Boldness & Worship

SCRIPTURE
Luke 7:36-38

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.  When a women who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.  Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

OBSERVATION

What a spectacle this must have been.  We have a woman breaking social rules and coming to a dinner that she wasn't invited to.  And not just any woman, but a woman who had lived a sinful life going to the home of a religious leader.  Many would consider this scandalous.  She washes Jesus' feet using her tears and her hair.  Her tears and her hair!  And then she takes expensive perfume from an expensive jar and pours it on Jesus' feet.  This is a extravagant, even ridiculous act.  The woman ignores the ridicule and judgement of others.  She is not concerned with the thoughts of others as she lavishly adores Jesus.  

APPLICATION

 This story about the woman with the alabaster jar compels me to ask the following questions:

1.  How much do I love Jesus?

2.  How do I express my love for him?

I say that I love Jesus, but at the same time I don't believe I passionately express my love for Jesus.  I allow social norms to get in my way.  I wonder what people might think of me if I do something different or unexpected in the midst of worshiping Jesus.  I need to be less self-conscious and focus more on adoring Jesus.   

PRAYER
Father God, help me to step out in bold ways while worshipping Jesus.

Digging Deeper

SCRIPTURE
Luke 6:46-49

“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

OBSERVATION
Why would anyone build a house without a foundation? Possibly to save time end energy. Maybe to save money. Whatever the reason, it is foolish. The structure won't last. Any turmoil, large or small, will ruin the house. Building a foundation is difficult, costly and time consuming. It is hard work. However, there is great wisdom in having a deep, solid foundation. Jesus says that our lives are no different. He suggests that we stop simply calling him "Lord" and actually treat him as Lord. That means we do what he says. We hear his words and then actually putting them into practice recognizes who Jesus is.

APPLICATION
I need to put forth the work to build a solid foundation. It takes time, energy and disciple to develop a good foundation. A good foundation also requires one to dig deep into God's word. It is not easy, but it is wise. I need to create more disciple in my life to know God's word deeply. And then I need to develop the disciple to do what is says.

PRAYER
Thank you God for giving us Your Word. Thank you that we can learn from it and build our lives upon your wisdom. Help me to have the disciple to learn from your word regularly.

Everyone is Included!

SCRIPTURE
Ezekiel 47:21-23
21 "You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe the alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance," declares the Sovereign LORD.


OBSERVATION
It is clear that God wants to make a way for those who are not born into Israel, be a part of Israel's inheritance. This is clearly a foreshadowing of the incredible extension of God's love to the WHOLE WORLD when Jesus came. This is not the only place in the Old Testament, where the Israelites are reminded to include the foreigner who has decided to live among them. But what is most interesting here is that the foreigner is to be given a portion of the inheritance of the Israelites!


APPLICATION
God makes a way for all those who desire to be a part of His Kingdom! He also gives us our "fair share!" He includes us in the inheritance distributed to His children, because He considers us as His children! We are a part of His family and treated, not as half or step children but as whole sons and daughters without distinction. How awesome!

PRAYER
Thank you God for including us in the inheritance of your people! Thank you Jesus for making a way!

SCRIPTURE
Boy! Today it was hard to narrow in on just one scripture. Daniel 3 &4 one of my favorites and Revelation too, but Psalm is one of my favorites so...Psalm 81 it is!
Psalm 81:11-14
"But my people would not listen to me; Isarel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If my people would but listen to me if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!


OBSERVATION
Here it is again! God wants to move on Israels' behalf, they just won't listen! They're stubborn and trying out their own way...again! The win over their enemy could "come quickly" if they would just listen and follow God's way and not their own.


APPLICATION
Its so simple! Who doesn't want to win over the enemy in their life? And yet, I am just like the children of Israel! And if you're honest about it, so are you! All we have to do is give up our own stubborn ways and follow God's. All we have to do is just listen to Him! So often when we feel like we are loosing in some area of our life we think God is holding something back from us or we wonder why we continue to struggle over and over and over. It might just be the time to give up our own stubborn ways and follow His?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to listen and hear you! Help me to lay down my ways and take up yours. Help me to submit my stubborn heart to You! Show me your ways so that I may walk in them always! And Lord, this is also my prayer for my husband and my son and all those who know you! And as we do, I pray that those who do not yet know you are drawn to you because they see you at work in us!

This I call to mind

SCRIPTURE
Lamentations 3:21-23 and vs 40
21-23 "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
40 "Let us examine our ways and test them and let us return to the Lord."


OBSERVATION
Lamentations is full of lamentations! The writer talks about being in darkness, despair, a broken body, bitterness, no escape, being dragged and mangled, left without help, a pierced heart, being a laughingstock, deprived of peace and the list goes on. All of these word pictures evoke a whirlwind of emotions that all of us can relate to on some level. but in verse 21 "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope." and here the writer calls to mind God's great love, that His compassions never fail and even more that they are new every morning! But in verse 40 we are called to do something and here it is "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord."

APPLICATION
God doesn't change! He is forever compassionate, He is faithful! and everday He is ready to face a new day with us. He is "good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;" But we have to examine ourselves, test our motives, heart, actions, choices and then we have to "return to the Lord." correct our course!

PRAYER
Lord, I have great hope whenever I think on who you are! Please put your light on my life when we examine me and test my ways and help me always to be easy and quick to return to you and your ways when I'm off, which is more often than I'd like to admit.

Heard and Seen

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 48:8 & Psalm 48:14
"As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord Almighty, in the city of our God: God makes her secure forever."
"For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end."
OBSERVATION

Its one thing to hear about God and even to know some things about Him and about what He has done for others, but when you have your own first hand experience with Him, it will change you! Everything is settled in Him forever!

APPLICATION

I can look back over my life in Christ and recall even to today the things I see Him at work in. It causes me like the Psalmist to say "O God, I meditate on your unfailing love." and because not only have I heard about Him but I've actually experienced Him moving in my own life and the life of others around me it causes me to see Him. Nicole C. Mullen sings a song "You ask me how I know He lives? I know He lives because I spoke with Him this morning." He moves from being a God you've heard about to the God of your very own life and all its activity! Look at vs 14 "For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end."
PRAYER


Lord, daily I am thankful for your unfailing love. That you have proved yourself in my little life. I'm thankful that it actually brings joy to you when you show yourself in our lives. Help me to lead others who have HEARD about you to places for them to SEE you and know you for their own. Help me and those who know you to remember and be thankful for all the times you show yourself and prove yourself, You are Our God and we love you!

SCRIPTURE
Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.

OBSERVATION
To have respect for the Lord is the starting place of wisdom. But it is not enough just to respect/fear, if you want a fullness of understanding you must follow His precepts. I know many people who are "God-fearing". They are good people and they tend to live good lives, but that is as far as their commitment to follow the Lord goes. There is something lacking, and it is the decision to put the Lord at the center of their lives.


APPLICATION
Sometimes we can forget to put the Lord at the center and we start to live "in the fear of the Lord" and we do the right things, but we haven't allowed His precepts — His ways — to inculcate themselves into our heart. Our lives are changed, but our hearts are not.

My desire is to walk in the fullness of wisdom — to fear the Lord AND to obey Him.

PRAYER
Lord, I have a tendency to get unbalanced in life. It seems so easy to emphasize one extreme over another, and so difficult to walk in balance. Before I know it, I end up somewhere I don't want to be. Help me to live a life that keeps you always right at the center. To keep my heart in tune with your commandments and to allow my behavior to flow out of that heart. Amen.