Romans 5:1,8:31 -- Gifts from God

Peace through our Lord Jesus Christ
If God is for us who can be against us?

Today the world isn't at peace.  People are deciding they'd rather destroy than build up.  Lord, You know we need food, shelter, love and work.  Please give us what we need; especially a grateful heart.

John 17:3 -- To live to 70, 150 or forever???

This type of question was asked at expo' in Vancouver.  People weren't that excited about the 150 mark but they liked the forever one.  I'm guessing that that was because forever includes heaven, and living the way God intended us to live.  So if we start now, living in God's Kingdom here on earth what does it look like?  Lord, would you give us Your eyes to see Your Kingdom, would You give us Your courage and Your Spirit to obey You as You share with us the next little thing You want us to do and most of all would You help us to delight in our relationship with You.  Your the best and I know You have the best planned for us today!

1 Peter 3:3-4 -- Shine the inner beauty

Jesus was always talking about what is on the inside.  What are our motives and what are you feeding the inside of your heart because ultimately this is what comes out.

I've seen some people however, who are taken advantage of because of their kindness and compassion.  Father, You've given then a tender heart.  Please help them to manage their own needs such that they don't love others more than then love themselves and help them to love You more than anything or anyone!

Acts 1:6-8 -- It's not for us to know when

Without a doubt God will fill us with His Spirit and allow us to be witnesses of the triune God through out the world but the time and the season to do this is not for us to know.  What we need to know is God's still small voice so that we may obey the next little thing He tells us to do.

"We must listen to the Spirit speaking and Spirit of the Lord obey
We must listen to the Spirit speaking and the Spirit of the Lord obey;
We don't need to know the where and where fore
We don't need to know the how and why;
We must listen to the Spirit speaking and the Spirit of the Lord obey"

James 1:19 -- 2 ears, 1 mouth!

God knew what He was making and knew we needed to listen more than we speak and definitely more than we become angry.  We each have our own perspectives so when we want to share and when we want to become angry it's good advice to slow down and listen first.

2 Samuel 22:31 and Ephesians 6 -- Our shield!

Reacting without knowing all the facts
Reacting out of fear; not love
Reacting ....

this is what humans tend to do; react yet reacting comes out of who we are on the inside.  If we believe we're in danger we defend ourselves...and these verses remind us that God is bigger than us and we need to start defending ourselves by using our shield...God Himself.  Picture yourself hidden under the wings of God Himself.  Picture yourself taking the firery  offense weapons and defending yourself with "that's not true; that's not who I am in Christ, that's not how God operates; that's not what the word of God says"

Thank You Lord for being our shield.  Please help us to remember this when we're tempted to come out from behind You and represent ourselves.

2 Peter 3:9 -- If God is slow maybe it's because He's waiting for us

I can remember Jesus's frustration after years of being with His disciples and they still didn't have the faith to heal the sick.  He knew His Father so well faith seemed so easy for Him and He tried to show them His Father through His own life and they still didn't get it.  Ultimately He left the Holy Spirit for them and us yet we too have a hard time understanding where God is working and how we can help him.

Father, help us to approach today with by seeing things from Your perspective not our own.  Thank You for being patient with each one of us; so patient that at times we get annoyed with You for taking so long yet You know what each of us need more than we know ourselves.  As You work in and through us please help us to see You and Your perspective more and grow in us Your heart of compassion.

John 14:6 -- I am the way, the truth and the life

This is a radical claim!  Is Jesus out of His mind!!!  Many people will say Jesus was a good person but not the Son of God yet with this claim of being the way, truth and life CS Lewis has highlighted that Jesus is either crazy, a liar, or really the Son of God he claims to be but being just a good moral man is not an option

Reading this verse in context we see that in John 14 the disciples were having a hard time understanding Jesus as well.

It seems that real understanding requires the Holy Spirit, and obedience to God and a relationship with Jesus and a sign of this is an inner peace.

