Lakeview Prayer

A prayer of ANTICIPATION

2012-01-17T08:12:00.000-05:00

When I wonder what great things God has planned for me...

O God,
My life is so noisy -- and sadly, it resounds more often with ringing of phones and droning of lit video screens than with praise and worship for you. Do I ever pause and wonder what momentous things you might be preparing to do next? How many moments of awe-inspiring anticipation do I miss by never being still before you? I need your help to dicipline myself. Help me to build moments of silent anticipation into each day, making time to pray and open myself up to what you want to do in and through me. I pray, God, that in these moments, you will reveal enough of your plan to make me ready for your great purposes. I come before you with reverent awe and anticipation for the glorious future that lies ahead.

You guide me with your counsel,

leading me to a glorious destiny.

Psalm 73:24

A prayer about INITIATIVE

2011-12-27T13:05:00.001-05:00

How does God continue to initiate a relationship with me?

Holy God,
I believe that you sometimes initiate a change of heart in me so that I will desire to be in closer relationship with you. Selfish ambition and spiritual blindness steal my passion for you, and sometimes you need to point out these ways within me. Your Holy Spirit convicts me of my sin, prompting me to remember you, confess my waywardness, and seek restoration with you. Lord God, thank you that you take the initiative in this way. But you don't only point out the offense; you also guide me back to the right path. You never initiate a change of heart and then abandon me. Thank you for constantly taking the first step. No matter how many times I wander, you are always ready to take me back and restore me into right relationship with you.

"My wayward children," says the LORD, "come back to me,

and I will heal your wayward hearts."

Jeremiah 3:22

2011-12-25T11:11:00.000-05:00

Prayer Shawl Ministry Featured

2011-12-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday morning Pastor Tim featured one of Lakeview's newest ministries: The Prayer Shawl Ministry. The concept is not unique to our church, but it has taken on it's own character right here in Marion. Here is how it works: a prayer shawl is created with yarn and prayer. The yarn makes up the physical material while prayers are said during it's creation. As much as someone is warmed by the physical covering, they are also covered by the many prayers. This week Pastor Brad accepted a prayer shawl from the platform on behalf of his father, Rev. David Terhune. Pastor Dave is pastoring a two-year-old congregation, The Cross, in Rochester, Indiana and has lung cancer.

For more information or to join in on this ministry please contact Jessica Thompson, the church office or simply stop by the Welcome Center in the foyer.

A Prayer for GROWTH

2011-11-14T08:57:00.000-05:00

Dear God,
I confess that I often want to be instantly mature in my faith. I lack the patience to work at it. Help me to remember that spiritual growth is like physical growth: I must start small, take one day at a time, and get enough nourishment. I know I can do this by challenging my mind to study your Word, asking questions about it, and then seeking answers through prayer, the counsel of other believers, and life's experiences. Help me to see each day as a building block and to commit to building a life of godly character one step at a time.

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Colossians 1:9-10

2011-10-10T08:34:00.002-04:00

2011-09-29T15:29:00.001-04:00

[From last month's communion reflection]

I had never been a part of a community of worshipping Christians that partook of the Lord’s Supper on a monthly basis. The Wesleyan tradition of traveling pastors and lay-led ministries meant that there wasn’t always someone to provide for what was considered “appropriate” distribution. That lead to a long-standing rule that required pastors to visit all the churches on their circuit to provide the Lord’s Supper to those local congregations on a quarterly basis, at least once every three months. Sadly, that eventually became, “We only need to observe this practice at 3 month intervals” even though pastors were hired and served churches full-time. I’ve never been a part of a community of worshipping Christians that partook of the Lord’s Supper on a monthly basis, until now.

I have never really said much about communion. I’ve taken it since accepting Christ as an eight-year-old, but there haven’t been many Sunday School electives on communion. I haven’t attended any conferences for pastors on communion nor attended a summer camp with a communion-based theme. Little by little, I am having more to say about communion, but I’ll not get into it all right now.

Let’s start today’s observance with this thought: the Lord’s Supper is a vivid and vital connection with Jesus. To come to the Lord’s table is to return to that night when Jesus gave the supper to his disciples. It is to be re-invited to believe, to be re-invited into the community of Jesus followers. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are literal moments from the ministry of Jesus, re-lived and re-joined with all the power of that moment, but now.

If you believe, you may take part in this observance. If you do not yet believe, the time to believe could be right now.

[1 Corinthians 11:23-26 MSG]

Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,

“This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me.”

After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:

“This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.

Each time you drink this cup, remember me.”

What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.

Mind the Gap

2011-08-22T10:52:00.005-04:00

There were over 100 posts that were lost in a data accident. Though the history of our prayer ministry isn't recorded here, there was still prayer and intercession. In thinking about gaps... let's remember to stand in gap and cover our church and fellow Christians with protective prayer. Let's also pray that we would have great opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ to reach our community even as His Spirit is working in our neighborhoods.

Praying for our Pastors

2011-08-03T16:49:00.000-04:00

As we are entering a new school year and the start-up of several of our ministries, let us not forget to prayerfully support our pastors and staff as they continue to serve us.

Happy Moments, Praise God

Difficult Moments, See God

Quiet Moments, Worship God

Painful Moments, Trust God

Every Moment, Thank God

Borrowed from Lightrider

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 9

2010-10-19T08:04:00.001-04:00

That they will love Christ far more than life itself

Revelation 12:10-11 “they overcame (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.”

Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Acts 20:24 “I (Paul) do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course.”

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 8

2010-10-18T08:22:00.002-04:00

That they will arm themselves with this purpose: to suffer so as to eradicate sin

1 Peter 4:1 “arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in flesh has ceased from sin.”

Hebrews 5:8 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 7

2010-10-17T08:01:00.002-04:00

That they will choose ill-treatment and the reproach of Christ, not pleasures of sin

Hebrews 11:24-26 “Moses… (chose) rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.”

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 6

2010-10-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

That they will endure

Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance".

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 5

2010-10-15T08:09:00.003-04:00

That they will rejoice in sharing the sufferings of Jesus so that they will rejoice even more when Christ is revealed

Hebrews 10:34 “…accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.”

Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

I Peter 4:13 “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.”

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 4

2010-10-14T08:18:00.004-04:00

That they would love Christ's appearing all the more

2 Timothy 4:5-8 “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Hebrews 11:35 “…others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection”.

