Where We Start Matters

S - "When you speak with God, don’t talk on and on as people do who don’t know God. They think God likes to hear long speeches. Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask. You should speak to him like this: “Our Father in heaven, we honor your name.”" Matthew 6:7-9 

O - Where we start matters.  Jesus comes to enable us to know where to start in our thinking, speaking, living, praying and loving. When it comes to God, he invites and instructs us to start at only one place - Father; more specifically our Father and the focus is love; that we are loved and wanted unconditionally (at our worst not just at our best).  Religion wants us to start at Creator/Judge and the focus is sin (performance). While God is the Creator Judge and sin is an issue it is not the most important one.  Theology wants us to start at Eternal/Almighty and the focus is accurate information (knowing about). God is the Eternal/Almighty and accurate information is not a bad thing but it too is not the most important one. Without love it all becomes noise and nothing even if it is true.

 

A - If we start at Creator/Judge and move toward Father that "father" is never fully pleased with us. If we start at Eternal/Almighty and move toward Father that "father" is distant and disinterested in us. Religion calls us to the Courtroom; Theology calls us to the Schoolroom; and Heaven is calling us to our own room in our Father's House. "Then Jesus said to the crowds [all the people] and to his followers: … none of you should be called a teacher. You have only one teacher, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Don’t call anyone on earth your father. All of you have the same Father in heaven." Matthew 23:1, 8-9 

 

P - Our Father,

Thank you for sending Jesus so I would know where to start every day, every circumstance in my thinking about You, others and life on earth. Thank you for wanting me at my worst … for loving us first and most and for refusing to change your mind. Thank you for inviting us to our own rooms in your house.  I do love you back.

Steve

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” Albert Einstein

S - "About this same time Jesus was told that Pilate had given orders for some people from Galilee to be killed while they were offering sacrifices. Jesus replied: Do you think that these people were worse sinners than everyone else in Galilee just because of what happened to them? Not at all! But you can be sure that if you don’t change your thinking, every one of you will also end in ruin. What about those 18 people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse than everyone else in Jerusalem? Not at all! But you can be sure that if you don’t change your thinking, every one of you will also end in ruin." Luke 13:1-5

O - God sends Jesus of Nazareth to the world to clarify his person and purposes.  How would he begin the conversation?  What statement would he have Jesus start with?  Jesus begins the conversation by saying: "Change your thinking.  The kingdom of Heaven is near." The current events described in the section above shows him continuing the invitation and instruction to pursue a change in our thinking. To refuse this ongoing change is to end in ruin.  

 

A - Culture (religion, politics, etc.) is always trying to change peoples’ opinions.  Heaven is inviting and insisting on a complete change (transformation) of thinking. In computer terms it is a completely different Operating System (OS) not a mere change of programs or apps.  The new OS affects everything, every program, that runs on the computer.  The kingdom is near and is insisting on change, an ongoing transformation, of our thinking.  Jesus examples, describes and is the way of this transformation. I admit, accept and pursue this essential and ongoing dynamic of a change in my thinking!

 

P - God who sent Jesus of Nazareth,

Thank you for the clarity and essential coaching he brings to us and to our world.  Believing him about earth and not just about heaven is key. I accept that living this out loud is always more important than saying it out loud.  Yes to you and to following him.

Steve 

Why the Why Matters

S - "The next morning Jesus went out to a place where he could be alone, and crowds came looking for him. When they found him, they tried to stop him from leaving. But Jesus said, “People in other towns must hear the good news of God’s kingdom. This is why I was sent.” So he kept on speaking in the synagogues in Judea. According to Luke 4:42-44

O - This exchange between Jesus and the crowds of people looking for him is one of the many times he will state the purpose for his coming to earth. It is simply and directly identified. Jesus is sent by the Father to clarify his person and purposes. He is God's message to the world and he brings the exact representation of God's person and Kingdom. He tells the people "This is why I was sent." As will be stated all through the accounts, something greater than Solomon, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Jonah, David, the Sabbath, the Temple and the Twelve is here.

A - Whenever the religious and religions of our world lay their claim to Jesus of Nazareth they all present a reason, the why, of his appearing. Though there are many wonderful dynamics in the coming, living and teaching of Jesus, the priority he gives for being sent is to clarify God's person and purposes. This singular and consistent affirmation is the one reality all religious teaching and practice ignores and resists. This tragic response was true of the religions of the first century and is just as true of those of the twenty-first century. Jesus is not merely a very important part of God's plan; not a necessary actor to embellish the world's information base of God. He is the exact expression sent to the entire world. He says: "When a person believes in me, they do not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When they look at me, they see the one who sent me." What I am accepting as the why of Jesus' coming directly affects my response to God, his Kingdom and my fellow human beings. I accept Jesus' explanation of himself.

P - God of all and God of me,
Thank you for the crystal-clear picture given to all through Jesus. Whenever my picture of you and/or your kingdom is not identical to him, I admit I have the wrong picture and will actively recalibrate my thinking, living and loving … but will need your help. I am confident I will receive such help because of him.

Steve