“Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. …learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
Isaiah 1:13a & 17
Change is hard, especially change that calls for us to stop doing something the way we’ve always done something. I had been talking to a friend about a new high school being built in our community. My friend was impressed by the facilities and the technology that would be used to facilitate activities and learning. That conversation led to a discussion about how much school had changed from our parent’s experience with school to now. My friend made a very telling and truthful comment to the effect “imagine if the schools hadn’t changed with the times – students would still be going to the one-room schools our parents went too.” Yep. I wonder if there was a lot of stress when someone decided that school needed to change.
In this week’s passage God through Isaiah is imploring the people to let go of what had become meaningless ritual and to live how He meant for them to live – loving Him and others. You see their hearts had hardened and they brought their sacrifices for all the wrong reasons. The prophet Micah would echo Isaiah when he told the people “…what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Jesus turned the “religion” of his time on its head making it clear that not only had their rituals become cold business transactions, but that their rules were getting in the way of their relationships with God and others. From then on every step that the Apostles made meant change was going to happen and it was hard. What we call “The Church” now looks quite different from what it did in the first century. Through the centuries the church has changed, those religious communities that didn’t change with the times or that lost sight of what it means to love God and love others died. It’s still happening today and will continue to happen until the Lord comes back.
Change is hard. Whether we like it or not sometimes we must change. Jesus loved us so much that is paid an unfathomable price so that we could be radically changed forever. Whatever change you are being called too – personal, business, relational, or church. He’ll be with you, guiding each step and providing everything you need. Go ahead… Make a change – He has something amazing waiting for you on the other side – something better than you can imagine.
A Prayer
Father – you know how quickly our hearts can harden, how quickly we let rules and how we’ve always done things get in the way of our relationship with you and the work you have for us to do. We don’t like change, but sometimes we need to have our hearts broken by the same things that break your heart. Help us daily to follow you into the change you have not only for our lives, but also into the change you have for your whole family. In the name of Jesus, who leads us into change we pray – Amen.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Friday, April 8, 2016
Boxes & Boxes
“He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”
Psalm 147:4-5
We humans seem to have a love affair with putting stuff in boxes. We put ourselves in boxes, we put others in boxes, we let others put us in boxes and we put God in boxes. Boxes like fences, doors, chains are a way of limiting something. Sometimes putting a limit on something is a good thing – it is better to put hundreds of ping-pong balls in a box rather than have them all over the floor, which could be dangerous. Fences are good for keeping livestock safe and to manage grazing – you get the idea, sometimes things need to be limited. Have you ever noticed that when we put ourselves and others in some sort of box it is a negative thing – we somehow don’t measure up and those limitations whether self-imposed or imposed on us by someone else – limit who we are, what we can accomplish and sometimes it keeps us from the embrace of a loving God – who thinks we are amazing and who has plans for us that we cannot even fathom.
The problem is we also like to put God in a box. Now, it’s not that I think we can actually limit God by putting Him in whatever box we think He belongs in – because we can’t. I mean, really; He calls how many billions of stars by name? He can hold every drop of water on this planet in His hand. He who is love, power, spirit, and creator of everything is well and truly limitless. When we put God in a box – we don’t limit Him; we limit ourselves and who we can be in Him and with Him.
One time God put himself in a box – the box of humanity so He could show us that in His limitless understanding – that he understands us. He limited himself so that He could show us how to get out of the boxes that hold us back.
Never again will He place that limit on Himself and He is waiting for us to get out of our boxes to live the limitless lives He has for us, lives that will take us all the way to eternity with Him.
A Prayer
Father – Thank you for that one time that you put yourself in a box for the sake of our souls. Every day help us to get out of the boxes that we put ourselves in or that others put us in. Show us Your limitlessness even as we try to put you in our own boxes. When by your power we get out of our boxes, give us the grace to help others to get out of their boxes and to not to force anyone into a box. In the name of Jesus, who is too big to fit in any box, we pray – Amen.
Psalm 147:4-5
We humans seem to have a love affair with putting stuff in boxes. We put ourselves in boxes, we put others in boxes, we let others put us in boxes and we put God in boxes. Boxes like fences, doors, chains are a way of limiting something. Sometimes putting a limit on something is a good thing – it is better to put hundreds of ping-pong balls in a box rather than have them all over the floor, which could be dangerous. Fences are good for keeping livestock safe and to manage grazing – you get the idea, sometimes things need to be limited. Have you ever noticed that when we put ourselves and others in some sort of box it is a negative thing – we somehow don’t measure up and those limitations whether self-imposed or imposed on us by someone else – limit who we are, what we can accomplish and sometimes it keeps us from the embrace of a loving God – who thinks we are amazing and who has plans for us that we cannot even fathom.