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 3

2010-10-13T08:17:00.002-04:00

That they will see God's grace as sufficient and God's power perfected in their weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 2

2010-10-12T08:12:00.012-04:00

That God would give them the right words and that they would fearlessly make Christ known

Here Paul tells how to pray for him when he was suffering for Christ in jail—notice his prayer was not for release.

Ephesians 6:19-20 “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Colossians 4:2-4 “Devote yourselves to prayer… praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.”

[See Open Door's Effective Evangelism section]

How to Pray for the Persecuted Church - Day 1

2010-10-11T08:03:00.002-04:00

For their physical protection and deliverance.

Matthew 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”

Philippians 1:19 “For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance (from jail) through your prayers.”

Philemon 22 “I hope that through your prayers I shall be given to you (from jail)”

Romans 15:30-31 “Now I urge you, brethren… to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea”.

God predicted persecution:

Acts 20:23-24 “the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course”

And the suffering came:

Acts 21:30-31 “And all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together; and taking hold of Paul, they dragged him out of the temple; and… were seeking to kill him.”

Day 40 - God's Redemptive Plan

2010-04-03T15:39:00.002-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Acts 1:1-11 - Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles, the ones he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but "must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon."

When they were together for the last time they asked, "Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?"

He told them, "You don't know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."

These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appreared - in white robes! They said, "You Galileans! - why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly - and mysteriously - as he left."

REFLECTION: When are you tempted to be a spectator to the movements of God's redemptive plan rather than a participant involved in the action? Why? What are specific ways you can get off the bench and get up to bat for what God is up to in the world? What are some ways you can be a witness to others in your circle of influence?

You know that Jesus will come again in the future. What implications does it really have on your life?

Day 39 - Why are you here?

2010-04-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Philippians 1:12-26 - And I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold in telling others about Christ. Some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. They preach because they love me, for they know the Lord brought me here to defend the Good News. Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. But whether or not their motives are pure, the fact remains that the message about Christ is being preached, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. For I know that as you pray for me and as the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will all turn out for my deliverance. For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die. For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires: Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go and be with Christ. That would be far better for me, but it is better for you that I live. I am convinced of this, so I will continue with you so that you will grow and experience the joy of your faith. Then when I return to you, you will have even more reason to boast about what Christ Jesus has done for me.

COMMENTARY: Why are you here? God is a purposeful God. Everything He does permeates purpose. He has created you with a purpose in mind. What is it? What are you passionate about? Why did God put you here on this earth? Millions of people never find the answers to these questions. Some resign themselves to a mediocre life, some claim there is no purpose to life. God's Word says otherwise. We were created for a purpose and we find that purpose in relationship to the King.

Eric Liddell, Scottish missionary to China and Olympic gold-medal-winning runner said, “I believe God made me for a purpose; for China . But He also made me fast . And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” Eric Liddell knew his life purpose and pursued it with all his heart—even to his death in a Japanese internment camp in China in 1945. Paul knew his life purpose also—and it consumed every moment of his life. He even saw his imprisonment as serving to help further the spread of the gospel. Paul did not care whether he lived or died as long as he was faithful to Christ.

God does have a purpose for your life. Your destiny may not lie on the mission field or in any other area of “professional” ministry. God's purpose for your life may lie in the business world, in the arts, in education or on the homefront, raising children and building a strong family. Whatever your purpose may be, find it and pursue it with gusto! God is not playing games with you. He is not trying to keep you in the dark about your life purpose. He wants you to find it and fulfill it. That is why He created you. People with purpose live life with passion.

REFLECTION: What is your purpose? What is your passion? Find them both in relationship with the King. To live is Christ!

PRAYER: Lord, help me discover my life purpose in You. Give me the grace and the fire inside to pursue that purpose with passion!

Day 38 - Faith Journey

2010-04-01T09:30:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Acts 22:1-10 – “My dear brothers and fathers, listen carefully to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions about me.” When they heard him speaking Hebrew, they grew even quieter. No one wanted to miss a word of this.

He continued, “I am a good Jew, born in Tarsus in the province of Cilicia, but educated here in Jerusalem under the exacting eye of Rabbi Gamaliel, thoroughly instructed in our religious traditions. And I’ve always been passionately on God’s side, just as you are right now.

“I went after anyone connected with the ‘Way’, went at them hammer and tongs, ready to kill for God. I rounded up men and women right and left and had them thrown in prison. You can ask the Chief Priest or anyone in the High Council to verify this; they all knew me well. Then I went off to our brothers in Damascus, armed with official documents authorizing me to hunt down the followers of Jesus there, arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem for sentencing.

“As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?’

“’Who are you, Master?’ I asked

“He said, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the One you’re hunting down.’ My companions saw the light, but they didn’t hear the conversation.

“Then I said, ‘What do I do now, Master?’

“He said, ‘Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you’ll be told everything that’s been set out for you to do.”

COMMENTARY: Paul’s faith began in an amazing way on the road to Damascus (see the beginning of Acts 9 for more details). He was bold to share his story and ultimately The Story, the one of God and man. This passage give us a thorough yet succinct explanation of the person Paul was before he met Christ, how he met Christ and the person he became after he met Christ.

REFLECTION: Reflect on your story – how you came to faith and how your faith journey is continuing today. Who were you before Christ? What was meeting Christ like? In what ways is your life different now as a result of meeting him? Are other people different today because of your interaction with Jesus?

Think about how you might describe your life-altering encounter with the Living God. Write or type your story of faith in just two or three paragraphs. Then ask someone you know to help you include the most appropriate details. We are getting very near the 10 days of the initiative where we can use just this sort of testimony as we share the love of Christ where ever God opens the doors in the 10 days following Easter.

Day 37 - Not a Game (aka Known in Hell)

2010-03-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Acts 19:11-17 – God did powerful things through Paul, things quite out of the ordinary. The word got around and people started taking pieces of clothing – handkerchiefs and scarves and the like – that had touched Paul’s skin and then touching the sick with them. The touch did it – they were healed and whole.

Some itinerant Jewish exorcists who happened to be in town at the time tried their hand at what they assumed to be Paul’s “game”. They pronounced the name of the Master Jesus over victims of evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus preached by Paul!” The seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were trying to do this on a man when the evil spirit talked back: “I know Jesus and I’ve heard of Paul, but who are you?” Then the possessed man went berserk – jumped the exorcists, beat them up, and tore off their clothes. Naked and bloody, they got away as best they could.

It was soon news all over Ephesus among both Jews and Greeks. The realization spread that God was in and behind this. Curiosity about Paul developed into reverence for the Master Jesus.

