JULY 24, 2023

 “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” 

― C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

“Look at Jesus. He was perfect, right? And yet he goes around crying all the time. He is always weeping, a man of sorrows. Do you know why? Because he is perfect. Because when you are not all absorbed in yourself, you can feel the sadness of the world. And therefore, what you actually have is that the joy of the Lord happens inside the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the uncontrollable weeping. The weeping drives you into the joy, it enhances the joy, and then the joy enables you to actually feel your grief without its sinking you. In other words, you are finally emotionally healthy.”
― Timothy Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

PSALM 41-43

5Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.(43:5)

ACTS 24

22Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.” 23He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

24Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 26At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

27When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

JOURNAL 

Reading through the Psalms...it almost seems like David is an emotional mess. He seems to be in both anguish and then a verse later in praise of God. It is like a ping pong match of emotions...back and forth from one extreme to the other. It is so personal that it is almost disturbing.

From the outside perspective Paul seems to be in complete and total control, yet when I read his letters I see a different side. One who also struggles with his emotions, fears and "thorn in the flesh". 

 I guess the truth is that David's vulnerability makes me uncomfortable. I don't like seeing that he struggles with his emotions. I want to see him be confident and strong and in control. I want to believe that surrender and obedience to God will mean a life of complete control and joy. I don't want to see David be human I want to see him be Godlike...and there it is. There again is the fault in our stars, I don't want to deal with the struggle and the emotional mess of being human. I want to be above that, I want control, I don't want to have to submit to God in weakness. 

Yet God is what soothes our emotional pain, our struggles, the spirit comes to us in our sin and our failures. Jesus struggled and cried out to God in emotional pain. Although we have the spirit it does not make us immune from struggle. I am safe to say that it will always exist. The difference is that surrender to God gives me an antidote...it may not come immediately but as I see with Jesus and with Paul it does come and it will sustain me. 

25But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

JAMES 1:25

JULY 23, 2023

  “And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” 

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

PSALM 38-40

1I relied completely on the Lord,

and he turned toward me

and heard my cry for help.

2He lifted me out of the watery pit,

out of the slimy mud.

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing.

3He gave me reason to sing a new song,

praising our God.

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord!(40:1-3)

ACTS 23:12-35

12The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13More than forty men were involved in this plot. 14They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

JOURNAL 

Trusting God in the midst of trouble...David speaks of it in the Psalms and here is Paul with death plots being hatched all around him. How do they persist? How do they have confidence in the midst of such dire circumstances? 

It can only be the spirit of God...the same spirit that comforted Jesus and guided him his whole life. The same spirit that gave confidence and passion to David, Joseph, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Peter etc. The spirit of God transforms the weak into the strong. It transforms evil into righteousness. It makes the fearful courageous and the hateful loving.

Scientifically it can't really be explained, it is a mystery yet the evidence of it is undeniable. I know in my own life I have experienced its power and the way it can transform the very worst in me. It is a gift that can't be earned or bought, it just must be accepted and once accepted it frees us to become "heirs of God"!

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.

ROMANS 8:14-17

JULY 22, 2023

 “For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened," He assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty, as demanding as love.” 

― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

PSALM 36-37

 39The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

ACTS 23:1-11

6Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)9There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.11The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

JOURNAL 

Paul continues to be single-minded and strong as he is being questioned. His brilliance is due in part to his upbringing which serves him well in speaking to the Sanhedrin, but obviously, he is being guided by the spirit. 

God then comforts him and lets him know that he has future days ahead and that he will survive to also be heard in Rome. The amazing thing about this is that Paul is absolutely resolute in knowing that his life is completely in the hands of God. He also knows that by putting his life in God's hands he has put his life at risk. To me, Paul is a clear example of the meaning and sacrifice of following Christ.  

So in this day and time, what's my great challenge? Where is my great battle? It is easy to believe that most days don't really matter, that most moments are of little consequence. It is easy to see our lives as pursuits of selfishness rather than a mission authored and inspired by God. However, based on scripture, no moment is wasted with God. No matter how trivial or unimportant a day may seem, it is filled with moments that God has authored and of which I play a part. As long as I wake up on this earth I have a job, a role an opportunity. I will have an opportunity to love in the face of selfishness and hate. I will have an opportunity to trust God in the difficult tasks instead of taking an easy way out. I will have an opportunity to reach out to someone who needs encouragement rather than spiraling inward. Those opportunities exist no matter my circumstance, no matter the day, time or hour. All of these days and these moments lead to habits and those habits form my character and my legacy. They also prepare me for challenges ahead. 

