Tuesday, 29 April 2008

I missed a few devotionals over the last few days.

James 1 contains the five lessons.  The first two are:

1.  Faith and Wisdom:  “6 But when you ask God you must believe.”  Forgive me when I ask for things and do not believe.  I know it is a reflection of my weakness and beg forgiveness for forgetting Your greatness and power.

2.  True Riches:  Lord, let me have not business other than your business.  Please bend my heart to desire only to be like You as all other ends are death.  May I be consumed by Christ.

Lord I love You and I want to act like it.

Monday, 14 April 2008

Today I read Psalm 104.

My heart has been feeling the divide between those who have money and those who do not.  As a church we are clearly called to be the ones who feed the world with both the eternal meal of Christ and the temporal meal of bread.  We are not.  I am not.  I have a good friend who is the sole income in his family with four children and might spend a year in jail.  He did not murder, steal, or even sell crack to orphans.  He ran a stop sign, could not pay the fine, lost his license, was arrested twice for driving on a suspended license, and finally violated his parole by not making weekly payments to the court.  All of this would not have been a problem if he had a little money in the first place.  The value of my extra television sets, the food we throw away in a year, or even the money I spend on shakes would have make all the difference in the life of his family.

Money is not the real issue.  The real problem is that I did not know his need because I did not KNOW him.  I am surrounded by people every day with needs.  I (we) are called to be the Body of Christ to these people, but I do not know them.  I do not want Christ to say He does not know me.

Abba father please help us to get it right and forgive us for all the times we have gotten it wrong.

Wednesday, 09 April 2008

I read Psalm 104 again and some of the letter to the Ephesians.

Chapter 4, Unity of the Body, tells us in 13 “-we must grow until we become like Christ and have all his perfection”.  The context for this is very important, “This work must continue until we are all joined together in the faith and in the same knowledge of the son of God.”  This leaves little doubt that perfection is a communal command.  I can not and should not pursue perfection outside of community with other believers.  12″He [Christ] gave those gifts to make the body of Christ stronger”  Lord may your will be done.

Tuesday, 01 April 2008

Today I read Psalms 99-100 aloud.  I have also been reading in “Organic Church” and Ephesians.

Ephesians 10 says, “His goal was to carry out his plan, when the right time came, that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head.”  All things must include brothers in Christ whole are not like me.  Christ came to us as an example so I / we should go to them. 

Lord, may thy kingdom come on earth.  Please give me the strength and courage to fulfill my part in your plan.  Make my heart burn for my brothers.  Let us see your perfection in community.

Lord, Please give Jim, Jay, Calvin, and Kevin your mind and your heart that they may have your courage.

Tuesday, 26 Feb 2008

I read Psalm 38 aloud and John 16.

Yesterday was a good day.  I was given more grace in the areas of waiting for God and having patients with people.

Today I will continue to focus on only speaking words which build community in Christ.  I also hope for the discipline to to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice through the noise and stuff of today.

Please pray for my wife and our family as she starts maintenance (1 every 3 months) shock treatments for depression.  They were very effective last time, but had a large impact on the family.  I am very scared.

Lord,  what prayer would I pray for my brothers today; may they see glimpses of your kingdom everywhere they look today and know that you are near.