The 5/31 verse is from Luke 5:31, "Jesus answered them, 'Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do.'" (NLT)
On the heels of Jesus asking Levi to leave his unpopular life as a tax collector and follow Him, Levi threw a banquet in his home, honoring Jesus. The attendees were fellow tax collectors and others the religious leaders considered scum. They complained and looked down their sanctimonious noses at what they considered the local riff-raff. They couldn't believe Jesus was hanging out with "those" people. I think "those" people must have made Jesus smile. I think He probably knew that those who knew they were sinners, like tax collectors, would be more apt to follow Him than those who thought they already had it all together, like the religious leaders. As always, He was right.
Even today, there are seemingly "good" people who don't think they're sick. They don't realize they're just as much in need of Jesus, as a common sinner. There are others who realize they are sick and in need of the Great Physician. At Celebrate Recovery, we have many of "those" people. Jesus has invited them to leave their old lives behind and follow Him. Now, they just want to be in His presence and celebrate what He has done for them. At CR, we like to say that those who have been forgiven much, love much...and worship accordingly! No pomp and circumstance, just grateful praise for our Jesus. Oh how I love "those" people!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Cut out the garbage
The verse for 5/30 is from Mat 5:30, "And if your right hand leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose a part of your body than to have all of it go into hell." (God's Word Translation)
In His wisdom, God knew what sin would do to us. And, in His wisdom, He tells us over and over again to resist temptation, to flee from the enemy, to turn away from sin. What is it about sin that makes us think it is worth the pain it causes us and others? How do we fall for the devil's schemes, when the author of truth exposed his lies from the beginning of time? I suppose it is our human, sinful nature, but God wants us to recognize our sin, and stop our behaviour, while we still can.
The Message translates verses 29-30 this way, ""Let's not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump."
Now, that'll give you something to think about! Getting rid of sin in our lives may require extreme measures. I think these verses are saying that unbridled sin will leave us in a heap of destruction. Little by little, it will consume every part of us, until our whole life is filthy; nothing but garbage. On the other hand, calling our sin what it is, and cutting out it's cancer before it spreads to our entire life, will save us from total ruin. There's no shame in preserving a less than perfect body or life. The shame is in not trying and losing everything. We can't go backward and start over, but we can move forward and cut out the garbage.
In His wisdom, God knew what sin would do to us. And, in His wisdom, He tells us over and over again to resist temptation, to flee from the enemy, to turn away from sin. What is it about sin that makes us think it is worth the pain it causes us and others? How do we fall for the devil's schemes, when the author of truth exposed his lies from the beginning of time? I suppose it is our human, sinful nature, but God wants us to recognize our sin, and stop our behaviour, while we still can.
The Message translates verses 29-30 this way, ""Let's not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump."
Now, that'll give you something to think about! Getting rid of sin in our lives may require extreme measures. I think these verses are saying that unbridled sin will leave us in a heap of destruction. Little by little, it will consume every part of us, until our whole life is filthy; nothing but garbage. On the other hand, calling our sin what it is, and cutting out it's cancer before it spreads to our entire life, will save us from total ruin. There's no shame in preserving a less than perfect body or life. The shame is in not trying and losing everything. We can't go backward and start over, but we can move forward and cut out the garbage.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
If Only!
The 5/29 verse of the day is from Deuteronomy 5:29. The Good News Translation puts it this way, "If only they would always feel this way! If only they would always honor me and obey all my commands, so that everything would go well with them and their descendants forever."
The Israelites were fearful that they could not withstand God's presence and glory if He spoke directly to them again. Moses is reviewing God's commandments to them and how they wanted Moses to go to God and hear what He had to say and, then, bring it back to them. The Israelites had seen the greatness of God and thought they would surely die and be consumed by the fire if He spoke directly to them again. Out of their reverence, awe, and fear of God, the Israelites vowed to listen and to obey anything God told Moses to tell them. Like a proud father, God was pleased with their reverence. I think He knew that, right at that moment, they saw His power and knew that He, alone, was God.
Somewhere in their journey in the desert, God's people lost their way, in more ways than one. It didn't take long for them to become impatient with God's timetable. The same God they had vowed to obey, was suddenly not worthy of the reverence they had given Him before. He wasn't moving fast enough for them and not in the way they expected. They started to play God, themselves, because they thought they could do a better job at getting themselves out of their situation than God could. What they failed to realize, is that disobedience will always make a bad situation even worse. They began to disobey God and go their own way. It did not go so well for them, if you remember.
