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Saturday, March 20, 2010 Reading for the Day John 19-20; 2 Peter 1-3 Focus on John 19:10-11

Pilate thought he was in control of the situation on the day he crucified Jesus.  When Jesus wouldn’t answer his questions, Pilate tried to show his authority by telling Jesus that he had the power of life or death over Him.  Jesus responded by saying, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.”  How do you suppose Pilate felt in that instant?  He already saw no reason to condemn Jesus.  He knew the Jewish religious leaders were jealous of Jesus’ popularity with the people.  What Pilate didn’t know, or at least wasn’t willing to admit, was that Jesus held ALL authority in heaven and earth.  Jesus had to die.  He knew that.  Pilate was only the instrument God used to bring it about.  In the grand scheme of eternity, Pilate did the wrong thing at precisely the right time.  I don’t know how that all works in the day to day exchanges of our lives, but at the end of the day it’s comforting for me to know that even my sins cannot ultimately mess up God’s plans for my life.  When Pilate listened to the crowds and condemned an innocent man, he was definitely wrong.  It was definitely a sin, and yet it fulfilled God’s purpose.  As we look at the Good Friday account we see humanity at our worst, and God at His best.  Jesus was in complete control of the situation at every moment.  The crowd supposed they were in control.  Pilate supposed he was in control.  The Jewish leaders thought they were in control. The truth is God WAS in control. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we gained the opportunity to experience eternal life!  From a human perspective it makes no sense—but then we always think we’re in control and that our perspective is best.  Thank God—THANK GOD—that He is truly in control!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for having the BIG picture, while our perspective is so small. Thank You for sacrificing Yourself for us, so we may live in eternity with You.  Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may also live with a sacrificial attitude as I go about this day.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Have you read that at least two states' Attorney Generals are planning to sue over the health care bill?

This is a splendid development.

If the one good thing that comes out of this package deal is a renewed fight for states rights, then I may be for it.

If you watch tv, you must have seen this commercial:

Well here is Romy’s contribution to this advertising campaign:

She kept sitting on Bethany’s school bag, it reminded me of that commercial. Unfortunately being a Cesar Dog is not in the family spending plan….

Friday, March 19, 2010 Reading for the Day John 17-18; 1 Peter 3-5 Focus on 1 Peter 3:1-7

Peter’s words to wives and husbands in 1 Peter 3:1-7 sound a call to mutual love, respect and service that swims upstream against the current of marriage advice in our day.  Our culture teaches that marriage is a 50-50 performance relationship, with each spouse in the relationship doing his or her part to hold up the “bargain.”  The problem is we can never know when we have done our 50% and it never seems like our spouse has done his or her 50%.  The reality we find from Peter is that our love for our spouses calls us to serve, to put him or her before ourselves.  In the case of husbands we are called to work hard to show our love through understanding, and in the case of wives to show love through obedience.  Those concepts aren't exactly modern, but they are proven.  When husbands live with understanding toward our wives, our wives know we love and care for them. When wives submit to their husband’s authority, we husbands recognize that our authority is delegated to us by God and that we remain under His authority.  Then we don’t see ourselves as “masters,” but as fellow servants with our wives in serving Jesus.  As we put Peter’s words about marriage to work in our marriages in the power of the Holy Spirit, we’ll see our marriages growing, flourishing, being renewed and restored in ways we may not even have thought possible.  May we take his words to heart—literally--and may we apply them in the power of the Holy Spirit—today!

Heavenly Father, I pray for every married couple who calls Jesus Savior and Lord. I pray You will pour out Your Holy Spirit in marriages that Jesus may be first and that husbands and wives may live faithfully toward You, each other and their children.  Glorify Yourself in our marriages today, that others may see You in them, in us, and give You all the glory.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Project 365: 77 - Groomed??, originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

I groo...I mean I shaved Romy today. I won't qualify what I did as grooming. I saved the family spending plan $40. Thank goodnes it will grow back quickly. If she could talk, she would have asked "Don't you need a license to buy let alone operate those clippers.?" The females of the household insist that she needs the sweatshirt with hair this short.

