A New Attitude

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 4:22-24 

I have a confession - my attitude lately has not been the best, in fact is it well and truly in need of a major adjustment. Perhaps, that it why the word’s of Patti LaBelle’s 1985 hit New Attitude popped into my head. To be honest I am not a Patti LaBelle fan - so it just goes to show that God does indeed work in mysterious ways. How has your attitude been lately? 

The apostle Paul actually talks quite a bit about our attitudes. In today’s passage he reminds the Ephesians that they were suppose to have new attitudes. In his letter to the Philippians Paul tells them “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5)” and he also talks about our attitudes in Romans 15. 

A particular line in Patti LaBelle’s song caught my attention “I tidied up my point of view, I got a new attitude…my worries are few cause I’ve got love like I never knew…” As followers of Christ we have a love like we never knew, in fact it is a love that we have a hard time understanding. Yet, it is that love that gave Christ the attitude we are suppose to model to the rest of the world.  

Isaiah speaking of the suffering servant who is Christ Jesus says: “He was despised and rejected…a man of sorrow and familiar with suffering, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3), yet He did not complain, His servant attitude never wavered even as He carried his cross to Golgotha, even as the nails pierced His flesh - He showed us the attitude we should have. 

The season of Lent is a great time for an attitude adjustment. Let’s try to see life from Jesus’ point of view and allow His love for us to give us new attitudes. 

A Prayer

Father, sometimes I don’t understand how you can put up with our lousy attitudes, but thank you for never giving up on us. Help us to see the world around us, the people around us through the eyes of your Son, so that we can adjust our hearts and take on His servant’s attitude. In the name of Jesus who can give us a new attitude, we pray - Amen.


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A Better Way

“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
Matthew 20:25-28

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” This quote, the final line in Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities would seem to be the final words of Sydney Carton, who lays down his life for Charles Darnay. How was Mr. Carton able to take the place of the other man - it is quite simple really, he bore a striking resemblance to the innocent, yet condemned Darnay. Carton chooses a better way, when he surrendered his life for another.

Jesus, taught His disciples a better way. He taught them a better way so that they and now we, who are called followers of Christ, would bear a striking resemblance to Him in this world. We are called to serve one another, to lay our lives down for others. When we authentically, put the needs of others before our own needs and comfort - we bear a striking resemblance to the One who allowed His arms to be stretched out on a Roman cross, in order to pay the price we owed. 

This better way does not mean, we are to be weak, doormats for others to walk all over - rather we are to find divine strength that allows us to overcome our own selfish desires. When we decide to follow the better way that Jesus sets before us, we can be confident that no matter what we face on this planet, our efforts will one day be rewarded as we stand in the presence of the LORD. 

Not many of us will be called to literally give up our lives, but we all will be called to lay aside the things of our hearts that keep us from being who Jesus wants us to be. Will you choose the better way?

A Prayer
Father, you know how selfish we can be; you know we sometimes pull hard against the way you want us to go, wanting to go our own way. Still you sent your Son to teach us a better way and to teach us by example. For His obedience He has been exalted to the highest place, where He waits to meet us face to face. Help us to grow in our likeness to Him, by becoming servants in His better way. Grant us the kind of strength that comes with true humility. In the name of Jesus who sets the perfect example, we pray - Amen.

Mice and Men

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” 

Luke 4:1-2a

 

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” For some odd reason this quote taken from Robert Burns’ poem To a Mouse popped into my head as I started thinking about this devotion. The quote ultimately refers to the idea that no matter how much we plan, something is bound to happen to the plan. If you have been alive for more than five minutes on this planet you know there are at least three possible outcomes to the plans we make: all goes according to plan, everything turns out even better than we could have imagined or they inevitably fall short in some way. So what does this have to do with Jesus’ time in the desert? 

