AUGUST 9, 2017

“Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (see Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me that she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last 'trick', whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school.

'But how?' we ask.

Then the voice says, 'They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'

There they are. There *we* are - the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to faith. 

My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.” 
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

PSALM 85-87

11Teach me your way, Lord,

that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

12I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever.

13For great is your love toward me;

you have delivered me from the depths,

from the realm of the dead.(86:11-13)

ROMANS 8:19-39

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^j

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^k neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

JOURNAL 

Today is one of those days. It feels as if all is futile and pointless. It is in these moments that I can understand how some just toss in the towel. The grind of life feels never-ending and everything seems bleak. I feel like crawling in a hole or driving to some far off destination and just starting over. 

Yet I come back to scripture and am reminded that this is just part of life. It is what all people face. It is where my faith becomes the anchor of my life. It is what keeps me stable, keeps me strong in weathering the storms. 

For Paul to declare that nothing can separate me from the love of God affirms what feels like the last smoldering ember of hope. God's love and his spirit are within me and trials and tribulations will only reveal the truth of God. They will only display the purity of his love in my life. I am not to fear uncertainty and hard times. I am to actually embrace them and conquer them. God gives me the strength to persist, the determination and courage to fight through the doldrums. The God of the universe is my strength...what more could I ever want.

7The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.

My heart leaps for joy,

and with my song I praise him.

PSALM 28:7

AUGUST 7, 2017

“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” 
― Timothy J. Keller, The Meaning of Marriage

PSALM 79-81

11“But my people would not listen to me;

Israel would not submit to me.

12So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts

to follow their own devices.

13“If my people would only listen to me,

if Israel would only follow my ways,

14how quickly I would subdue their enemies

and turn my hand against their foes!(81:11-14)

ROMANS 8:1-18

12Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

14For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^f And by him we cry, “Abba,^g Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

JOURNAL 

Living according to the spirit of God puts us into an entire new realm of mind and spirit. It is a realm where the concerns o the body no longer rule. It is a realm where obedience trumps pleasure, where dedication trumps security. It is a realm where sacrifice is a given and love for God and fellow man is the only thing that matters. 

To live this way is to live every day and every moment in full surrender to God as a co-heir with Christ. This is impossible for me, a mere human, to consider myself a co-heir with Christ. To accept and embrace this reality is to be humbled in my own weakness and failure and to completely empty myself into God's grace and love. 

5Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

6in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight.^a

PROVERBS 3:5-6

AUGUST 6, 2017

“When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.” 
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

PSALM 78

32In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;

in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.

33So he ended their days in futility

and their years in terror.

34Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;

they eagerly turned to him again.

35They remembered that God was their Rock,

that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36But then they would flatter him with their mouths,

lying to him with their tongues;

37their hearts were not loyal to him,

they were not faithful to his covenant.(78:32-37)

ROMANS 7

21So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

JOURNAL 

The duplicitous nature of being human. It is spelled out right here in the old and the new testament. Time and time again, people go back on their promises and their commitments. There is a sin nature that seeks to rebel against what is good and right. That sin nature wants to stand apart from God, while there is also a part of man that loves God and seeks to follow him. 

This war within is the battle of the hearts and minds of mankind. It is something that every human that has ever lived or that ever will lives struggles to rectify. It is in this struggle that we have community and family. It is in this struggle that God's love and grace will ultimately win out. We are frail and our time is limited. Our only hope is to cling to God and reject the pull of the sinful nature. 

5Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

6in all your ways submit to him,

and he will make your paths straight.^a

PROVERBS 3:5-6

AUGUST 5, 2017

“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” 
― John Wooden

PSALM 70-77

1I cried out to God for help;

I cried out to God to hear me.

2When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

at night I stretched out untiring hands,

and I would not be comforted.

3I remembered you, God, and I groaned;

I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.^b

4You kept my eyes from closing;

I was too troubled to speak.

5I thought about the former days,

the years of long ago;

6I remembered my songs in the night.

My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

7“Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favor again?

8Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

9Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

10Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

11I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

12I will consider all your works

and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

13Your ways, God, are holy.

What god is as great as our God?

14You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

15With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.(77:1-15)

ROMANS 4-6

1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^a have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^b boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we^c also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (5:1-11)

JOURNAL 

Today is a gift. I am reminded of that more and more often. Thank you Father for the gift of today. Thank you for family, friends, community...all of these are priceless. I don't deserve the abundance of their blessings, yet you have given them anyway. More important is the gift of you and your love that will never go away. 

 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^b Christ Jesus our Lord.

ROMANS 6:22-23

AUGUST 2, 2017

“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” 
― John Wooden

PSALM 65-69

 32The poor will see and be glad—

you who seek God, may your hearts live!

33The Lord hears the needyand does not despise his captive people.(69:32-33)

ROMANS 2-3

5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”^a 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.

JOURNAL 

There is no easy way to glory and honor. It comes from a changed life and a changed heart. A changed life will result in a life that seeks God, seeks the good of all that he has created. Whereas an unchanged life will result in self-seeking and self-justification. This objective will produce evil deeds and an evil selfish life. 

Jesus says that you will know a man by his fruit...by what his life is producing. That fruit comes from a changed heart. 

15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

MATTHEW 7:15-20