Thursday, March 18, 2010 Reading for the Day John 15-16; 1 Peter 1-2 Focus on 1 Peter 1:17-20

 

Peter gives us a great image of how faith and works come together in our salvation in 1 Peter 1:17-20.  He tells us we will be judged based on our works.  That sounds like our salvation is dependent on what we do, but He also tells us God paid a “ransom” to save us from the empty lives we inherited from our ancestors.  That “ransom” was the precious blood of Jesus.  So which is it:  works or Jesus' free payment of our ransom?  YES!  We are saved by grace through faith, as we have read throughout the New Testament, except in James, where we found James emphasizing our part in the process.  But here Peter brings faith and works together as they ought to be.  We aren’t saved by our works, but once we are saved, our works begin to reflect the “new management” we're under in our lives.  We do our part and God does His part.  God’s part is absolutely essential, since it is His provision of Jesus that brings salvation to us.  Our part is also essential since even Jesus told us that not everyone who cries, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the ones who do the will of His Father in heaven.  Works have their place—AFTER—we receive the free gift of salvation Jesus died on the cross to procure for us.  Faith AND works go together in the growing Christian life.  When faith is emphasized to the exclusion of works, our lives turn to license and we find the Apostle Paul’s question to Christians in Rome coming to mind, “Should we sin that grace may abound?”  Paul’s own answer to that question was, “May it never be!”  When works are emphasized overly much in our lives, we become proud, forgetting that even the ability to do good works is a gift from God!  May we trust Jesus enough today to be empowered to live out the good works He designed for us to do before the foundation of the world!

 

Heavenly Father, Thank You for designing us to live in faith and for that faith to result in good works. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit in this moment that I may live out my faith in thoughts, words and actions that honor You.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

My little repair girl., originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

I wonder if I could talk her into changing my oil next.

Project 365: 76 - Spring, originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

When the flowers start to pop up and out of the soil it is time to wear these. I am really loving this weather.

Wednesday Weigh In #lifechange, originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

One more pound loss. Woot!

185

Project 365: 75 'Art', originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

Bethany's artwork.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Reading for the Day John 13-14; James 4-5 Focus on John 14:1-6

Jesus’ claim: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through me,” puts Him on a level above everyone else who ever lived.  So many people in our day claim  there are “many ways to the top of the mountain,” as we seek spiritual direction and meaning in our lives.  In other words, many religious “paths” can lead to truth or enlightenment.  Jesus said He is the only path or way.  He is the only One who can lead us to God, because He IS God.  He is the only one who can ensure that our lives will be lived eternally with God in heaven.  Those claims make Jesus someone to take seriously or to dismiss completely.  Many have said Jesus was a great teacher, but He wasn’t God.  Actually, if Jesus wasn’t God, then He wasn’t a great teacher—He was a liar, or He lived under a great delusion—He was a lunatic.  You may have heard the statement that Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, a legend or LORD.  He didn’t really leave us with many other options to consider.  His claims are so amazing and the actions recorded in the gospels so compelling we’re forced to see Jesus as greater than any human being who has ever lived, or as just so many stories.  The historic record both in the days of Jesus and in the centuries of the Church since offer compelling evidence that Jesus WAS and IS who He told us He WAS and IS:  the Son of the living God.  To be sure, faith will always play a role in what we believe about Jesus, since He isn’t here with us now, and since we can’t repeat many of the things He did in the “laboratory.” Even so, the evidence that Jesus is LORD was so strong in His own day that His original followers except for Judas gave their lives in serving Him.  The early church bore witness to Jesus’ powerful impact in the lives of those who belonged to it.  As we move through the season of Lent, a time of reflection on the life and ministry of Jesus, and of preparing for the celebration of Easter, Jesus’ words resound down through the millennia, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  May we put Jesus first.  May we follow Him.  As we do, may we know the assurance of our faith that only comes when we Jesus is OUR way, truth and life, and we come to know the Father through Him!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Jesus’ bold proclamation that He is the only way to You. Thank You for validating that claim by raising Him from the dead, and by living in Jesus followers in an unbroken line from His days on earth to ours!  Fill us anew with Your Holy Spirit that we may be bold in bearing witness in our lives of how Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to You, our Heavenly Father, except through Him.  This I pray in His holy name.  Amen.