 

Have you ever wondered why Jesus needed to spend that time in the wilderness dealing with the schemes of the Devil? Why couldn’t He have just gotten right down to work, picking disciples, teaching and healing? Would it have been possible that in His humanness he could have chosen to rebel against His own divine plan? After all we humans have managed to mess up God’s plans in the past. What matters here in my opinion is the outcome of the test. Jesus did not allow His humanness to fall into the Devil’s trap and because of that - everything else He did, including His garden prayer - where His humanness shows through - allowed Him to do a few things that help us live transformed lives.

 

Jesus’ time in the desert allows Him to:

• Understand the temptations we face.
• Show us the importance of being obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
• Show us that it is possible to stand against the temptations we face.
• Be the perfect sacrifice needed to redeem and restore us to a right relationship with God.

Have your plans gone awry? Are you being called into the wilderness? Are temptations closing in on your heart and mind? 

 

Jesus passed the wilderness test and He is standing ready to help overcome whatever you are facing.  

 

A Prayer

Father, you know that we do not like to be tested but you test us anyway. Thank you that Jesus had to face the same kinds of tests while He was on the planet. Thank you that He sets an example for us and stands ready to help us be over comers. Help us to be obedient to the leading of Your Spirit and grant us the strength we need to stand against temptation. Thank you that because of Jesus we are part of your family. In the name of Jesus who passed the wilderness test so we can too, we pray - Amen.

A Road Less Traveled

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!”
Philippians 2:5-8

The world Jesus was born into was all about wealth, power and military might. It would seem that nothing has really changed in the two millennia since then. A look at the news will prove that the world is still about wealth, power and military might. But, Jesus whose life, death and resurrection changed the course of mankind took a different road, a road less traveled. 

The God of the universe, the creator of everything we see left behind His seat of power, the unfathomable riches available Him and the strength of His supernatural army to become a man, to become a servant, to become the ultimate sacrifice and He did it all for us out of His unfailing and magnificent love.

In this week's passage Paul is telling the Philippians that they too should humble themselves and be servants. In his letter to the Romans Paul says: “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God…” (Romans 12:1). 

Jesus told his disciples that if they wanted to be great they needed to be servants to one another and others. He wanted them to know that when they finally became the leaders He was training them to be, that it wasn’t going to be about wealth, power and military might.

Jesus wanted his leaders to love and serve His people and His enemies with humble hearts and attitudes. The same still holds for us today - are we seeking to walk the road set before us by Christ? Are we taking the road less traveled? 

A Prayer
Father, help us to live sacrificial lives. Give us humble hearts and attitudes so that we can love and serve others. Show us the road less traveled and grant us the strength to lay aside the things that the world says makes us great for the things that you say make us great. Thank you that Your Son provides the perfect example of humble service and love. In the name of Jesus who leads us on the road less traveled we pray - Amen.

Out of the Ashes

“…and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…”
Isaiah 61:3

The mythical bird called the Phoenix is held up as a symbol of renewal, resurrection and eternal life. The descriptions of it vary but it is always described as bird of strength and beauty connected with royalty. The Phoenix was reborn from the ashes of its life. In the Bible ashes are a symbol of mourning and often time’s repentance.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the church’s Lenten season. Traditionally it is a time to look inward and reflect on the state of our hearts. It is also a time to look to the cross and contemplate the amazing sacrifice made there for us.   

Because Jesus, in obedience to His Father, willingly sacrificed His perfect, sinless life for our lives we like the Phoenix can rise out of the ashes as new creatures of strength and beauty connected to the divine royal family. 

As we begin this forty day journey to the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection may we look into our own hearts and then look humbly upon the cross of Christ knowing that He has stretched out His hand to lift us from the ashes of our sinful, self-centered lives to crown us with beauty, anoint us with oil and clothe us in the garments of royalty and praise. 

This Lenten season may we reach out and take the hand of Jesus so we can rise out of the ashes.

A Prayer
Father, search our hearts today, let us bear the ashes of mourning for our sins, humbly as we repent and seek your forgiveness. Thank you that Your Son has made a way for us to rise out of the ashes. Thank you for making us new day by day. In the of Jesus our Savior, who lifts us from the ashes we pray - Amen.

