Scripture:
"Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'" Luke 15:2
Observation:
This is an amazing chapter. It is one of my favorites. More than any other place in the Bible it reveals to me the heart God has for those who don't know Him and for those who have turned their back on Him. He ate with sinners. He relaxed with the poor and needy. He created a ministry which literally changed the course of history and he did it with a group of outcasts, roughnecks, and sinners.
Application:
Anyone who knows me knows that I did not log very many miles walking the straight and narrow for many seasons of my life. Looking back I often wonder why I did some of the things that I did. In my heart, I always knew better. In the quiet moments of those seasons I was often tormented by the path that I was on and the man I was becoming. Still, the allure of the things I desired captivated my attention and I charged after them. As I read through the words penned by Luke describing Jesus, I begin to see a tapestry of His grace rise up in the background.
In each paragraph I see an amazing thing; it is God who does the pursuing. He seeks the dinner invitation with the sinners. He leaves the other sheep and goes searching for the lost one. He lights the lamp and searches the house for the coin. He runs out the meet the rebellious son and it is He who goes out to calm the heart of the bitter son.
The God of the universe pursues me. Even when I am an idiot and it is my choices that draw me away He chases after me. More amazingly, He celebrates when He finds me. He does not remind me of where I have been. He does not call out everything I have done. He does not deliberate to decide if I will be accepted. He simply celebrates.
Prayer:
There are memories in my mind that torment me. There are places I have been, things I have done and people I have hurt that stir images in my mind I can't handle. Of all the things I fear in life, nothing scares me more than the man I know I can become when I walk away from Your direction in my life.
Your Grace is amazing. Your love never fails. Your heart is always bent towards me. As I reflect back over my life I realize that I have never once found You to be unwilling to accept me back as long as I came to You in true repentance. It gives me great comfort to know that all of my past is gone, forgiven, thrown out, and will never return. As far as the East is from the West is how far Your word says my failures have been removed.
Each day is a new day and I now find myself in a much better place in life. That said, I also live with the reality that I have not arrived anywhere. Daily I have to choose to take up my cross and follow after You. That is never a simple choice.
Life is hard and temptations are easy to find. I ask today that You continue to reveal Yourself to me. Open the eyes of my heart so that I can see Your face, hear Your voice and know Your will.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sowing in Tears
Scripture:
"When the LORD brought back the captive ones of ZION, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was full of laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting." Psalm 126:1-2
Observation:
The nation of Israel constantly found themselves in difficult situations. They would turn from God in rebellion, ignore His call to repent, and eventually experience His wrath. Most of the time His wrath allowed a rogue nation to take them captive.
Captivity for them meant that they lost everything that they owned and became slaves to the nation that overtook them. Slavery is not a good thing. Every aspect of their life was consumed by the abuses of their new masters. Life became miserable.
God's mercy eventually would always compel Him to return and deliver His people once again. When this happened, the people would celebrate. Laughter replaced crying. Dreams took the place of nightmares. Singing drowned out the painful torment of silence.
Application:
There is nothing like returning to God. So many times in my life I, just as the nation of Israel, have turned from God. As I think back over my life I can remember several times that I have found myself sitting some where and being tormented by my thoughts, a slave to my own sins.
Sometimes I find myself here because I have chased after some desire that was not healthy. Sometimes it is because something happened that made me angry at God. Other times I am not quite sure how I got where I am, nor do I feel like I did anything wrong; I just know that I am hurting.
Verse 6 of this Psalm says, "He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him." No matter how I got to where I am it is important to me that I learn how to respond to hurt. It is ok to weep. It is ok to be honest about where I am and what I feel. It is ok for me to be confused and angry. But I must never put down my walk with God. My relationship with Him is the seed of my life and I must carry it even during dark times of being lost.
Prayer:
There are times when tragic deaths cause me to become captive to feelings of doubt. There are times when unanswered prayers cause me to become captive to anger and disappointment. There are times with sinful choices cause me to become captive to rough circumstances. There are also times when evil things happen for no apparent reason and I become captive to bitterness and resentment.
Regardless of the source, the results of these types of situations always leave me feeling lost, lonely, confused and hurt; a slave to my own emotions and thoughts. It is in these moments of desperation, frustration, aggravation, and depression that I need You the most.
I pray that You teach me to continue in my pursuit of You even when the circumstances of my life come unwound. I know that doing this is my only source of hope.
"When the LORD brought back the captive ones of ZION, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was full of laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting." Psalm 126:1-2
Observation:
The nation of Israel constantly found themselves in difficult situations. They would turn from God in rebellion, ignore His call to repent, and eventually experience His wrath. Most of the time His wrath allowed a rogue nation to take them captive.
Captivity for them meant that they lost everything that they owned and became slaves to the nation that overtook them. Slavery is not a good thing. Every aspect of their life was consumed by the abuses of their new masters. Life became miserable.
God's mercy eventually would always compel Him to return and deliver His people once again. When this happened, the people would celebrate. Laughter replaced crying. Dreams took the place of nightmares. Singing drowned out the painful torment of silence.
Application:
There is nothing like returning to God. So many times in my life I, just as the nation of Israel, have turned from God. As I think back over my life I can remember several times that I have found myself sitting some where and being tormented by my thoughts, a slave to my own sins.
Sometimes I find myself here because I have chased after some desire that was not healthy. Sometimes it is because something happened that made me angry at God. Other times I am not quite sure how I got where I am, nor do I feel like I did anything wrong; I just know that I am hurting.
Verse 6 of this Psalm says, "He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him." No matter how I got to where I am it is important to me that I learn how to respond to hurt. It is ok to weep. It is ok to be honest about where I am and what I feel. It is ok for me to be confused and angry. But I must never put down my walk with God. My relationship with Him is the seed of my life and I must carry it even during dark times of being lost.
Prayer:
There are times when tragic deaths cause me to become captive to feelings of doubt. There are times when unanswered prayers cause me to become captive to anger and disappointment. There are times with sinful choices cause me to become captive to rough circumstances. There are also times when evil things happen for no apparent reason and I become captive to bitterness and resentment.
Regardless of the source, the results of these types of situations always leave me feeling lost, lonely, confused and hurt; a slave to my own emotions and thoughts. It is in these moments of desperation, frustration, aggravation, and depression that I need You the most.
I pray that You teach me to continue in my pursuit of You even when the circumstances of my life come unwound. I know that doing this is my only source of hope.
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