Monday, February 26, 2007

How Do We Pray?

Good morning dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ! Remember that “it’s a great day to be alive!” (There’s a story behind that phrase that I’ll share someday)

Today's passage is 1 Kings 8:22-30.

Have you prayed today? Did you pray yesterday in church service? Did you hear your pastor or someone else lead the prayer yesterday? Are you going to pray with your family sometime today? If so, how are you going to pray? That is, is there a certain pattern that you usually follow?

You’ve most likely heard the “ACTS” pattern which is based on the Biblical pattern of prayer:
A – Adoration and praise
C – Confession
T – Thanksgiving
S – Supplication

Many prayers that I’ve heard (and I certainly include the prayers I pray!) seem to have the tendency to invert the ACTS pattern. That is, our human nature is concerned with supplication, what I need or want. Now, God wants to hear the desires and needs of our heart, but He also wants to hear adoration and praise. We need to have a balanced prayer pattern. Notice the following prayer from the Bible:

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below-- you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it-- as it is today…” (1 Kings 8:22-24)

Notice the opening sentences of Solomon’s prayer before God and how he names God, lifts up and praises Him, and declares His mighty works and faithfulness; notice also how many times Solomon uses the pronouns “you” and “your”.

How do your prayers begin? Do they quickly move to “Bless memy need is…grant me…Help meI need…etc.”? Again, there is nothing wrong with asking God for something, He wants to hear that. But for our prayers to be “balanced”, we should acknowledge and remember to declare God’s faithfulness and mighty works in a spirit of praise and adoration.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, You who created all things and have given us your love. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. You have provided for us for our every need. You alone are worthy of our praise. I praise and thank You this day for our goodness and mercy. Help me this day to remember You in all areas of my prayer and daily life. In your Son's name I pray. Amen.

By grace alone,
Pastor David

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Make Every Effort...

A good day to everyone wherever you are. May God’s grace and favor be upon you this day and every day. I pray that everyone’s week has been a productive and blessed one.

The passage for today is Hebrews 12:12-17.

In this passage, we find the following verse, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”[1] When we think of “holiness”, what comes to our minds? What image comes to mind we think of God’s command to “be holy”? Perhaps the first image that comes to mind would be God Himself since only He is absolutely holy, perfect, and pure – this image is easy to imagine. But to say “me” be holy, perfect, and pure – this image is not so easy to imagine; and rightly so because again, only God is absolutely holy, pure, and perfect. But how can understand this verse that calls us to be holy for “without holiness no one will see the Lord?”

The Biblical concept of “holiness” for believers involves a whole-hearted devotion, commitment, and dedication of our lives to following God’s ways and of love for Him and our neighbor. Now, in this particular verse, the writer to Hebrews expressly affirmed that our holiness is reflected in a specific attitude – “to live in peace with all…” But not only that, we are also charged with the following action: “[You] Make every effort…” If I were to stand up in church next Sunday and ask, “Who wants to live in peace with everyone?” I’m sure most hands, if not all, would be raised. And then if I asked, “Who is willing to make every effort to live in peace with all even if it means admitting and accepting that you were wrong and reconciling with that person?”

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent season – a time to reflect on our relationship with God and with others. Is there peace in all of your relationships? If not, have you made every effort? Have you made any effort? Is there peace in your relationship with God? Let us use this season of Lent to reflect and make every effort to live in peace with God and one another.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that I can trust in You and confess to You my weaknesses and doubts. Help me overcome any obstacles in living in peace with all, especially with You. And help me to make every effort to live in peace with those around me. In Your name I pray. Amen.

By grace alone,
Pastor David

[1] Hebrew 12:14

Monday, February 19, 2007

Who is Your Master?

Dear friends, may the beginning of this week prove to be one of renewed energy and strength as we trust in the Lord that together with Him, we can make it through whatever may come our way this week.

Jesus’ familiar phrase “You cannot serve both God and Money”[1] was addressed to his disciples with the Pharisees eavesdropping in the passage found in Luke 16:1-13. The complete verse where that phrase is found by Jesus reads, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Money.”[2]

About one-fourth of what Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount had to do with money (materialism). It is also said that Jesus spoke more on the topic of money and material possessions than he did on prayer. Should we deduct that material possessions were more important than Jesus; no, but he was fully aware of human nature’s tendency to cling to material possessions in such a way that our devotion to God would become mediocre.

