Not worthy!

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.  Revelation 1:17

When we’re poor in spirit we’re a lot like John here.  What a sight that must have been.  In a moment he was taken up to heaven to see all of the events of the end of the world.  He heard a noise and turned to see what it was and it was all over!  He died! 

He was in the presence of the mighty God.  He was standing face to face with the perfect Creator.  His imperfection couldn’t stand.  He was poor!  He was poor not only physically compared to the perfection of God but he was poor in spirit also.  He didn’t deserve to be there.  He didn’t do anything that would have made him earn the right to stand in the presence of his heavenly Father, but still that’s where he is. 

Poor in spirit is the idea that we don’t deserve the great things that God gives us in Jesus.  When we’re poor in spirit, we’re willing to die to ourselves that Christ might live in us.  Look what happens after John dies in this passage…Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid.”

Could you imagine?  Touched by the creator’s hand!  How amazing.  It’s the touch of life that brings John back.  You and I have been touched in a very similar way. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he promised to send the Spirit.  That Spirit now lives in us and touches us constantly.  He touches us with the power of God.  He restores our poor spirits to a right relationship with the Father. 

I hope we can go through this day knowing that we’ve been touched by the Spirit of God.  I pray that we go to work, school, around town, everywhere – with the confidence of a poor spirit! 

Lord touch me with your presence today so I can touch those around me.  Help me to be a living example of your presence in my life everywhere I go today.  In Jesus’ name – Amen. 

Just a string…

If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be healed. Mark 5:28

She’d been to doctor after doctor.  She’d seen everyone she could think of seeing but her pain never went away, her condition never got better.  As a matter of fact with every passing day, it seemed that she felt worse!  She was tired, in pain, had no energy, and was at the end of her rope. 

Then one day she saw Jesus walking in the crowd and knew in her heart of hearts that this is where her healing would come from.  No more faith in the doctors. No more looking for the quick fix.  She knew that the only place she could go was to the source of all healing – Jesus.  So she made her way to him and just touched the frayed end of his coat.  In that instant she felt relief!  She was better.  No more pain.  She wasn’t tired anymore.  She had energy that she hadn’t felt in years.  And it was all because she touched a simple string – a string that dangled from the end of his robe. 

Where do you put your hope?  Is it in the next greatest thing?  The new gadget?  Your job?  Your doctor?  Your health? Your popularity? Your family? Your bank account?  Or do you put your hope in a little string? 

Sure enough, the woman didn’t have faith in the string itself, but in the one who was wearing the string.  Even though she was at the end of her rope she knew that all she had to do was touch that little string and her rope would quit unraveling. 

Is your rope unraveling today?  Are you out on a limb and feel like everything you say and do is cutting a little more of that limb away?  God is calling you back to him right now.  He’s offering you more than a little string – he’s offering you his son.  He knows that life gets messy so he promised to love us in spite of the messes we make.  He knows that times get hard and he promises to be right beside us in the middle of every moment – good and bad.

Don’t grasp for straws.  Don’t look for the easy way out.  Look for the string.  See the frayed end of Jesus’ coat.  Know that it’s there for you. 

Father in heaven, we often find ourselves at the end of our rope.  We have nowhere to turn and everything we try seems to fall apart and make the situation worse.  Show us that string so that we can just touch that simple string and feel the same healing that this woman felt.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen

I’m unclean!

Woe to me! I cried.  I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!  Isaiah 6:5

Isaiah really is in a pickle isn’t he!  He’s standing face to face with the power and majesty of God and realizes that he’s not worthy to stand there!  He knows that if you stand face to face with the perfect God you’ll be annihilated.  

Seeing Isaiah’s reaction, God gives him a job.  God invites Isaiah to be a part of his missionary force!  How cool would that have been!  God himself brings you a message saying that he wants you on HIS team!  Not because of anything you’ve done!  Not because you’re the best looking, or the most eloquent, or the most put together.  Actually he chose you because you were not all put together.  He chose you when he sent his son to die for you. He chose you to be a part of his task force to bring the world to a knowledge of him. 

That’s amazing!  And he did it all for us without our deserving it.  That’s what makes this so great.  This week we’re talking about being poor in spirit.  That is reflected so well in Isaiah’s words – “I’m unclean!” 