COMMENTARY: Often God allows us to experience unpleasant consequences of choices we make, sometimes so we realize how our choices affect our relationship with him and other people. For example, he might allow ugly parts of our character to be exposed, with embarrassing and painful results. He uses consequences to draw people’s attention to the thorny parts of their hearts.

Most people want to be known on Earth. Too many of us in the ministry value getting known above nearly anything else. We want to get more invitations and have a wider influence so we can do more for God—or so we tell ourselves. In hell they knew about Jesus, and they knew about Paul. I have asked myself: Does the devil know about me? Am I known in hell?

REFLECTION: Recall a difficult experience that helped you see more of your weaknesses or faults. Ponder the state of your relationship with God before the experience. How did it change? Think about your relationships with others, both before and after the experience. What changed? In other words, in what ways did your newfound awareness impact how you relate to others? Contrast these with feel-good experiences you have had.

Day 36 - Watch Your Words

2010-03-30T07:30:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 15:18 – But the thing that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’.

COMMENTARY: What flows though your heart will pour out of your mouth. Good words will come from a heart full of Christ.

REFLECTION: If you had to jot down a summary of every conversation and every statement over the past 24 hours, what would it reveal about your heart? What patterns would arise? How do you feel when you think of Jesus holding you accountable for ‘every careless word”? (Matthew 12:36-37) Take a piece of paper with you over the next 24 hours and make note of every statement and conversation.

Day 35 - Honor

2010-03-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Philippians 2:3-4 – Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of other.

COMMENTARY: Jesus makes it perfectly clear that our Christianity is not about exercising our rights, but submitting to the authority of Christ – dying to our rights. This is Paul’s admonition in today’s passage.

REFLECTION: How well do you listen to others? How do you communicate on a daily basis? How do you communicate when there is conflict? What brings you together? What creates tension?

Day 34 - Fasting

2010-03-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:16-18 – When you fast, do not look sober as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

COMMENTARY: Jesus gives us a couple of simple instructions on fasting here: don’t brag to anyone about it and look good while you’re doing it.

Fasting may sound scary or like something for only the super-spiritual, but it is for everyday people living their everyday lives looking for some extraordinary input from God himself. We all know how to fast. Students fast from sleep to pay extra attention to their studies as a test approaches. Many workers have fasted from a meal to finish the task or work at hand. You have probably fasted from sleep, a meal or something else to give special attention to someone or something.

This next week, what might you need to fast from in order to pay extra attention to what God has for you during Holy Week?

REFLECTION: Do you know anyone who fasts regularly? If you do, what are the benefits to this person? Have you fasted? What happened? What were the benefits? What obstacles did you encounter? Are there situations you have experienced recently in which it would have been good to spend more concentrated time with God to discern his will? Do you want to fast? Why or why not? If you do, how and when do you plan to do it? How will you make sure you do it in secret? What rewards do you hope God will give you?

Day 33 - Future Glory

2010-03-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

"And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away." - 1 Peter 5:4.

When we commit to take on any injustice or desperate need in the world today, we must come to terms with the fact that we are working towards an end that may never be fully realized in this life. But we are not called to complete the restoration process, that is the job of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit; we are simply called to be faithful. And if we are faithful than we can be certain of the glory that will not disappoint like the glory given by fame or flattery.

Day 32 - Does it really matter?

2010-03-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

When Jesus was on trial, numerous people made many false accusations against Him. However, He didn’t get caught up in disputing the legitimacy of their claims or in defending Himself. The Bible says, “The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed” (Mark 15:3-5).

Jesus knew where He needed to go. His death on a cross awaited Him which would be followed by a miraculous resurrection from the dead. He knew the road He needed to walk in order to bring forgiveness and reconciliation to humanity. Jesus stayed focused and didn’t allow Himself to be distracted from His mission. To engage in inconsequential disputes would only be a distraction from what He needed to accomplish.

However, He would have had a good case for defending His reputation against these false accusations. His accusers said, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes…(Luke 23:2).”

Yet, what really happened was very different. Earlier in His ministry Jesus was asked, “…Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22:17) Jesus responded by saying, “Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:19-21).

Clearly, Jesus could have paused and made a great case for why He was not teaching people to withhold their taxes. This was obviously a false accusation against Him. However, the outcome of that debate didn’t really impact His mission, so Jesus didn’t engage.

He stayed focused like a laser on what His Father had called Him to do and left history to care for His reputation. He knew that defending Himself against these trivial false accusations didn’t really matter in the scope of eternity.

The next time you sense something is pulling you away from what matters most, consider Jesus example and ask of the potential distraction, “Does it really matter?”

Day 31 - Hold Things Loosely

2010-03-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:3-4 – But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what our right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

COMMENTARY: Giving, not acquiring is the lifestyle of the person who is sold out to Jesus Christ. Not to say that we’re not consumers, but hopefully we’re not consumed with consuming. If we get it, fine. If not, that’s fine too. We live to give, not to get.

REFLECTION: What are your resources to give? What motivates you to give? In what ways is giving a heart attitude, and in what ways is it a habit? Read 2 Corinthians 8 & 9. Write out a plan of how you are going to give.

Day 30 - Love One Another

2010-03-24T08:00:00.002-04:00

SCRIPTURE: I John 4:11 – Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

COMMENTARY: When it says we should love one another, what does that mean? It can’t mean only people just like us. There are so many different kinds of people out there. We need to love people who love us. That is easy. We also need to love people who try to walk on us and bully us. We need to love people who are too cool for us. We need to love people who seemingly want nothing to do with us. Loving people will not guarantee their lives will change, but it is worth the effort for each and every one that does come to know God’s love for them through our love.

REFLECTION: Did the Lord bring anyone that needs your love? Do you need to drink more deeply of Christ’s love and acceptance so you can love and accept others? Pick out one or two people that came to mind and write out a plan for how you will act lovingly toward them.

There is a 10 day season coming, soon!

2010-03-23T12:00:00.001-04:00

All of these posts are a part of the 40 days portion of the 40/10 Initiative. The 40 days are preparing ourselves for the great celebration of Easter. The 10 days that follow will be about letting those around us know about the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Read these following words from Tom Mercer, pastor of the 11,000 member High Desert Church as you think about who you can share Jesus with:

"Jesus commissioned us to reach the lost, and He both modeled and taught a strategic formula that would facilitate that great endeavor. Throughout the New Testament, when God's Spirit changed a life, a world-changer was born. Whether it was a demon-possessed man, a swindler named Zacchaeus, a royal official with a dying son, a tax collector named Matthew, a Centurion named Cornelius, a businesswoman named Lydia, or a recently unemployed Philippian jailor, they all were sent back home to their oikos. Oikos, the Greek word for "extended family," encompasses our relational worlds—anywhere from eight to fifteen people, on the average, whom God has supernaturally and strategically placed in our spheres of influence. And, if those relationships frame our primary evangelistic targets, then that reality must frame our primary ministry strategies for the church.