The problem is we also like to put God in a box. Now, it’s not that I think we can actually limit God by putting Him in whatever box we think He belongs in – because we can’t. I mean, really; He calls how many billions of stars by name? He can hold every drop of water on this planet in His hand. He who is love, power, spirit, and creator of everything is well and truly limitless. When we put God in a box – we don’t limit Him; we limit ourselves and who we can be in Him and with Him.
One time God put himself in a box – the box of humanity so He could show us that in His limitless understanding – that he understands us. He limited himself so that He could show us how to get out of the boxes that hold us back.
Never again will He place that limit on Himself and He is waiting for us to get out of our boxes to live the limitless lives He has for us, lives that will take us all the way to eternity with Him.
A Prayer
Father – Thank you for that one time that you put yourself in a box for the sake of our souls. Every day help us to get out of the boxes that we put ourselves in or that others put us in. Show us Your limitlessness even as we try to put you in our own boxes. When by your power we get out of our boxes, give us the grace to help others to get out of their boxes and to not to force anyone into a box. In the name of Jesus, who is too big to fit in any box, we pray – Amen.
Friday, April 1, 2016
The Difference? A Living God
“At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: ‘Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.’ Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!’”
1 Kings 18:36-39
We’ve just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus; so you may be wondering why I’ve picked an Old Testament passage about Elijah’s battle with the prophets of Baal to sort of wrap things up. I was preparing to write this and the thought going through my mind was that while Jesus’ death and resurrection paid the debt owed by mankind and bridged the gap between us and God permanently putting eternity within our reach – it is an encounter with the living God that really transforms out lives. This week’s passage clearly illustrates the powerful difference between an idol and the living God. Elijah had only to humbly call on the name of the Lord one time to defeat the prophets of Baal.
As powerful as Jesus’ death and resurrection is for breaking the bonds of sin and making eternal life available to all who will believe – it is an encounter with the living God that transforms our lives. The list of lives transformed by their encounters with Jesus before the crucifixion is pretty amazing – all of the disciples, Nicodemus, the demon possessed man in the Gerasenes, the centurion, the woman at the well, Zacchaeus and the Canaanite woman – the list could go on and on. The disciples especially Peter and Thomas were blessed to have encounters with Jesus both before and after His death and resurrection. We must not forget the transformation Saul experienced when he encountered the living Jesus on the road to Damascus.
On our side of the resurrection, those of us who follow Jesus each had our own life transforming encounters with Jesus. We may not need to battle in the way the Elijah did, but we have a responsibility to make it possible for others to encounter Jesus too.
The difference? The difference that allows lives to be transformed and allows us to become who we are meant to be – is an encounter with the living God.
A Prayer
Father – You have used so many people to point others to an encounter with the One God, the living God. You left heaven and became one of us – so that we could have up close and personal encounters. Through the work of your spirit we can still encounter a living and loving God who can transform our lives. Help us to show others the way to their own encounter You. In the name of Jesus who is the difference because HE lives, we pray – Amen.
1 Kings 18:36-39
We’ve just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus; so you may be wondering why I’ve picked an Old Testament passage about Elijah’s battle with the prophets of Baal to sort of wrap things up. I was preparing to write this and the thought going through my mind was that while Jesus’ death and resurrection paid the debt owed by mankind and bridged the gap between us and God permanently putting eternity within our reach – it is an encounter with the living God that really transforms out lives. This week’s passage clearly illustrates the powerful difference between an idol and the living God. Elijah had only to humbly call on the name of the Lord one time to defeat the prophets of Baal.
As powerful as Jesus’ death and resurrection is for breaking the bonds of sin and making eternal life available to all who will believe – it is an encounter with the living God that transforms our lives. The list of lives transformed by their encounters with Jesus before the crucifixion is pretty amazing – all of the disciples, Nicodemus, the demon possessed man in the Gerasenes, the centurion, the woman at the well, Zacchaeus and the Canaanite woman – the list could go on and on. The disciples especially Peter and Thomas were blessed to have encounters with Jesus both before and after His death and resurrection. We must not forget the transformation Saul experienced when he encountered the living Jesus on the road to Damascus.
On our side of the resurrection, those of us who follow Jesus each had our own life transforming encounters with Jesus. We may not need to battle in the way the Elijah did, but we have a responsibility to make it possible for others to encounter Jesus too.
The difference? The difference that allows lives to be transformed and allows us to become who we are meant to be – is an encounter with the living God.
A Prayer
Father – You have used so many people to point others to an encounter with the One God, the living God. You left heaven and became one of us – so that we could have up close and personal encounters. Through the work of your spirit we can still encounter a living and loving God who can transform our lives. Help us to show others the way to their own encounter You. In the name of Jesus who is the difference because HE lives, we pray – Amen.
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