He knows that he’s not worthy to carry out this task.  He knows he’s not the most qualified.  He knows that God could definitely do better, but that’s the attitude that God’s looking for.  He calls the people who are not all together. He calls you and me out of our normal, everyday lives to live in this union with him.  He invites us to participate in his mission and be a part of a worldwide movement that will transform people’s lives forever. 

On my own, I don’t have everything it takes to do this, but God brings us together and then gifts us with his Spirit so that we might accomplish anything that he sets before us.  Alone we are a people of unclean lips, but in Christ we are clean, forgiven, and equipped for any task God calls us to do. 

Lord, you cleansed us through your cross.  Remind us of the power of your forgiveness and the wonderful new life you call us to live.  Empower us with your spirit to live as you would have us live.  AMEN.

Helpless NOT Hopeless!

I hate being helpless.  It’s not a very fun place to be.  When you don’t have the strength or the stamina to even stand on your own – it’s almost embarrassing.  The world we live in says that being humble and empty of power is a sign of weakness!  Is that what you think? 

Today we see the first part of the beatitudes where Jesus says that those who are poor in spirit are blessed.  He’s talking about those who have nothing to bring to the table.  He’s not saying that you have to be poor to receive the Spirit.  He doesn’t say that when you have nothing physically then you are really blessed.  No!  The message is that when we have nothing inside ourselves to bring, to offer God – that’s when he is really the all-powerful God we need. 

I remember growing up my grandpa used to tell me that when you’re flat on your back on the ground there’s only one way to look.  That’s what being poor in spirit is all about – knowing that you don’t even have the power to stand on your own two feet yet it’s Jesus who picks you up.  It’s Jesus who lifts you out of the muck and mire of helplessness and gives you the power and strength to carry on. 

We all have stories of how God carried us when we were weak, even though we may not attribute it to God.  God is constantly at work in our lives.  He’s guarding and protecting us.  He’s reminding us that we are saved from the stuff that really matters so that when we suffer the little hiccups along the way – we can hold on with hope! 

God humble my heart and make me poor in spirit that I might truly receive your kingdom in my life today.  AMEN

Fight Materialism

We are in a world that is constantly bombarded on every side by: I need more, and give me bigger, and increase my wealth/numbers/size/home/family - you name it, we want more of it.

Materialism is a battle that many if not all of us fight from time to time.  We go home after work to our beautiful homes, where we have two cars in the garage (or driveway), we have nice furniture, and probably a TV or two or three.  We don't have a need in the world.  We know what it means to have plenty, but we don't really know it.

So here's a wise thought for us today - Proverbs 30:8-9 says, Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

Do you see what this is saying?  Can you see how amazing this passage is?  Lord, don't make me rich, because if I have too much I'm going to forget who you are.  Don't make me rich, because if I've got too much I'll lose sight of you and begin worshiping my stuff.  It's admitting that we could get to the point where our car, family, house, job, money, budget, church, boat, RV, electronics, phone, or anything else has become our god.  Don't make us rich, because rich isn't happy. 

But don't make me poor either.  There's a good reason to not want to be poor.  If we're poor, we most likely will act in a way that is not pleasing to God. We might take matters into our own hands and steal to make ends meat.  If we don't have our needs met, we'll forget about God as well because our desire for the necessities in life will overtake us. 

The bible clearly says that our passion and lust for material things is the problem.  It's o.k. to have money.  It's even o.k. to be rich in the eyes of the world.  The problem is when passion, desire, and even lust for those material things pulls us away from God.  In that moment we're serving another god.  In that moment we've replaced Jesus. 

So today we thank God for his riches toward us - through the death and resurrection of Jesus we are richer than we'll ever know.  We thank God for all of the material blessings that he's given to us, from our cars and houses to our families and jobs - they are all gifts from God.  Live today in a constant state of contentment, relying on Christ for your daily needs. 

Lord, make us not rich because we can't handle being rich.  But Lord don't make us poor either because we'd act wrongly if that were the case.  So Lord take care of today's needs today.  Help me to never worry about tomorrow but trust in you and have faith in you to walk us through life providing our daily bread.  Amen. 

God Delivers

Some days you're the bug and some days you're the windshield.  That statement may be somewhat cut and cliche but it's pretty accurate.  It appears that sometimes life goes great!  Like everything is wonderful and you're on top of the world.  You might get pelted with an unexpected turn every once in a while but all in all you're doing fine.  But other times you smack into a brick wall, or in this case a sheet of glass.  How do you react when you're up against a windshield?