John 14 has some other "nuggets of gold"

v12-14 "I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me; you will do the same things that I am doing.  You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father.  Ask me, and I will do whatever you ask.  This way the Son will bring honour to the Father.  I will do whatever you ask me to do"

(This type of power scares me a little because I don't have a full understanding of what is going on with everyone else.  For instance a Salvation Army church wanted to have church outside so they prayed that God would send a storm that was coming their way out to sea.  They were so excited when God answered their prayer they started to share and my friend's Dad heard their story and then shared his.  He was a commander on a ship that day and was at sea and told them he encounter the worse storm he'd ever encounter that day....so I'm with the disciples..."Lord teach us how to pray".   It highlights that we really do need the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit to direct us.)
.
v 29 "I can't speak with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. But he has no power over me.  I obey my Father so that everyone in the world might know that I love him"

(This is hard to comprehend because the evil one took Jesus's life and Jesus certainly didn't want to go to the cross yet he chose to obey His Father; even when He didn't want to go through the pain yet by doing this it took the power of the evil one away and ultimately Jesus rose from the dead.)

1 John 1:9 -- If we confess our sin

If we confess our sin God is faithful and just and will forgive us and help us to clean up the mess and help us to do what's right the next time.

Father, please help us not to take You for granted.

1 Peter 3:4 -- Be beautiful in your heart

"God blesses those who do the right thing even if they get in trouble for doing it" (v 3:14)

"most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins" (v 4;8)

"each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others.  So use your gift well." (v4:10)

Lord, thanks for those who have done the right thing but people didn't realize it at the time.  Thanks for Your promise to bless them.  Help us to understand how to sincerely love each other and help to understand and use our gifts well.

Colossians 3:3 -- Dead yet hidden with Christ

The higher you are up in society the more likely you'll have people making making fun of you, and trying to pull you down so this is a fascinating thought; being dead (to self) and hidden with Christ (does this mean Christianity is hidden?).  It's important to get some context to this scripture reference so check out the rest of Colossians 3.

Being dead means dead to sins such as sexual immorality,impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry, anger, rage, malice, slander, lying and filthy language from your lips

and being hidden means that we clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience and bear with each other and forgive each another if any of us have a grievance against someone. In fact we're to forgive as the Lord forgave us.  

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds us all together in perfect unity.

Psalm 46:10 -- Be still and know that I am God

Wow!  Wait! Be still!
You don't have to fix it; You don't have to take it all on.  You just need to be still and know that God is God!...and then do what He says!

Matthew 7:12 -- The golden rule

If you're trying to figure out what's right and what's wrong the easiest thing to measure by is the golden rule; if someone behaved the same way you're behaving with you would you like it.  Of course this is a little more interesting when we think about it because we all have different treats.  Learning how to love each other isn't as easy as it is stated!

Romans 1:1 -- Servant, Called, Separated

As a Christian we're first to be a servant of Christ. How does this work?  How do we serve Him?  Can we measure this by our impact on His Kingdom?

Then we're called to a particular function, or task in the Body of Christ.

Then we're separated for the purpose of the good news of Christ.

Colossians 3:3 -- Not me but Him

Grasping the fact that we're completely covered by God is interesting.  We no longer stand out in the crowd yet we can radiate His presence.

Psalm 90:12 -- Time; our valued resource

We value 2 things; time and money and in many cases time is the most valued.  Knowing where to invest our time and money is incredibly important.  So important we're encouraged to use our time to grow wisdom in our hearts.  Wisely loving; Lord, help us to recognize that quality time, acts of service, and affirmation are all gifts we can give for free.

Luke 4:13 -- ended temptation...for a season

Luke 4 is interesting because it doesn't say Jesus saw a red devil with a pitch fork.   He was dealing with his regular human thought life.  This is how satan works best.  Jesus was prepared though.  He had spent time in God's word.  The good news  is that He responded with scripture from the same area in the bible.  It makes sense that that's what He read for His devotions that day.  What this means is that we don't have to know all the scripture; we just have to be faithful to what God is teaching us through His word each day and He'll make sure we have the right passages when we need them.

Scripture says the enemy wants to destroy us; come at us like a roaring lion; fill us with fear... yet the good news from this verse is that temptation is only for a season.

Lord, for each person reading this blog; would You give them the tools they need to face the temptations coming their way; and would you give them the breaks they need to enjoy amazing fellowship with You.  Thanks

Micah 6:8 -- What does God want?

God wants us to:

Do justice:

In trying to understand this I went looking for information from Christ's teaching on the parable of the labourer and discovered this:
http://www.gotquestions.org/parable-laborers-vineyard.html

An inmate told me one day "I was justice for her and grace for me".  I loved that line because I think this way too!!!  I think we all do.  When we talk about justice we need to talk about what's fair; and I'm being reminded.  How am I doing in paying my labourers?

