The Greatest House

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit”
Ephesians 2:19-22

I am not sure if it was the work of historical fiction I had recently read or the world waiting for the newest member of the British royal family to be born, but I was thinking about the House of Windsor and that great house is the inspiration for this week’s devotion. Now I am not talking about actual house here, rather in this case it is the family that is called a house, so the House of Windsor is of course the royal family. There are other famous houses of course for example: The House of David, from Old Testament Israel, The House of Romanov - Russia and perhaps you are familiar with the House of Faberge. All of these houses are or were powerful and influential families. 

In this week’s passage Paul is telling the Christians in Ephesus they are no longer outsiders, they have become part of a great house - The House of God, members of a royal family. Unlike earthly royal families or Houses, the House of God has no line of succession, because the King will sit on the throne forever. Jesus Christ is that King and as Paul tells the Ephesians the House of God is built on a foundation of the apostles and prophets and held together by Jesus Himself. Furthermore, because this King in His power and might, compassion and love, mercy and grace has defeated our greatest enemy, we who are members of the House of God; because we have believed and trusted in Jesus have the ability, the right and the power necessary to influence our world. 

But, the privilege of being a member of this great house, the greatest house there will ever be, comes with great responsibility. It is probably safe to say that we each know at least one person who claims to be a member of the House, but whose words and actions bring shame to the family, who hurt others in the name of the King or whose hearts have not really been transformed by Jesus’ amazing grace and love and so live selfish instead of selfless lives. 

This week, I want to challenge you to reflect the power, compassion, love, mercy and grace, things that are the hallmarks of the eternal House of God - to positively influence the world around you, to love those the world says are unlovable, to hold up those who are weak, and to love the sinners around you because you are one as well, love them right into the greatest house.

A Prayer
Father – How amazing it is that we are called sons and daughters of the King, because we have been redeemed by the King’s own blood. Thank you that we are part of the greatest house, the eternal House of God. Help us to live as a reflection of Your House to the world around us, drawing them to Christ so that they too may be called sons and daughters. Jesus is King and He reigns forever over the House of God. It is in the name of the King we pray, Amen.

When HE Speaks Your Name

“They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. ‘Woman,’ he said, ‘why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ …she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher).”
John 20:13-16

The last few days had been a blur of pain and grief. Peter had denied Christ as had been predicted. Most of the disciples had been hold up, behind locked doors out of fear for who would be the next one to lose their life. You see Friday, the Romans had crucified Jesus - their friend, their teacher, the Messiah - some had watched him take his last breath. They knew he was dead, they knew he had been taken from the cross and quickly put in a tomb. The city that had been in full party mode must have been subdued that Sunday morning. Early Sunday, a small group of women went to the tomb, to properly care for Jesus’ body - but He was gone. An angel told them to go tell the others that Jesus was alive, that the tomb was empty.

Some of the others had come and gone, they weren’t really sure what had happened - even though they were told what to expect. Mary Magdalene had stayed behind, overcome with grief already, grief made worse now because from her perspective - his grave had been robbed. The angels John said were sitting where Jesus had been laid talked to her but could not answer her question. Maybe the man she almost bumped into as she turned to go would have the answer.

Then He spoke her name, can you hear him - how gently and compassionately He must have said her name “Mary.” She’s been talking to him, she’d heard his voice, but it wasn’t until He said her name that she recognized Him. Notice, she didn’t just start asking him all sorts of questions - she just wanted to be close to him because He was there - He had spoken her name, that’s all she needed.

Has He spoken your name? On a mountain top? In the midst of a storm? In the stillness of the morning or in the middle of a long, dark night? If He has - how have you responded? Have you acknowledged him and longed to just be in His presence? Maybe you’ve heard Him speak your name and thought you were just imagining it - so you pushed the voice aside. Maybe your life is just too noisy to hear that gentle, loving, compassionate voice call your name. 

This week, when Jesus speaks your name stop, acknowledge who has spoken to you and rush into His arms. He will change your life when He speaks your name. 

A Prayer
Father – Thank you that you know our names, that you know each of us so well. Help us to hear Jesus when He calls us by name, because it means our lives will change if we let Him work in and through us. Jesus is our Lord and He know us by name, praise the Lord, Amen.

Veritas: Truth

“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’ ‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ ‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked.”
John 18:36-38

It had already been quite a week. Jesus knowing full well what was about to take place had wept over Jerusalem, a city in full party mode for the feast of the Passover. The crowds had given him a royal welcome. Later, upset about what was going on in the temple, he cleaned house – so to speak and ruffled more than a few feathers in the process. Sharing a final meal with his friends, he had washed their feet, broke the bread and shared the cup, identified his betrayer and told Peter he would deny even knowing Jesus in a day’s time. Jesus tried to prepare them as they walked back to the Mount of Olives – but they still did not understand what the next few hours would bring. The human side of Jesus was doing battle with the divine side, he prayed in agony for His Father to remove the cup, but submitted himself to the Father’s will. He was arrested on trumped up charges and abused by the religious leaders before they turned him over to the Roman authorities – this is where this week’s passage picks up.

