Understanding God's Secrets

S - "I have explained the secrets about God’s kingdom to you. But for others I use stories, so they will look, but not see, and they will hear, but not understand. … Pay attention to how you listen! Everyone who has something will be given more, but people who have nothing will lose what little they think they have. Jesus’ mother and brothers went to see him, but because of the crowd they could not get near him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.” Jesus answered, “My mother and my brothers are those people who hear and obey God’s message.”" Luke 8 TS

O - What's the secret to understanding the secrets? Is heaven playing favorites? Who determines who is in and who is out; who gets more and who loses what they already have?  The beautifully shocking answer is we do.  Anyone can be Jesus' mother and brothers.  Anyone can understand and receive more.  The determining factor is how anyone chooses to listen and to live as a result of hearing.  To hear and engage is to be guaranteed more.  To hear and merely consider is to be guaranteed loss.    

A - The followers are engaging and therefore gaining the understanding of God's Kingdom and the more which is sure to follow. It's not a matter of performance but of following and living out loud that which is the substance of God's Kingdom which is near. It is in the how we listen … with our lives not just our brains. The invitation remains wide open to all. Jesus says "follow me and I will make you …"  I will follow and listen with how I live.

P - God in Heaven above and on earth below,

Thank you for sending Jesus to clarify everything … including the identity of your family and the way to understand any and all secrets. It is clearly not religious and is completely relational. Thank you for the incredible dignity given to all people … an invitation to follow and the individual right to choose to respond or not. I am choosing (and will need your help to do it) to listen by how I live out loud not just by what I say out loud. You are completely amazing and I am completely amazed.

Steve  

Regarding Your Worst Day(s)

S -"Jesus said, “Simon, listen to me! Satan has demanded the right to test each one of you, as a farmer does when he separates wheat from the husks. But Simon, I have asked God to keep your faith from failing. And when you have returned, help the others.”" Luke 23 TS

O -  It’s more than interesting to note that Jesus prayed for Peter’s faith to not fail rather than for him to not fail.  The curious thinking and praying of Jesus are even more intensified when considering his earlier description of the penalty for public denial. “If you tell others you belong to me, I will tell my Father in heaven you are my followers. But if you deny me, I will tell my Father in heaven you don’t belong to me (Matthew 10).” Not only so, but after his public failure, Peter’s assignment will be to “help the others.” 

A -  On just about every topic Jesus really does think very differently and he’s expecting, insisting and helping his followers to do the same.  The truth is, Peter has been helping others by his life experience (including his failure) for about two thousand years.  I am certainly one of those so helped. His public performance that night was a complete failure.  His ongoing response to Jesus, his reliance on and confidence in Jesus, remains a great success. Apparently, Jesus knows that we are (I am) little and weak on our best day and that we will have many days far from best.  His response to us all remains “Follow me and I will make you…” I will rely on, have confidence in and follow him day by day!      

P -  Lord who is life, eternal, vibrant and irrepressible, 

Thank you for loving us first, most and for refusing to change your mind even when we give you reasons to.  You call us to yourself and to help others with the very help we’ve received from you. I am very anxious for the ongoing change of thinking and living you want in me/us and through me/us. All these years later you remain unintimidated by any failure and unimpressed by any success. Coming near and staying near is the point. Yes to you and to your thinking and living.

All my hope is in you and your relentless love,

Steve

The Person not the Concept

S -"“I always see the Lord near me, and I will not be afraid with him at my right side. Because of this, my heart will be glad, my words will be joyful, and I will live in hope. …  He has shown me the path to life, and he makes me glad by being near me.”" Acts 2 TS

O -  These thoughts originally come from Psalm 16 and are a direct reference to Jesus (according to the Scriptures). In Jesus they also have a direct application to all who love him. The source of joy, confidence, hope and life is a person and his presence with us and in us. Repelling fear, living in hope and maintaining a joyful commentary do not come from any circumstance or the embrace of a concept or principle. Regardless of the situation and/or its cause the path of vibrant irrepressible life and all it entails is available exclusively in the experience of his person and presence. 

A -  This relational dynamic awaits any and all. It is not me trying to pretend or practice the reality of his presence or imagining that he is near. The hope and confidence identified are not generated by us but received from the person of Jesus. This has been my consistent experience day by day and situation by situation the last nine years. In life’s challenges and hardships, I don’t always start in this reality but if I’m willing I can always experience it. Jesus affirms, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you (John 14).” It is amazing because he is absolutely amazing.

P -  Lord who is literally near,

Thank you for your open-ended invitation to come near and stay near. Thank you for your defiant mercy and relentless love. You yourself are life, hope, confidence and joy. I am grateful to be living in and with you.

All my love,

Steve

Why He Was Sent

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 about God’s kingdom. This is why I was sent.” So he kept on speaking in the synagogues in Judea.” Luke 4 TS

O - Jesus was sent to clarify the person and purposes of God. He only did what the Father was doing (John 5). He only said what the Father was saying (John 12). In fact, he said "…  "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me." (John 12) He is the EXACT representation of the Father (Hebrews 1:3). This is why he was sent.