In the end, I am promised God's love, I am promised his joy during difficulty. I am promised that my life will have purpose and meaning. I must trust that following God in obedience will ultimately be greater than a life of selfishness...no matter the outcome. Living a life of love and obedience to God is the greatest thing I can ever do on this earth. In doing so my life becomes an outpost of God's Kingdom...

37They were put to death by stoning;^e they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

 HEBREWS 11:37-40

JULY 21, 2023

 “The story goes that a public sinner was excommunicated and forbidden entry to the church. He took his woes to God. 'They won't let me in, Lord, because I am a sinner.'

'What are you complaining about?' said God. 'They won't let Me in either.” 
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

PSALM 34-35

 18The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

ACTS 22

22The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”23As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

JOURNAL 

I woke up this morning in a comfortable air-conditioned home. I have an automobile that will take me wherever I need to go with simply the turn of a key. I have communication devices that allow me to travel the world in cyberspace and to speak and talk with anyone who will listen. I have family and friends and live in a country that protects my rights, allows me to speak my mind, and pursue whatever business or endeavor my heart desires. I have at my fingertips all the knowledge I could every devour for 100's of lifetimes...and yet far too often, my thoughts drift to all that I don't have.

When I really think about it...it's so ridiculous! Yet that awareness doesn't take away the part of me that drifts to places of doubt, fear and selfishness. That's because biblically  it all goes back to the garden...I ultimately want what I cannot have, I want perfect paradise and there is a part of me that will do anything to have it and have it now. 

This hits me right between the eyes. It really is horrifying to realize that there is this part of me that is actually that selfish. Biblically the Bible shows me that there is a part of me that if indulged would commit the most horrible of sins. I have to look no further than David to realize that as great as he was and as close to God as he was...he was capable of and actually acted as a monster at times.

Having innocent priests slaughtered because of his lies...sleeping with one of his best friends wife, attempting to cover it up, then having him murdered. Then to realize that God still loved and blessed David. Why? Because that is the greatness of God. All he wants from us is our love, our attention, our service, our obedience. He is willing to forgive all sin, all wrongs, all arrogance just to have us back in his arms. He was willing to live and die to show us the way back to his heart. All I must do is turn toward home and he will be the Father running down the road to embrace me...throwing his arms around me, putting the ring on my finger and calling me his son.

4But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.^b 6Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^c Father.” 7So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

 GALATIANS 4:4-7

JULY 20, 2023

 "If you want to figure out the players that will go on to bigger and better things, look at how they fail, in a game of failure. It’s easy to stand tall in baseball when things are going well. But those who stand tall while getting shelled – which happens in baseball often – and shake it off prior to the next outing or at bat, those are likely the players to look for in the multi-tiered stadiums at a later time."

- The Mental Game of Baseball 

PSALM 31-33

16No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength.

17A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

18But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,(33:16-18)

ACTS 21:15-40

27When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” 29(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

30The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”

JOURNAL 

So Paul had a bad day...This was predicted and Paul is facing it head-on...he is not retreating or complaining or whining. This is a life transformed by God, this is a life that has been infused with the spirit and will change the world. 

Today is a glorious day...it is a gift, yet it will only be so if I see it as such. What makes it great are not my circumstances, not what I get to do or don't get to do. What makes it great is that I am here, I am breathing, thinking and have the capacity to make decisions and take action. 

I must always consider that because that is the truth of today. To dismiss it and not embrace it is to make trivial God's gift. To see it as a gift is to approach it with joy and passion. Paul saw the day...knowing he would face persecution and instead of retreating, complaining or whining he walked boldly right into the fire. He could only have done this if he understood the gift of the day, the gift of his life and that his gift to God was his obedience and humility in living and giving his best. 

I am not facing a death mob or any kind of persecution. But rather,  I am facing a day with opportunities in a country that is at peace. I have no excuse not to give my very best in all moments today. To encourage, to love, to work, to seek God in all things. What a glorious day, what a wonderful life. 

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^a whenever you face trials of many kinds,

JAMES 1:2