Our mission is simple—not easy, but simple. Christians who believe that it's their job to witness to everybody usually don't witness to anybody. But when believers, representing any generation or culture, come to understand their specific evangelistic assignment, oikos becomes the great equalizer in any church—the simplest, yet most important common denominator in any ministry. It doesn't matter how good-looking or unattractive you think you might be. It doesn't matter how tall you are or how short you are. It doesn't matter if you have money or if you're flat broke. Your ethnicity, theological background, language, and age don't matter either. We all have eight to fifteen people whom God has supernaturally and strategically placed in our extended families, our relational worlds. We are all Christ's partners in world-change.

Oikos is not an evangelism program. It is essentially a worldview, a paradigm through which a Christ-follower evaluates life, its purpose and events. Not only is the oikos formula not new to the Church, it's not new to yours. The overwhelming majority of the people in any local church came to Christ through an oikos relationship. I've asked the question of countless groups through the years, across America and in other cultures: "If you were to isolate the primary vehicle that God used to draw you to Himself, how many would say that it was someone in your oikos?" Virtually everyone raises a hand—and most of the ones who don't raise a hand didn't understand the question!"

(If you didn't understand these paragraphs, I encourage you to re-read them and ask the Holy Spirit to open your mind.)

Day 28 - Don't Take Revenge

2010-03-22T08:00:00.001-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:38-39 – You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you ‘Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also’.

COMMENTARY: There are so many things that I want to teach my kids. So many things I have to teach my kids. Revenge is not one of them. It was pre-installed with the several other vices with their original sin.

God can infuse us with forgiveness so that we don’t have to resort to revenge. If we don’t allow that forgiveness to reign in our lives, we will have other things try to reign in its place: bitterness, hatred, and psychosomatic problems.

Jesus’ instructions are not difficult, but they are impossible without his strength.

REFLECTION: What are some of the biggest hurts you have experienced in the past year? How did you respond? How would a deeper experience of forgiveness enable you to express forgiveness to that person? Look at the results of not forgiving people. Have you seen any of those in your life? In your family’s life? Think of those who have hurt you. Write out a plan for how you want to respond to each one in light of this.

Day 27 - Speak the Truth

2010-03-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:36-37 – And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

COMMENTARY: If we call ourselves Christians, we are to be the very example of the one who is “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6)

REFLECTION: What are some consequences when people are caught lying? What are some consequences they experience even when they seem to get away with lying? Why do ‘men love darkness rather than light’? Are there recurring situations in which you tend to exaggerate? What do you hope exaggerating will do for you? How does lying and exaggerating affect your Christian relationships? How does it shape your words to realize that every word you speak is spoken in the presence of Christ?

Day 26 - True Worship

2010-03-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Romans 12:1 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.

COMMENTARY: When we are walking with the Lord, our lives are acts of worship all day every day. Worship is not just about songs, unless you consider your life a song to be ‘sung’ before everyone you see.

REFLECTION: What do you think Jesus meant when he said to worship ‘in spirit and truth’? What are some ways to fail to do that? How are you going to enter future days and connect the dots of praise songs and obedient actions?

Day 25 - Be Reconciled

2010-03-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:23-24 – Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

COMMENTARY: I think that there is something to remembering when we enter God’s presence. The Holy Spirit can speak to us in these moments because we are silent in the many other noisy areas and focused on him. God is always mending relationships and I think he wants us to join him in the mending. That is why his Spirit will remind us of broken relationships when we come to worship him. Don’t blow it off. Don’t excuse it. He has brought it to your mind, so go make things right even if that means leaving your time of praise and worship to do so.

REFLECTION: Work through one restitution you need to make – What do you need to confess? How can you show repentance? What will you have to do to make restitution?

What are some excuses people use for not being reconciled to people they’ve wronged? What are some excuses you’ve used? Why is it important to go quickly? (What might happen if you don’t?) Has the Holy Spirit tapped you on the shoulder and reminded you of something you’ve done? What is your plan to deal with it appropriately and immediately?

Day 24 - Our #1 Priority

2010-03-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 22:35-40 – One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

COMMENTARY: We won’t spend too much time on this idea that Jesus was being questioned al l the time at this point in his ministry about all the minutia in the Law. There were honest seekers, but most often these are traps laid to get Jesus to say the wrong thing. Jesus always turns it around on the trap setters and challenges their hearts in order to engage them back into the work of the kingdom and not just the protection of the laws of the kingdom.

There were so many laws to cover – hundreds. How do you choose which one is the most important law? Which would you choose as the most important one? Jesus not only selects the most important, but the second one and then ties it up in a nice package by saying that all the laws and the teaching of the following prophets have these at their heart.

All of our religious rules and laws can be of a great benefit in leading us to obedience, but only if they reflect these two laws at their heart. Loving God first immediately leads us to loving others. This should be our basis and motivation. (see 1 John 4:19)

REFLECTION: What are some characteristics of people who love God? Why is the second commandment to love others “like” the first one? Is the Lord beautiful to you? (see Psalm 27:4 & Psalm 63:1, 3) What do you think of the statement, “We only love God as much as the person we love the least.”?

Day 23 - Daily Grace

2010-03-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

SCRIPTURE: John 8:3-5 – The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

COMMENTARY: Let’s review the scene with a modernization – Jesus is in the middle of his sermon at church. Suddenly the back doors are thrown open and in march a group of lawyers and theology professors. They have with them a woman who is barely clothed and with her hair a mess. She is guilty of a crime punishable by death. According to the law of the land, not only is it worthy of capital punishment, but it is to be done immediately and in public.

Jesus could have gone along with the demands of the people. She deserved death. He gave her grace.

After other examples of sin that deserved death had been put up on the PowerPoint screen there was no one left there to throw the first stone, except Jesus. He did not excuse her sin, but he did offer grace and instructed her to leave the path that led to her sin. Jesus doesn’t minimize it and say, “It wasn’t that bad.” He gracefully looks at sin in the face with all its ugliness … and forgives. This woman and each one of us deserve condemnation. We deserve the righteous wrath of God to be poured out on us with all the fury that The Revelation imagery can throw at us. That’s what makes grace so wonderful! We deserve the opposite of what we get!