Understanding how we're blessed and understanding how our lives affect others is important and also recognizing that justice is required for the protection of others is important.

Lord, today would you bless our police officers, lawyers and judges.  Would you help them to do what's right in Your eyes.  Give them wisdom beyond measure so that justice may be applied in our nation.  Thanks

Love mercy:

If God treats someone else after doing exactly what He said He'd do for us will we celebrate or get jealous?... This is the question on my mind after reading about the parable of the laborers.

If we know someone deserves some just act because they offended us and they're truly repentant will we forgive them?  Will we forgive someone who has offended us just because we know what it's like to be forgiven ourselves?  Matthew 18 has something to say about this.

Because God loves justice and I don't believe we're called to be a doormat to be walked all over but I do like the idea of restorative justice.  The whole concept of looking for ideas of what will bring healing to the hurting.  Lord, thank you for the doctors and nurses in our world as well as the prayer warriors and those who provide jobs.  Lord thank you too for the scientists and engineers, the social workers and garbage collectors....Lord, each one of us contributing to the whole is like your word says; a part of the body 1 Corinthians 12-14.

Walk humbly with God:
They say the sign of wisdom is to know how little one knows!  To recognize how small we are compared to our mighty God allows us to value the knowledge and experience of those around us and recognize that God is bigger than all of that!

Proverbs 1:7 -- The respect of God is the beginning of knowledge

I know some of us get 100% on our tests but this doesn't mean we know it all.  In fact the best test for wisdom is to see how much a person recognizes how little they know.  Yet the God who knows it all knows even us and loves us can cares for us so when He sets something up for us it's for our good.  Recognizing this is important.

Ephesians 5:18 -- Love tips

• "The best gift a parent can give their child(ren) is the love of their spouse"
• "If you love your wife you love yourself"
• "Love like you love your body"
• Sub' in Jesus for love; now try your own name.

1 Corinthians 13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

Father, as humans we do fail so would you help each married couple in Canada today.  Would You give them keys into the life of their spouse that enhances their relationships.  Would you bless them with the things they need to relieve their stress; finances, work, healing, understanding....

Would you bless the singles too.  Lord would you help us to love each person you put into our lives and continue to grow us in our emotions, love a spirituality.

Thanks Lord, I love You

Romans 8:28 -- All things work together for good...

"And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose"

Notice the pairing here; "love God & called according to His purposes"

Lord, there are times when I find it hard to love You because I can't see You or hug You but the truth is I want to love You with all my heart, soul and mind.  Would You help me to do this?

and Lord, there are times when I don't understand Your purposes so would You help me to keep my eyes, ears, and mind open to what You're doing and show me how I can help.

I love You Lord.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Keeping God first

If we can do it on are own we should be asking is this of God.  I find the more we have the more we become self dependent.  Instead we should view all that we have (physically, mentally and spiritually) as gifts from God to be used of God in ways we never dreamed or imagined.

Lord, thank you for that group of folks who are recognizing that they are just one part of the body.  Would You bless them with work so they can pay their bills and would You reveal Yourself to them.  Would also help us as neighbours to build each other up.  And would you give me Your vision for my house and work.

Today Lord I commit those reading this blog to You.  Bless each one of them with good health, a good attitude and the freedom to be all that You have made them to be.  Thanks for our many blessings.  Teach us more about You and Your ways.  In Jesus name. Amen

Romnas 9:16 -- God asks us to do the possible and leave the impossible to Him.

It is wonderful when God shows us a way out of trouble or empowers us to do more than we can ever dream or imagine.  Thank You Lord.

Luke 10 What is exciting/What is the best?

Seeing the power of God in action is always exciting yet Jesus warns His disciples that the best thing is that our names are written in the book of life.  That we're part of God's Kingdom and I'll add, a child of God.

Lord, please help us to understand what it is to be in relationship with You.

Giving thanks

For technology that allows me to do this from McDonalds
For health that allows me to walk to McDonalds
For a beautiful sunrise
For pleasant early morning people
For family that love me
For friends that care
For food
For work
For a place I call home
For a gorgeous backyard
For friendly neighbours
For an opportunity to learn something new
For tenants
For God's infinite love
For purpose
For a peaceful neighbourhood
For...

Romans 8:9 -- We're not in the flesh but in the Spirit

It took me years to clue into this and then one day a wise woman said to me we forget we're eternal beings and get caught up in our earthly life span.  Lord, please help us to remember this is a temporary stop in our eternal journey and please help us to remember we're ambassadors for You while we're here on earth.  Would You help us to best represent You today.

