Category Archives: Sunday

Be-ing vs Choosing – The Third Beatitude

Posted on February 21, 2016 | Leave a comment

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Ponderings:
An interesting word play occurred to me this morning. Are these Be-Attitudes? All Jesus’ blessings are about “Be-ing vs Choosing.”  Word play is not an indication of lack of seriousness especially when it comes to the Word of God. Quite the contrary, it’s an involved mind challenge to consider a meaning that may be deeper than the mere letters that form this known word – meek.

• Meek – adjective: quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.
• Synonyms: submissive, yielding, obedient, compliant, tame, biddable, tractable, acquiescent, humble, deferential, timid, unprotesting, unresisting…

The inheritance of land has always been a symbol of security…and power. Way back at the beginning God saw land as a promise and a blessing for his people as he moved them into position to fulfill his plans to make them his heirs on earth.

That’s proved to be tough to work out because “choosing” has become the focus rather than be-ing. That change in focus has resulted in the competition, wars, greed and deceit that plague our world. Jesus says be-ing meek is the answer to the mystery of inheriting this blessing. That’s a mind challenge!

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Posted in Daily Faith, Matthew, Sunday

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Take the Package Deal

Posted on February 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

I Timothy 1:12-16 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

Ponderings
The Apostle said “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.” There’s not one of us who doesn’t want mercy and grace. It reminded me of buying a car in a way.  Features you might want often come packaged together so you can’t just take one, you have to take them all.

You don’t just get mercy and grace as individual features either.  They come packaged “with the faith and love that are in Christ.” They are not meant to excuse our ignorance and unbelief. They give us the courage to admit the power of Christ to recover the destructive effects of our ignorance and unbelief “as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”

Take The Package Deal.

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Posted in 1 Timothy, Reality, Sunday

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Off Kilter

Posted on January 31, 2016 | Leave a comment

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Ponderings:
The image of a teeter-totter came to my mind.  On one end are the options of darkness and sin and on the other light and forgiveness. They’re the competing elements of life that bring up the issue of finding balance.  Choosing to hover between those options is only going to leave us Off Kilter much of the time.

That struggle and making balance our goal is the inescapable evidence of our incompleteness and our need. Why would we want to settle for balance when we can get off the teeter totter and stand on firm ground with these promises?

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all…If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

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Seeds of Forever

Posted on January 24, 2016 | Leave a comment

Genesis 19:15With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” 16When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

My Thoughts:
This brings to mind, “once saved, always saved.” Right now Lot seems like the most stupid of men doesn’t he? What makes him hesitate? Is it the need to act immediately without time to reason and prepare or maybe some kind of disbelief; in the message, in the timing, in God? Any one of those options lead to the same conclusion. He’s not Godless but doesn’t seem all that Godly either! Lot is unsure of who he’s to follow, himself or God.

However God is not unsure about Lot. It’s hard to fathom why, but God has committed himself to Lot and He will not hesitate to act to save him and his family. And therein lie the Seeds of Forever. We think we have chosen God but remember he first loved us. We think we have committed ourselves fully but our choices are limited by “the truth we now have.”

Here’s the good news. God’s heart and your salvation are not limited by “the truth YOU now have.” When your heart spoke those words of commitment, God chose to accept the Christ in you…and your words, without reservation. He’s sure about that. His intention is for your forever even if you hesitate and he has to grasp your hand and lead you to safety.

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That’s the Truth

Posted on January 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

2 Peter 1:12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

Thoughts:
I had to stop and remind myself to pay attention to what comes after verse 12 because that verse is such an important thought for me.  I believe it with all my heart. I can be devout, I can be faithful…but…I am only “established in the truth [I] now have.   I am still a learner.

There are so many controversies that rage in the world of faith; devout people blowing up abortion clinics, devout muslims killing themselves and others in the name of holiness. Devout Christians with polar opposite views on the very same subject. Christians, like me, wanting so much to do the right thing and have the right position on any topic.  In the name of God, the temptation becomes picking a side to follow…rather than picking a Savior to follow.

That’s the Truth I need to be reminded of.

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Posted in 2 Peter, Daily Faith, Reality, Sunday

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Every Moment

Posted on January 10, 2016 | Leave a comment

Philippians 2:12 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,

Don’t live in the paralysis of self-analysis wondering about your every choice. Believe that God is in Every Moment, every thought, everything that happens; that His Spirit is guiding and interceding; that your behavior is being influenced by God…whether or not you’re consciously aware of it. That’s the “much more in my absence” part.

Be prepared to be dragged into the correction of conscious awareness sometimes; to have to admit you made the wrong choice, to have to repent, to have to forgive, and to have to ask for forgiveness. That’s the “fear and trembling” part.

Be prepared to have moments of grace and glory that warm you, change you, teach you, humble you…and surprise you with the conscious awareness of knowing that you did hear from God and responded. Remember it’s a joint effort, you are not in this alone. That’s the “working out” part.

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Posted in Growth, Philippians, Sunday

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