REFLECTION: Describe this woman’s thoughts and feelings at the beginning of this encounter. … at the end. When have you felt the grace of God most strongly and clearly. Describe that time. What do you typically believe about God’s grace on your worst days? … on your best days? Finish this prayer: Lord Jesus, I want to experience your grace much more because…

Day 22 - Be a Doer

2010-03-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: James 1:22, 25 – Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.

COMMENTARY: Some of us are just like them to whom James wrote. Instead of applying all of God’s truth, we apply only the parts that are convenient to us and make us look better publically. There are three parts to good Bible study and application is the third and hardest of those because it requires putting feet to what we have observed and interpreted (the other two parts of Bible study).

It is my opinion that we watch a lot of film leading into the big days of our lives and know what the playbook, the Bible, has to say on the topics, but when it comes to the activity we are too often Armchair Christians. We watch people who are actively serving God and putting in the sweat equity only to give a play-by-play commentary: “They should have done it that way”. Armchair Christians enjoy singing the songs of the faith. They know a good sermon when they hear it and really appreciate when it is well-constructed. The problem is that they stay as hearers and don’t move on to being doers. James recognizes this and informs his readers to get in the game.

The law of sowing and reaping applies here. When we act on truth, God opens our minds and hearts to understand more truth. When we feast on God’s Word regularly, we are compelled to put it into action. This action leads to continual fulfillment in Christ. This continual fulfillment leads to increased action and hunger for more of God. So the cycle continues.

REFLECTION: What are some characteristics of people who are hearers but don’t apply much of God’s word? (How do they relate to God? How do they relate to others? What is their attitude?) What are some characteristics of people who are doers? Is it harder for you to apply God’s truth than it is to observe and interpret it? Are there areas in your life that you know what God wants you to do but you avoid obeying him? If so, what are the results?

Day 20 - Grow Up

2010-03-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 5:11-12 – We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food.

COMMENTARY: Imagine with me that Billy Graham called you up and said, “I was really hoping that we could have passed the leadership of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association over to you. The problem is that you have been a part of the church and sitting in the pews most weeks, but you just aren’t ready for it. I want to give you meat, but you are a spiritual baby. Yes, I know you’ve been a Christian for a while, but you haven’t grown. You’re still a baby in the faith. Instead of always being fed, you should be giving out truth and grace to other people. In fact, you’ve forgotten what you’ve learned before. You need to hear the basics all over again to even get it right.”
With that in mind, I say, “If you can’t make God’s truth a high priority, you need to reschedule your time.”

REFLECTION: What are the choices new Christians often face about their lifestyle? What are some of the choices more mature Christians face? Read II Peter 1:5-11. Does there seem to be a progression of characteristics in verses 5-7? If so, what is that progression about? Paraphrase verse 8. Paraphrase verse 9. Are you growing, or are you stuck because you are blind or nearsighted? Explain.

Day 19 - God and...

2010-03-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: II Corinthians 11:3 – But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

COMMENTARY: We can be incredibly self-centered people. We focus on our wants and our needs and our goals and our dreams and our time and our everything else. When we become Christians, this self-centeredness dies hard. Very hard. Unfortunately, some Christians churches and speakers reinforce this focus on self by promising that we can have God and whatever we want. It sounds like this:
- If you trust God, he’ll pave the way to your success.
- If you walk with Jesus, he’ll give you the circumstances you always wanted.
- If you only believe God, he’ll bless you with financial wealth.
- If you trust Christ, you’ll have perfect rest.
The problem is not success, peace, wealth and rest. The problem is when those blessings climb up to the center of our hearts and compete with Jesus for our affections. The problem is we want God and… you fill in the space there.

A ‘God and…’ mentality, trying to use God to get our wants met, quickly lead to a ‘God, but’ lifestyle. I’ll define that as when God calls us to follow him, we reply, “Lord, but you don’t understand.” It is trying to have God met with us on our terms, but God refuses to play that game. If we are not careful, we drift away in our anger and self-pity, blaming God for what he didn’t do for us.

REFLECTION: Look at these evidences of ‘God and…’ in our lives. Do you see any of these in your life? Explain.
- What do we pray about? Are they self-focused prayers?
- How do we respond when someone has more than we do? (Comparison)
- Do we get angry when God does not give us what we want?
- Do we feel sorry for ourselves when God doesn’t come through in the way we wanted? (Self-pity)

Day 18 - The Cross: Are You Beyond It?

2010-03-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

COMMENTARY: Have you heard someone say, “We need to move beyond Jesus dying on the cross to ‘deeper’ things’.”? I have to ask, “Like what?” What is deeper than the God of the Universe becoming a man and showing his incredible love by dying to rescue you and me from our terminal sin-sickness and eternal damnation?

REFLECTION: How can the cross shape:
- Your identity?
- Your motivations?
- Your goals and desires?
- How you relate to other people, especially those who have hurt you?

Day 17 - The Crucible of Choice

2010-03-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:39, 42 – Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will … “. He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

COMMENTARY: If you have two options and God is only represented in one of them, side with God. Sometimes we face a decision to walk down one path or another and it doesn’t change our walk with God or our obedience to him either way. Then choose and move on. Many times you really know that one path leads where God is going and the other leads where you want to go. Know this: following your own path is equal to declaring yourself God of your life.
In Psalm 63, David declares, “Oh God, you are my God.” He is not stuttering. David has seen what choosing his own path can do and he is stating that God will be the Lord of his life. Choosing which path you are going to follow in your life doesn’t come during the easy times so decide now which road you will walk.

REFLECTION: Who is your God?

Day 16 - God's Curriculum

2010-03-10T09:00:00.001-05:00

SCRIPTURE: James 1:2-4 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

COMMENTARY: The School of Faith has a curriculum and it is written by God. We may look forward to recess, but God wants to offer classes in knowing and serving him. Not only does he want us to attend, but he will offer tests to push us to learn the crucial lessons. Tests in our lives are then learning experiences orchestrated by our loving Heavenly Father and not times of abandonment by him. In God’s curriculum there will be enough: enough joy to encourage us; enough love to strengthen us; enough success to build our confidence; enough suffering to force us to depend on him and; enough confusion to make us seek his face.