Psalm 126:1-2 -- Dreams coming true

What makes you laugh and sing songs of joy? Can we attribute this to the fact that "the Lord has done great things for us"?

Psalm 2:7-8 An adopted/chosen child!

That's right; God chooses us! And blesses us with a Father child relationship.

Psalm 103:2 -- Praise God and don't forget His benefits

Is it true; the more we have the more we want and the less grateful we are?  Can we consciously observe the good things coming our way and truly value them?  I've heard a phone call to thank someone makes the person making the call happy...and just to think God made us this way!

James 1:17 -- Gifts

Have you ever thought of the gifts God is giving to you?  In your life what is good and perfect?  When you answer this question you'll have the answer to what God is giving to you. Don't forget to thank the folks He uses to give these gifts out.

Philippians 4:29 -- God will supply

God will supply our needs; not necessarily our wants

Philippians 4:13 -- I can do all things...

God will strengthen us to do what He has planned for us today.

Isaiah 55:8 -- His thoughts, our thoughts

Have you ever thought about what God thinks about?  How does this change the way we pray?

Joshua 1:9 -- Be bold, Be strong...

The Lord is with those who choose to have Him as part of their lives so what do we have to fear.

Philemon 1:3 -- Start young

Lord, I think of all the parents, teachers, child care workers, friends, church members.... who have influence over our children.  With all the multi-media available to them would you help them to focus the children on You and what is important.

John 15:16 -- Fruit that will last

God chose us!  How cool is that!  He chose us for a purpose; to bear fruit! Love, Joy, Kindness, Meekness, Faithfulness and Self Control as well as disciples of Christ.  With this focus in mind He has said we can also ask things in Jesus name and the Father will give it.
Let's ask, and thank Him for answered prayers!

Philippians 4:6-7 -- PPTA = Peace

Prayer
Petition
Thanksgiving
Ask

Notice Prayer and Petition are two different things here.  Should we petition those in power as well as pray to God?  Should we thank those that give us stuff as well as God?  Should we ask people as well as God?

Jesus said "Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbour as much as you love yourself".  This implies a people and God relationship!

Pray, yes! Petition, yes! Give thanks, yes! Ask, yes!

Father, I want a church where everyone feels like they're a part of the body and each person feels like they're both giving and receiving within the body of Christ.  I want a church where it doesn't matter how long you've been around; every one feels blessed to be a part of the body of Christ. Thanks Lord for the fellowship You've given to date.

Matthew 18:12 -- the God of One

Is God the God of one, twelve, fifty, one hundred, the multitudes...?  God is amazing in that He acknowledges the systems.  Moses' Father-in-law recommend hiring people to help him lead the crowds and the New Testament talks about us belong together like parts of a body yet Jesus usually engaged the individual.  God is the God of the individual.  He loves us so much He'd leave the healthy group to reach out to the wandering one.  He's a gentleman though; He won't force the wandering one to return to Him.  Father, help us to choose You when we wander away.

2 Corinthians 12:9 -- Who's strength; Who's weakness?

We're not the center of the universe; we're just one person in this universe yet God has every person in a place just like every part of the body is in the correct place.  In addition, He doesn't expect us to be God.  He expects us to be all that He made us to be and we work best when we recognize that it's Him working in us because His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

Lord, as we live out today help us to remember it's Your power and Your grace that rests on us; so fill us in such a way that others will see You in us.

Joshua 1:8 -- Grace, Truth, and the Law

Balancing Grace and the Law is interesting.  Some think Jesus came to get rid of the law yet it's important so people don't get hurt.  Jesus said He came to fulfill the law yet He also modelled grace and truth.  Can we be really honest with ourselves today and can we really just surrender to the next little thing God tells us to do; and can we consistently look into God's word so He can teach us?  May God continue to grow His truths in us.

Psalm 27:1 -- Light and Salvation

The truth is we're not righteous without Christ's Salvation and our failures are exposed with God's light yet God has chosen to clean us up and use the light to help us because He loves us.  We're strong because we're children of God so who shall we fear?!

