Saturday, March 31: Hebrews 4- .

I felt a little out of it as I was reading today, and I wondered if the Word could burrow into my exhausted body. The theme of rest was a read disconnect with me as I read today, probably because I was so exhausted. It never ceases to surprise me how much my personal attitude or situation impacts my time with the Lord.

Anyway, when I turned into verse 12, the text light up. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I pictured not a Roman sword but a surgeon’s scalpel… with precise cuts, body layers are sliced apart. Surgery is performed to bring health back into a damaged, broken or diseased body. And that’s what God’s Word does to me and for me regularly.

When I exercise the discipline of reading and contemplating the Word, it works its way into my life, surgically healing and repairing my depraved human condition, cutting out sin. Actually God’s Word generally confronts me of my sin and then I must rely on the Holy Spirit to help me gain victory over that sin. Victory comes with the cooperative effort of exercising my will and God’s strength to do so in a godly manner.

And so my meditations went.

Before I closed in prayer, I looked back at verse 12-13 and noticed the 3^rd sentence. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. One final thought came to me. “No use pretending, Bill. Deal with your sins and issues.God knows what they are anyway. You are only fooling yourself when you pretend you don’t have sins to contend with.”

This thought brings me back to the gift of God’s Word… which can penetrate and repair the sin-diseased areas of my life. Thanks be to God!

Lord, thank You for Your Word, a gift. Yes, like surgery, sometimes my time in Your Word hurts… but it is a repairing, healing hurt. I didn’t like the pain and recovery time I needed after my emergency appendectomy, but I am alive today because of it.

Lord, thank You that I am spiritually alive today because of the scalpel work of Your Word in my life. Thank You… Lord Jesus, Father and Spirit. Thank You. Amen.

 

Friday, March 30: Hebrews 3- Faithful.

Verse 2 caught my eye. Here’s how the writer opens today’s chapter. Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house (1-2).  ‘1’ was the line I bolded that attracted my attention.

Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed Him…

I mulled over faithfulness… its hues, shades and applications in my life. I considered my relationship with the Lord, and particularly my faithfulness.

Lord, are there any particular areas of my life that need work? Areas where I am less than faithful, even areas where I am fooling myself? Lord, speak to me, show me and help me grow stronger and more faithful in those areas.

I scanned areas like…use of time, charity & giving, how I speak and treat others, willingness to do God’s promptings, over and above my own desires…

Next I reviewed those relationships closest to me… with my spouse, children, parents, friends and coworkers.

Lord, do I treat these important people in my life with the respect and honor that behooves a Christ Follower? Am I kind and loving, faithful to my word and words, gracious, patient, honest, truthful and full of goodness? Does my life encourage them to desire a deeper relationship with You or do they view me as a hypocrite?

Oh, Lord, help me be the kind of person others want to be around. A person who blesses lives like Jesus blessed.

Next I thought about my work and civic duties. I thought about things like work-ethic and effort. I considered my response to civic issues like paying taxes and giving back to my community…

Lord, do I represent You well in my work and civic endeavors? Do I give of myself in these ways, adding to the common good through my efforts?

Lord Jesus, help me to be faithful to You in all spheres of my life. May my life make a difference in small and not so small ways, as Your will determines. May I, Jesus, be faithful to You in all areas of my life. In Your name, Jesus, I bring these requests to the Father through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

 

 

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Wednesday, March 28: Hebrews 1- Glory and majesty of the SON.

Reading this magnificent description of the Son, Jesus, after having just read John’s Gospel is a one-two punch of the majesty and glory of Jesus. This is the heart of our faith –the Christian Faith- that Jesus is God’s One and Only son and God Himself.

The writer to the Hebrews makes it painstakingly clear that Jesus, the SON, is greater than any other.  He is even greater than angels who are superhuman messengers from God endowed with strengths and abilities beyond anything known in our material world. And in addition to their powers, they live in the presence of Almighty God. Yet no angel can compare with the SON, Jesus. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

I sat and pondered the SON… I thought about His earthy ministry and even more, I contemplated Jesus at the right hand of Majesty. I have few words… but many images and pictures and further wonderings about the One I worship and love… Jesus, my Lord and Savior and the Lord Almighty…

Holy Spirit, fill my life today with the Majesty of Jesus. Allow me to see and hear things that will increase my devotion to and love for Jesus, the Father, and You. I pray this in the name of the Oone who sits at the right hand of Majesty, Jesus the One and Only Son. Amen.

 

Tuesday, March 27: John 21- In the midst of life.

I found it intriguing that seven of the disciples were hanging out together and fishing. Whether they were friends, prior to their years with Jesus, we cannot determine since we don’t even know who all seven were. But surely after three years, friendships grew.

What I also find interesting is that they are not in Jerusalem, but somewhere on the Sea of Galilee. Apparently after the resurrection they returned to the familiar territory of where they lived before Jesus entered their lives. Fishing was natural way for Simon and the sons of Zebedee to get food.

In the company of friends, doing what they normally do, Jesus shows up and redirects their lives.

Jesus entering normal life, redirecting, changing, calling… a thought worthy of meditation.

Long ago, as a grad student working on my thesis, Jesus knocked on my heart and placed within me the idea of seminary. My life trajectory changed.

Is some kind of radical life call the only way Jesus enters life and redirects, changes and calls? I think not.