The position of governor held by Pilate was both a position of strength in which power was brutally abused and a position of weakness in which one wrong move could mean your head. Pilate’s brief conversation with Jesus ended with a rhetorical question “What is truth,” followed by his official proclamation of Jesus’ innocence. If Pilate had been a different sort of leader, he may have been able to impose his will upon the mob at his gate to release the innocent man Jesus. But he wasn't, in fact, he was just the sort of leader the divine plan required – the sort of leader who would give into the mob to keep the peace and save his own head – good thing for us.

Imagine, with as bad as we think things are on this planet now, how much worse it would be if Jesus, an innocent man – the incarnation of God, who came to speak truth, hadn't been sent to the cross by Pilate. Sin may have won and our world may have been plunged into a darkness none of us would be able to comprehend.

As we contemplate the events of Jesus’ last week may we always remember two things: God’s divine plan will always be successful and Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Because of His obedience there is still light in our world – so share it with those around you.

A Prayer
Father – We often find ourselves asking the same question as Pilate – what is truth? Help always to remember that Jesus is the answer to that question because He is truth. Thank that He bring life and light into our world and our lives. Help us to share ourselves and His light with the world around us. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Meat and Potatoes

“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Hebrews 5:11-14

I have lots of favorite meals. Pizza for instance is always good. One I really like is lamb and herb roasted potatoes. Whether its pizza or meat and potatoes or even a good stew on a cold night it is always good to have a meal of solid food. I don’t know too many adults who would say they just love being on a liquid diet, we all desire to enjoy a meal that we can savor and that satisfies our hunger and gives is the fuel we need to do the things we love. What about our spiritual lives though, what do we feed them?

I don’t want to offend anyone but as we near Palm Sunday and then the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection I’ve been thinking about how sometimes we, myself included, are content to just let someone else feed our spiritual lives. The thing is, we are not babies or small children, we are supposed to be mature human beings and mature humans don’t usually want to be fed by someone, we like to feed ourselves – so why are we content often times to let someone else feed us spiritual food?

Don’t misunderstand me, listening to great teaching on a Sunday morning is a good thing, as long as it is not the only thing you are doing to nourish your soul, to take care of that new heart you got when you decided to follow Jesus. Maybe it would be helpful to think of your Sunday morning experience as having a great meal in a nice restaurant and that the rest of the week you are responsible for getting your own meals ready.

The writer of Hebrews is concerned for the people he is writing for, he is concerned they might fall away because they have gotten into the habit of letting someone else feed them, but they aren’t really getting what they need from that spiritual food because they aren’t living it out in their lives.

I want to challenge you this week as we draw nearer and near to the Good Friday cross to prepare yourself some good solid spiritual food. Go to church of course, but during the week be part of a small group Bible study, have a quiet devotional time, spend time in God’s Word, volunteer somewhere, pray a lot, listen to Christian music on the radio or your mobile device, practice random acts of kindness, you get the idea.

We are too old for a spiritual bottle, so let’s have a meat and potatoes kind of Christian lifestyle.

A Prayer
Father – We all need to be reminded, once in a while that we need more than spiritual milk to become mature followers of Christ. Show us each day how to have spiritual meat and potatoes, so that we can become who you are making us to be, so we can do all that you want us to do, so our hearts are healthy and full to overflowing with your love. Thank you for all the work you are doing in our lives – in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Love - The Most Excellent Way

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13

I had been staring into the darkness beyond the computer monitor for hours, trying to sort out the thoughts running through my mind. What could I write that would encourage the person who needs to be encouraged. I looked up and three words on the wall calendar shone through the darkness - faith, hope and love and then the light when on in my mind and this week’s passage came flooding in.

I could have quite easily just cut and paste 1 Corinthians 13 in its entirety here and left it at that - it is pretty self explanatory after all. But as I read it, in light of the Apostle Paul introducing it by saying: “And now I will show you the most excellent way” I realized that beside extolling the importance for us to have love, to show love, to live love that Paul was in my opinion giving us a zoomed in satellite image of the very core of who God is, who Jesus Christ is, who the Holy Spirit is. 

God’s love is patient and slow to anger; He doesn’t want anyone to perish so he will take His time so that everyone will have a chance to turn and follow Him (2 Peter 3:9). God’s love is kind; He treats us graciously, giving us good gifts of all sorts. God’s love is doesn’t envy; oh He may at times be jealous for us, when we make other things or people gods in His place, but He would never set us aside because He’d rather have our 50 inch TV or to hang-out with our favorite entertainer. God’s love does not boast nor is it proud; remember Jesus left the throne room of heaven to be a humble servant who cared more for us than for His own divine power. God’s love is not rude or self centered; Jesus always put others ahead of Himself, this is strength and not a weakness as we might think. God’s love doesn’t keep score; when He forgives us we are forgiven and He won’t get historical the next time we mess up. God’s love is every good thing we can think of and best of all God’s love never fails.

