Posts

Showing posts from October, 2018

Journal Entry ~ 10/31/18

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. - 2 Corinthians 8:9 "For you know.” It's not the head knowledge Paul is referring to, he's not asking the Corinthians if they have the facts about the grace of Jesus. He's referring to the intimate knowledge of the grace of our Lord. For you know, in your hearts, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you truly experienced His grace? You can go to church and participate in small group, you can know scripture well enough that you can share verses with others at critical times, you can serve others in the name of Christ, you can teach about His grace, and you can still not know the grace of our Lord intimately.  It's not enough to go through the motions. Check your heart. Do you know the grace of Jesus. Truly knowing the grace of our Lord comes from individual, quiet time spent with Him daily. It come

Journal Entry ~ 10/30/18

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 No only do we need to do the hard work God calls us to do before our miracles happen, we also know miracles flow through active faith.  There was a wine shortage, and Jesus asked the servants to fill the barrels with water. It doesn’t appear as if the people questioned why or challenged Him in any way. They just followed His directions and did what he said.  Then he said bring it to the master. Think about that for a moment. The servant scooped out the water they just placed in the jar, and brought it to the master. What do you suppose was running through His head?  Do you think that servant was thinking the master was going to be angry when he tasted water? At which point did it change to wine?  When it was scooped out of the barrel? When it was walked over to the master? When it was poured into the cup?  There was no way for the servants to

Journal Entry ~ 10/29/18

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 We have such a tendency to judge God harshly for not answering our prayers, for not making our miracle happen, yet we don’t do all He has asked us to do. We don’t get to grieve at the disappointment of God not responding when we haven’t done our part.  While we wait for our miracle to happen, we need to be sure we’re abiding in His Word. God knows we need a miracle. In fact, He has allowed the specific situation into our lives to bring us to this very place because He wants you us to  “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” Not 95%, but 100%. Use this opportunity to search your heart for where you have fallen short of that command.  He also wants us to “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” We’re not only commanded to love others, but we are to be as eager for things to go well for otheras you are for things to go well

Journal Entry ~ 10/28/18

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 Miracles flow from what we have and they take hard work. When Jesus turned the water into wine, he used the available resources - the stone jars that were found at the wedding. And he asked the servants to fill the jars with water, which was no easy task without indoor plumbing.  God wants our hearts and investment. God has the power to do anything, but if He was to simply respond to our every request as we pray for it, can you imagine the state of our hearts and our world? God will often take us to the very end of ourselves to recognize His power and glory, to reveal our hearts to us, to submit our will to His as we wait on our miracle to happen.  God says - I won’t do what only I can do until you do what you need to do.  So many of us are waiting on a miracle to happen, but have we done everything God has called us to do? God calls us to do

Journal Entry ~ 10/27/18

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 So many of us are praying for a miracle in our lives...for a prodigal child to come home, the healing of an illness or a heartache, financial relief. And when you’ve been praying for a long time for the same miracle, it’s easy to grow discouraged. If God can do it, why isn’t He?  My heart has longed to see Him show up in the lives of my loved ones, but I continue to wait. There are days when I feel like it’s never going to happen. In those despairing moments, I’m thankful for stories like this one in scripture to remind me that He is the God of miracles. I know it is only the discrepancy between what I understand and what He knows that causes my anxiety to rise.  Leaning in to these stories and pulling from them everything He has for me provides that supernatural peace to my soul, and it increases my faith and my patience to wait on His timing. 

Journal Entry ~ 10/26/18

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 Backing into my thoughts from yesterday, it would seem that the only ones who knew about the miracle being performed were Mary, the disciples, and the servants. We know that miracles happen for the glory of God alone, so that His name would be lifted high above all others.  So it would seem to me that Jesus is trying to impact the lives of the disciples and the lives of the servants and show them first hand the glory of God.  Perhaps this is why He chose this miracle as His first. He wanted to demonstrate His glory, but He didn’t want to draw a great deal of attention just yet. Had He chosen to heal a man or raise someone from the dead right away, He would have drawn a lot of unwanted attention. The news of a miracle of that size would travel quickly, and with it would travel rumors and assumptions. The chaos around Him would have been significant, m

Journal Entry ~ 10/25/18

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 In this story, Jesus is at a wedding with his mother and those first few disciples who were already following him, but He hadn’t yet begun His true ministry work. His mother came to Him during the wedding and said, “They have no wine.”  Initially, Jesus doesn’t want anything to do with the problem because He doesn’t believe His hour has come. But Mary pushes back by turning to His disciples and telling them to do whatever Jesus says, almost as if she didn’t even hear Jesus. Isn’t that just like a mom? This being one of the more popular stories from the Bible, I’ve heard and read it multiple times as a believer, but I never really spent any significant time meditating on the story. A few things have occurred to me as I’ve meditated on the story. I find it interesting that Mary pushes Jesus to do His first public miracle at a wedding by turning wat

