We're taking a trip chronologically through the Bible this year.
Dear Father,
You have told us what is good.
You have told us what is required of us….
to do what is right,
to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with you.
It is our prayer, as we roll very quickly into the new year,
*that your spirit will live in us more boldly.
*that your truth will be our daily compass.
*that we will love the things that you love
*and hate the things that you hate.
Please help us walk very humbly
and very closely
with you, our God, in 2013.
John’s letter to the church in Laodicea accuses them of being just lukewarm.
Neither hot or cold.
And he tells them he wishes they were one or the other….not just lukewarm.
Lukewarm is comfortable.
It seems like a safe place to be, doesn’t it?
But then John goes on to tell them that they think they have everything they want but they are in fact miserable and poor and wretched and naked….
and blind. Which is probably why they don’t realize what bad shape they are in.
Blindness. We all have blind spots. John is telling us that being lukewarm and ‘comfortable’ is one of those blindspots.
He challenges them to turn from their indifference.
And he challenges us today as we read this. Where are the areas of our faith where we are lukewarm?
Dear Father, please open our eyes to our blind spots and grow our passion for you until it becomes very uncomfortable to be anywhere but in the center of your will.
“Love one another’ is an old commandment that we had from the very beginning, John tells us in the second chapter of 1 John.
“Yet it is also new,” John says.
Because Jesus came.
And he loved like no one has ever loved before. He changed the meaning of this commandment for all time.
He loved us so much that he died a shameful, cruel death.
So that we might live.
So that we might love.
Like he loved.
So we can help push the darkness back….
to let the true light shine.
Dear Father, thank you for the love you lavish upon us every day!
“And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.”
God has given us proof.
We know this is true because we read it in the Bible.
And we feel his presence…
when he whispers.
when he wraps us in the shelter of his arms.
when he works things out for us and it’s better than what we had planned.
when he gives us the right words to say at just the right time.
or he helps us keep our mouth shut at just the right time 🙂
Thank you, dear Father!
‘This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgement”.
In his fifth chapter, James is talking about ‘rich people’ weeping and groaning because of the terrible troubles that are ahead of them as a result of their wealth.
He says that their accumulated treasure will be evidence against them because of the workers who were paid unfairly.
And I think James is telling us this same thing today. Americans are the richest people on our planet and James is telling us that this wealth is evidence against us when God sees all of the people on earth who are hungry and in need.
James goes on to tell the rich people that they have spend their years on earth in luxury, satisfying their desires. James tells them this is like fattening themselves up for the slaughter that will come because of their treatment of innocent people.
Hungry people.
Homeless people.
Dear Father, Please have mercy on us. Help us grow in sharing what you have given to us.
reading the Bible and not obeying what you read will not bring God’s blessings.
That’s what James tells us at the end of his first chapter.
If we read God’s word and obey it, it will set us free and we will receive God’s blessings.
Anything less is foolishness.
He writes this sort of strange analogy about looking at your face in the mirror and then walking away only to forget what you look like.
The other day this made more sense to me. I was finishing up getting ready for work when I looked in the mirror and saw that I didn’t have any earrings on yet. I intended to go pick some out but then I got distracted by something else as I walked away.
When I got to work, I happened to glance at the mirror and was kind of shocked to see that I didn’t have any earrings on. I had intended to put some on but it never happened so now I went all day without earrings.
This experience helped me relate to the mirror analogy. When I read God’s truth in the Bible, I need to obey it and act upon it. I can’t let other things distract me. The best intentions in the world are worthless without action and follow-through.
If I want God’s blessings in my life, obedience comes first.
Dear Father, please help me grow in obedience.
What is your most prized possession?
For me, it would be my family, of course. Nothing else other than my relationship with God is precious to me. 
If we were talking material items, then it would probably be my camera. I wanted a camera like it for 25 years and finally got one. I really like it but, if I lost it or it broke, I’d be fine. It’s not THAT important to me. Some of my pictures are pretty precious to me but it’s really the memories that are precious – the pictures are just reminders.
I can’t really think of anything else I own that would be a prized possession. Some Christians might say their Bible is one of theirs but I have several that I used for various reasons. My current favorite one is a large print version 🙂
I love the scripture in James 1 where God tells us that, out of all his creation, we are his prized possessions.
Don’t you love being called a prized possession by God? I do.
I don’t always act like his prized possession and I don’t always feel like his prized possession but his word is here to remind me that I am. I really am. And so are you!
So let’s walk around today with that thought slowly revolving around in our brains. Let’s dwell on the love that God shows us as his prized possessions. His grace…his patience…..his strength. Let this truth permeate the air that we breathe and let this reality change our thinking today. And tomorrow. And each day.
Thank you, dear Father. For all that you are. From one of your prized possessions.
When a city is going to be attacked, the people of that city choose a watchman to sound the alarm. If those who hear the alarm choose to ignore it, it’s their own fault if they die.
But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm, he is responsible for their captivity. They will die and God tells us in Ezekiel 33, that he will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.
Then God makes Ezekiel the watchman for the people of Israel. God tells Ezekiel that he must warn the Israelites to repent and to turn from their wicked ways or they will die in their sins. They are their own worst enemy. They aren’t listening to God. God says that, if Ezekiel doesn’t warn them, he will be responsible for their deaths.
Why? Because Ezekiel knew the truth. God had told him the truth and had given him the responsibility to tell others.
Did we receive this same responsibility when Jesus gave us the great commission of going into all the world to make disciples and teach them everything that we have been taught? Are we the watchmen for our generation because God has spoken to us and we know the truth?
If so, how are we sounding the alarm?
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2.
I read this passage I think about the long line of my ancestors who were believers and are now are in heaven cheering me on as I run this race of faith. I know they did a good job of passing along their faith to their children because I’m one of them. I was given the best start possible for this race because I was brought up in a Christian home with 2 faithful parents. They weren’t perfect but they were faithful all the way to the end of their lives. They ran with endurance, passing their faith on to the next generation.
If you weren’t brought up in a Christian home, you have the opportunity to be the start of a legacy just like the one that was given to me. We all have our place in the chain and we each just need to be faithful in passing it along. With God’s spirit alive within us, there never has to be an end to the chain.
I plan to keep my eyes on Jesus as I run this race with endurance . One day I will have the honor of joining the cloud of witnesses to cheer on the generations that come after me.
Are you with me?
Life can really be stormy sometimes. The waves of issues and problems seem to grow larger and hit harder…….and all in a row. They keep pounding on us.
The author of Hebrews shares some very encouraging insights about God in chapter 6. God has given us his promise of his love and eternal life and he never lies. He can’t lie.
So we can run to him for refuge with great confidence because he has given his oath. We know the truth and his name is Jesus.
Our faith in God is the anchor for our souls- keeping us steady as the waves of life tumble around us. The waves can tumble right on top of us and we may feel like we’re drowning. But we’re not.
Because we’re anchored.
Come with me on a Journey through the Bible 