Category: Published

Micah 6:6-8 NLT ⁶ What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? ⁷ Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? ⁸ No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Matthew 22:35-40 NLT ³⁵ One of them [a Pharisee], an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” ³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Observation

We are a people who love metrics, the objective ways we measure achievement, commitment, success, winning.   These metrics are beneficial when an activity or performance has truly objective measures of success and achievement. Winners in many sports can be measured in these ways – the number of shots in golf, the number of missed balls in tennis, the number of players across home base in baseball, and so on.  The “even playing field” (consistent rules and method of scoring) also provides a relative method of comparison to all those who have competed in the sport in the past. This is why competitors are not only focused on finishing first but also doing it in record time or by beating a record score.  Controversy begins to increase as we apply metrics to more subjective activities that rely on a judge’s opinion using a grading system (e.g., gymnastics, diving, skating).

However, the real breakdown for us occurs when we try to create metrics for more subjective activities or performance, such as honoring the Lord. When we attempt to create rules and regulations that measure our success, achievement, or commitment by visible results or actions, we find ourselves among the Pharisees who became so focused on enforcing the rules that they lost the joy and meaning of the goal. It is as if they stopped running the race midway to stand on the course and inspect all the other competitors to find reasons to disqualify them! (Matthew 23:13 Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. There is such a gulf between what you say and what you do. You will stand before a crowd and lock the door of the kingdom of heaven right in front of everyone; you won’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from doing so.).

Impact on Me

The two passages I chose today do not lend themselves to human metrics.  There is no way to keep score or objectively compare my performance to another. While there should be visible evidence of my efforts to obey, only God can truly judge my motives and effectiveness in these areas – whether and why I am faithful “to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Only He can judge how well I “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ … [and] ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Our God is Love and all He is and does is motivated by that Love.  He is not looking for me to be motivated simply by a dutiful response to His authority.   Rather, He wants me to love Him enough to trust Him and be as generous with my love for Him and others as He has been to me.  I am not in competition with anyone one else to win His love or His favor; He has more than enough for me and has provided me with more than enough to give away to others. That is simply what He asks me to do to honor Him, to show my gratitude, to love Him in return.

Why do I want to make serving Him more physically demanding, more difficult, more challenging, more painful (no pain, no gain)?   Here is where the ” walk humbly with your God” comes in. Perhaps I am so bound to human metrics and what people think that I find it hard to simply let go and let God alone make the rules and be my judge.

Prayer

Lord, I pray that I will allow You to work Your love, grace, peace, mercy in me so that I can be meek and humble, walking this earth as Jesus did, secure in Your love, overflowing with your grace and truth, allowing Your power and anointing to flow so that You are revealed in and through my life, so that others will come to know You because they meet You in me.  Help me to be simply and constantly motivated by gratitude borne of love so that I will be faithful to say “yes” whenever You ask. In Jesus’ name I pray. Make it so.

Ephesians 1:3-6 PHILLIPS Praise be to God for giving us through Christ every possible spiritual benefit as citizens of Heaven! For consider what he has done—before the foundation of the world he chose us to become, in Christ, his holy and blameless children living within his constant care. He planned, in his purpose of love, that we should be adopted as his own children through Jesus Christ—that we might learn to praise that glorious generosity of his which has made us welcome in the everlasting love he bears towards the Son.

HYMN – “Here is Love”

Here is love, vast as the ocean, Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our ransom, Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember? Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten, Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion, Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers, Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting, Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory, Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me, Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting, As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless, Drawing out my heart to Thee.

Observation

“Here is Love” is called the Love Song of the Welsh Revival of 1904-1906. It expresses how hearts responded to the redemptive power of God’s love unleashed during that remarkable and miraculous revival.  All revival starts with repentance which evokes surrender to God’s will and an urgent desire to share the joy and freedom with others. Like all true revivals, the Message was simple – the redemptive power of God’s love.

Over 100,000 people gave their lives to Christ in the first six months in the Welsh Revival. A great number of these were rough and irreverent coal miners. It is said that the ponies used in the mines had to be retrained to respond to new commands because the miners no longer used the old ones full of curses and swearing. During this time a great number of drinking establishments went bankrupt and crime was reduced so significantly that the police and judges often found themselves without work.  This demonstration of God’s grace and love, having Acts 2:38 as its signature, resulted in repentance, confession and the Holy Spirit enduement of power from on high.

This revival was the forerunner of the subsequent worldwide Pentecostal revivals of the 20th Century, including Azusa Street in California. One by one they chose to be “in Christ,” becoming “His holy and blameless children living within his constant care.”  One by one recognizing “that glorious generosity of His (Father God) which has made us welcome in the everlasting love He bears towards the Son.”  One by one they recognized, embraced and owned their place in the Father’s love for them – “Grace and love, like mighty rivers, poured incessant from above, And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love.”  This simple but mighty move of God was a manifestation of love and power which completely transformed thousands of lives one-by-one. 

