04.02.09
“SIMPLE TRUST”
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SIMPLE TRUST
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Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
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John 14:1 NIV
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”
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How many times have we heard the line, “Just trust me.” Enough to devalue the stock of the phrase, and anyone who would choose to flippantly forward it.
But there is no substitute in our response to God and Kingdom; trust is absolutely essential. Trust for atonement and salvation; provision and care. Ultimately, there is no way around this simple command: Trust Me…praise God!
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- This morning, will you love and adore the Faithful and Trustworhy one; worthy of all honor and praise; He is never careless; and his timing is per on the short verses above.
- Will you take time to meditate on one or both of the scriptures above? What is God revealing to you as you look and seek with spiritual eyes?
- Where might God be asking you to suspend your judgment; so that you can take on the simple posture of trust?
This devotional written by Pastor Martin
03.23.09
“BLIND GUIDED”
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BLIND GUIDED
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Isa 42:16-20 NIV
16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
17 But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame.
18 “Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!
19 Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD?
20 You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.”
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John 9:39-41 NIV
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
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The ability to see is an ability oft taken for granted. It enables one to assess unfamiliar terrain, and plot a course through a series of navigable options. Bereft of such, one who is blind must either remain in the familiar, or trust in the leadership of a trusted guide. How foolish would it for one without sight to traverse precarious topography from which even sighted novices would refrain. What’s worse, how irresponsible, even criminal would it be for the blind to assume the role of guide.
This is the situation that Yahweh decries in Isaiah 42. The very people who were tasked to be the light to the world ended up deaf and blind. Idolatry dulled their spiritual senses, morphing them to be like that which they worshipped: with eyes but unable to see God; with ears but irresponsive to God’s voice. Having cut themselves off from God, how were they to lead others to the very fountain of salvific life?
The Pharisee’s confronting Jesus model this very travesty. Demanding that they have spiritual sight, they do more than mislead others looking for God; they actively seek to keep them from the sight giver.
They are doubly offended by Jesus: first for healing the blind outside their authority, then for being called blind themselves. Their very attestations to self sufficient sight before the giver of sight indict them of their idolatrous guilt.
On the flip side, acknowledgment of blindness and the willingness to be led by the God of life results in the miraculous. New creation comes into play. Eyes and ears are freshly formed: eyes that behold the countenance of God’s face, and ears that resound with His sweet and thunderous voice. Eyes to survey the broken terrain of the world, ears to hear the cries of the forlorn; empowered to guide the blind to foot of the cross of Christ already in their midst.
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- This morning, will you worship in Spirit and in truth; revering the one who delights to cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to break out in dance, and the mute to cry our praises?
- Will you reflect, is there any idolatrous activity within your heart; i.e. trust in counterfeit gods for security or significance? If there is, would you turn away from that death dealing drug, and turn to Jesus? Will you ask God for a new sensitivity to see and hear Him this morning?
- Will you pray for new creation in the hearts, eyes, and ears of those wracked by sin and its consequences around you? Will you ask that God would reveal the cross of Christ in their midst, and lead them to Himself?
This devotional was written by Pastor Martin
03.16.09
SHEPHERD’S BOND
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SHEPHERD’S BOND
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Ps 80:1-2
Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock;
you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
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John 10:11-16
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep.
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Even at the moment of birth, every child knows his/her mother’s voice (and according to T. Berry Brazelton, 85% recognize their father’s voice too). The parental bond with children in some ways is echoed in that of the shepherd’s with his sheep. Ancient Near East shepherding patterns reveal that shepherds knew their sheep so intimately, that despite caring for a whole flock; they knew them each distinctively, and even by name. This relational intimacy was reciprocated by the sheep, for even the dim witted sheep recognized and hearkened unto the voice of the shepherd whom they had embraced and learned to trust.
Somehow instinctively knowing that they are not self-sufficient, both children and sheep are sensitized to the presence of the one who has come forward to protect and provide. And in response, a loving parent or shepherd is all the more dialed in to the fear and need of ones they’ve covenanted to guide and guard. In a time of danger, the shepherd’s heart finds resonance far more with a mama bear defending her cub, than even a policeman upholding his sworn duty.