There's a pretty neat passage from 1 Peter 5 that I read this morning that reminds me of this bug and windshield analogy.  It says Humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  

I really like that passage.  It seems to me that we have two ways to respond to the truth that good and bad stuff happens to us in life. We can fight the things we don't like an struggle like crazy only smearing ourselves all over the windshield.  Or we can accept what's happening as something God is using to strengthen our character.  I'm reminded of some of Paul's words that talk about perseverance building character and character building hope.

On the good days, when life just seems to be going right, humble yourself before the Lord or you might end up thinking that you made the day good.  Humble yourself under God's mighty hand willingly.  Trust that every good and perfect gift is from above.  But when life is crumbling apart and spiraling out of control humble yourself under his mighty hand.  Trust that he's working a great work in you through his Spirit.  He's preparing you for something greater than you could imagine. 

Hang tough!  Not on your convictions or on your hard work but on his cross.  When you've got nothing to hold onto but the cross and empty tomb, then you'll see the hand of God.  When we quit looking to our deepened resolve and personal strength to get us through the tough moments, then we'll see the life that God has in store for us.  When we simple rest in the shadow of the cross, trusting all that Jesus has done for us, then we'll be able to experience God lifting us up.  Then we'll experience deliverance like we've never felt before.

Lord - give me the strength today to hold tight to your promises and your truth.  I need you to lift me up when I've fallen and to walk with me when I'm upright.  In Jesus' name.  AMEN

Strange

I never really gave it much thought and when I did I'm sure I didn't think of it the right way, but there's a passage from 1 Peter 4 that's got a strange ring to it.  It says, rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 

I've got to admit, I can't remember the last time I was excited over suffering!  Not many people long to suffer.  So this is just plain strange!  Rejoicing over suffering doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me.  But maybe God's got something here - have you ever found that life was absolutely great after some sort of suffering was over?  I live in Ohio so our winters have a tendency to get pretty gloomy and gray!  So on the off chance that the sun comes out, that day is absolutely amazing!  But it's only because we've had several gray days that the sunny ones are so powerful to us. In the summer we have sun all the time, but we don't think about it much. 

Maybe that's why we are to celebrate and rejoice in our sufferings because when they're over - we don't take life for granted so much.  But we've missed something!  This passage doesn't just say rejoice in sufferings, it says rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.  We know what those sufferings are right?  They are the things that led him to the cross.  They're the sufferings that beat Jesus within inches of his life and then sent him to the place where he would eventually give up his life for all of humankind.  These are the sufferings we are to rejoice in.  They are the ones that we're supposed to participate in.

Peter says to rejoice in those kind of sufferings - the kind of sufferings that point us and others to Jesus.  When your life is falling apart, are you able to point people to Jesus?  In the midst of the pain and suffering of your daily routine - are your sufferings evidence that God is at work in you?  I believe that this is what Peter is really getting at - pointing people to Jesus when life just flat stinks! 

Our world isn't short on suffering. It isn't short of temptation or trial or any other trying thing.  The challenge for you and me as Christians is to use these to remind us of the suffering that Jesus endured for us.  The challenge is to use these sufferings as springboards to a life of worship in the good times and in the bad.  We rejoice in the sufferings of Christ.  We rejoice that we can participate in these sufferings, not because we're masochists but because these sufferings serve as the gray days that help us enjoy the sun that much more. 

So may you enjoy the sufferings, trials, and rough spots that today will send you.  May you experience gloom in your life for a moment so that through it - the Son might shine brighter in your life. May your sufferings connect you to Jesus today. 

Lord we don't like to suffer but you tell us that suffering isn't all bad.  Remind us today that through the suffering of your son we were set free.  Remind us that it's because of the gloomy, gray days that the bright, sunny ones are so much more beautiful.  Lord send the gray that we might see the SON today!  AMEN. 

Why these?

I've always loved John 14:6 - I am the way, the truth, and the life; but I'm not sure why until recently.  The idea that Jesus is my way, my truth, and my life means that even when I don't know the way, or the truth, or what my life even is at the  moment it's ok because these are all found in Christ. 

Jesus as the way means that heaven is mine already, not because of any good or wonderful thing I've done.  As a matter of fact the comforting part is that it's mine in spite of the stupid, mean, crazy, and despicable things I've done in life.  He's my way.  I'm not my way.  My actions are not my way.  My belief is not my way.  My faith is not my way.  Only Jesus!  Wow - I can already feel the burden being lifted. 

