Posts Tagged ‘The Gospels’
[28APRIL2012] Eastertide Devotional Series
April 28, 2012 | 
Author [28APRIL2012] Eastertide Devotional Series
I will be posting this devotional series as part of my Eastertide reflections for the next three weeks (see this link for other installments in the series). Each week of this devotional series focuses on a specific theme (week one: brokenness, week two: repentance, and week three: renewal). I hope you’ll enjoy the series and I invite you to comment here on the blog or email me direct; I would love to hear your thoughts.
Renewal: Week 3 | Day 7
Scripture Reading: Mark 6:30-32; Matthew 6:6; Luke 5:16; Mark 1:35
Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.”
There is no substitute for “alone time” with God. I think most Christians might agree with this statement, although how we interpret that “time alone” with God might be up for discussion. It might be argued that time alone with God could look very different from person to person, but I’m not convinced that argument is true.
It used to be that I considered my devotion to God as time that I spent doing things for Him. My participation in and with ministry activities accounted for the majority of my time spent with God. Considering there are only so many hours in a day, I wasn’t left with much time remaining after I devoted time to ministry “doing,” employment, daily chores, family time, eating, and sleeping. It was easy for me to justify my acts of ministry, church attendance, and small group as my time with God. If I am honest with myself though, I realize as profitable and God-glorifying as those activities may be, they are still not a substitute for time spent alone with God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes; “We are so afraid of silence that we chase ourselves from one event to the next in order not to have to spend a moment alone with ourselves, in order not to have to look at ourselves in the mirror.” There simply is no substitute for devoted, intentional, silent time, alone with God. It is in this space, alone with Him, where we learn to hear the intimately personal Voice of God. Oh yeah, and as much as I wanted for it to count…my daily commute to work didn’t really qualify as the alone quiet time my soul needed with God; not that I couldn’t pray and/or worship on a work commute or long drive alone, but the distraction of attentive driving precluded devoted attentive listening to God.
Following a number of years of this faithful devotion, I realized the passion and fire of my faith was lacking. I was pretty much on autopilot and going through the motions of religion without much of a relationship with the God of my religion. Oh, I was a good person who was doing good things and I was surrounded by other good people who were doing good things. I’m relatively certain my salvation was secure during this season of life, but there really wasn’t much life in this season, at least not the abundant life that Jesus promises us. I was busy all the time, tired most of the time, and always feeling as if the rest and peace of God were always just out of reach. It pains me to admit this, but I would often claim to be living and experiencing the peace and joy of God, but more often than not, my words were empty faith claims. Around the year 2005-06 I started making silence and solitude with God a top priority in my life. As this has become a faithfully practiced discipline over my past six plus years, I now realize and live in the place of God’s rest, peace, and joy. The times when I fall short in my devotion of solitude with God, I quickly begin to unravel and resort to my old practices of hurried and harried living.
Reflect on and examine the schedule of your life; do you have margin for spending extended quiet time alone with God? When was the last time you spent extended and regular time alone in His presence?
Our Prayer: Father God, I miss You. I know that I could be more devoted in the time I set aside to sit at Your feet and enjoy Your presence. I’m sorry for making excuses and justifying my busy-ness as a reason for not getting alone with You. I pray that You would guide me and help me to reevaluate and reorganize my schedule, so I can make “alone time” with You my most valuable priority. Amen.
Posted in A Deeper Walk, Becoming the Word, Bible Speak, Eastertide, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Liturgical Year, Meditations, Spiritual Formation, The Liturgical Year | 
Tags: Discipleship, Eastertide, Jesus, Spiritual Formation, The Gospels, The Liturgical Year | 
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[21APRIL2012] Eastertide Devotional Series
[21APRIL2012] Eastertide Devotional Series
I will be posting this devotional series as part of my Eastertide reflections for the next three weeks (see this link for other installments in the series). Each week of this devotional series focuses on a specific theme (week one: brokenness, week two: repentance, and week three: renewal). I hope you’ll enjoy the series and I invite you to comment here on the blog or email me direct; I would love to hear your thoughts.
Repentance: Week 2 | Day 7
Scripture Reading: Luke 14:25-35 (see also: Matthew 10:16-40, Luke 9:57-62, John 15:18-25)
“If you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple…But don’t begin until you count the cost”
I included a few bonus passages of Scripture this morning because I think that sometimes we overlook a critical aspect of the process that is repentance. I know I did and Jesus’ words to us reveal a seemingly inarguable position that he also believed this point was critical… so much so that he told would-be followers, “don’t begin until you count the cost.” The very idea of what may be implied in these words puts a lump in my throat.