It is with this confidence that the Psalmist cries out to the Shepherd of Israel to come and save. And it is with this driving passion that Jesus, the Good Shepherd lays his life down on the cross. With cords of love and trust are we bound to the voice of our Shepherd Jesus.
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- This morning, will you cherish and delight in your Shepherd’s love for you; expressing thanks and worship in prayers of adoration and trust?
- Will you reflect: in your response to your crises, how have you hearkened to the voice of Jesus your sworn Shepherd? Will you take time to attend to His voice, and the nudgings of his staff, and the comfort of His rod?
- Will you ask for a deeper heart of trust, as you take steps to follow the path of the Shepherd who leads you through the valley of the shadow of death, to green pastures and quiet waters?
This devotional was written by Pastor Martin
02.13.09
“YOUR JOURNEY TOWARD CHRIST”
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Daily in Christ by Neil Anderson February 13
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YOUR JOURNEY TOWARD CHRIST
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The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy John 10:10
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How do evil spirits interfere with our lives? Let me answer with a simple illustration. Imagine that you are standing at one end of a long, narrow street lined on both sides with two-story row houses. At the other end of the street stands Jesus Christ, and your Christian life is the process of walking down that long street of maturity toward Him. There is absolutely nothing in the street which can keep you from reaching Jesus. So, when you receive Christ, you fix your eyes on Him and start walking.
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But since this world is still under the dominion of Satan, the row houses on either side of you are inhabited by beings who are committed to keeping you from reaching your goal. They have no power or authority to block your path or even slow your step, so they hang out of the windows and call to you, hoping to turn your attention away from your goal and disrupt your progress by tempting you, accusing you and deceiving you.
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What is the enemy’s goal in having his demons jeer you, taunt you, lure you, and question you from the windows and doorways along your path? He wants you to slow down, stop, sit down, and, if possible, give up your journey toward Christ. He wants to influence you to doubt your ability to believe and serve God. Remember: he has absolutely no power or authority to keep you from steadily progressing in your walk toward Christ. And he can never again own you, because you have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and you are forever in Him (1 Peter 1:18, 19). But if he can get you to listen to the thoughts he plants in your mind, he can influence you. And if you allow him to influence you long enough through temptation, accusation and deception, he can control you.
If I could influence you to believe a lie, could I control your life? Yes. Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, “the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2) and take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
11.24.08
“360° GRACE”
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John 1:10-18 NIV
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”
16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
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2 Cor 9:8 NIV
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
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One of our key spiritual handicaps is our inability to recognize God, and His grace at work. Sin has a way of clouding our vision of God, twisting our focus back onto our own selves. According to John, the world neither recognized or received the Word.
But when we truly encounter Jesus, we are enabled to see God with shocking clarity. John says that no one has seen God, but Jesus has made him known; Jesus has exegeted Him. God is not hell-bent on our destruction, rather heaven-bent on pouring out grace! By grace we mean a double reversal: giving us the good we don’t deserve, and not giving us the just deserts of our very sin.
There is an interesting phrase in John 1:16, which the NIV translates “one blessing after another. Literally, the verse reads “from the fullness of him we all received even grace on top of grace.” It means that grace continues to flow in increasing measure. You think grace has run out, and there’s more. You look to the right, and the spiritual landscape saturated by grace. You look to the left; more grace there. Look up, look down, look behind you, in front of you, even inside you….grace is everywhere!
God is able to truly make all grace abound…in all things, at all times! For grace flows out of His person and character; and we are made privy to 360° grace. Halleluiah!
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- This Monday morning, will you take a few minutes to acknowledge that God has already prepared and provided abundant grace for you today, this week? Will you in faith thank God for meeting you, sustaining you, and thriving you in His grace?
- Will you take your eyes off of your own inadequacy, and look with spiritual eyes at the landscape of grace that God institutes. Will you ask God for eyes to see how His grace is at work in your circumstances?
Because God’s grace abounds, we are promised to have all we need to abound in every good work! What is the work that God would have you do, by His grace? Will you make yourself available to Him as His servant by grace?