Journal Entry ~ 10/24/18

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. - John 2:11 I remember reading these stories as a new Christian and wishing I was around at the time He did miracles. I used to wonder how anyone could witness Jesus himself change water into wine, or heal a blind man, and not believe He was the Savior of the world?  Yet there were so many who witnessed and didn’t believe. But as I read more of these stories, and as I grew in my faith and understanding of Jesus and how God works in our lives, it became so very apparent to me that God does still do miracles.  All the time. The problem is we just don’t see the miracles. Just as in the days when Jesus walked this earth, the world clouds people’s judgment and understanding of what is happening, so much so that when the miracle is happening right in front of us, we come up with some rationalization to explain it. Having lived a life chock full of trials up on

Journal Entry ~ 10/23/18

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus not only knew we would need multiple reminders to forgive in scripture because it's what will bring our hearts peace, He also knew our forgiveness of others would have a huge impact on the kingdom. Remember, God's number one priority is that all people would come to know Jesus as their Savior - that should be our number one priority as well. As a professed follower of Christ, you have to know people are watching you. People witness our forgiveness and our work at living in peace over conflict with others in our lives, and it impacts them. What a beautiful testimony to the Spirit at work in our lives!   God knows my greatest desire is to see the people in my life come to trust Him as their Savior, but that desire battles with my flesh at times.  We live

Journal Entry ~ 10/22/18

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:14-15 I was struck by this passage and how it relates to forgiveness: looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2 It says "for the joy", He did what needed to be done. It's not often you see joy in the same sentence as what was endured at the cross, but this passage tells us clearly that joy was the reason he hung on the cross that day.  Jesus died a painful death on the cross so that we would be forgiven, so that we would have a relationship with our Heavenly Father, so that we would spend eternity with Him in heaven....that's the joy. He took all our pain, all our sin, all our guilt a

Journal Entry ~ 10/21/18

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:14-15 The choice to forgive does not need to involve telling the other person - I think sometimes we can use our forgiveness as a passive aggressive weapon. That's not forgiveness. Forgiveness is more about the state of your heart than it is about the other person.  However, what is important is that we seek reconciliation whenever possible. We are all children of God, and He doesn't want to see His children fighting or in conflict anymore than we do as parents.   Think about your troubled relationship with others - who are you in conflict with?  Those relationships need to be set right so much as it’s in our power. Some of them can be set right simply by starting the process of forgiveness in our hearts and letting the offense roll off our backs. So many of t

Journal Entry ~10/20/18

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:14-15 True forgiveness is a miracle - we may forget over time the hurt of another person's choice to sin, but the ability to truly forgive cannot happen apart from God. This broken world teaches us we should nurse those wounds, we should replay the offense over and over in our heads to remind us of the hurt, we should guard our hearts from the pain of it happening again. But this lack of forgiveness is toxic to our souls, and will not only continue to cause us heartache and pain, it ultimately leads to death. It is only through forgiveness that we find true healing of our broken hearts, and it is where we find freedom and life.  But how do we forgive?  Many of us know we should forgive, but we don't really understand how to forgive beyond just the saying the words

Journal Entry ~ 10/19/18

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:14-15 Forgiveness is critical to our well-being. Hanging on to bitter feelings of unforgiveness is not only destructive to our eternal souls, it is damaging to our current state of mind. God didn't design our brains to hold on to feeling of bitterness or unforgiveness - He designed us to let it go. So when we harbor the "unforgivable" sin in our heart, nursing it and bringing it up again and again, we are destroying the supernatural peace that can only come from Him.  When we pray for that peace to surround us, we need to check our hearts for unforgiveness. Perhaps there is an unresolved issue somewhere in our hearts that we need to let go. God's peace can't settle in where unforgiveness exists. If we're not receiving the peace we're asking f

Journal Entry ~ 10/18/18

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:14-15 To clarify my thoughts from yesterday, Jesus wasn't saying in the passage the way to forgiveness is to forgive...what He is saying here is that forgiven people forgive.  If you are carrying the burden of unforgiveness toward others around in your heart, then perhaps you haven't considered all that the cross represents. If you struggle to forgive, then perhaps you don't really understand what it means to be forgiven, and you haven't fully accepted the forgiveness offered through Jesus.  The reality is that we live in a broken world, full of broken people. We're going to get hurt, and our loved ones are going to get hurt. This forgiveness thing is going to be a rather constant battle with us. God knew that when He was breathing out these verses

Journal Entry ~ 10/17/18

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. —Matthew 6:14-15 I love how convicting these verses are to my heart. They aren't just suggestions for how to live a better Christian life, these are the things God calls us to do - in all circumstances. We do not judge, we love, we forgive. They're not options for a true believer in Christ. Key to understanding each of these commands is that they are not emotions, they are choices. We choose not to judge because we have been released from judgment, we choose love because we are loved, we choose forgiveness because we are forgiven.  In any context, forgiveness always requires a choice. You don't just get past it or let it go. The emotion - the hurt or the anger - may fade over time, but that's not forgiveness. Authentic forgiveness flows out of a decision apart from emotions—i