As we have examined some of the elements rolled into this word “repentance,” we’ve realized that it doesn’t just mean “feeling bad about the things I do.” Repentance means to change your mind about your life’s direction, making a turn toward that new and better destination, and then moving continually along the path always moving closer to the ultimate destination with eyes, heart, and hope fixed on arriving at the goal. But Jesus also says; “Don’t begin until you count the cost.” Why does he say this?
The reason Jesus makes this point is that staying the course of repentance and remaining a faithful disciple of Jesus is not easy. The path of repentance will take us on a journey through trials and temptations, desolations and consolations of the soul, extreme mountain-top experiences with the presence of God and tearfully lonely times when it seems as though God is far from us… We will lose things and people we love, ideas and beliefs will be broken, and our false idols crushed… And, this might just be the beginning of what lies along the road of repentance. Yes, there are glorious days that await us and we will experience some of them along the way, but the point is this: “Don’t begin until you count the cost.” Jesus desires disciples that are all in and willing to complete the journey.
The result of a disciple who has fully counted the cost and then decided to trust and follow Jesus is this: confidence in the face of adversity, joy even in seasons of grief, gentle calmness of soul even when chaos surrounds, discernment, knowledge, and wisdom…yes, the very mind of Christ in a world that reeks of uncertainty. He has given us everything we need to live a godly life; even to sharing in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:2-4). How do we do this; what is our part? Our part is to trust, obey, die to self and follow. It isn’t easy, but it is simple…and it will always, always begins with a repentant heart.
Have you ever really counted the cost of your journey with Jesus? Do you have unrealized expectations about your Christian journey? Are your expectations unrealistic? Are your expectations consistent with the teachings of Jesus? Have you considered giving up on your faith because it was harder than you realized? How do you feel or what do you think about the current state of your relationship with God?
Our Prayer: O Holy and Eternal Father, I admit that I might have unreal expectations sometimes with the dailyness of my faith. While I know there will be trials, sometimes they seem harder than I can bear and other times they simply do not make sense to me what their purpose may be. I know You said, “Take comfort” and “rejoice in times of suffering…” but I find it hard to do this. I pray You to help me in my growing pains; help me to overcome as you overcome. Help me to confidently put on your cloak of righteousness and walk with the heart of a submissive servant, anxious to do Your will and grow in Your grace. May it be so in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
[20APRIL2012] Eastertide Devotional Series
[20APRIL2012] Eastertide Devotional Series
I will be posting this devotional series as part of my Eastertide reflections for the next three weeks (see this link for other installments in the series). Each week of this devotional series focuses on a specific theme (week one: brokenness, week two: repentance, and week three: renewal). I hope you’ll enjoy the series and I invite you to comment here on the blog or email me direct; I would love to hear your thoughts.
Repentance: Week 2 | Day 6
Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:1-12, Galatians 5:22-23 (see also John 15:1-8)
“You brood of snakes… Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath?”
This is certainly one of the “ouchie” statements we read from Scripture. At first glance, I quickly wipe the sweat from my brow and thank God that John is talking to those wicked Pharisees and Sadducees… and not directing his words to me. Hmmm… or is he directing his words toward me after all? It’s easy to make villains of the Pharisees and Sadducees, they seem to be the bad boys of the New Testament. Even Jesus denounced them more harshly than any other group of people. However, there is something about John the Baptist’s words in this passage of text that prompts me to look a little more closely.
When he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.
Let’s forget about the Pharisees and Sadducees for a moment. Ask yourself what your motivation for coming to Jesus is? Is it to simply save yourself? “Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath?” I think this is an interesting question to ask myself. It’s easy to think that because I’ve said a prayer asking for forgiveness and joined a church that “I’m safe.” John’s words make me rethink this position… he as much as says “that means nothing” if my repentance doesn’t reveal itself in fruit that proves I have turned toward God. And, what is the fruit of repentance?
I’m sure fruits of repentance manifest themselves tangibly in a number of ways, but I think the journey of transformation that repentance leads us on is very closely related to being re-imaged in the image and character of Christ. Subsequently, I think we get a good picture of what this fruit might involve from the Apostle’s description in Galatians 5:22-23; “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
The question then, I should ask, is this: “Is my motivation for coming to Jesus to save my own skin aka ‘flee the coming wrath?’” Or, is my motivation to be fully reconciled to God through Jesus Christ and allow Him to remake my image into His likeness and fruit? As I finish typing this another saying of Jesus comes to my memory; “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Matt. 16:25). If I honestly examine my life, do I see the evidence of godly fruit such as a more loving nature, exhibiting joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?
Our Prayer Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner. I pray today, O Lord, that I have not grown complacent and satisfied thinking I have arrived or I am safe because of the words I speak or the church I attend. I pray you would have your way in my life, help me to completely surrender my life to you, so I might bear the kind of fruit that truly reflects your character and nature. I want to be your true disciple, one who bears much fruit and brings much glory to You, my God and King. Amen.