REFLECTION: Describe some recent experiences in which God gave you:
- Enough joy to encourage you
- Enough love to strengthen you
- Enough success to build your confidence
- Enough suffering to force you to depend on him
- Enough confusion to make you seek his face

Read: Isaiah 55:9, Romans 5:3-5 & James 1:2-7

Day 15 - The Risk of Grace

2010-03-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 15:30-31 – And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day – I mean that, brothers – just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

COMMENTARY: Do Christianity and endangering ourselves every hour go together? They very well can. When we follow Christ, there is no way to know where he will lead us! Where he leads us can be comforting and encouraging, but showing and living grace can also take us to radical places that involve risk. We just have to make sure that we do not get comfortable with the benefits of being right with God and never risk our reputations, finances or character to do what is right in showing grace.

We don’t want to only read Hebrews 11:32-35a as our expectations of what our faith is about: “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.” This is what we want to hear from the chapter in this book of the Bible.

Our faith has to be informed that our faith is also about the following verses 35b-37 in the same chapter of Hebrews: “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – “. This is what we don’t want to hear.

If you are serious about following Christ, we can be assured of two things: suffering and God’s strength to endure it in faith.

REFLECTION: What are some reasons we suffer for following Christ? In what ways do we suffer when we don’t follow Christ? How do most Christians respond to suffering? What are the results of these responses? How has our entertainment-driven culture affected your view of suffering? What are some ways you have suffered for your faith in the past several weeks or months? How did you respond each time? How will your response be different next time?

Day 14 - Too Full to Eat?

2010-03-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

COMMENTARY: We are invited to, have access to and can freely attend the banquet table of God’s presence. Too often, though, we are so full of the world’s junk food that we’re not even hungry for the things of God. We are spiritually malnourished and it will lead to death.
Another verse for you today: When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty. (Jeremiah 15:16)

REFLECTION: In your life, what are some things that promise to satisfy us but in reality poison you? List the sources of poison (or at least not nourishing spiritually/emotionally/relationally) around you. Has there been a time when God’s truth and grace were a “joy and a delight to your heart”? Where, when and how can you make better selections about what you feast on? Use Psalm 56:3-4 as a prayer guide today.

Grace: Cheap or Costly?

2010-03-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: II Corinthians 5:14-15 – For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

COMMENTARY: When we take God’s grace for granted, we cheapen it. Cheap grace says, “If God loves me so much and is so powerful then he won’t ask me to do anything too hard, and he’ll give me everything I need.” Hear this though: if you only signed on for the pleasure cruise, being a disciple of Jesus Christ will be a big disappointment. We are not to live for ourselves, because he died for us. We are to live for him and die to ourselves because he died for us.

Full commitment to Christ is both a decision and a process. At each moment, we are asked to live completely for him and not for ourselves. We make that choice literally dozens of times each day. If we are serious about following him, God will take us deeper into the depths of his heart. There will be even more difficult decisions, but you will gain the strength to face them by obedience today. Cling to him and let him change your life.

REFLECTION: What is the difference between cheap grace and costly grace in your life? When, where and how have you seen grace treated as an “unlimited credit card”? What were the results in people’s lives? Answer those last two questions, but about costly grace. Which kind of grace makes you spiritually “thirsty”? Are you trying to become a disciple of Jesus Christ “on your own terms” or according to God’s Word?

Day 12 - Death ... and Your Good Clothes

2010-03-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Colossians 3:5, 9-10 – Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature … Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

COMMENTARY: Yes, need to be done with sin and it is going to take us killing it off to be done with it. We also need to find a way to begin enjoying God at the same time. It is a laying off of one thing to put on another and Paul makes it easy to picture with some imagery of clothing.
When you realize you’ve just dripped ketchup down the front of your shirt you recognize it is dirty and you take it off and, in my case, toss it down the laundry chute. Then you put on something clean.

These are choices that we can make. We must clothe ourselves in Christ’s love, strength and wisdom. But how do we know what to dress ourselves in? Seek his Spirit’s guidance through prayer, in the Scriptures and through Christian counsel. Hebrews 11:6 says, “he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

REFLECTION: Describe what it means to put a sin “to death”. What are some of your sins you need to spiritually kill? Are these obvious or hidden to others? Does that make a difference in your commitment to be ruthless with them? What might happen to someone who focuses only on getting rid of their sin without shifting their attention to the love and strength of God? How can you seek a greater knowledge of God? Make a list of things you can put on from Colossians 3:12-17?

Day 11 - Bought and Paid For

2010-03-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 6:19-20 – Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

REFLECTION: Write a paragraph about what it means to be a slave to sin. (Consider: devotion, attitude, time, effect on relationships, effect on spiritual life) How does realizing you have been bought change your perspective on God, on yourself, on your activities and on your desires? How does it affect you to realize that all you have is a gift from God? Look at your schedule, goals and secrets for the next 24 hours. How do they reflect you being a slave to Christ or to sin? What are you going to change?

Day 10 - Rubbish...What Does That Mean?

2010-03-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Philippians 3:7-8 – But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ… .

COMMENTARY: If religion was a sport, Paul would have gone first in the draft. He had all the right moves, knew all the right words and was excelling above and beyond any one else the class of 33 had to offer. Yet, he considered it all rubbish, waste or what’s left over after all the nutrients have been removed in comparison to what he had found in the greatness of knowing Christ.

REFLECTION: What are your credentials of power, prestige and popularity? How do most people use these things to get where they want to go? What way can they be a hindrance to a committed Christian? How would your life be different if you genuinely believed the things the world values are rubbish and knowing Christ is the most valuable thing in the world? Focus on Galatians 2:20 today, even writing it out several times.

Day 9 - What's Your Treasure?

2010-03-03T08:30:00.001-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 13:44-46 – The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

COMMENTARY: Even though these two stories deal with the same topic, the kingdom of heaven, there is one stark difference. In the first story, the man stumbles across the treasure. In the second story, the man has been searching for it for years. Some people seem to just stumble into Jesus along the way. Certain situations in life just happen to bring the two together. A person can be walking through life and upon first glance in this chance meeting they realize Jesus and his kingdom are of unmeasureable value. Others have had a tug on their heart for years and have looked for that fulfillment everywhere: in astrology or psychics; in Buddha or Joseph Smith; in places that denigrated Christ’s name proudly or places that bore his name on the door, but not his Spirit within. Either way, whether by surprise or by careful search, we can find Christ. When he is found, he is so wonderful that nothing else matters because, well, nothing else matters.

If Christ is our treasure, we have a different view of earthly things: we can enjoy life and the things of this world, but they do not own us.