Impact on Me

Revival happens individually, each heart accepting that kiss from Jesus. I can remember when my heart was first flooded with His overwhelming presence, the sensation of floating in the sea of His love, grace, freedom and peace, the weight of my sin, depression and anger being simply and completely washed away, of being swept up into God’s glory by His grace!  How do I ever get to a place where I forget, where I trade Him, His presence, His love, for anything of this world? Why would I allow my response to this love to become dull or indifferent? Where and why would I hesitate to share Jesus as the only answer that really makes any difference? 

The Holy Spirit has been stirring the embers of His first revival in my heart, asking me to return to my first love by feeding His Fire, by spending more time with Him, allowing Him to continually revive me while I am serving Him by serving others, by praying that my living might be a vessel bubbling over with hope, grace and peace, an instrument in the Redeemer’s hand used to unleash that overwhelming outpouring of His love in hearts – one-by-one – and that I might be faithful and true to Him all the days of my life.

Prayer

Lord, You are God, almighty, everlasting, omnipotent, omniscient, and yet You cared for me, even before I cared for You. You woo me back when I wander and become distracted, You forgive me when I ask and restore me in Your love, peace, righteousness by Your grace. How wide, how deep, how vast is Your love for me!  I am so grateful for the Cross, the price paid for me to be firmly and forever Your child with all the privileges of family. Forgive me for letting the fire You set in me to burn low. Stir up and rekindle the flame that I might fully and completely cooperate with the Holy Spirit to use the gifts You  have given me to reveal Christ to each one I meet.  Lord, endue me with power and anointing to be an instrument of revival in those around me. May many others join me in this prayer. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Psalm 105:37-38, 42-45 NLT  The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold; and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled.  ³⁸ Egypt was glad when they were gone, for they feared them greatly. … ⁴² For He remembered His sacred promise to His servant Abraham.  ⁴³ So He brought His people out of Egypt with joy, His chosen ones with rejoicing.  ⁴⁴ He gave his people the lands of pagan nations, and they harvested crops that others had planted.  ⁴⁵ All this happened so they would follow His decrees and obey His instructions.  Praise the Lord!

EGYPT (Bethel Music)

I won’t forget the wonder of how You brought deliverance, the exodus of my heart.  ‘Cause You found me, You freed me, held back the waters for my release – O Yahweh!

You stepped into my Egypt and You took me by the hand And You marched me out in freedom into the promised land.  And now I will not forget You, no, I’ll sing of all You’ve done.  Death is swallowed up forever by the fury of Your love!

Observation

“Egypt was glad when they were gone, for they feared them greatly.”   I have been a Sunday School teacher for over 30 years.  This story is very familiar.  It is a story of victory and deliverance for the Israelites, but also one of ignominious defeat for the Egyptians and their gods (each plague defied and defeated them one by one).   After the ultimate plague of death of the firstborn, Egyptians were terrified and wanted the Israelites gone.

Egypt for us is a representation of our sinful state before we embrace the deliverance of salvation through Jesus Christ.    The Book of Exodus is about redemption from sin and our journey toward complete reconciliation, harmony, reunion with who and what we can be in Christ.  “So He brought His people out of Egypt with joy, His chosen ones with rejoicing.”  Do you remember this joy?  There is nothing else like it.

However, the story of the Israelites in the wilderness is our story.  We can easily allow our first joy to be blunted as we struggle to allow redemption through the work  of the Holy Spirit to:

• expose and give us victory over the habits of Egypt,
• quiet the nagging whine of our flesh,
• clean up and clear out the muck of our souls,
• teach us to love mercy, do justly and walk humbly before our God,
• give us Jesus’ eyes to see and heart to understand as we respond to the difficulties of our personal and ministry lives. 

In all of the journey, let us never forget that first joy of deliverance, that first experience of the fury of His love.  “And now I will not forget You, no, I’ll sing of all You’ve done.  Death is swallowed up forever by the fury of Your love.”

Impact On Me

My salvation experience was one of wonder and joyful deliverance.  I had grown up in church but had no knowledge of a personal relationship with Jesus.  I lived with the continual guilt of feeling inadequate and a disappointment to God.  My life was high responsibility and low emotion.  We lived down a dirt road in a rural area with very poor television reception.

