATTHEW 12:1-21

6I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^a you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”



JOURNAL

The Pharisees chose lasts and traditions over people. The laws themselves became their Gods. This reminds me that God's intent is to love us and for us to love each other. The more I get consumed with things, procedures, processes the more I slip from loving people which is God's purpose and the reason for Christ's death.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

“All I want from you is to trust me with what little you can, and grow in loving people around you with the same love I share with you. It's not your job to change them, or to convince them. You are free to love without an agenda.”  ~ William Paul Young

GENESIS 18-19

29So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

MATTHEW 6

 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret.

 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

JOURNAL

Many times I become distracted and forget that God is a personal God. His way of communicating is individual and personal. The way that I hear from God and the motivation to obey him is through honest, open communication. I will never have peace, direction and fearless hope unless I surrender to God's direction. This means that I live in obedience in the moment. I leave tomorrow to God. I don't obey for self-preservation, I obey out of love and commitment, having surrendered my life.

This is a far cry from the world in which I live. However, I consume myself with others and their struggles. I cannot live a life that is focused on all the wrong done to me or all the wrong I have done. That is the purpose of the cross, that is the reason for Christ's death. To wipe away all bitterness. To allow me to center my life on God's love rather than on bitter circumstances. To allow me to find joy in his love for me rather than on transient situations and moments.