REFLECTION: What are some ways you can tell what someone values? How did you feel the day you discovered Jesus? What does it mean to enjoy God’s blessings without demanding them? Restate Jim Elliot’s quote in your own words: “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Day 8 - Be Good Soil

2010-03-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 13:22-23 – The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choked it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

COMMENTARY: God plants the seed in your life. Your life is the soil. What kind of soil are you preparing for God’s seed to be planted in: the packed down roadway, shallow soil with a hard rock foundation, soil full of counterfeit thorny plants or good soil?

REFLECTION: Read the full passage (Matthew 13:1-23) and figure out where you fit into the picture because that is Jesus’ direct instruction in 13:9.

Day 7 - Know the Word

2010-03-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 4:12-13 – For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

COMMENTARY: Can you really know someone if you never listen to a word they say? In the same vein, can we truly know God if we never listen to his words as recorded in the Bible? We know the plot line to multiple shows on television and can sing their theme songs, but can we lay out the plot for each book of the Bible? Know this: the Bible is the blueprint to life. We just need to treat it like it really does contain the life-changing truth that can be used by the very Spirit of God to transform lives.

When your roof leaks, you call for someone to look it over and give you an estimate. The question then becomes, “Is the repair worth the cost?” Studying God’s Word will cost us our time, energy and disciple. It will result in direction, insight and understanding. The truth found in the Bible is worth more than silver or gold. They hold the keys to success and fulfillment, but these treasures aren’t available for free. They require tenacity and effort. Is the effort worth it to you?

REFLECTION: Where do you hear God’s truth spoken? Describe your practice of reading the Scriptures. What does it mean to meditate on God’s word? How do the Holy Spirit and God’s Word work together in a person’s life to transform, encourage and direct?

Day 6 - God's Work

2010-02-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Philippians 2:12-13 – Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

COMMENTARY: When we believe someone else’s salvation depends on our own set of holiness standards or godliness rules we are deceiving ourselves. We may also be preparing us and them for a fall out. The good news for you and me is that God is at work in us. The Spirit himself is doing the convicting, encouraging, strengthening and comforting. Our task is then to notice the Spirit’s work, be sensitive to his voice and follow his leading.

My prayer: I know I will not understand it all, but you can count me in, Lord. I am prepared to go where you lead even though I don’t feel prepared. Let me have a zeal for you. Yes, Lord, I wait for you; Your name and renown are the desires of my heart. Let me have the passion and the single-mindedness you had when you followed the Father’s will and sacrificed yourself for me.

REFLECTION: Did you or do you have some zealous rules you impose on yourself or others? Is it easier to follow rules or follow Christ? Is the Spirit at work in your life? Have there been times in the past week when you sensed God’s Spirit speaking to you or nudging you and you failed to respond?

Day 5 - First, let me go . . .

2010-02-27T20:00:00.001-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 8:19-22 – Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

COMMENTARY: Our struggle with excuses is that all of them can be made to sound reasonable. What are you rationalizing in your life? Here are a few I hear too often (and use personally):

I’m only going to do it this one time.

Nobody will notice.

It doesn’t harm anyone.

Those rules were for an ancient people living in ancient times.

If I follow God’s rule for my life too closely, people might think I am some kind of radical or fanatic.

I don’t have the time.

REFLECTION: Can you come up with some other excuses people use for not doing what Jesus asks of us? What are your most common excuses? Ponder this statement: When I choose to disobey, I break God’s heart.

Day 4 - Reward

2010-02-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

SCRIPTURE: I Samuel 2:30 – Those who honor me I will honor.

COMMENTARY: God will honor you, but when will it happen? Do you expect to be honored immediately following the honor you give to him? It happens that way sometimes, but more often it is more like waiting for the harvest to grow and mature after it has been planted. Be sure of this though: God notices and he does not forget. We will reap what we sow, more than we sow and after we sow.

REFLECTION: What are some things you are sowing "to please the sinful nature" these days? What are some things you are sowing "to please the Spirit"? What are you reaping?

Day 3 - Ruined

2010-02-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 6:5 – “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

COMMENTARY: Here Isaiah seems to identify his sin as “unclean lips”. Here is a man whose job it was to proclaim the Lord’s words to the people of Israel. Did he also tell dirty jokes and gossip? I doubt it, but what Isaiah knows here is what Jesus brought out when he said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. Our words reveal our hearts. When someone bumps you, wrongs you, hurts you what spills out from the inside? Faced with the presence of a holy God, Isaiah was laid bare, exposed and ruined.

As you seek God’s face in this time leading up to Easter, you will be bumped and prodded. What will spill out from your innermost being? May we be so filled up on Christ and his love that when we are bumped in the coming days we would spill Jesus on those around us. To be at that point, we need to admit our unclean hearts, ask Christ for new hearts and obey his commands to us each day.

REFLECTION: Have you ever felt “ruined” like Isaiah did? If you have, remember the experience. If not, do you want that kind of experience? Why or why not? What are some results of being ruined and then healed?

Day 2 - Hard Words

2010-02-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

SCRIPTURE: John 6:60, 66 – On hearing it, many disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

COMMENTARY: Jesus was popular. Many people were flocking to the countryside to see him heal the sick and raise the dead. The crowds couldn’t get enough! But popularity was never Jesus’ goal.

As Jesus watched the crowd turn away he looks to the Twelve and reminds them they have a choice too. His question to them was, “You don’t want to leave, too, do you?” It was that day that they decided to stick with the Good News and not just some fun events. Another way to put it is that if we only expect to be entertained, we will leave at the first sign of a required sacrifice and call to obedience.

Jesus has something to say to you today, too. It may be the Good News that you can be free from some secret sin. It may be that you are leaning on your greatest strengths and yourself more than him. May God shine his light into your life today and may you respond as Peter did, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

REFLECTION: Did God shine his light on anything or anyone that is occupying his place in your heart? Has he shined his light on the deepest part of your heart before? If so, what happened? What are your strengths and how can they become idols? Do you believe hard words are a sign of God’s love for you? Read and pray through John 6:25-69.

Day 1 - Take Up Your Cross

2010-02-23T08:00:00.005-05:00

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 16:24 – Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

COMMENTARY: Jesus’ words were direct and to the point. The disciples knew what crosses were and they were not ornaments worn on necklaces or designs in tattoo parlors. Crosses were the most violent and horrible instruments of execution. Can you hear the gasps and see the shudders reverberate through that group of men?