Paul is telling us two things really as shows us the most excellent way. Second, Paul is telling us that this is how we should live, that our lives - within the constraints of our humanness - need to reflect everything that God’s love is. But, first and most importantly, Paul wants us to know that the excellent way is built on the foundation of how God loves and how His love will never fail us. 

Remember; God can speak in the tongues of men and angels, He holds all knowledge, He can move mountains, He left everything behind and surrendered Himself not to the flames but to the cross and it’s all because He loves. When we love like Christ loves us, we are living the most excellent way. 

A Prayer
Father - Thank you for Your incredible, unfailing love. Help us to know and embrace the depth of that love in our lives and then show us who around us needs to be loved the same way You love us. Amen.

He'll Leave the Light on for Ya

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:4-5

It is important to be careful of where your mind wonders when you are sitting in church, you might be inspired to write something encouraging by that half distracted thought. I have a confession to make…I highlight possible devotional titles in the notes I take while sitting in church. Sometimes they come to nothing and sometimes they end up here for you to read. In this case Pastor Derek Varney was making a point using the opening verses of John’s Gospel. Pastor was using the New Living Translation which uses the phrase “can never be extinguished” in respect to the light that Jesus brought with Him into the world - that’s where I got distracted. 

As I sat listening, I heard another voice besides pastor’s and the Holy Spirit’s, it was the deep, soothing voice of Tom Bodett saying the tag line from those old Motel 6 commercials - you know “We’ll leave the light on for ya.” So I jotted down the title for this week’s devotion. 

It’s no secret that we live in a shadowy world, it has been a shadowy world since Eve and Adam made that fateful, selfish decision to disobey their creator. It was shadowy when the Israelites fled from Pharaoh at the first Passover, but God’s light was with them and it never went out - He left the light on for them. It was shadowy when the Israelites went into exile, but the light never went out - He left the light on for them. It was shadowy when a baby was born and laid in a manger, it was shadowy when that child now a man, sacrificed Himself to pay the sin debt of all mankind on a Roman cross, but Jesus has never left us - He left the light on for us. It is shadowy today and many wonder can it get much worse before He comes back? It doesn’t really matter you see His light is still here holding the true darkness back.

No matter what you are facing, no matter how dark your life seems to be getting - the light of Christ’s life giving love is still there. So when it feels like you might be overwhelmed by this shadowy world - remember His promise: “He’ll leave the light on for ya.” 

A Prayer
Father - Thank you for the light that holds back the darkness and fills our souls even when we feel overwhelmed by this dark and shadowy world. Help each one of us, in our own ways shine that light out to those around us so that they too can see the life giving love of Your Son. Help us always to remember that no matter what “He’ll leave the light on” for us. In the name of Jesus, who is the light of the world, Amen.

Star Power

“Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Luke 5:15-16

Jesus reached, in modern terms, superstar status not long after his public ministry began. Crowds followed him everywhere he went, even when he would have preferred his privacy like when he learned of John the Baptist’s death (Matthew 14:13). Yet he always had compassion on the crowds clamoring after him and he took the time to teach them, heal them and at least twice made sure they all had something to eat. We only read about Jesus actually sleeping on one occasion and then his friends woke him up to handle a crisis. How did he keep going? How did he find the strength to have compassion for all the people pressing him to do something for them? How did he get the power needed to drive out evil spirits? 

The answer is found in the second verse of this week’s passage, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Jesus modeled the practice of solitude and prayer for his disciples, sometimes he took them with him to solitary places. It was in the quiet aloneness of these places that he spoke honestly with his Father and where he listened attentively to everything his Father had to say. In those quiet times of solitude and deep prayer he found rest and received the strength and power he needed to calm storms, heal the sick, drive out evil spirits and have compassion on the never ending crowds following him around.

We may not be followed around by hoards of people, clamoring for our attention but we are stars in our own right because of who He has made us to be. We are busy people who need to find the strength and power to have compassion on those around us, to care for those who are hurting, to encourage those who are discouraged. How do we do that? We follow the example set for us by Jesus.

As we continue our preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ glorious resurrection, I want to challenge you to withdraw to a lonely place this week and have a two way conversation with Him, He’s waiting for you. Speak honestly with Him and then listen, really listen to everything He has to say to you. You’ll come away with a fresh perspective, a refreshed spirit and all the strength and power you need to do what He has called you to do. We get our star power, from the creator of the stars - Jesus.

A Prayer
Father - Thank you for calling us into lonely places so we can spend time along with You. Help us to speak honestly with you and then to listen fully to what you have to say. Grant us all that we need to live out our faith in the world around us. In the name of Jesus in whom we find our star power, Amen.