Digging into Sunday's text today a little further than last night’s staff meeting …. I find what this text (Matthew 10:34-42) is most about is Loyalty. Who are you loyal too? Jesus asks us for us to be loyal to Him, above all. The earlier text talks about a Jesus we often do not want to see, we love all the cushy-comfy stuff that he talks about, but what are these words? I have come with a sword!?
Hey - What happened to ‘my’ prince of peace (cushy/comfy/warm fuzzy peace)? What is true peace? One that comes at all cost. Jesus said that He will stop at nothing for us to be at peace with His Father, to be His brother, to live as His very own here on earth and later on in eternity. No cost was too high for this mighty warrior, not even His very life. And He continues to relentlessly pursue us to ‘this life of peace.’
I don’t know about you, but that is a leader I want to follow … to lay down my life for, my cares, my concerns yes, but my deepest wants and my desires as well. Surrendering it all to this Prince (no wimp here) of Peace. Loyal above all else, even family.
So do we blow off our family or consider them unimportant? No! If you are truly loyal to Jesus, He asks two things of you. Love Me, Love others. That’s it. New commandment to live by. In everything, not just where and how you want to live this life, but the where of where He takes you (even the uncomfortable suffering places). If you are loyal to Jesus, His Holy Spirit will cause you/bend you towards being more faithful and loving to your family (as you let Him of course), because that kind of love flows straight from the heart of Jesus, through You, to others… and yet, yes, you will not place them above Jesus.
Perhaps, these are lessons from Jesus are not easy to wrap your head around. So, take it as a challenge and something to hmmmm about … I pray you do just that as you ready yourself for worship leadership this Sunday, because you cannot effectively take others where you have not first been yourself.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Brianna got one of those Kung Fu Pandas in a happy meal and it was in the very back of my car and every bump I hit it went “ah-chaaaa.” It happened once before, and at that time it cracked me up, but this morning, I likened it to the spiritual warfare going on in and around my life. “ah-chaa” and Karate chops of the devil’s minions nagging at every bump, and the bumps ever increasing and/or not letting up. So today on the way in to work, I sighed deeply and asked God for inspiration to combat the dull ache in my gut that continues to plague me mostly when I’m alone with myself (ha to the bad grammar there – alone with myself – duh! – but whatever, I like it so it stays, poetic license).
I saw no words of inspiration written in the sky and heard none in my heart at the moment I asked for it, so I decided to just take in the scenery, perhaps wait and see what I was visually drawn to. This is what I saw.
Nice, neat, symmetrical green rows of crops with a row of telephone/power lines breaking up (spoiling?) the scenery. Then a little farther down the road, two Sandhill cranes most likely eating the seed newly planted in a field, a few of their babies a short distance away mimicking their parents moves (so funny looking I laughed out loud! Like they shouldn’t be able to stand on their thin hairline legs), and about eight sheep on a green hill.
Of course a few songs came to mind, My Father’s Eyes, I Will Never Be the Same Again, an old children's hymn – There is a Green Hill Far Away, My shepherd became a lamb, I am Jesus’ little lamb. And maybe this is selfish, but I thought to myself … no one going down this very road today will see the same things exactly at the same time as me, so I take it that it was put/painted there – at that moment in time - just for me to enjoy by a tender ovingly artistic God who knows every square inch of me that is visible AND the depths of my soul that no one but He can see.
And all I can think is Wow and all I can say is Thanks, but these simple words are said with a heart that is full and complete in my Savior as they are uttered from the depths and encompass much, much more than words could ever describe.
The dull ache, Yes it’s still there, but there is joy in the simple - living right next to it. Maybe. Just maybe. I am coming out of ‘this.’ And its HE who is leading me out. Or maybe He is just asking me to journey through ‘this’ and assures me that He is in ‘this’ with me.
Keep your eyes open today. And watch HIM will fill your heart with everything you are really longing for which is in reality, just being filled with HIM.
I saw no words of inspiration written in the sky and heard none in my heart at the moment I asked for it, so I decided to just take in the scenery, perhaps wait and see what I was visually drawn to. This is what I saw.
Nice, neat, symmetrical green rows of crops with a row of telephone/power lines breaking up (spoiling?) the scenery. Then a little farther down the road, two Sandhill cranes most likely eating the seed newly planted in a field, a few of their babies a short distance away mimicking their parents moves (so funny looking I laughed out loud! Like they shouldn’t be able to stand on their thin hairline legs), and about eight sheep on a green hill.
Of course a few songs came to mind, My Father’s Eyes, I Will Never Be the Same Again, an old children's hymn – There is a Green Hill Far Away, My shepherd became a lamb, I am Jesus’ little lamb. And maybe this is selfish, but I thought to myself … no one going down this very road today will see the same things exactly at the same time as me, so I take it that it was put/painted there – at that moment in time - just for me to enjoy by a tender ovingly artistic God who knows every square inch of me that is visible AND the depths of my soul that no one but He can see.
And all I can think is Wow and all I can say is Thanks, but these simple words are said with a heart that is full and complete in my Savior as they are uttered from the depths and encompass much, much more than words could ever describe.
The dull ache, Yes it’s still there, but there is joy in the simple - living right next to it. Maybe. Just maybe. I am coming out of ‘this.’ And its HE who is leading me out. Or maybe He is just asking me to journey through ‘this’ and assures me that He is in ‘this’ with me.
Keep your eyes open today. And watch HIM will fill your heart with everything you are really longing for which is in reality, just being filled with HIM.
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