Monthly Archives: January 2011

Light versus Dark

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As those of you that have heard me preach on the subject know, I’m just fascinated by the concept of light and darkness.  Maybe that comes from my background in chemistry.  Maybe I’m just a geek. Who knows?

But, we do know this. There is no such thing as darkness.  Darkness doesn’t exist. It is simply the absence of light.

So, when light enters in, the darkness vanishes.  It doesn’t have a choice. When there is light, there simply is no darkness. It cannot abide where there is light.

So, when we realize that, listen to the words of John 1:

5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.

He is talking about Jesus.  Jesus is the Light from God. And His light drives out all the darkness.

And I’m not just talking about darkness in a big picture sense. We know He will win the battle over evil one day. I’m talking about darkness on an individual level.

When His light enters in to the darkness, it drive the darkness out of the areas of our lives.

So, in that, where is there darkness in our lives? Where is that area of our lives, of our souls where darkness reigns?

Where is there hate. . . . pride. . . . .lust. . . . .whatever. . . . .

And in these areas, have we let the light of Christ enter in?

When we let that light of Christ into these areas, He drives out the darkness.  Darkness cannot remain where light is.  And He is the Light of the world.

Have we let His light into our lives?  Have we let it shine?  Have we given it to Him?

His light will drive out the darkness.

May He do so in our lives.

How Will God Speak to You Today?

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The thing that amazes me about Joseph was how he was able to discern what God was calling him to do with Mary, with Jesus, and with being the earthly father to Jesus.

So several times before Jesus was born, and then after His birth, a situation would arise, something would happen and decision would need to be made

To marry Mary or not?

To get up and flee from the coming wrath of Herod?

And when a choice like this had to be made, Joseph was able to listen to God and for God and discern what God wanted him and his family to do.  Listen to what happens today in Matthew 2:

13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.

Now you’re thinking, come on, Andy!  It was an angel!  Who couldn’t pay attention to an angle!?!

Fair point, I concede. But, even with it being an angel, Joseph had to pay attention.  He had to be listening for God to speak. He had to be receptive to what God had to say to him.  He had to be paying attention.

Today, in our lives, are we paying attention?  Are we listening for God? Are we straining to hear how He may speak?

He may or may not send and angel.  He may send a sermon, a friend, a passage, a note, a song, a thought, a hug, a tear, a whatever. . . . .

I don’t know how God will try to speak to you today.

And, in truth, neither do you.  That’s why you’ve got to pay attention.  Listen for His voice today.  Pay attention.

And then, follow where He leads.

Radical Hospitality Podcast

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The sermon podcast for January 9, 2011 is up on Asbury Church’s website. It is entitled “Radical Hospitality” and it’s the first in our series “The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.   The text is Luke 15: 11-32.   You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.

It’s Not about You (or me)

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The devotional guide I’ve been using thus far in the new year gives you time to read a scripture passage, but also read beside it another “devotional or spiritual text.”  I’ve been reading along side of scripture a book that’s been a constant companion in my spiritual life for years now, The Rule of Benedict.

This is a guide for monks (yes, monks) that helps them order their life and focus on the life of prayer. The version I read has along with a commentary.  That explains how this can be relevant today.

I tell you this to tell you that today was one of those neat days where God used a sledge-hammer on me to get something across to me. Those are always cool days.

In the Rule this morning it talked about how much plead for God’s grace, for only in His working in our lives, can we be faithful to the tasks that God sets before us. Only with His working in our lives can we be the people who God is calling us to be.

Convicting.  In an age where we try to do it all, it’s good to know that God is the one at work.

Then, the text I read from Acts 2 this morning:

22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

Notice who is at work in this text?  God.  He is at work. It is His plan.  He is the one that is doing all these things.

In my life, in your life, it is God.

Not us.

It’s not about you.  Or me. It’s about God.  It’s about His working our life.  It’s about Him moving in our life.  It’s about His faithfulness.

God is going to be faithful to us. God has a plan.  God is making a way.

He wants us to trust and be faithful.  And know that we are not directing this life.  He is.  It’s not about us. It’s about Him.  Trust today.  He has a plan.  He is at work.

He’s got it under control.  Trust.

