Salting the world..

Reading: 2 Chronicles 26, Isaiah 6-7, and Mark 9

Scripture: Mark 9:49-50, For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

Thoughts: We are so often told we are to be the salt of the world, then here we are told we will be salted with fire. What are the two primary uses for salt? Flavor enhancement and preservation. With standard salt once it loses it’s saltiness it becomes useless and nothing can be done with it but when we loose our saltiness we start becoming like the world. To preserve something with salt we don’t just sprinkle it on it is dumped on, so in our lives for us to be salt to this world we need to be preserved, we need to be in the Word and in relationship with God that we have so much salty preservation that we can’t help but season those around us. When we have that preservation from God that salt permeates us so deeply that the bacteria and that Salt of God starts killing those things in our life that are not of Him and cause us to spoil and go rancid. Let us be so covered in salt that we season the world with God’s love and grace every where we go. 

Prayer: Father God, your grace is sufficient for even me, you pour your salt of preservation over us we must accept it and allow it to work in our lives. Lord I thank you for all you are doing in my life the molding and refining as you salt me with fire. I ask that I become preserved and so salty that I season the world around me. May your glory shine and all glory be to you. 

What does your cross look like??

Reading: Isaiah 3-5 and Mark 8

Scripture: Mark 8:34, And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Thoughts: As I read this passage this morning, I started thinking about what has happened to the cross over the last two thousand years. Today the cross is just another thing made into jewelry, tattoos, and t-shirts. We all have crosses we bear ether we recognize them and walk with God or we hand our chains from them. The cross that we are to take up, just like the cross that our savior carried, will not be beautiful, gold, or Dimond incrusted, it will be blood stained, rough, and quite ugly. God does not cause us to suffer or create the crosses that we carry, but in embracing God through the suffering he can transform that meager soapbox that we jump on, into a podium on a stage.

Prayer: Father God, I thank you that you are here with me, as I walk through valleys and carry my cross, you are there to help me to remove my chains and bear my burdens with me. Help me to see my cross with proper perspectives that I can point to you and give you the glory. I thank you for your provision and blessings and ask that you continue to lead me and guide me in your ways. 

Don't tell anyone...

Reading: Isaiah 1-2 and Mark 7

Scripture: Mark 7:36, And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

Thoughts: When God comes into our lives, and we choose to be all in for God there is usually something that happens in our life to bring about that choice. As Jesus was healing people, he was telling them keep it quiet, yet these people were shouting it everywhere. They were doing this in a time that could have gotten them killed by ether of the ruling groups, the religious leaders, or the romans. As dramatic as it would be to be healed from blindness or an inability to walk, how much greater is it to gain eternal life and forgiveness of sin? Why are we not shouting about what God has done for us?

Prayer: Lord God, you are so wonderful, I thank you for sanding your Son to create a way to you and give us the ability to come into your presence. I ask for the boldness to shout your name to all the earth as you have planed for me. Help me to walk in your plans and your ways, pointing to your glory and what you have done in my life. 

Face your fears

Reading: Amos 7-9 and Mark 6

Scripture: Mark 6:49-51, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,

Thoughts: What is the greatest fear that you have had to face? What was your greatest leap of faith? For me they collided when I felt God telling me to go pray for my aunt who had cancer. I spent a quarter to half my workday fighting with myself on what to do. After making the choice to follow the leading I had the fear melted away as I listened to God say just as Jesus did to his disciples, “Take heart do not be afraid.” Both my father and I threw together a change of clothes and drove the 3-4 hours to my aunt’s house where we got to pray over here and witness a miracle. She was healed and is in good health to this day. Just as the disciples got to see the power of God seeing Jesus walking on the water and then calming the storm. When we are called if may be one of the scariest things we have ever walked in and the biggest leap of faith but when it is from the Lord it will also be a great blessing in your life, growing you to new depth.

Prayer: Lord God, I thank you that you know our hearts and know how to lead and strengthen us for the trials we are not yet in. I thank you that you are growing me and refining me into the man you have called us to be. Open my heart and ears to the steps you have for me and the leading that take me to the narrow path. You are the only way and I long to walk in your ways and linger in your presence. 

The end is near

 Reading: Amos 4-6 and Mark 5

 

Scripture: Amos 5:18-19,Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.

 

Thoughts: For much of my life, in many different Christian circles I have been hearing the end is near. And yes it is a n comparison to yesterday we are near to the end. The wars and rumors is wars are al around us and many call for the rapture a word not even in the Bible. Here Amos asked “Why are are week looking for the day of the lord, the end times?” Yes I have faith to know where I’m going when I die, and I know that things will be wonderful when God’s kingdom has been set up here on earth and that Heaven will be more than we can imagine, but we are told the day of the lord will be a dark and trying time and we don’t know how God’s plan will play out we just know God wins this war. What are we trying to call down on us. 

