Numbers 8:1-9:23 ~ Mark 13:14-37 ~ Psalm 50:1-23 ~ Proverbs 10:29-30   Prayer:  We thank you for your clarification, Jesus, today in the book of Mark about the end and how it is we are to be found, the example of a man going away to a far country and leaving his house and authority to his servants, each to do his work and the doorkeeper to keep watch for his return.  This is how things are.  You have left us your creation and given us your authority to operate and we are commanded to be about our work for you, our Master, for your Kingdom, until you return and not to be found unready because we don’t know if it is evening or midnight, the crowing of the rooster or in the morning.  Obviously, this is something we must be prepared for at all times.  This is a way of life we have been invited into, to be the keepers of your house and utilizing your authority to get it done.  So help us.  Come Holy Spirit and guide us.  Help us not be distracted by the mechanics of life.  Help us [Read More]

  Numbers 8:1-9:23 ~ Mark 13:14-37 ~ Psalm 50:1-23 ~ Proverbs 10:29-30   Prayer:  We thank you for your clarification, Jesus, today in the book of Mark about the end and how it is we are to be found, the example of a man going away to a far country and leaving his house and authority to his servants, each to do his work and the doorkeeper to keep watch for his return.  This is how things are.  You have left us your creation and given us your authority to operate and we are commanded to be about our work for you, our Master, for your Kingdom, until you return and not to be found unready because we don’t know if it is evening or midnight, the crowing of the rooster or in the morning.  Obviously, this is something we must be prepared for at all times.  This is a way of life we have been invited into, to be the keepers of your house and utilizing your authority to get it done.  So help us.  Come Holy Spirit and guide us.  Help us not be distracted by the mechanics of life.  Help us [Read More]

  Leviticus 16:29-18:30 ~ Mark 7:24-8:10 ~ Psalm 41:1-13 ~ Proverbs 10:15-16   Prayer:  Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for what the psalmist said today.  You are faithful no matter what.  When we face the absolute depths of betrayal, you are faithful.  You delight in us and our enemies do not shout in triumph.  You support us because of integrity.  You set us in your presence.  Forever may you be praised from everlasting to everlasting, for your faithful love endures forever.  That is a constant that is beyond us, for we see things in the finite.  We see things in the construct of time.  We see things in the span of a lifetime, yet your faithful love endures forever.  That is where we place our hope.  You are always about our redemption.  You are always about our sanctification.  We are constantly in your grip as we submit ourselves to you.  We place ourselves fully submitted to you and invite you, Christ, and all the work of the cross, your death, your burial, your [Read More]

  Exodus 28:1-43 ~ Matthew 25:31-26:13 ~ Psalm 31:9-18 ~ Proverbs 8:12-13   So Jesus offers a challenge again.  Most of the things that he says are so direct and they offer absolute, clear-headed wisdom that we can’t help but sit up and pay attention because our very lives depend upon it.  So he’s talking about the sheep and the goats and the end and the judgment.    So the king turns to the sheep and says, “Come enter in.”  The reason that he gives is that you cared for the least of these.  Then he turns to the goats on the left and says, “You didn’t care for the least of these.  Depart.”  That’s a big deal because God is saying when you do for the least of these, you are doing it as if you are doing it directly for me.  Alright, again, this isn’t some real wacky metaphor.  This is what Jesus said.  This is how the Kingdom works.  It is not one of these you just really can’t understand, it’s too difficult, we just don’t know what the true meaning is, it’s just too far out the [Read More]

  Genesis 16:1-18:15 ~ Matthew 6:1-24 ~ Psalm 7:1-17 ~ Proverbs 2:1-5   Jesus talks very directly about posturing today in the book of Matthew.  As you are going to see, as we go through the Bible together, this isn’t a mystical book that is impossible to understand.  It is actually a very practical book, providing the keys to the life it offers, the life we’re invited to live, the life of Christ.    So Jesus says, look, don’t posture.  Don’t go out there and do good things and then look around to see who is watching you.  If you’re going to do that, then you’ve got all you’re going to get.  Your reward will be the affirmation that you sucked out of people.  When you pray, don’t go on and on.  Don’t get boisterous just to draw attention to yourselves and all of the big words that you know.  Go quietly, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father.  Don’t pray to or for all the people around you.  You’re talking to God.  Don’t speak to God by blabbering on and on so that tho [Read More]

Hosea 6:1-9:17 ~ 3 John 1:1-15 ~ Psalm 126:1-6 ~ Proverbs 29:12-14   I feel that this psalm, Psalm 126, is so deeply encouraging and speaks so directly to the place in life that so many of us are in, where we feel like we’ve kind of been toiling and we need hope to carry on.  This is a psalm or song of ascents, so it was used when a pilgrim would come and see the holy city of Jerusalem and this song would be sung when they ascended to the holy city or when a festival was being attended or when the priests would ascend up into the holy place or even when a pilgrimage would be taken to the top of Mount Zion and it would ascend to the top of God’s mountain.  I think that is poetic, sure, but I think it is also more than just a metaphor.  We are all in process.  We are all ascending daily toward God, being sanctified through the blood of Jesus.  So sometimes this path of life that seems as if it is spiraling out of control downward is actually just the labor of ascending upward.  Bu [Read More]

Daniel9:1-11:1 ~ 1 John 2:18-3:6 ~ Psalm 121:1-8 ~ Proverbs 28:27-28   I think it is fascinating how the Bible is so dynamic to our lives.  I say this many times in a year, because I had planned to share something with you today, an initiative that coincides directly and specifically with the human trafficking that we’ve been lead to take upon ourselves, create awareness for, create and harvest resources for, and partner with ministries directly on the front lines, fighting the battle to free mostly women and children who are forced into the sex industry against their wills.  I was planning to share that anyway and then I read Proverbs 28:27 and it puts an exclamation point on the whole thing and gives us fantastic perspective for the season that we are in, not just the overarching season of life, but the season of December, the holiday season.  Giving to the poor will actually keep you from poverty, but if you close your eyes to their needs, everyone will curse you. This is a p [Read More]