How Do We Come to Jesus?

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One of the things we see over and over again in the New Testament is the religious leaders come to Jesus and test Him.

The come to Him, not really seeking wisdom, but they come to Him, asking Him questions, seeking to have Him fall in a trap or answer the question in a way they do not like.

That way they can point and say – aha!  See, He isn’t who you thought He was! Trust us, not Him.

We see this in one of today’s readings from Matthew 16:

1 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

They didn’t come to Him, seeking His wisdom to change their lives. They came to Him for the wrong reasons. They came to Him seeking their purpose, not His.

As I read this and thought about it, it made me reflect, why do I come to Jesus?

To get Him to bless MY plans?

To get Him to ok what I want to do already?

To get from Him what I want?

Or, do I go to Him, realizing that only He gives true life?

That my plans do not measure up to His plans? That my vision for my life doesn’t measure up to His vision for my life?

That it’s not about what I get from Him?  It’s about the life that He wants to give me.

But, that life He wants to give me comes only from Him.

I must put down my “stuff” and come to Him with humility.  Listening. Seeking. Learning.  Realizing it’s not about me.  It’s about Him.

Our life is not about us. It’s about Him.

As long as we make our lives about us, we’ll never find true life. The moment we make our lives about Him, that’s the moment we find life.

They came testing Jesus today. How do we come to Jesus?

 

Thanksgiving

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This morning, I was reading through an old devotional favorite of mine, a book called A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God.  It has within a scripture for the day, some suggested reading, and a guide for prayer.

And, as I was reading, it talked a lot about thanksgiving in prayer, and when it came time for the prayer, it said start off with thanking God for the blessing of your life.

So, I thanked God for my family. . . .

My church. . . . .

My friends. . . . .

My health. . . . .

And it hit me.  I can’t remember the last time I actually did that.  That I actually stopped in my prayer time and thanked God for these things.

Now, I pray for my family all the time. I pray for church all the time. I pray for my friends all the time.

But, I don’t thank God for them enough. I am not thankful enough for what God has given me.

We can get so busy with good things, we can forget to be thankful.  We can get so busy focusing on what should be or needs to be, we can forget to thank God for is.

May the words of Paul in Philippians 1:3 ring true to us today:

I thank my God every time I remember you

Today, what are you thankful for?  What are your blessings? Where has God blessed you this day?

Today, as you go throughout your day, may you take time to stop, every so often and thank God.

Thank Him for the blessings of your life, thank Him for the goodness He has given you.

May we take time today to thank our God.

Linger

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This morning as we start the new year together, I was struggling with what to read through in my devotional readings.  My daily reflections are just an outgrowth of what I do each morning in my own personal devotional life.

And today, I was stumped.  I didn’t really have a leading as to where the Lord is leading me in scripture for the coming weeks. So, I sat and prayed and listened.

Nothing.

I look through the index of the Bible, hoping that something would jump out to me.

Nothing.

As I sat in my chair praying, I though that the backbone of my devotional life has always been the Psalms. So, until I felt a leading from God to read something else, I’d work through the Psalms for a bit.

So, I started with Psalm 1. And listen to what the Psalmist writes in the beginning of this Psalm:

1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, *
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
2 Their delight is in the law of the LORD, *
and they meditate on his law day and night.

As I read over this passage, the thing that stood out to be was the second phrase in verse one.  – “nor lingered in the way of sinners.”

That really convicted and spoke to me.  In our lives each day, we will face temptation.

In our work, in our family, among our classmates, among our colleagues, we will encounter sin and temptation.

We will be tempted and tried.  We will face the pull of what is wrong.

What will we do when temptation comes? Will we dismiss it as Jesus taught us in Matthew 4? Will we tell the Tempter that will not buy into his lies and deceit?

Or will we linger? Will we hang around temptation? Will we dip our toes in the water?

Happy are those that linger upon the Word of God.  They will know life.

To linger upon temptation is allow it have a hold upon us – and that leads us down a path we don’t want to go down.

Where will we linger today? Where will our minds be today?  What will choose today?

Today, may we not linger in ways of sin, but may our minds return to the ways of God.  May we linger on the grace and mercy of God.