(Note: the cleanup process is in God's timing; sometimes it's instant and sometimes He chooses to involve us and it's a process yet even so, God chooses to defend us with His righteousness)

Psalm 103:3-5 -- God's healing powers

How we deal with our guilt affects our health and so do diseases.  The reality is we are so small compared to everything and everyone around us yet God is bigger than all of this and He knows and loves us personally!!!...He even knows how we mess up and He still loves us and is willing to work with us to make us into all that He wants us to be.  God wants us to surrender all there is of us into His hands so He can begin to help us heal and renew our youth!!!  How beautiful is this!!!  And who says adults can't play!!! :-)

Psalm 5:12 -- Protection through blessings

Lord, will you bless those who are choosing to do the right thing with a shield of blessings?  How cool is that!

Psalm 68:19 -- No matter where we are God's willing to carry our burdens

Along our journey we may carry burdens that God never intended us to carry.  If this is so we can leave them with Him and trust Him with the next little thing God tells us to do.

Isaiah 43:1 -- God has redeemed

When we blow it and the most important, most powerful finds out about it it can be a little scarey yet He's a loving God.  He'll help us just where we're at to be all that He needs us to be.

Psalm 23:3 -- God's Refreshment and Guidance

Two things God did for David.  He refreshed his soul and guided him along right paths so God would be glorified.

What does God need to do in our lives so that He is glorified?

Philippians 4:6 -- Prayer, Requests and Thanks

Be honest with God, tell Him how you feel, tell Him what you're experiencing, tell Him what You'd love, tell Him what frustrates you...tell Him.

Then ask Him for what you want and need...and don't forget to say thank you when you get it.

Trust God -- it's good for inner peace

Thank You Lord for giving inner peace as we learn to trust You and as we learn to be obedient to You and as we learn to understand how important we are to You.

Psalm 91:15 -- God is hard to get rid of! :-)

We may choose to disowned God, ignore Him or walk away from Him yet He's not like that.  As a friend He's willing to stick with us even when we make mistakes and even when we're going through a hard time.

Isaiah 41:10 -- Do not be afraid

Facing our fears can be done by zeroing in on reality like Chris did in space
https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_hadfield_what_i_learned_from_going_blind_in_space

yet sometimes we don't have enough knowledge to know all the facts to calm our fear;
and sometimes we have too much knowledge to figure out what we need to know to relax;

So this promise from an all knowing, all present God is wonderful.  He says He will help us and He will strengthen us and His righteousness will take care of us!

Thank you God!

John 1:12 -- A child of God

It's hard to imagine what life would be like as a rich kid yet imagine life as a rich kid with a Father who is rich in kindness too!

Deuteronomy 6:5 -- Love the Lord

Focus on the Lord.  Enjoy the beautiful gifts He gives.

Psalm 147:10-11 -- Bigger than anyone thing

God is bigger than any one thing and any person yet He's so personal He knows about every detail of our lives so before we're tempted to think it's all about us we need to remember we're smaller than a snowflake when we're looked at by humans walking in outer space...and that's just a human perspective; let alone a God perspective!  Therefore God is able to accomplish what we need accomplished today IF we're willing to do what He asks us to do and IF we'll trust Him with the rest.

Lord, please help us as we learn to respect You for who You really are.

Joel 2:21 -- Be glad; the Lord has done great things

It is a blessing to know that God knows far more than the smartest person on this earth; and He knows the thoughts of each person; and even though men and women have the free will to choose Him and His will God can still do great things inspite of bad choices people make. Thank You Lord that we don't have to be afraid when we're doing what You want us to do.  Please help us to make good choices.

Psalm 121:7 -- God is watching

It's a comfort to know that God is like a shepherd watching over us, His sheep.

Psalm 25:3 --- What? Live with consequences?

It's a wonderful world when we can do everything we want yet Paul says being this free isn't necessarily beneficial.  We can smoke all we want, or eat all the ice cream we want yet God has designed things to work a certain way so if we do this we should expect our bodies to eventually complain.  The same is true in all aspects of our lives. Galatians 6:7 says God is not mocked; we reap what we sow; yet God is willing to walk with us and help us to do our part in cleaning up the messes we make.

Isaiah 43:2 -- A companion; through it all

Many of us would like to think having a relationship with God means an easy life yet this is not necessarily true.  There are many reasons for this.

For instance a kid to always eating ice cream tastes good at first but ultimately it catches up with them.
Or there are challenges to help us grow and learn; doing simple addition in university would be boring!
Or someone elses actions affect us
Or...

Yet no matter what, God promises to be with us and walk with us through the good and the tough times. May we always remember that He is with us; during the good and bad times.