A - Heaven wants the world God loves to be crystal clear on his person and purposes. Jesus is that clarity. If my picture of the Father is not identical to Jesus heaven wants me to change the picture. The Scripture experts and religious elites of Jesus’ day were those who opposed and resisted Jesus and refused to make the change. I do not want to be among them. He is the message sent to the 7.7 billion God loves. 

P - Father of Jesus,

Thank you making it crystal clear to us concerning your person and purposes. Am gratefully delighted to believe Jesus about you; about heaven and about earth. Thank you for your relentless love and defiant mercy. I really do love you back.

Steve

Finally

S -"Then Jesus said, “What can I compare God’s kingdom with? It is like what happens when a woman mixes yeast into three batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.”" Luke 13 TS

O - Jesus is the ultimate material witness, message and expert of God and his Kingdom.  He identifies the Kingdom, individually and universally, starts infinitesimally small. When the mixture of heaven (yeast) with earth (dough) occurs there is no immediately discernible change. It all looks the same. However, once the yeast is in the dough the transforming dynamic has begun.  Time elapses and then “finally” ALL the dough rises (each of the three batches). Each batch may not rises identically or in synchronistic precision — but they will all rise. YAY!!!!      

A -  When I think about the world God loves as groups of people (nationally, religiously, ethnically, etc.) they are different batches.  When I think about the areas of my own life (mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, etc) these too are different batches. The beauty is once the yeast of the Kingdom is introduced,  all the batches will rise … finally. This is at least one of the reasons Jesus instructs us: "Don’t judge others, and God won’t judge you. Don’t be hard on others, and God won’t be hard on you. Forgive others, and God will forgive you. If you give to others, you will be given a full amount in return … The way you treat others is the way you will be treated." [Luke 6 TS]. For the batches in my own life, the lives of others and the batches of our world … I will live this way and rejoice when finally they all rise.   

P -  God who is like the woman mixing in the yeast,

I am so very thankful for your intervention, interference, influence and intersection with my very little life and all its batches.  Thank you for loving the whole world … every person and every batch.  Thank you for finally when all the batches rise.  I am amazed because you are amazing! 

In Jesus,

Steve

Experts and Eternal Life

S - "A teacher of the Law of Moses stood up and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus answered, “What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?” The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’” Jesus said, “You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.”" Luke 10

O - An expert in the Scriptures asked the Expert at everything a direct question regarding eternal life. In response to his question, Jesus asked him how he was understanding the Scriptures.  His answer was the greatest commandments, those upon which all other Scriptures depend (Matthew 22:40). They are not commandments rife with theological terminology or conclusions.  They are completely relational in their nature and in their engagement. They do not demand prayers, confessions, conclusions or creeds.  The Expert (Jesus) added nothing to them. Eternal life is found, obtained and maintained relationally.  According to Jesus, if anyone does this, they will have eternal life.  

A - Earth wants me to think eternal life is obtained by confessing a creed or accepting certain theological conclusions and to place my confidence in them.  The One from Heaven tells us that eternal life is found in a loving relationship and to place my confidence in a person. In fact, his definition of eternal life confirms this: “This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. (John 17:3)” It is not knowing about God or Jesus, but knowing them.  This is a great joy and straightforward point of clarity.  You know if you actually know someone AND you know if you only know about them. According to Jesus, eternal life for us humans is where heaven touches earth … loving God and loving my neighbor (7.7 billion minus one … anyone who's not me). I believe Jesus.  I'll do this and I will live.  

P - God of all and God of me,

I am eternally grateful for Jesus coming to clarify your person and purposes.  Thank you for loving us first and most and for refusing to change your mind.  Thank you for wanting us to love you back.  I am glad to know you, not just about you. I accept the conclusion of the experts … I will love you back with my all and my neighbor as my equal. 

In Jesus,

Steve

First Things First

S - "If you love only someone who loves you, where’s the grace in that? Even sinners love people who love them. If you are kind only to someone who is kind to you, where’s the grace in that? … You can see the speck in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the log in your own eye. How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don’t see the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First, get the log out of your own eye; then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend’s eye." Luke 6 TS

O - Jesus is relentless on this issue for all issues. The concerns, questions and exhortations never begin with another.  Always with oneself.  The question is not am I being loved or greeted by others but am I loving and greeting them.  It's not the lecture or input I give to another but the one I embrace from him which is to carry the day every day.  Not only does the speck in another's eye never excuse the log in mine … it can never be the place I start.  First things first … the log in my own eye.  Grace begins there.   

A - In the life, mind, heart and words of Jesus the starting place for everything is always the same.  It's always with oneself. The change our world needs starts with me not another.  It will never come through a policy, law or opinion. It can and must come through me. The most important person for me to influence, to reach, in any day and in any circumstance will always be me.  I agree with Jesus to always start there. 

P - God who loves the world to this very day,

Thank you for giving us the place to start … a place always available to start.  I admit that I'm never out of your reach and never out of my own.  I accept the assignment and the help to reach me.  Let me be the first to love all; first to greet all; first to get the log out of my own eye. 

Grateful to be living and praying in Jesus,

Steve