Jesus’ own words clarify that he was not only warning against the dangers of “money” when he said, “No servant can serve two masters.” God is the Master and the other master can be any number of “things.” All along Jesus’ main objective with his disciples was to make of them devout followers of the Father’s ways. If the Father is not mastering our lives, then something else is. Who/what is mastering our time, energy, resources, etc. It is not so much that Jesus is calling us to abstain from routine activities; rather, he is cautioning against allowing for those routine activities to shape, form, rule, govern, and master our lives.

Who is your master? What is your master? Who or what determines what you do with your time, energy, resources, etc.? Is the Father’s agenda?

A faithful disciple’s goal is to live under the Father’s master agenda more and more each day while becoming less and less influenced by the popular cultural pull; in short, for the Father to master us, and not for us to master ourselves.

Prayer: Lord, help me realize that if You are not my Master, then something else is. Through your Spirit grant me direction and strength to seek out the Father’s agenda in such a way You truly would master over my life. In Your Name I pray. Amen.

By grace alone,
Pastor David

[1] Luke 16:13
[2] Ibid.

Friday, February 16, 2007

"Take nothing for the journey..."

Dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, I’m sure that you are rejoicing that it’s Friday and a weekend of peace and rest (?) is at hand. Thank God for this week that He has seen us through.

In Luke 9:1-6, Jesus sent out the twelve disciples for their first “missions” journey. Their mission was “simple”: preach about the kingdom of God and minister healing to the sick. Of course, there is nothing simple about that. And Jesus’ instructions were: “Take nothing for the journey – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.”[1] Luke 9:6 tells of the disciples’ obedience to Jesus’ commands to take nothing and to fulfill his mission. I’m sure that in the back of their minds the disciples must have been wondering what they would eat and what money they would use to survive.

In much the same way as the disciples, Jesus has set us on a journey; a life time journey of discipleship in which our hearts and minds are being shaped and formed through the Holy Spirit. And just as Jesus told his disciples that they needed to leave some stuff behind, he asks us to leave some “stuff” behind. What is that “stuff”?

I’m reminded of the verse that says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”[2] I like the way the New Living Translation words the phrase, “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.”[3]

That “stuff” is whatever hinders or slows down our progress in the journey of becoming more like Christ. That “stuff” can be easily traced to the “sin that so easily entangles” us. To many, sin entangles their hearts and minds in such a way that they are blinded to God’s good purpose for their lives. However, that “stuff” can become every day activities that pull us away from doing God’s good will.

God’s good and perfect will is for us to be whole in all that we are and do. Our relationship with God and those we love make us whole; our love and service to God and one another make us whole.

Is there any “stuff” that is hindering or slowing down that progress in your journey? If so, Jesus invites us as he did to his disciples, to leave it behind and fix our eyes on our journey with him.

Prayer: Help me today, my Lord, to discover your good, perfect, and acceptable will and to focus all of my desire and energy upon doing it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.[4]

Have a great and blessed weekend!

By grace alone,

Pastor David

[1] Luke 9:3 (NIV)
[2] Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
[3] Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)
[4] From A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People, The Upper Room.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

I Did It "My Way"

Dear Friends,

May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ be with each of you in a special way this and every day of your lives. After dealing with the flu for several days, it’s good to share some devotional thoughts again.

Today’s passage is Hebrews 1:1-4. Although God had already spoken to the world through various ways, including the prophets, He chose to send his Son to be the “exact representation” of Himself to us. The Incarnation of Jesus came to reveal to us what a son or daughter of God should look like. In the way that he lived, thought, and acted, Jesus gave us a prime example of what words, behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes God is looking for in us.

One of the central issues we deal with in our Christian journey as disciples is pride. Our pride will many times get in the way of something good that God is trying to do. Essentially, pride (in the selfish, self-centered negative sense) is about self-gratification…first. It is about satisfying the ego. It’s no wonder that English adopted the Greek word “ego” (which means “I”) to represent our “egoism”, “egocentrism”, etc. This is the pull of human nature. “My way is the best way” is our human tendency. Without the mind of Christ, it is difficult, to not say impossible, to get beyond that tendency. In fact, our relational conflicts can always be traced back, in one way or another, to egoism – “my way is the best way…first.”