The same is true for us. When we disobey God's best for us, we try to play God. We forget how Holy He is. We forget WHO He is. We just forget. It does not go too well for us either, when we do this. When we hear the word "obey" we kind of freak out. People don't like to be told what to do. We'd rather make a mess of our lives, by rebelling against God, and His best for us, than simply following His commands. His only desire, in giving them to us, was to help us know the best way to live, so it would go well for us and our descendants. You see, God is not into watching us squirm. I think He'd much rather see us dance with pure joy.
If only we could see that God loves us so much, that He always has our best interests in mind and at heart. If only we could see that obedience to God takes us out of bondage, instead of imprisoning us. If only we could stop playing God and let Him be God. If only we could stop squirming and start dancing. If only we could see that the pathway to freedom is along a road called obedience. If only we would take that road less traveled. Yes, if only!
The Israelites were fearful that they could not withstand God's presence and glory if He spoke directly to them again. Moses is reviewing God's commandments to them and how they wanted Moses to go to God and hear what He had to say and, then, bring it back to them. The Israelites had seen the greatness of God and thought they would surely die and be consumed by the fire if He spoke directly to them again. Out of their reverence, awe, and fear of God, the Israelites vowed to listen and to obey anything God told Moses to tell them. Like a proud father, God was pleased with their reverence. I think He knew that, right at that moment, they saw His power and knew that He, alone, was God.
Somewhere in their journey in the desert, God's people lost their way, in more ways than one. It didn't take long for them to become impatient with God's timetable. The same God they had vowed to obey, was suddenly not worthy of the reverence they had given Him before. He wasn't moving fast enough for them and not in the way they expected. They started to play God, themselves, because they thought they could do a better job at getting themselves out of their situation than God could. What they failed to realize, is that disobedience will always make a bad situation even worse. They began to disobey God and go their own way. It did not go so well for them, if you remember.
The same is true for us. When we disobey God's best for us, we try to play God. We forget how Holy He is. We forget WHO He is. We just forget. It does not go too well for us either, when we do this. When we hear the word "obey" we kind of freak out. People don't like to be told what to do. We'd rather make a mess of our lives, by rebelling against God, and His best for us, than simply following His commands. His only desire, in giving them to us, was to help us know the best way to live, so it would go well for us and our descendants. You see, God is not into watching us squirm. I think He'd much rather see us dance with pure joy.
If only we could see that God loves us so much, that He always has our best interests in mind and at heart. If only we could see that obedience to God takes us out of bondage, instead of imprisoning us. If only we could stop playing God and let Him be God. If only we could stop squirming and start dancing. If only we could see that the pathway to freedom is along a road called obedience. If only we would take that road less traveled. Yes, if only!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
The Invitation of a Lifetime
The verse for 5/28 is from Luke 5:28, "So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him." (NLT)
Jesus had given Levi a personal invitation to come and be His disciple. At the time, Levi was a tax collector, a less than honorable profession. Most people would not have given someone like Levi the time of day, much less given him an invitation like Jesus did. Maybe that kind of grace, alone, was enough to get Levi's attention, but I think it was more than that. I think Levi saw the face of Jesus and couldn't resist what he saw there. I think He saw love, grace, mercy, kindness, compassion, acceptance and salvation in the face of the Savior. How could he say no?
Sometimes, I wonder how people can turn Him down, when Jesus says, "follow me." It seems like a personal invitation from Jesus would be hard to turn down. Yet, many of us have chosen not to follow Him, at least for a while. I think when we are finally in a situation where we come face to face with the real Jesus, like Levi did, we have no choice but to do what he did. I know that, once I saw Him, face to face, I had to say "yes" to the invitation to follow Him. When we leave everything behind, it's only because we see that He really has something better for us. He is better for us. Yes, His is an invitation of a lifetime.
Jesus had given Levi a personal invitation to come and be His disciple. At the time, Levi was a tax collector, a less than honorable profession. Most people would not have given someone like Levi the time of day, much less given him an invitation like Jesus did. Maybe that kind of grace, alone, was enough to get Levi's attention, but I think it was more than that. I think Levi saw the face of Jesus and couldn't resist what he saw there. I think He saw love, grace, mercy, kindness, compassion, acceptance and salvation in the face of the Savior. How could he say no?
Sometimes, I wonder how people can turn Him down, when Jesus says, "follow me." It seems like a personal invitation from Jesus would be hard to turn down. Yet, many of us have chosen not to follow Him, at least for a while. I think when we are finally in a situation where we come face to face with the real Jesus, like Levi did, we have no choice but to do what he did. I know that, once I saw Him, face to face, I had to say "yes" to the invitation to follow Him. When we leave everything behind, it's only because we see that He really has something better for us. He is better for us. Yes, His is an invitation of a lifetime.
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