 

Prayer: Lord God, hallowed is your name and great is your majesty. You are so wonderful, and your plans and ways are so much higher and greater than mine are. I ask you to help me to do your work until you come or I’m taken home, let your plan rain and your glory be shout to the world. 

You shall not prophesy.

 Reading: Amos 1-3 and Mark 4

 

Scripture: Amos 2:11-12, And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?” declares the Lord. “But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’

 

Thoughts: God is always raising people up, calling and giving direction to ours lives. Just like in the times of Amos we are called to rolls, pastor, teacher, evangelist, or the even parent. There are so many how have been called to rolls in the life yet those around them are telling them that can’t or shouldn’t. Just like Israel was telling those who are going God’s work to stop and break the vows and promises that were made. We are called by God and we need to not listen to those who will take us from our calling yet we need to be sure that the calling we are walking is that of God. 

 

Prayer: Lord God Almighty, your creation shouts of your glory and majesty. I thank you that you are the creator of all and you have given me the ability to enjoy it. I thank you the you have been and continue to be molding and refining me. Help me to have discernment to see your calling and your direction. Help me to see when you are turning me and when the world is discouraging me. 

To accuse of be accused

Reading: 2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25, and Mark 3

Scripture: Mark 3:2, And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.

Thoughts: As I was reading this passage, I started to think about how there seems to be a loud voice trying to vilify the Church and how some churches are very legalistic and focused on the rules and regulation of religion over the relationship with God. These religious leaders were so focused on the DOs and DON’Ts of religion that the love of God for his people was pushed to the back burner. Are we being like those who are seeking ways to defame someone or are we looking for ways to being glory to God? 

Prayer: Lord God, to you all the glory and honor and praise. I lay my life before you and seek you and your ways. I thank you for your molding and refining that you have done and continue to do in my life. I ask that you help me to seek you over seeking religion. you are my all. 

All look to you, to give them their food in due season.

Reading: 2 Kings 13, Psalm 104, and Mark 2

Scripture: Psalm 104:24-27, O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. These all look to you, to give them their food in due season.

Thoughts: We all need things to live, it is easy to focus on the need for the resources to fulfill those needs. How do I get the money to pay this bill or get that thing? When we are asking those questions, our focus is not where it belongs. The psalmist was looking at how God provided for all creatures. He made them all and he takes care of them all from the smallest to the Leviathan. Throughout the years I have watched things last longer than expected, we have watched unexpected things arrive that fulfill a need, some we didn’t know were coming. Are we living by the letter of the law, give this, do that, and sacrifice here, or are we seeking God and worshiping him for all he does for us? 

Prayer: Father God, you created all things, and you know the needs we have and even the desires of our hearts. I ask that you help us to keep perspective that money and things are not bad but when we put the importance of those things before you, we will fall. Lord, I thank you for the provisions you give us and the wisdom to use those provisions that will glorify you and bring others know you. 

Fleeing to what?

Reading: Jonah 1-4 and Mark 1

Scripture: Jonah 1:3, But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Thoughts: We all have a calling on our lives, our callings can very from being a mechanic and blessing others through your work, to leading a small group, to being a great author selling millions of copies of a book. Jonah was called to be a prophet, when walking in that he was called to go to the “other side of the tracks,” to wat them about what God had planned to give them opportunity to repent. Yet he “rose to flee to Tarshish,” not only was he heading the wrong way he was trying to escape from God redeeming a people that Jonah felt were unworthy of God. Are we fleeing God’s calling on our lives, and if so where are we heading? Beware there may be a big fish moment seeking you.

Prayer: Lord God, you are so wonderful, all of creation shouts of your glory. Your grace and mercy abound all around me. I thank you for all that you have done in my life, and all you are still doing. I ask that you help me to walk in your path and seek you every day. Help me to recognize if I am running from you, and letting my own biases get in the way of pointing to you and your glory.  

Know Your Sword!!!!

Reading: Joel 1-3 and Revelation 22

Scripture: Joel 3:9-10, Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

Thoughts: We are continually in a battle, be it a battle of the oppressive spirits, or if it is with our own flesh. I need the reminders in my life that we are at battle and we have been called to this war. Not only are we called to arm ourselves with what we have, like when Joel said to make swords and spears from the tools they had we have the armor of God to go into war with. We have all the gear available to us including a sword. We can look the part by putting on the gear but if we do not spend time practicing with that sword you will not be affective with it. That sword that we have is the Word of God and we need to be in it, to always reading and chewing on it. Just as a warrior knows his sword, we need to know ours. 

Prayer: Lord God, through your covenant with us we have been given your armor and your sword, we thank you that you have given us the opportunity to take up each of those items that make us your armor. I ask that you help us to have the desire to know our equipment and know how it protects us and how we are to battle with it. Lead us in the training for the battles we are not yet in and strengthen us to stand for you and all that will come against you. 

Executed judgment

Reading: 2 Kings 11-12, 2 Chronicles 24, and Revelation 21

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 24:4, Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.