11.18.08
“OUT OF THIS WORLD PROTECTION”
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John 17:6-19 NIV
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name-the name you gave me-so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
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In a dangerous world, security is a prized commodity. How much more for a world in the throes of spiritual conflict. Knowing this, Jesus prays blanket prayers of protection over all that are His, knowing that they too will be targeted by the evil one. But even in his prayers we see some of the dynamics of how this security package is to work.
God’s name and power blanket protection over us, not just for the sake of our preservation; but strategically for our unification and sanctification. In God’s higher purposes, demonic persecution and divine protection work together to sever our misplaced loyalties in the world, and solder our heart to God and His people. Jesus prays that we would be sanctified, i.e. set apart by the word of truth. And that through divine protection, that we would be made one as He and the father are one.
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- This morning, would you reflect on the “out of this world” protection to which you and I are privy to? Will you imagine the legions of angels that God has designated to guard us, the armor He has laid before us? Will you put your complete and utter trust in His name=character, His power, and His words of truth?
- Jesus earnestly prayed for our sanctification; that we would be made holy…i.e. think and live as though we are not from this world. How have you been seduced to love for and loyalty to this world? What golden promises have been whispered into your ears to grease acts of spiritual treason and sedition? Will you silence them in Jesus’ name, and sever the lines that make you a puppet of our enemy?
- Finally, will you all the more radically join the ranks of the redeemed? Are there any relationships which have been strained or severed that need mending? Any brothers or sisters that God is calling you to love more deeply, more divinely? Pray for a unity that is active and growing in our midst.
11.11.08
“FRUITFUL DEPENDENCE”
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John 15:1-8 NIV
15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
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Modern man doesn’t appreciate being told that they are utterly dependent on anyone else for their strength and success. We’ve swallowed the lie; hook, line, and sinker that the outcome of our lives ultimately depends on our passion and skill.
Jesus shatters that myth by declaring that He is the only vine, and that apart from Him we can do nothing. But the flipside to this frighteningly complete dependence is the promise of dramatic fruitfulness. This kind of fruitfulness flows from the sap of God Himself, bursting with joy and righteousness. The choice becomes…fruitful dependence, or withered self-sufficiency.
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REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- This morning, will you pay attention to the Gardener, whose eyes carefully tend the Vine. He’s looking for those branches who evidence a growing connection with the vine. Reflect on his wise and tender care for the true branches. Will you thank Him for grafting you onto the life giving Vine?
- Now reflect on the places where you’ve refused dependence, out of pride or insecurity. Where have you trusted in your position, power, or giftings apart from God? As you name them, will you intentionally invite the sap of the vine, the Spirit to flow to your empowering?
- Lastly, imagine not just a fully ripe bunch of grapes…but a whole vineyard ready for the harvest. The teamwork of the Gardener and the Vine has produced abundant fruit in season. Will you claim that fruitfulness in regards to your life, as well as VCF?
11.06.08
“FLOWING FORGIVENESS”
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Matt 6:14-15 NIV
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
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John 20:21-23 NIV
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
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Forgiveness is like a river, flowing from the heart of God through our very hearts. We have been positioned at critical junctures in that river’s flow. If we choose to close our hearts off to the flow of God’s forgiveness, we shunt God’s grace and truth away from others. Eventually, this shunting backfires; disconnecting us from God as well.
If we have dammed God’s forgiving flow in our hearts toward others, we are hard pressed to hear clearly from God. Having forgiven, we are freed to both hear from and communicate for God to our world
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REFLECTION /RESPONSE
- As you begin to reflect this morning, is there anything you need to receive forgiveness for from God? Will you let His river of forgiveness wash over you?
- Are there any people you’ve withheld forgiveness from? Any bitter root you’ve allowed to burrow into your heart? Will you ask God to free you, and enable you to truly forgive that person? Will you release those painful words, and acts of betrayal that have dammed up God’s forgiving flow? Will you pray blessing over those by name who’ve sinned against you?
- Will you begin to pray for those whom God is calling you to both minister to and represent, that you would be an active agent of forgiveness; a minister of reconciliation that reconciles people to God through forgiveness?
Remember to take time to just listen to what God might be saying to you; recording them in your journal.