One morning, I turned on the TV and a preacher gave an invitation to accept Christ.  I put my hand on the screen and prayed with him.  My life was recharged from deep down inside as I experienced the fury of His love as the Holy Spirit flooded me with salvation.  I experienced joy – indescribable and glorious.   I want my gratitude for Jesus’ sacrifice to be ever increasing, my response to His love ever more intense, so that I can revisit that joy again and again.  That is what praise, worship, study and service are all about – remembering and sharing the joy of deliverance with everyone He brings across my path.

Prayer

Almighty and eternal Father, Provider, Redeemer, I present myself to You in gratitude for all You have done in and for me.  Let me live in the wonder of Your love for me, always present in that experience of the fury of Your love. May I allow Your Holy Spirit to work without reservation in me to generate joy and hope constantly bubbling up to overflow me.  Mold me, make me, use me as You see fit to fulfill Your will and purpose in my life and the lives of those around me.  On the Day I stand before You, may I be like the servant who received 10 talents and brought back 20 – deemed a good and faithful servant.  I pray it all in Jesus’ name.  Make it so.

2 Kings 7:3-4 (MSG). It happened that four lepers were sitting just outside the city gate. They said to one another, “What are we doing sitting here at death’s door? If we enter the famine-struck city we’ll die; if we stay here we’ll die. So let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.”  5-8 So after the sun went down they got up and went to the camp of Aram. When they got to the edge of the camp, surprise! Not a man in the camp! The Master had made the army of Aram hear the sound of horses and a mighty army on the march. They told one another, “The king of Israel hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us!” Panicked, they ran for their lives through the darkness, abandoning tents, horses, donkeys—the whole camp just as it was—running for dear life.

Observation

For me, this is one of the most encouraging passages in the entire Bible.  All through the Bible we see God using the unlikeliest of characters – the weak, the disenfranchised, the outcasts, the youngest, the oldest, the least qualified, and the one with the shakiest knees – to accomplish the impossible and reveal His glory, power, authority and nature to the world. These four seem to me to represent the bottom of the barrel from a human perspective. 

Leprosy is a disease that is more than skin deep, which causes significant nerve damage as it progresses and, in the advanced stages, can even result in the loss of limbs or appendages (fingers, toes, nose, etc.).  Lepers were pariah, outcasts, beggars, shunned by and forbidden to associate with the healthy.  These four are sitting outside the city walls, exposed to the elements and unprotected from the enemy surrounding the city, almost certainly clothed in dirty rags. They know there is no hope to find any help or food from those within the city – why would starving people waste their precious limited resources on these hopeless, homeless, diseased beggars? 

These four decide they have nothing to lose by approaching the enemy, who has been besieging the city until those within the walls are starving, to beg for some food (“let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.”).  Understand, the city had thrown these four away as trash, considering them a burden, a drain on the extremely limited resources available, but God decided to demonstrate again the value and significance of each soul by making these the most unlikely of heroes, deliverers of an entire city.  I have a picture of four weak, starving, limping men in filthy rags stumbling toward the enemy lines, hoping for either a handout or an end to their misery, with no idea that God is using them to set the city free.  Only God could make them sound like a mighty army!

Impact on Me

This passage of Scripture always reminds me of two things:

1. EVERY soul is significant and precious to God and
2. It is only my willingness to go that limits what He can do in and through me. 

Every soul includes not only the young, healthy and productive, but also the helpless, the homeless, those who face physical or mental challenges, who are impaired by the challenges of age or disease and, perhaps the most difficult for us to accept, those who do evil – terrorists, murderers, abusers, extortionists, cheaters, and the like. 

God’s love extends to whosoever will come and I am not the judge of whom He will choose to show mercy or use to accomplish His will and purpose.  I am called to love as I have been loved, give as freely as I have received, sow generously while allowing Him to be responsible for the results. I have often repented for resisting to obey His requests because I judged the cost to me to be too high or a wasted effort or outside my strengths; He is not asking me to approve His plan, His strategy or His use of resources, but rather asking me to trust and obey. 

These four lepers are the very last people that any of us would choose to overcome the besieging army; they were hopeless, helpless, starving, homeless, and faced severe physical challenges as the result of disease.  Despite all of this, God used them mightily because they got up and went. What can He do  with me if I will be obedient to get up and go at His command regardless of how qualified, equipped or comfortable I feel about the assignment?  I will only know if I commit to say “yes” before asking “what” and refuse to back out when the “what” seems too scary.

Prayer

Lord, I want to see with Your eyes, love with Your heart and trust You with all I am and have. I want to be courageous and go boldly where You send me, knowing that You go with me.  Remind me always that I am the lantern, but You are the light; I am a vessel, but it is Your power, anointing, love, mercy, grace and peace that is to fill and overflow me.  I never want to forget that the best I can bring to the table is my trust in and my obedience to You.  You will equip me to do whatever You call me to do.  I pray this all in Jesus’ name. Make it so.