Thoughts: God is calling each one of us to him. When we choose to walk away and strive after things of this would and the fleeting joys of sin, if we walk away long enough, we could stop hearing that calling or worse. We could end us like Joash and many other kings of Israel who God brought in other nations to take the people out of the promised land. In this passage it talks about how a small army defeated Joash’s great army to being judgment on them. Jesus died to take that judgment from us yet there are times where we turn our backs on what he did, and we start wanting to pick up those chins and burdens. Let us turn back to him and seek him before we have hardened out hearts so much that we can’t hear him calling us home. 

Prayer: Father God, you are worthy of all praise and honor, you are higher that all things. I thank you that know me and call me your own. I thank you that you are molding me and making me. I thank you for the provisions and blessings that you are continually pouring out that we may bless others. I ask that you help us to hear your voice and soften our heart that we can turn back to you when we go astray. 

Sinking in the mire.

Reading: 2 Chronicles 22-23, Psalm 69, and Revelation 20

Scripture: Psalm 69:14-15, Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.

Thoughts: No matter where you stand on issues, there is always a sinking pit and enemies that will attack you. We all have a place were we are going to plant our flag and defend until our dying breath. When our focus moves from being centered on God and what He has called us to those battels and enemies can turn into these mires and pits that will suck us down. We are at war. Our battles are not with flesh and blood but spiritual forces and principalities. Let us focus on the Father and march in his calling that we can be the light to this dark world. 

Prayer: Father God, you are the beginning and the end, you are the one who gives us the power and authority to trample on scorpions. I thank you for your leading and guiding, I thank you for the blessings and provisions you are pouring out on us. I ask that you help us to remain focused on you and your leading that we can be your light into the fallen world. 

Who am I???

Reading: 2 Kings 9-10 and Revelation 19

Scripture: 2 Kings 9:6, So he arose and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.

Thoughts: Here in western society, we tend to wrap our identity around what we do, I’m a repair man, I’m an accountant, or I’m a customer service person. Our jobs and sources of income will change on average of 12 time in a lifetime and in the last 10 years or so I think that has been going up fast. There is an identity crisis in this world. Jehu went from working for a king as a commander to being anointed by God, God has spoken an identity over each of us and is it a job title or is it son, daughter, and beloved. Where are we drawing our identity, from the one who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves or from what the world is trying to push on us?

Prayer: Father God, I stand in awe of you and fall on my face in worship. I thank you that you know me and love me even through my failures. I thank you that you are still growing me, molding me, and refining me. I ask you to help me to see myself as you see me and not as the world tells me I should be seen. 

This is how I fight my battles!!!

Reading: 2 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 21, Psalm 27, Revelation 18, and Luke 24

Scripture: Psalm 27:3-4, Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Thoughts: As Christ Followers we are called to be different from the world, we are to emulate and seek after Jesus every day of our lives. When we stand for the values and principles in the Word of God and take it as the Living Word of God that is Sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), we will be attracted. We are at war; we may know the end results of this war but there are many battles that happen that are not talked about. David may have been talking about a physical war, but our war and battles are no less real. We are surrounded by the enemy and he is using every dirty trick to get us to turn from the battle plans of the Lord. Part of those battle plans are to strand firm in him and dwell in his temple. Be in the word every day, pray every day, as you go about the work you do, seek the Lord in what you are doing. And as Steven Curtis Chapman said in his song let us pray, “Let us pray without end and when we finish start again Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray” 

Prayer: Father God, you are the Beginning and the End, you know the battle lines and the plans, you are the one who give us the strength to stand in mist of the battle. I thank you for all that you have done in my live preparing us for the current and future battles. I ask that you continue to pour your peace and love into me that I can pour it out on those around me. I come before you and bow myself before you oh Lord, May I dwell all my days in your temple. 

Open his eyes.

Reading: 2 Kings 6-7, Psalm 115, Revelation 17, and Luke 23

Scripture: 2 Kings 6:16-17, He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

Thoughts: As the army surrounded Elisha and his servant I can almost feel the tension and apprehension coming from the servant. Most of us if we saw an army surround us would have a reaction like that. Elisha didn’t go God open our eyes so we know what to do he said “Do not be afraid” then asked for the eyes of his servant to be opened. Are we walking in faith that says, “I know God plan for me and this is not my end but, if it is I will walk in it anyways” or are we walking in fear or what is around the next corning until someone opens our eyes? I don’t believe that Elisha saw a single angel or heavenly warrior that day. Is your faith in what is seen with the human eye, or is it in the one who created that eye?

Prayer: Lord God, you are the one who created all things and the one who knows all things. I thank you for all the blessings and provision that you have poured out over the years and every day. I ask that you help me to walk in your ways, help me to grow my faith that ether my eyes are always open or I have no need to see. You are the compass and light to my path and I long to walk only on the narrow road you call us to.