I spent Saturday afternoon assembling a Malm 3 drawer chest from IKEA. I bought it around New Year's when IKEA cut the price in half for a one day special. It took me longer than expected to put it together, but I am pleased with the results. For a 3 drawer chest, it is quite roomy and I like the metal drawer slides. Now, I have to rearrange some stuff in my bedroom to make space for it.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Reading for the Day John 11-12; James 1-3 Focus on John 11:43

“Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’”  Many times when I read accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry in the gospels I think, “I wish I could have been there,” but never more so than when I read the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  The account contains so many interesting details, nuances and proclamations.  In all of it, though, the most compelling verse for me is John 11:43.  Can you picture being there?  Can you picture standing near the entrance to the tomb, when Jesus has told the people to roll the stone covering the entrance aside?  Lazarus’ sisters sought to stop Jesus, because they were afraid Lazarus’ body would have stunk by that time.  Jesus wouldn’t be stopped.  He shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”  I picture a dramatic pause, and then the mummy-like figure of Lazarus appearing at the door in his grave clothes.  Did the crowd shout?  Did they stand in silent awe?  I once heard someone say the reason Jesus said, “Lazarus, come out!” is if He had simply said, “Come out!” every person in the tomb would have appeared at the door!  No doubt they would!  Jesus is the author of life, and He holds command even over death.  Had I been there in that moment, I don’t know what I would have done, but I would surely have believed Jesus was amazing—probably the Son of God.  The only ones who stood by unimpressed, or at least unmoved by the incident, were the religious leaders.  Far from celebrating Lazarus’ resurrection, they now realized that Jesus’ place among the people had become that of a leader, if not their Messiah.  They started plotting Jesus’ death.  It makes no sense on the surface.  Why would anyone kill a man who had the power over life and death?  The only reasonable answer to that question is – fear.  They feared the Romans would intervene if Jesus proclaimed Himself king.  They feared a loss of control if Jesus were proclaimed a religious leader among the Jews.  They feared the possibility of even considering that Jesus was who He claimed to be.  Fear is a powerful motivator.  In our lives fear will eliminate Jesus from taking central place in our lives, or Jesus will take the central place in our lives and overcome our fears.  Which will it be?  Jesus offers all who seek Him first a place in His Kingdom and the assurance of lives of meaning and purpose.  May we choose Him over fear, that HE may overcome fear in us!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Jesus to overcome every obstacle in the way of eternal life with You—including death!  Thank You for the account of Jesus raising Lazarus, which shows us that for Jesus there is never a hopeless situation.  Glorify Yourself in our lives today, by filling us with Your Holy Spirit and empower us to live the kind of lives that will draw others to You.  This I pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Project 365: 74 'Paths', originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

Flight paths. Two of them. I snapped this with my phone last week, when the sun was out from behind the clouds. I am missing the sun right now.

Project 365: 73 'Art', originally uploaded by ninelives.1972.

Bridget's Artwork.

Monday, March 15, 2010 Reading for the Day John 9-10 Focus on John 10:10

Few verses in Scripture say so much as John 10:10:  10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus made it clear that the goal of His life is to make our lives ABUNDANT.  In the Greek New Testament we find two words for life:  bios and zoe.  Bios is physical life.  Zoe is the life of God.  Some would call it spiritual life.  When Jesus tells us He comes to give us life, and that we may have it more abundantly, He was talking about zoe.  Jesus cares about our physical lives, but He cares much more about our spiritual lives.  Why?  Because at most we are going to live a century in this, physical life.  Then we will live for eternity in our spiritual lives!  We want to live that eternity with God:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  That means in this life we must follow Jesus.  We must make Him first in our lives.  Jesus makes it clear that the goal of His opponent, Satan, or “The thief” as He put it in John 10:10, is to steal, kill and destroy.  Most often Satan disguises his theft, murder, and destruction in pleasant sounding, smelling, tasting, touching or feeling packages.  After all, few of us would go willingly to our own destruction!  The key for us to remember is Jesus ALWAYS leads us to life—abundant life. His way is often hard.  His way is often filled with challenging decisions.  His way will cause us to depend absolutely on His life within us through the Holy Spirit, but all of that is far more fulfilling at the end of the day than following the ways of “The thief.”  As we go about this day, let’s make sure our priority is to seek after the life that is truly life, which comes only through Jesus.  Let’s make sure when the thief comes, and he surely will, that we are ready for him, and are prepared to defend ourselves from his lies, temptation and destruction.  The Good News is we may experience the abundant life of Jesus here and now—we don’t have to wait for heaven to experience it—and we WILL experience it as we live IN Him and in the power of His Holy Spirit!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for all You are, and for the abundant life You give us through Your Son, and our Lord, Jesus!  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today and everyday that I may live that abundant life moment by moment and offer it to others.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

What can you do to help the cause? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

When I was younger, and never too shy for a good political argument, I would often end a dialog by acknowledging that although I don't agree, at least we both vote. It seemed a rather tidy and polite way of ending a laborious and circuitous banter.