Naturally, Jesus came to show us just the opposite. In fact, Jesus came to show us a “healthy” and “holy” pride; that is, a heart that seeks to please and glorify the Father…first, and only. Everything else will fall into place. Jesus was “proud” to be the Father’s Son who lived in joyful and humble obedience before Him. Jesus learned to deal with enormous success and praise (signs and wonders in ministry) and still remain humble before the Father. He also had to face much criticism. But in the midst of it all, Jesus embodied the prophet Jeremiah’s words, “‘but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the LORD.”[1]

Jesus knew the Father. We know Him, too. Our relationship with the Father should lead us to that “healthy pride” of joyful and humble obedience, of pleasing and glorifying the Father, and of not making “my way” the only way in our relationship with others.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving me through good and not so good times. Forgive me when “my way” has gotten in your way of doing something good in me, for me, or through me for others. Help me to imitate you as I strive to walk in joyful obedience. In your Name I pray. Amen.

By grace alone,
Pastor David

[1] Jeremiah 9:24

Monday, February 05, 2007

The Easy Way Out

Good morning to all of you good people! My hope and prayer is that the beginning of this new week has been uneventful and full of God’s blessings.

Today’s passage is found in Luke 14:7-14 where Jesus was eating at the house of a prominent Pharisee. One can only imagine that some of the “cream of the crop” of the religious leaders were present. During this visit, Jesus shared a parable that exposed our human tendency to look for those places (or seats) of “honor” at weddings and banquets; and Jesus gave his reasons why this should not be so. A key verse in this parable is verse 11, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” No matter how you slice it, this takes work. Humility? Humble myself? Who, me?

In a day and age when popular culture is mostly (if not all) about self-oriented instant gratification, bigger is better, materialistic power, etc, Jesus’ call could not be more challenging. Look around you (if you are at work, for example), who has the place of “honor”? Are you in a place of “honor”? Does it feel “exalting”? Is it easy to be humble when we are in a place of “honor”? James echoed Jesus when he wrote, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).

Our humility begins “before the Lord.” When we see God’s grace to us in light of who we are (and aren’t), we’re humbled. The fruit of that humility is of course a humble attitude that leads us to seek to walk in God’s ways in all we do, particularly in our approach to those who are not in places of honor. In fact, as he continued his parable Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 7:12-14).

The essence of what Jesus was saying here is “Don’t take the easy way out.” In today’s world, there are short cuts for everything from weight loss to learning another language to getting out of debt. One devotional writer I read this morning said, “The task of [those] who work for the Kingdom of God is to work for the Kingdom of God.”[1]

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to seek to be humble before the Lord, to live out this call is nothing easy. It takes work. It is true that salvation is a gift, it is not earned. But we must work at being true to that gift.

Are you tempted to take the “easy way out” in your walk with Christ? Is God’s Word the source of your strength, wisdom, power, and direction? Do you seek to be a Christ-like servant to those who are not in places of “honor”?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for looking at me when I was in a place of no “honor”. Thank you for your grace that saw me through. Enable me this day to be true to you as I seek to live humbly before you and as I strive to work for your Kingdom. In your Son’s name I pray. Amen.

By grace alone,
Pastor David

[1] From “The Inward Journey” by Howard Thurman

Friday, February 02, 2007

The Greatest Paradox...The Greatest Truth

Blessings to each of you as we look forward to the weekend.

Read 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Key verses: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

“9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I don’t know that I’ve ever felt my strongest during a time of weakness or frailty. I don’t know that when difficult times of trial and difficulty have come my way that I have felt like a “super-Christian”. And furthermore, I can’t say that I’ve exactly “delighted” in weaknesses or hardships. That is, when I look at it from strictly the human dimension.

The ultimate paradox seems to be “for when I am weak, then I am strong”(!). We have all had moments in life that have seemed like the ultimate hardship, difficulty, trial, or weakness. That ultimate moment of crisis could have been in a personal or relational sense or any other number of ways. The truth is that humanly speaking those moments are crushing. They can be devastating even. They impact our emotions and health. And they impact our communion with God, and our relationship with others. Worry, anxiety, difficulty, weakness, hardship, etc., can crush the human soul.

And yet, somewhere, somehow, God’s word breaks through to us with that great truth – “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Without reading the beginning of verse 9 this statement doesn’t make much sense. Verse 9 says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” At the moment of deepest despair, weakness, and anxiety, God’s grace is sufficient for us. When we trust in God’s grace to sustain us, then we are stronger than our weakness. When God’s grace becomes our ultimate anchor, then His power is made perfect in us and we are able to endure the tough times.

Where are you in this paradox? Has the weakness overcome you? Is there anxiety in your life that you need to trust God’s grace to? God’s grace and power are perfect in our weakness…but only when we yield to His loving call.

Prayer: Lord, in a world that is competing for our best, give me the faith to turn to You as my ultimate source of power. Help me trust in your grace to be sufficient for me. And help me to overcome my weakness with your power. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

By grace alone,
Pastor David