How's Work?

S - Luke 17:14-19 (TLJ): "When Jesus saw the men, he said, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." While the ten men were going to the priests, they were healed. When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus. He praised God loudly. He bowed at Jesus' feet and thanked him. (He was a Samaritan). Jesus said, "Ten men were healed; where are the other nine? This man is not even one of our people. Is he the only one who came back to give praise to God?" Then Jesus said to the man, "Stand up! You can go. You were healed because you believed.""

O - Jesus identified only one factor in the healing of all ten -- "because you believed."  Their belief was a motivator for their request, their starting out to show themselves to the priests and the beautiful discovery of their healed bodies.  Faith, not pedigree, theological acumen, religious standing or personal disciplines was and is the focus.  Faith is essential not in volume but in focus (Jesus) and consistency (from first to last).  Jesus' coaching of Jairus is applicable for us all "Don't be afraid, merely believe."

A - There are many fears and many sources for fear.  Faith has one source (God's grace - Ephesians 2:8-9) and one focus (Jesus - John 6:28-29). Mustard seed sized faith pleases God and makes all things possible to the one believing.  When fears are hounding and howling … faith is work.  When circumstances challenge and my expectations of how things should be going disintegrate faith is work. The ten lepers worked through it all and received.  One returned to give thanks and an affirmation which would inspire him forever.  Today, I get to do the work of believing according to grace … and everything becomes possible (I can hear Snow White's seven friends singing in the background…).

P - Jesus,

Thank you that my/our primary work is generated according to grace and focused exclusively on your person so that every day all things would stay possible for those who believe.  Lord, I believe … help my unbelief.  Thank you that successful faith is not about volume but your person; it is not about getting but following your directions all the way through.  Today, I want to please you by faith and love you back by following.  Today I ask for new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and that which is too wonderful for me.

All my love,

Steve

Don't be Stupid, Connect the Dots

S - Mark 6:46-52 (NIV): "After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened."

O - How did the disciples miss the obvious implications of Jesus' person and power via the loaves and fishes?  While walking on water is amazing, the text says they were "completely amazed" … which came only after being completely terrified. The Greek for completely amazed indicates an extreme which borders on insanity.  The term for hardened means to petrify or be calloused, to make stupid. The word for "understood" (sunivhmi: to set or bring together, to comprehend ) tells us they failed to connect the dots.  So, what was it that hardened their hearts and resulted in them missing this? Scripture does not tell us but I'm wondering if it was, at least in part, our constant assessing of possibility and probability; the degrees of difficulty.  The feeding of the five thousand was certainly improbable and difficult but walking on water would be exponentially more difficult.  Jesus doesn't think that way at all.  "Everything is possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23)."

A - This shows me (again) that even when thinking "theologically" I can have in mind the things of humans rather than the things of God.  I do assess degrees of difficulty and probability.  I do think about inevitabilities and how things work on earth, the patterns of occurrence.  It's not that I need to deny the normal workings on this planet, it is that I need to NOT be limited by them in my thinking, believing, praying, loving, acting and speaking because of Jesus and in my relationship with Jesus.  Today, with God all things are possible.  Today, as a recipient of so many miraculous happenings, I need to start with Jesus and keep my little mind and heart near him for whom nothing is too difficult, impossible or too wonderful.  He says to me and to all "don't be afraid, merely believe."  I say to me and to all don't be stupid, connect the dots J.

P - Lord of all and Lord of me,

Thank you for your willingness to keep acting, to keep loving, to keep showing mercy even when I fail to connect the dots.  Thank you for always remembering that I am frail as breath and just dust and for never forgetting to be merciful.  Today I need to think differently, to change the way I think because you are near!  Lord, help me start and stay in that nearness and beauty where everything is possible even when things aren't going as I had hoped because you are yet working everything for good.  I admit that you are purposeful in everything you cause AND in everything you allow.  Lord Jesus, today while it is called today I get to/need to change my thinking because you and your kingdom are near.

Looking for dots to connect,

Steve

Same Words--Very Different Conclusions

S - Matthew 16:21-27 (NIV): "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done."

