Listening, Love, And Obedience
Friday, March 26th, 2010 | Lent Meditations | No Comments
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear… -1 John 4:18
Why do we sometimes find it so difficult to listen to God and obey Him?
Henri Nouwen writes: “We are poor listeners because we are afraid that there is something other than love in God. This is not so strange since we seldom, if ever, experience love without a taint of jealousy, resentment, revenge, or even hatred. Often we see love surrounded by limitations and conditions. We tend to doubt what presents itself to us as love and are always on guard, prepared for disappointments. For this reason we find it hard simply to listen or to obey. But Jesus truly listened and obeyed because only he knew the love of his Father: (John 6:46) ‘No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.’”
When we understand and believe how deeply God loves us, then we also take Him at His word when He says:
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:1-3)
When we understand the depth of His love for us as Jesus did, then we can listen and obey God fearlessly!
Some Things Are Worth Suffering For
Thursday, March 25th, 2010 | Lent Meditations | No Comments
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.
-Hebrews 12:1-3
We go to extraordinary lengths to avoid suffering. Just walk through the aisles at any pharmacy and look at the sheer number of products available to ease every imaginable discomfort! Often we have to suffer because we don’t have a choice: when we come down with an illness, lose a job, or experience emotional pain caused by bad choices someone else made, there isn’t much we can do to avoid the hurt. But how many times have you actually chosen some sort of suffering?
This makes me think of the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 26:53-54, after one of His disciples tried to fight the crowd sent to arrest Jesus: “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”
Jesus didn’t have to suffer. He could have crushed the entire Roman army with a word, or prevented the religious leaders from having Him killed. But instead, He endured the cross because of the joy awaiting Him. He knew that His death would mean that countless people would be able to know God and be at peace with Him—and that it would be the first step in setting right all the things that were wrong with the world. There are some things worth suffering for. If God calls you to bear something difficult in order to accomplish something He says is worth it… how will you respond?
Prayer: Colossians 1
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 | Lent Meditations, Spiritual Disciplines | No Comments
As with the prayer from Ephesians 3 in an earlier meditation, a few words in the following prayer from Colossians 1:9-14 have been changed to make it a conversation between you and God; the unchanged version of prayer can be found here. After you pray the prayer below, try praying it for one or two other people by replacing “I” and “me” with their names into the prayer.
Father God, I ask You to give me complete knowledge of Your will and to give me spiritual wisdom and understanding so that the way I live will always honor and please You, and my life will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, help me grow as I learn to know You better and better.
I also pray that I will be strengthened with all Your glorious power so I will have all the endurance and patience I need. May I be filled with joy, always thanking You, Father. You have enabled me to share in the inheritance that belongs to Your people, who live in the light. For You have rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of Your dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Thank You, God! Amen.
Our True Identity
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 | Lent Meditations | No Comments
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. -Ephesians 1:3-8
Yesterday we talked about how easy it is for us to slip into pride or envy when we compare ourselves with others. Sometimes we become so concerned with who we are not and what we don’t have that we miss out on the truth about who we are and what we do have. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is full of beautiful reminders of our true identity in Christ.
According to Paul, this is who you are in Jesus:
Chapter 1
A saint (holy one)
Predestined to be adopted as God’s child
Redeemed and forgiven
Lavished with God’s grace, wisdom, and understanding
Chosen
Included in Christ
Marked with God’s seal, His Holy Spirit
Part of the Church, Christ’s Body
Chapter 2
Alive with Christ
Saved and seated with Him in the heavens
God’s workmanship (handmade by Him)
Near to God through Christ
Fellow citizen of God’s household
Chapter 3
God’s heir
A member of Christ’s Body
One who shares in the promise of Christ
Rooted and established in love
Chapter 4
Sealed for the day of redemption
Forgiven
Chapter 5
Light (not darkness) in God
Holy and blameless!
What an amazing list! Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, that is how God sees you when He looks at you. You are loved.
Pride & Comparison
Monday, March 22nd, 2010 | Lent Meditations | No Comments
This is what the LORD says:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD. -Jeremiah 9:23-24
“Pride is essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature—while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest.”
-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had…he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. -Philippians 2:3-5,7
Knowing who we really are is freeing. And what a mix we are! We are utterly helpless and completely dependent on God’s grace for every single breath that we take, yet we are also the sons and daughters of the King of the universe! We cannot possibly say that we are greater than another person, for on our own we are nothing and have nothing. On the other hand, in Christ we possess everything—so how could we be less than another? Either way, comparison is meaningless!
Father, it is so tempting to compare myself to others and develop pride or envy. Please forgive me for the times when I have sinned in this way. Help me to see myself as You see me—as Your child, forgiven, free, and loved in Your sight. May Your love be the only thing that matters to me. Amen
The Greatest Must Become Your Servant
Sunday, March 21st, 2010 | Lent Meditations | No Comments
As you prepare for worship this morning, would you read the following passage and meditate on it? What would you do if you knew it was the last day of your life? What would you want to say or leave behind? There was a vast array of things Jesus could have said or done, important final moments He could have had with His closest followers. Yet this is what He chose:
John 13:1-17
1It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8″No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9″Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
10Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13″You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
The Prayer of St. Francis
Saturday, March 20th, 2010 | Lent Meditations, Spiritual Disciplines | No Comments
The following prayer is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). As we pray it, it reminds us that God intends for us to be agents of His change in the world, carrying His light and love into dark places. We are instruments in His hands, divinely empowered to be His people and do His work.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
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