Journal Entry ~ 10/16/18

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. - Hebrews 12:14 God placed a desire for justice in our hearts, so when we face an injustice in our lives, it is tempting to take things into our own hands. We cut off friendships and family members who hurt us, we give our spouses the silent treatment when they treat us poorly, we gossip and slander about co-workers when they've been difficult. We really do find it easier to make war than to make peace.  But Scripture tells us how we should respond when people in our lives treat us unfairly - we are to strive for peace with everyone. We don’t get to judge other people’s actions. According to James 4, there is only one judge, the one who is able to save and to destroy. We need to stop doing God's job when we have been offended, and start trusting that He will do what He has promised to do.  The problem with our hearts is that we want to hurt back in the same way we've be

Journal Entry ~ 10/15/18

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. - Hebrews 12:14 So we are not just to strive for peace with the believers in our lives, or to just the people we love the most, or to just those who seem to need our help - this verse calls us to strive for peace with everyone. Everyone means everyone. Everyone includes the gossiping co-worker, everyone includes that annoying customer service person, everyone includes the person opposing my political views, everyone even includes the opposing politician, everyone includes people with different religious beliefs, everyone even includes those that would seek to do me harm, everyone includes the gay couple living down the street, everyone includes that difficult person in my life I prefer to avoid, everyone even includes my enemies. Everyone includes everyone.  God would have me exclude no one from this list of people I am to strive for peace with - He commands me to be at peace with ever

Journal Entry ~ 10/14/18

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. - Hebrews 12:14  Not only does this verse call us to be at peace with everything, but it commands us to take it one step further - we are to work at it. That’s more than just a passive response, that’s more than just biting our tongue or not responding to the text. It’s going after the person or situation in the way God comes after us, and being very intentional about working toward peace.  I have matured enough in most situations that I can walk away and not engage with a person who is hurting me or angering me, but I still have so much work on the “striving” part. I am called to do good for those who wrong me. Strive for peace even where it’s hardest. How can I do good to someone who has wronged me?  How can I strive for peace with someone who lives their lives in such deep sin that impacts those around them.That's going to take some work.  I can start by meditating on what J

Journal Entry ~ 10/13/18

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. - Hebrews 12:14 Understanding these verses has adjusted the way I relate to people.  He’s using them to make me more gentle in the way I share His truth. If I’m wrong in the way that I’m right, I’m wrong even if I’m right. If sharing His truth with someone damages the relationship, I have failed at the relationship. God calls us to share His truth in love, so every word I speak, every action I take, should demonstrate His love to the people I encounter and work toward peace.  Is it possible to be at peace with everyone in my life?  There are definitely those challenging people or situations that can cause us to make exceptions to the rule. We want to be able to justify why we can’t strive for peace in certain situations, but until we have done everything in our power to make peace, we’re not abiding in His Word. There are many situations where we need to humble ourselves, and own our p

Journal Entry ~ 10/12/18

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. - Hebrews 12:14 If my desire is to grow more Christlike, then my responses have to grow more loving and more peaceful. Where its hardest to love in your life, where it’s hardest to make peace, you're most like our Savior when you choose love as your response.  This verse commands us to strive for peace with everyone, so if I am disrespected by my children, wronged by my family, disregarded by my husband, or deceived by a co-worker, I am commanded here to work for peace. That means my response must show His love. I cannot pay them back with evil despite the fact that my flesh is screaming they deserve it. It doesn't mean I have to just allow or accept the behavior without a response - God doesn't call us to be a doormat. But my response cannot be sinful - I cannot scream in anger, shut them out in hurt, or gossip in revenge. I have to respond in a way that seeks to do good a

Journal Entry ~ 10/11/18

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. - Hebrews 12:14 While I love the directive of this verse - it's caution is alarming. Strive for peace ~ with everyone ~ and for holiness...because without those, we will not see the Lord. In other words, if we are not at peace with everyone in our lives, or if we are not working toward greater holiness in our lives, then we will not see Him. It doesn't give any room for interpretation here - we strive for peace, or we don’t see the Lord.  I want to represent Him well in this world, so I continually lean in to where He wants me to change. We wrestle and struggle in this broken world because it’s full of sinners who hurt and cause conflict. It’s hard to love difficult people, and it’s hard to love people who live in direct contrast to how God calls us to live. There seems to be this constant tension between how God calls us to live and how the world tells us to live. I want my li

Journal Entry ~ 10/10/18

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. - Hebrews 12:14 I love how straightforward the message in this verse - strive for peace with everyone. There aren’t any exceptions to everyone. Everyone is every one. We don’t get to pick and choose, we don’t get to say we’re going to strive for peace with certain people, and not with others. We don’t get to choose someone is too difficult or their sin is too great. We are to be in a state of peace with every one. That includes the people who are doing life with us, and those strangers on the road to work with us. It’s the people in the checkout line and the people on our news channel. It’s the people leading the protest, and voting against us. We should be in a state of peace with everyone.  I used to read verses like this and ask myself if I was at peace with everyone, and justify that I was because I didn’t have an issue. But when I started asking it from the other person’s perspect