Breakthrough

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:20

This week’s inspiration comes from the song Breakthrough Away by Australian singer-songwriter Bec Lavelle, found on her 2010 album Love & Bravery. A powerful song about tears left unshed, prayers that need to be prayed but aren’t and words that should be spoken but are left unsaid. It’s a great song and if you would like to hear it you can find it on YouTube. As I have been listening to it recently it got me thinking about how our relationship with God is supposed to be.

The chorus of the song says: “Sometimes, redemption, seems like a mirage in the distance. You can run and try to catch it. You can give up and just forget it. You can hold on for one more day. You’re just a breakthrough away.” God, in His desire to restore the relationship between mankind and himself, broke through the boundaries of time and space to be born like us, to live with us, to teach us, to love us. Then He broke through the barriers of sin and death and brought redemption to the thresholds of our lives. But His redemption does not bust the door down to get in - He knocks and waits to be invited in. 

As humans we are keen to at least let Him in the front door and invite Him to sit and chat, but He wants access to every part of our lives and we are so good at boarding up doors or building walls to protect those unshed tears, the prayers we dare not pray and so many unspoken words. These are the things that prevent Him from filling every part of our lives with His power, His grace, and His redeeming love. He won’t just start busting through, we need to break down the barriers in our lives - the good thing is we don’t have to do it alone, He’ll help us breakthrough if we ask Him. 

I don’t know what you are holding back, but I know it can be difficult to let go. In the second verse of the song are some powerful words “There’s hope and there’s peace, and courage to be found and the sum of them is greater than the fear holding you down."

What will it be this week, will we deal with the emotions we’ve been stuffing down or dare to pray those prayers or speak the words that need to be spoken? We are all “just a breakthrough away.” 

A Prayer
Father, thank you for breaking through to our world to restore our relationship. Help us to tear down the walls that keep you from filling up our lives with your power, grace and redeeming love. Help us to breakthrough. In the name of Jesus - Amen.

The Story of Our Lives

 “We live by faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7

Those who know me well, know that I love books and I love to read books. I do however; have discriminating taste in what I read. I want to find at least one character I can relate to in some way and I look for great character development. The book doesn’t have to have a happy ending as long as there is something redemptive in the story. Great authors can touch and enrich our lives with the words they put on paper. Our lives are stories being played out and depending on the author they will either be good stories or great stories.

As humans we want to be the authors of the story of our lives. We want to control the plot and the characters. Yet, there is another author waiting and wanting to write the story for us. We were created by a God who has an amazing story in mind for each of us. For Him to write the story, we need to put down our own pen or take our hands off the keyboard. Giving Him control of the story can be scary and we need to be reminded that it is not a passive writing process, as the plot move along, we must act. 

Allowing God to write the story of our lives means we have to be willing to walk by faith, trusting that whatever happens in the story we will be ok, that the author has a plan. We must be courageous in handing over control of the story. There will be plot twists we might not have imagined for ourselves, some good and some not. Characters - ours and those around us will be tested and developed. Characters will come and go. There will pain and joy and a whole host of emotions and experiences. Sometimes, it will seem as though the author of our life must be battling writers block and we are left wondering what has happened, what’s next. In those times be still, He is working on something extraordinary for the next chapter. If we stick to the plot laid out by the author, we are guaranteed an amazing, eternal happy ending.

So how about it - do you have the courage to put down the pen, walk by faith and let the Creator of the universe write the amazing, redemptive story of your life? 

A Prayer
Father, we want you to be the author of the story of our lives. Grant us the courage and faith we need to lay down the pen in our hand. When we lose the plot, gently bring us back to the amazing story you are writing for us. May we be excited to turn the pages and live each chapter. Thank you that you have an amazing ending in store for us. In the of Jesus the author of the story of our lives we pray - Amen.