Psalm 34:19 -- The righteous have trouble!?

This is so not popular!  To do the right thing should result in an easy life right?  It reminds me of Ephesians 6 and in particular the breastplate of righteousness.  Doing the right thing protects are heart. Even if people attack us we are protected because we know we can look ourselves in the mirror knowing we did what was right.

Then on top of this God has made a promise; "the Lord delivers Him from them all".  Ultimately God will step in and deliver those who do the right thing.

In between, don't waste the troubles.  Look for the lessons and help turn lemons into lemonade.

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see"

Psalm 91:1-2 -- God's shelter

A storm was coming in and we needed to get off the lake and find shelter...and there it was; a strong rock and a space under it for us to wait until the storm passed.  What a small illustration of something far greater. 

Much of Psalms was written by a guy who had seen a lot!  He hid in caves and he lived openly in the palace.  At one point he had a jealous king chasing him and at another times his own son decided to take over his house and kingdom!  Yet through all of this he found his protection in God.

Father, for those who are finding it hard to trust You just now; would You help them and protect them from the evil one; and for those who are taking You for granted now; would you enrich their relationship with You; and for those that understand what it is to trust You; would you help them to rejoice in You.

Isaiah 60:1-2 -- God's spotlight

Have you ever felt like the spotlight was on you? The end result is just amazing!  For some reason everyone was praising you; when all of this happens remember to give credit where credit is due. Thanks be to God.

Philippians 1:6 -- What God has started He'll finish

What words of encouragement.  God's not through with us yet!  We just need to continue to learn!  The tests He gives us, if we fail He'll work with us again until we ultimately pass.  That's the kind of God He is; one who is ever patient and loving.  Thanks God.

Jeremiah 29:11 -- God wants the best for us

Did you know that God wants the very best for us!  He's got some amazing plans for us.  He wants to teach us and He wants us connected into a group of people who we're to love as much as we love ourselves. God really loves us and wants to love and trust Him too.  This doesn't mean we're to just sit around and do nothing; He's given us time, $ and talents to use but what it does mean is if we trust Him he'll make the little that we have accomplish amazing things.

Lord, in all that You give help to never forget the giver.  You are far bigger than even the most brilliant person can imagine and You're putting together the most amazing picture of life so please help me to remember You have plans that are far better than anyone can dream or imagine and all we have to do is obey the next little thing You've called us to do.

Proverbs 3:5 -- Trust versus our own understanding

What do we trust?  If we've had some bad experiences they can limit us from trusting again.  On the other hand if we have a hypothesis we may try it out; is this trust or just an experiment?  Trust in an individual can come over time; as we get to know them yet people let us down and this type of trust is based on our own understanding.  The question is, can we trust when we don't know the whole picture?  Are we really willing to put God in control; a God who has far more people to care about than we do; and a God who will let people disobey Him just because He doesn't want a bunch of robots serving Him; yet a God who knows each one of our hearts and all of our motives; and a God who cares for us just like we're the only person on the face of the earth.  

Lord, today is Your day.  Please help me to trust You above my own understanding.

Proverbs 18:10 -- The name of the Lord

This quote is from the Jewish teaching so it's talking about the Lord as God the Father.

Israel is a group of people who have the hand of God upon them.  God has protected and blessed them many times.  David's psalms are filled with his honesty of asking God what is up and then ultimately recognizing that God is way bigger than he is so all he needed to do is trust God and be obedient to Him.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...the way to righteousness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX13CoJeFUk

John 3:17 -- Conviction versus Condemnation

Conviction is something specific and is of God where condemnation is general and not of God. 

Measuring up to what God wants us to be is like being in school.  If a grade 10 student is proud because the grade 1 test is easy it's nothing to be proud of.  Each of us are in God's school. We have something to learn and God will test us on the lesson until we pass the lesson and His lessons are very specific.  He knows what He will take care of what we need to take care of ourselves. 

It is true Christ wasn't here to condemn us but to save us and He left us the Holy Spirit to help us on our journey day by day, hour by hour.

Jesus, thank You for Your example, and Your sacrifice; and thank You for leaving us the Holy Spirit to help us to realize we are not condemned but loved and in that love You want to show us how to live an abundant life.

Luke 24:6-8, 33-34 -- He is Risen

Really???? He's Risen??? This is what makes Christianity, unique.  If Jesus is not risen Christianity is like every other religion.  Most religions believe in loving each other as much as they love themselves but the story of a perfect God/Man who was crucified and then conquered death is unique.