O - How can Jesus tell Peter he doesn't have in mind the things of God?  Peter has in mind justice, Christology, his love for Jesus, the greatness and worth of Jesus to name just a little of the inspiration which must have been working in "the Rock" who had received the Father's revelation about Jesus' true identity (cf. Matthew 16:15-20).  All of this and more Jesus dismisses as "the things of men" because it was all assimilated and concluded as earth thinks and acts not as heaven does.  The remedy for this tragic misunderstanding is as sure as the way this earth will end. We must lose our lives for them to be found, we must learn to think like heaven and not earth; and Jesus will come back in his Father's glory. Stephen Covey got it right "begin with the end in view."

A - This is the point for me every day and in each circumstance … will I have in mind the things of men with a religious or "spiritual" overlay OR will I have in mind the things of God … the God whose kingdom is at hand and who calls me to change the way I think because of it?  If I will lose my life he will find it.  If I will lay it down he will take it up and fill it with his irrepressible life.  If I will keep in mind the things of God by thinking, acting, loving and speaking like Jesus then I will avoid the tragic miscue of using the words without embracing their meaning.  Today, I will believe by following as Jesus instructs and leads.

P - Lord who is coming and is here right now,

Today is my only venue to love you back, grow, know you more, make you glad and be a reason someone else might believe.  Lord, today is your crafted gift to me and to the whole world and so I say heal my eyes, enable me to  open my heart and mind and let me follow so that your life will come into me and your life flow out of me. I ask, I seek, I knock according to new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and that which is too wonderful for me.

Asking to think, speak, act and love like you,

Steve

Flowers for a Wedding or a Funeral?

S - Matthew 6:25-34 (TLJ): "Look at the wildflowers in the field. See how they grow. They don't work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that even Solomon, the great and rich king, was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers.  If God makes what grows in the field so beautiful, what do you think he will do for you? It's just grass--one day it's alive, and the next day someone throws it into a fire. But God cares enough to make it beautiful. Surely he will do much more for you. Your faith is so small! Don't worry and say, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' That's what those people who don't know God are always thinking about. Don't worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. What you should want most is God's kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these others things you need.  So don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries."

O - The trouble with this teaching is multifaceted. First of all, culture (secular and religious) teaches, insists, affirms, threatens and punishes all based on worrying about all the things Jesus says to not worry about. It's discovered it can, all on its own, TAKE the things Jesus says the Father is very willing to give.  Secondly, worry-inspired thinking and living can accumulate these things in vast quantities and even claim God's blessing and help in such undertakings.  Jesus, on the other hand, says that's exactly how people who don't know God act. The issue is ultimately NOT one of provision but of loyalty and devotion. He begins these observations with the truth (Matthew 6:24): "You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one and love the other, or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money at the same time." Lastly, Jesus asks the question: "what do you think he [God] will do for you?" The culture of worry demands an uncompromising conclusion--nothing … God will not do for you what you can do for yourself. The result? Not only do we worry, we teach and affirm it; we don't want what God wants most and we deceive ourselves that we really can ignore the words of Jesus and still be his followers.

A - In my culture beautiful flowers are in attendance for both funerals and weddings.  The flowers are the same but the occasions they mark are extremely different. One is death the other life.  One is a conclusive conclusion while the other is a hope-filled beginning.  Jesus identifies for me that each day is already occasioned with flowers from God … and I choose the type of occasion the day will be.  My living and worrying or not worrying (not my talking and religious observances) reveal if my day (even amidst great abundance) is a funeral or a wedding procession; if I will live out the fierce personal loyalty God offers and deserves or if I will live out a diverted and perverted devotion. I really can't serve God and what I eat, wear or store up. Today, I am going to trust (fierce personal loyalty); engage the work of believing, the focus of following and the joy of a wedding procession.  

P - Lord who makes all things beautiful,

Today I want to thank you for sending flowers … and for letting me choose their place in the procession of this day. Lord, I choose life and wedding according to your greatness and grace. Today I want to live out loud the fierce personal loyalty you deserve; to refuse the worry my world insists I accept and to accept the joy of your will on earth like it happens in heaven … unto undivided devotion to you and daily bread.  Cause your life, irrepressible and vibrant, to come into and out of me.  Please let me be a reason another might believe.

Loving you back and thinking about all you will do,

Steve