What started with two women sitting next to each other in worship has blossomed into a mentoring relationship with the older wiser mom, helping the younger single mom deal with a special needs child. Hmmm… Jesus entering normal life, redirecting, changing, calling…

The other day a voice message beeped on my home phone when I walked in. A long tough day, I was tired and didn’t really want to check the call. The voice leaving the message began with a bubbly, “I wanted to call and cheer you up and tell you Jesus loves you…” No request, no needs, simply an encouraging phone message from a special woman in my church who has this knack of calling people just to sprinkle joy and love. Well, her voicemail did just that. Through her voice, Jesus entered my life, encouraging me. I was blessed that in the midst of her day she had the nudge to call and leave that message, and that she did it.

My final thought on my meditative journey today is this, “Do I leave room in my life for Jesus to show up and redirect me? Do you?”

Oh Lord, break into the routine of my life today… give me an assignment, a calling, to touch someone’s life with Your love. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

 

Monday, March 26: John 20- Time to believe.

John tells us directly why he wrote his Gospel. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (20:31). From his opening words until now, John has been working to convince readers to put their faith in Jesus.

As we have traveled with Jesus via John’s pen, we have watched and listened as Christ followers grew in their ability to believe. Belief may be an instant moment for some, but for many, belief takes time.

Even in today’s chapter we see belief grow over time. Mary showed up at the tomb, distressed. Her vision of the angels and of Jesus, whom she didn’t recognize, seemed to cause her more confusion. Yet by the time she made it to the disciples, she was convinced, “I have seen the Lord!” (18).

Thomas is another example. Though not present when Jesus first came to the disciples he refused to believe unless he personally saw and touched Jesus. He was not about to take the other disciples at their word, even though he basically lived with them for three years (!). NO, Thomas had to see for himself. Despite all their attempts to convince Thomas during the week, he couldn’t cross the line of belief. But he did make sure he was with them when they gathered that next weekend. Only after Jesus showed himself to Thomas did he believe.

Thomas needed time and proof…

We all have our own recipe of time and proof necessary to believe. If you have not yet put your faith and belief in Jesus, what do you still need to cross the line of belief?

Will you, like Thomas, put yourself in a place where you will receive what you need to believe?

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

O Lord, show me how to help people believe. Show me, Lord, how I can help people cross the line of belief so that they can have life, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

 

Saturday, March 24: John 19- Torture, insults, humiliation and death.

Jesus’ final hours were wracked with pain… the worst kind of pain humans can devise. It was a horrible day and horrendous series of events.

John 19 does not hide what happened and yet it does not glorify or titillate readers with every gory detail. What people did to Jesus was reported truthfully but not graphically.

God shows us what Jesus went through to bring us salvation. God wants us to see human nature at its raw and lowest self.  What we can do to other human beings is despicable. But the gore and inhumanity of what happened to Jesus was not the point or the focus.

What Jesus offered humanity and how He endured the intensity of His final hours with dignity, grace and love was God’s point.

Scan the few words of Jesus in this chapter. They paint the picture of a man in control, despite what He is enduring. They reveal a man who could love and care for those He loves even during His most excruciating moments. They show a man who though in need –I am thirsty– died at peace –‘it is finished’.

To the bitter end Jesus carried out God’s plan of salvation and because Jesus did, we can live in relationship with the Spirit, Father and Son.

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown: how pale thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn! How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!...

 

Friday, March 23: John 18- the Garden of Gethsemane .

As I come to the passion of Jesus, a story very familiar to me since I have read it at least four times a year for 30+ years, I intentionally keep my eyes open for a surprise… something new I might not have paid attention to before. This morning God gave me a surprise.

John opens the account like this:

When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples (1-2). It was the last eight words, which I bolded, that caught my attention.

The other Gospels tell us that Jesus was going there to pray. John says Jesus often met His disciples there… to pray, I wondered? That feels right.

It seems that the Garden of Gethsemane was one of those places Jesus regularly went to, to be in prayer.

A question popped into my thoughts. Do you have a regular place to go to meet with the Lord? Do you have a quiet place, a meeting place, a regular place to meet God?

Over the years I have had a number of places. Right now it is a stool at my kitchen counter. I sit there most mornings with Bible open before anyone else in my house is up. It is familiar. Sometimes just placing myself in that location quiets my soul so I can begin to hear the Lord more clearly…

For years a quiet place was my grandparents Morris chair which I keep in my office. The chair was reserved for reading and prayer. I never sat in it when I counseled or consulted with others. It was reserved for my times with the Lord.

I have friends who go into our church sanctuary early in the morning before people come to the church. It is their special place of meeting with God. I have another friend who often goes to a small chapel not far from his home. It is one of his quiet places where he regularly meets the Lord.

Do you have a quiet place where you regularly meet with God? If not, consider finding one…

Lord God, thank You for the quiet places I have had over the years, places of sanctuary, places of calm, places where I regularly met with You. Thank You for the stability these places have provided me. Thank You for the strength and solace I have found from You in these places. Thank You, Lord, for my ‘Gardens of Gethsemane.’ I treasure the hours I have spent there with You. Even now as I pray, I feel the peace that I often find when I meet You in my special place.

To You be the honor and the glory and the praise, Oh Lord, my God –Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.