Investigating this a little more we could assume the opposite "He didn't rise from the dead". If this is true:

Where is His body?  The Romans expected someone to steal the body because they actually assigned guards at His tomb.  We know they fell asleep and were paid to keep quiet when the body went missing but why would anyone steal the body and keep it hidden?

Jesus did tell the disciples that He would rise again so maybe they faked stealing the body?  Yet this doesn't make sense.  They were scared after He was crucified; so scared they locked themselves in a room. 3 days later they were speaking openly about Jesus so what changed?  And why would they be so brave and risk being killed (and many of them were killed) if they knew they had the body?

The same thing could be said about the Jews and Romans, if they had the body why didn't they produced the body to stop everyone who believed in Jesus?

We're all given a free choice.  Do we believe Jesus rose from the dead and if we do; what does that mean for our lives today?

John 19:28-29-- God's drama

It is interesting that Jesus was acting under the concept that "it was finished" and even in His state He allowed the soldiers one more chance to help Him.

We don't know the motives of the soldiers. It seems to me that they had no choice in their work.  As a crucifiction soldier they would have the job of nailing people to the cross and giving the guilty folks the vinegar drink while they're on the cross. Did they always draw lots for the people's possessions or was this a special case because Jesus was someone they admired?

We know God is good and Jesus didn't like this part of His assignment.  He struggle with His Father over this assignment.  Yet before all this took place Jesus knew it would be hard on His followers and He said  "But take heart! I have overcome the world.”'

This was the hardest assignment Jesus ever had yet He chose to trust His Father. Being a Christian doesn't make us the best runner in the world yet we may be called upon to stand up for what we believe in.  Eric Liddell was an example of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqHEYnNSZeA

Luke 23:46 -- In His Hands

There are unknown days in our lives.  Days where we just have to trust that God knows best.  These days can draw us closer together.  For the disciples the Saturday after Jesus death had them behind locked doors.  They were scared.  Nothing made sense.  The person they believed in was just killed!

Lord, as we live today would You help us to listen to Your still small voice and trust that You know what's best for each one of us.

John 19:30 -- It is finished

The reading today asks a great question; what is finished?  Jesus's mission in His earthly body?  I like thinking of our body like a car and we are the drivers of the car.  Or another analogy is our house and we're the owners of the house.  These analogies work great for us while we're alive here on earth but what happens when we leave our bodies?  Last night I watched "God is not dead".  It's a great movie.  There's also another one playing called "Heaven is for real". They don't have all the answers; this world is too big for anyone of us, or anyone one movie, to have all the answers.  Yet each one of us has a purpose so maybe what is finished is Jesus's God assignment.

Lord, would You take this body of mine and fill it with Your Holy Spirit so every part of it is used for Your glory.  Teach me how to best take care of it so it is ready wherever and however You want to use it; and Jesus, thank You for modelling how to live and for choosing to do God's will even when You didn't want to do it.  We owe our lives to You!  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUf-gk39KQM

John 19:26-27 -- Jesus' Mom

This picture of Jesus, John and Jesus's Mom is so intimate and precious.  Jesus usually put His mission from God His Father ahead of His earthly family but in this case Jesus knows His Mom needs help so He asks one of His best friends to take care of His Mom.

This passage allows us to ask the questions; when should we rely on others,  when should we be dependent on God and when should we be independent?  Understanding who we are and how we're unique helps us to value ourselves.  1 Corinthians 12-14 is a great reading for helping us to recognize that we're one piece of the whole.

Lord, thanks for making us just the way we are.  Thanks too for choosing to be part of our lives and thanks for placing us in families, and other community groups.  Teach us about ourselves and how You want us to contribute in the lives of those around us and help us to receive the blessings You give us through others with an attitude of gratitude.

Luke 23:43 --What's fair??

What is fair?  It doesn't seem right that the guy who killed people was set free and Jesus, an innocent man, is on a cross.  Jesus is unbelievable, even while he's in pain on the cross He's thinking about the guy beside Him.

As a God/Man; how much pain did Jesus really have?  We know He really didn't like losing the communication with His Father.  That seemed to be the worst for Him; yet He had to have had physical pain too.  He was so popular the week before and then days later everyone seemed to turn against Him.  It shows the power of a group for good and for bad.

Jesus, thanks for "taking it" for us.