Not anymore.

If I don't agree with someone, I'm even more polite than I have ever been!

But now I'll quickly go to alternative dialog "B". That's the one where I get real bitter about the whole process and government. In fact I'm so turned off by the whole establishment, that I want you to be too.

While I still vote, and as early and as often as possible, I make a half decent effort to disenfranchise the opposition.

This is great advice for the nascent Tea Party movement. You can accomplish better results if you identify an intractable nature in conversation, and discourage him or her from voting at all.

But you got to find out early on if you can reach these people with your limited government ideology.

Just trying to help. . . .

Sunday, March 14, 2010 Reading for the Day John 7-8 and Hebrews 11-13 Focus on Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11 is referred to as “The Faith Chapter.”  From the beginning of the chapter when the author defines faith for us, through the body of the chapter where the author presents us with a “Who’s Who” in the “Faith Hall of Fame,” to the conclusion of the chapter when we’re reminded all that “Who’s Who” list of faithful men and women didn’t receive what we have received---The assurance of our faith:  Jesus Christ come to the world, crucified for our sin and risen from the dead. All the amazing men and women of faith in the Old Testament looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, but they never saw the day when He came.  We live 2,000 years AFTER He came.  While all of us would love to have lived in Jesus day, to have walked along side of Jesus when He walked the earth, the reality is we’re way better off than those who lived BEFORE Jesus came.  We’re better off, because we are SURE of what we’ve hoped for.  We are SURE that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  We’re sure that either during our lives or at the end of them we will stand face to face with Jesus and hear His words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  Enter the joy of your Master’s kingdom.”  I am so glad to live on the “victory side” of the cross and resurrection, to be able to wake up each day with the assurance that my faith is well placed.  Does that mean I never have even the smallest doubt?  Not at all!  I’ve doubted many things about the faith over the years, but every time I start to doubt, I consider again what faith is:  The substance of things hoped for; the evidence or conviction of things not seen.  Faith must leave room for doubt, or it isn’t faith! If it’s 100% no doubt sure, then it doesn’t require faith.  When I start to doubt I simply doubt my doubts and hold onto my faith.  That may sound simple or simplistic, but the reality is I KNOW that my faith in Jesus is well-founded and well-grounded, so when the doubts come, I doubt them and keep trusting in Jesus!

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for Your faithfulness, and for being worthy of my faith.  I thank You for all those who came before me in the faith, and who have set the stage for my life of faith.  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may be faithful and live in faith.  This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

My Bluetooth adapter.
tags: p365.2010

Posted via email from Bryan Hill's Posterous

Saturday, March 13, 2010 Reading for the Day John 5-6 and Hebrews 8-10 Focus on John 6:1-15

Jesus performed many miracles, or as John preferred to call them “signs and wonders” during His life and ministry on earth.  Only one of those miracles is recorded in all four gospels:  the feeding of the five thousand.  Each of the accounts has slightly differing details, as one would expect when reading four different authors’ viewpoints on a particular event.  What I have always loved about John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand is that we’re told the source of the five loaves of bread and two fish that Jesus prayed over and multiplied so that they fed 5,000 people was a “lad” or a “boy.”  I’ve always thought about the impact the event must have had on that boy for the future.  After all, for the rest of his life, the boy would    Have been able to tell anyone who would have listened, “I gave Jesus five loaves of bread and two fish and He turned it into enough food to feed 5,000 men PLUS all the women and children who were with them."  Can’t you see folks rolling their eyes or shouting, “No way!”?  But the boy saw what he saw, and he had participated in a miracle of God.  He provided the “seed” for the great “harvest” made available to the crowd by Jesus.  I once read, “God can do a lot with a little if He has it all.”  The feeding of the 5,000 may be the best example of that adage recorded in the four gospels.  The boy didn’t have much.  In fact, that’s what Andrew said when he brought the boy to Jesus:  “He has five barley loaves and two fish but what is that among so many?”   What, indeed!  May we have the attitude of that lad who gave all he had, little as it was, and saw a miracle as a result!  What miracles are waiting to happen in our lives individually, and as a congregation, until someone steps forward and says, “It isn’t much, but I’ll give it all to You, Jesus!”?  May each of us live out that attitude, because as we do, we can be sure that miracles are on the horizon!

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for Your faithfulness!  Thank You for taking the little we offer You and multiplying it.  I pray You will take all of me, little as that is, and multiply my effectiveness in offering Your salvation to my family, friends, and all I meet. This I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.