FEBRUARY 21, 2021

 “Timidity is the silent acceptance of bondage” 

― Constance Friday

NUMBERS 5-6

22The Lord said to Moses, 23“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

24“ ‘ “The Lord bless you

and keep you;

25the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

26the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.” ’

27“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”(6:22-27)

MARK 4:1-20

13Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

JOURNAL 

To hear the word, to understand it and to put it into practice is our mission in this life. Regardless of the outcome. Regardless of what might happen to us. We are to be obedient even when worries and wealth and poverty and alternative desires bombard our lives. This is the importance of self-discipline that Paul speaks to Timothy about. He lists 3 things that we get with the spirit and one thing that it is not. "For God does not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline" 2 Timothy 1:7

First and foremost the spirit is not timid...what does that really mean? Well after a google search of the definition...showing a lack of courage or confidence; easily frightened.

here are some similar words...apprehensive, fearful, easily frightened, afraid, faint-hearted, timorous, nervous, scared, frightened, cowardly, pusillanimous, spineless; shy, diffident, self-effacing, wimpish, wimpy, yellow, chicken, mousy, gutless, sissy, lily-livered, candy-assed, weak-kneed

So God does not give us a "candy-assed" spirit...I love that! So what we do get is a spirit that is powerful, loving and self-disciplined. So the self-disciplined part is the one that trips me up the most...it is the part I don't want to acknowledge. However 15 minutes on the web and in the news and the effects of this lack of self-discipline are everywhere. 

But most importantly...15 minutes of honesty with myself is enough to see how this plagues my life in so many ways. This timidity and lack of self-discipline leads to all kinds of disobedience, passivity and sin. It leads me to be manipulated and controlled by my environment. It leads me to discard the spirit, the word of God and my relationship with God for a quick hit of immediate gratification. Most of the time it's not sinister...it's subtle but it leads me to be passive and self-absorbed.  

Just like the seed in the field I must be good soil...receptive, free of weeds and distractions. God has promised that his spirit gives me all that I could ever need. 

24“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 

MATTHEW 6:24

FEBRUARY 20, 2021

 “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” 

― John C. Maxwell

JOSHUA 1-3

7“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”(1:7-9)

LUKE 1:57-80

76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

77to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

79to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

80And the child grew and became strong in spirit^d ; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

JOURNAL 

Joshua becomes the leader of Israel after the death of Moses. He leads the Israelites into the promised land. John is born and it is prophesied that he will prepare the way for Jesus. Such an amazing story and God's love and redemption through it all is clear. Even though the end is brutal for John as is Jesus for that matter. The fruit of their lives is what provides the direction and the basis for my own salvation. 

Joshua will have many battles and many trying times but he succeeds in leading the people into the promised land and setting up the establishment of Jerusalem and God's kingdom. This is my spiritual heritage...this is why we are called to obey God and give our lives to him...to trust him and follow him wherever he leads, this is the spirit that is promised and has been fulfilled in our hearts.

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

JOSHUA 1:5-6

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

 “The proud person always wants to do the right thing, the great thing. But because he wants to do it in his own strength, he is fighting not with man, but with God.” 

― Søren Kierkegaard

NUMBERS 1-2

34So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family. (2:34)

MARK 3:1-21

1Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

4Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

5He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

JOURNAL 

The Pharisees are so consumed with doing "right" and being "right" that they cannot understand who Jesus is and therefore they don't realize that their obsession and knowledge is leading them to kill the very Messiah that they are praying and hoping to receive. How ironic...and yet this is so true of life.

So often the answers and solutions are right in front of me yet I don't see them.  Because so often how things "should" play out are seldom how they actually come about. I've seen this time and time again in my life. Usually it's when I make assumptions and don't really trust God that I later look back and see the ways I missed the mark. To truly trust God is to be WILLING to throw away all preconceived notions. It is to stand with an open mind and an open heart ready and willing to go where he leads. 

It doesn't mean that my ability to think, make judgements, discernments etc is wrong...it just means I have to be open to the reality that things change and that I very well could be wrong. This is hard because often to do so goes against ingrained thoughts and emotions. I have to be willing to step outside of those...let go of my own judgements of life and myself and be open to the reality of a new day, a new moment...ripe with possibilities. 

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

MATTHEW 7:1-5

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

 “As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” 

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

LEVITICUS 26-27

14“ ‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. 17I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you. (26:14-17)

MARK 2

13Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

JOURNAL 

Jesus came to redeem us from ourselves...he came to redeem us from a life where we reject God. Everyone needs his grace...everyone needs forgiveness. We are all poor, and in need of a savior...it doesn't matter what our bank statement says, or the titles we amass, or the records we break...we are all in desperate need of his salvation, his love, his grace. To not understand this is to be trapped in our own pride.

To truly be great means that we become humble servants, fully aware of our own failures and our weakness. It means that I am to recognize that i am a fallible human being whose life is merely a wisp...here today...gone tomorrow. While that feels a bit morbid and depressing it really is just reality. The more I embrace this...the more I cling to God. The more I realize that I need God to make sense of this life, I need God to help keep me moving forward, loving others and making the most of each and every day. 

Every day, every moment is a gift from God. No matter where it's spent or what it involves...it is a gift, that is to be cherished, celebrated and lived fully with intention and purpose. 

13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

JAMES 4:13-17

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

 “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.” 

― Stephen Colbert

LEVITICUS 24-25

39“ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 40They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. 42Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God. (25:35-43)

MARK 1:23-45

32That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33The whole town gathered at the door, 34and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place

35Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

38Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”39So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

JOURNAL 

I wonder why it is that greed and selfishness have become something to be admired in our American society. We reward those who hoard money and manipulate others in order to earn it. As long as someone doesn't break a law and often even if they do but justifiably get away with it...they are revered for their wealth and power. I can understand it more from a societal standpoint but it is really sad to see how it has taken over the identity of "conservative" churches. 

I guess it falls in line with the idea that if someone has wealth and power then that is an affirmation and a blessing of God. So the reverse is also thought of as true...if someone is poor and destitute then God is punishing them and they are not blessed by God. However scripture continually turns all of this on its head...yet for some reason, it fails to find its way into our churches. 

However, the more I am learning from reading scripture the more I realize that sitting in judgment of others is just as wrong. It is such a temptation to sit back and condemn others...it's so easy to see where others...even the church have missed the mark. However, that is me trying to sit on the judgment seat and play God. That's not my place...that's not what he created me to do.  What I have learned and what I now am continually coming back to is God commands me to

• Serve as a great teammate in whatever capacity in which I am blessed
• Win the moment by giving my very best without fear of the future or shame of the past
• Lastly, do all this with a passionate spirit of joy and hope 

3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

8Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

9Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

MATTHEW 5:3-12