Before we go any further on the cross in our reflection this morning, let’s read the passage one more time and focus on a tiny word – if. Jesus is not bullying us into this instruction to carry our cross. He isn’t getting us to pack our bags for a guilt trip either. He simply offers a path and is honest about its hardships that come with the joys. In this passage is simply, an opportunity to die to self. There is a cost and he makes it clear in three parts: deny yourself, say, ‘Yes’, to Jesus and then follow him.

Today we focus on denying our innate selfishness in ambitions, behaviors, attitudes and desires. When you have laid those things down I encourage you to take something up worth dying for. Be so devoted to it and the things of God that you would have to be crucified to stop it.

Realize this – we make many choices every day and we are either saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to God. Here’s a question to ponder: Are you getting better at knowing God or ‘No’-ing God?

REFLECTION: What are some of your selfish ambitions, behaviors, attitudes and desires? Which of them have been a part of your life this past week? Which ones are patterns or habits in your life? What really is the attraction of these things to you? What do they actually get for you? How can you ‘starve’ these things during this time of self-denial? What does it mean to you to ‘take up your cross’? Is the reward worth the price to you?

As We Begin...

2010-02-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

Over the next 40 days we will work our way through Bible passages and ask thought provoking questions. The Bible will be our guide. We will offer commentary and request your comments and in that way, build a conversation. I, Pastor Brad, will be doing a lot of the directing, but so will other staff members through the discussions we have daily in the office and in ministry. I will be leaning on David Nassar, too. His encouragement of a 40 day time of reflection and fasting from the world is my outline. His deeply penetrating questions will challenge you each day. Join in the journey. There will be a post here for each of the next 40 days to encourage and strengthen your walk.

40/10 Initiative for Lent and Easter

2010-02-17T15:42:00.003-05:00

(click any image for a full-sized and readable version)

The Power of Praying Together

2009-06-18T15:53:00.000-04:00

“Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
~ Matthew 18:20

We’ve all heard stories of groups of people who come together in prayer and receive amazing results. One church grew by leaps and bounds after some of its members began gathering before the morning service to pray for growth. In another case, a man was healed of late-stage lung cancer following intensive prayer support from his son’s congregation.

Is there power in numbers? Does God hear us better when we join our voices together?

If, by “power” we mean the ability to produce whatever outcome we choose, then, no, clearly not. For every cancer patient cured by prayer, there are many others who receive no cure even when hundreds of people are praying for them. But the act of praying together brings us into God’s presence in a fuller dimension than when we pray alone. There’s a reason why Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a banquet, rather than a table for two! Life’s important experiences are meant to be shared.

When I was five years old, my family spent a vacation at the sea shore. One evening we saw a spectacular sunset. The shimmering colors enthralled me, but the greatest joy was that everyone else was just as excited as I was. My sister and I kept jumping up from our beach chairs to point out new colors to our mother, who oohed and aahed appreciatively. Our grandparents, drawing on their vast store of memories, pronounced it one of the finest sunsets they had ever seen. Even our busy dad had a peaceful look on his face. The sharing of the experience meant more to me than the experience itself. In the same way, when we share the light of prayer, we not only feel closer to God but to one another.

Recently, my husband and I enjoyed a delightful evening at the home of some friends. As the serving dishes were passed from hand to hand, we discussed recipes, told jokes and caught up on the latest news. Afterward, savoring the memory of that dinner, I realized how praying together is very much like sharing a meal. It's true that the food would not be any less nourishing if each person ate separately, but breaking bread together feeds our spirit.

Some benefits from praying together are:
1. Praying together, collectively more prayers are prayed. Each of us has a unique way of praying and praying together brings a new voice to the need.

2. Praying together gives me a deep feeling of belonging. When I am part of a group, I feel that I am a necessary part of a greater purpose.

3. Praying together improves my mood. Looking out among others and feeling their love and care regardless of how I felt when I began, I leave feeling comforted.

4. Praying together opens my heart to the needs of the people around me and reminds me that sometimes I can be the answer to someone’s prayer.

Although I know God is always with me, and I often pray alone and enjoy the benefits of my solitary prayer time, I feel his presence most strongly when I'm praying with others. I believe lifting one another in prayer is one of the richest experiences we can share. Together, we are strengthened and blessed.

How to Pray

2009-05-20T13:49:00.001-04:00

Prayer is one of the greatest skills in the world. It is the spiritual power that flows from God into our daily lives. Astonishingly, prayer illuminates problems, lifts weights, overcomes obstacles, restores health, and brings many astounding results.

1. What should you say when you pray?
Just talk to God as a child would talk to a father whom he loves and with whom he feels in harmony. Tell the Lord everything that is on your mind and in your heart.

2. Talk to the Lord in simple everyday speech.
Do not use an exaggerated formal speech. You would not talk to your father that way, and He is your Heavenly Father. In public prayer, it is perhaps proper to address God more formally. But in personal, private prayer you might, for example, say "You" to God rather than "Thou." This does not diminish respect for Him but serves to make the relationship more natural.

3. Tell God what you want.
Tell Him you would like to have it if He thinks it is good for you. But also say and mean it, that you will leave it to Him to decide, and you will accept His decision as best for you and others involved. If you do this regularly it will be possible for God to give you the wonderful things that you should have. It is frightening, the marvelous things we miss because we insist upon something else, something only a fraction as fine as He wants to give us.

4. Practice praying during the day.
For example, talk to God as you drive your car. If you had a friend with you, you would talk to him or her, would you not? Then imagine the Lord is there, for He is, and just talk to Him about everything. If you are waiting for a bus, talk with Him. But at night, when you go to bed, I recommend that you kneel by the bed and pray. However, if this has been your custom and if it has become merely a formality, get into bed, relax and then pray.

5. Words are not always necessary when you pray.
Think how good God is, how kindly, and that He is by your side guiding you and watching over you.

6. Try helping others by your prayers.
Pray for the troubled or the ill. Pray for your loved ones, for people you do not like, and for those who have not treated you well. It will do more for you to pray for those you resent than for those you love. If you doubt this, try it for six months and see what happens. Prayer is an emanation of power. Select some person who may be a problem to you and shoot prayers at him. Conceive of yourself as surrounding him with healthy prayers, goodwill, and faith. I have seen the most astounding, almost unbelievable, results.

7. Do not make all your prayers into the form of asking God for something.
Let your prayer consist of all the wonderful things that have happened to you. Name them, thank God for them and make that your whole prayer. You will soon find that these prayers of thanksgiving grow longer and longer, and you will have more and more things for which to thank God.

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