Jesus being my truth is so powerful.  It means that when I'm tempted and tried by life that the power to be free from these lies can only be found in his truth.  The bible says elsewhere that the truth will set us free.  If Jesus is my truth and the truth will set us free, logic tells us that Jesus sets us free.  He sets us free from ourselves.  He sets us free from the lies we tell ourselves and the lies others tell us.  He sets us free from all of the traps we fall into.  Jesus is my truth.  The more I know the truth of who Jesus is and what his word teaches - the more I am able to claim that truth for myself therefore claiming my freedom.  Sweet!

Jesus is my life.  Now this is a bit more challenging because I rather like my life.  But the bible here says that my real life - the fullness of my life isn't even known by me yet.  My whole life - not just my eternal life is found in Christ.  He's lived my entire life, perfectly I might add, so that I can have the joy of heaven.  Jesus is my life. The next time you're having a rough day and you're down on yourself for the dumb choices you've made - remember that Jesus is your life - he's already done it for you and he didn't mess up.  He took the bad choices we've made, placed them on the cross and given us the right life, the full life, the real life that he has in store for us. 

Jesus you are our way, truth, and life.  Strengthen us today that we might live out our faithful response to all that you continue to do in and for us.  AMEN

Another tough question...

I love questions - most of the time anyway.  But not just any question, it has to be a good one.  The kind of question that everyone is willing to answer, or the kind that completely stumps everyone, or even a question that has no answer at all - just makes you think.  Those are the questions that I love! 

In my quiet time this morning Jesus didn't disappoint either!  He has a doozy of a question for us.  John 13 tells the account of Jesus preparing himself and his disciples for his death.  This is coming rapidly!  His arrest is just around the corner so they need to get ready!  So how do you think he prepared them?  Hold a week long seminar...take them out in the field for some training exercises...chastise them for not having the faith they need to have?  All of these are possible but none are what Jesus actually does!  Instead, he washes their feet!  One word sums up what that must have been like - gross!

Anyway - after he gets done washing their feet he asks a question.  It's the doozy that I was referring to earlier.  He says, do you understand what I have done for you?  Whoa!  That's some deep stuff.  Jesus can't answer that question for us.  We alone need to come to grips with what that's all about.  Jesus just washed their feet. So on some level they might understand that now their feet are not quite as dirty as they were before. But I'm pretty sure that Jesus wasn't referring to what simply was physically done for them - there's got to be something deeper going on.  He's showing them that the outside washing is just a symbol of a better washing that's being done. 

This more complete washing that takes place is what happens when God's Spirit moves into our hearts and makes his home there.  You and I experience this through baptism.  A little water put on the head doesn't physically do much of anything.  There's nothing special about the water.  Nothing special about the person who puts the water on the person.  The power lies with the one who gave us this gift.  The power of baptism comes from God.  When Jesus washed their feet he was reminding them that they have the power of God in them.  He's reminding them that the old stuff of our lives - our old thoughts, words, and actions have been washed away.  In the same way that the dust from the Galilean streets was washed from the disciples' feet so also is their sin about to be washed away. 

We have the same promise today!  It's the promise that God has already washed away our sins.  He's already taken care of that stuff.  He promises that when we lay it bare before him.  When we expose the guilt and shame of our brokenness that he will put us together.  Not only will he, but he has!  By dying on the cross Jesus has washed the stains of our sins away.  They don't exist at all in us.  He removes the shame from us and he remembers them no more.  How cool is that! But when he rose from the dead he gave us an additional blessing. Having washed our issues down the drain, now he gives us the assurance that no matter what this life deals out - heaven is ours.  It's ours because of the love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness of Christ. 

We've been washed clean.  Do you understand what that means?  That means that nothing we can do will make God love us any less.  It means that while I didn't deserve it - Jesus put himself in my place and died my death, and bore my pain, and took my punishment, and paid my debt, and washed my filth.  And I didn't even have to ask!  Do you understand? 

Lord - you've done so much for me.  I understand and acknowledge so little of that before you.  I don't live like that's made any difference.  Today I simply thank you.  I am not going to dredge up my past because you've taken care of it.  I'm not going to say I'll do better because even at my best I'm not worthy.  Today I'm just going to worship you, thank you, and praise you.  AMEN.