September 22 - Job 41:25

By reason of breakings

they purify themselves.

Job 41:25

Stick with me for an extra minute or two today. I think you'll like this!

I pull verses from a number of places. Some touch my heart immediately. Others -- like today's -- are a complete mystery! Here's was my process in trying to figure this verse out ...

First, other translations weren't much help. Combining different versions, they read ...

1) At the crashing, thrashing, consternation, and/or breaking ...

2) some group of people -- identified as either broken down, afraid ... or ... the strong, the mighty, other gods, or angels --

3) retreat, cower, run away, stand there perplexed, are beside themselves, keep themselves free, and/or purify themselves.

Hmmm.

Let's try a little more context ...

In perhaps the oldest book in scripture, Job's life has been turned upside-down by tragedy. Job and his friends keep asking God questions -- mainly, "WHY?!" Instead of answering directly, God asks Job a series of questions. Chapter 41 is one of God's final questions.

In this question God talks about a beast that is mightier than man -- some translations call him Leviathan (a mythical sea creature), others envision him as a real creature (we'll use the New Living Translation's crocodile) -- and the chapter goes essentially like this (today's verse -- in this and other translations -- in bold) ...

1 [THE LORD SAY,] "Can you catch a crocodile with a hook or put a noose around its jaw? 3 Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity?

4 Will it agree to work for you? Can you make it be your slave for life? 5 Can you make it a pet like a bird, or give it to your little girls to play with?

7 Will its hide be hurt by darts, or its head by a harpoon? 8 If you lay a hand on it, you will never forget the battle that follows ...!

10 And since no one dares to disturb the crocodile, who would dare to stand up to Me?

12 "I want to emphasize the tremendous strength in the crocodile's limbs ... 13 [And] who can ... penetrate its double layer of armor -- [called it's] hide? 14 [And] who could pry open its jaws? 18 "When it sneezes, it flashes light! 21 Its breath would kindle coals. 24 Its heart is as hard as rock. 25 When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror. [Indeed, the mighty -- even gods and angels -- cower before its tail-thrashing turbulence.] 34 Of all the creatures, it is the proudest. It is the king of beasts."

But ... says (or implies) God, I am king of the king of beasts. If you won't confront a crocodile (much less a sea monster), would you actually dare to confront me? Indeed, "11 Who will confront me and remain safe ? Everything under heaven is mine."

And Job responds, "42:6 [Oops.] I take back everything I said. 2 I know you can do anything. 6 I [will just] sit [here now] in dust and ashes to show my repentance."

Because our God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, we try to tame him like a basset hound puppy in a nickle pet store. But in so doing, we make our God much too small. He is mightier -- by far -- than a mortal crocodile. He is God. He doesn't submit to our human interpretations of justice. He is Justice. He is Truth. He is Love. He is God.

God's message to Job is: Even if you don't understand, just bow before me. Just trust.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who loved to watch The Crocodile Hunter

(you always wondered how that guy didn't get killed

... and then he did get killed.

I want a God who is stronger than the crocodile

... and stronger than death.)

September 21 - Exodus 20:16

Thou shalt not bear false witness

against thy neighbor.

Exodus 20:16

One of the comic strips that I remember from childhood was about the "bodacious hillbilly" Snuffy Smith.

"Bodacious hillbilly" is how Snuffy's own website describes him. Listen to how it describes his wife: "Loweezy -- Snuffy's adoring wife. The only thing she enjoys more than servin' up tasty vittles to Snuffy and the kids is servin' up a bit of juicy gossip to her best friend, Elviney."

Why do we laugh at gossip? It's probably because its so common. We see ourselves and others in this habit. But in laughing, we sometimes excuse the destructiveness.

Proverbs 16:28 tells us that "gossip ... plants seeds of strife ... [and] separates the best of friends." Romans 1:29 places it nearly on par with hatred and murder. And Proverbs 25:10 warns that it could become the source of a great fall -- "you [may] never regain your good reputation."

But in Proverbs 26:20 we are told that "Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and quarrels disappear when gossipstops."

Become a firefighter. Always refuse to gossip.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to own a Dalmatian

(i.e. I want to be a fireman)

September 20 - Isaiah 55:6

Seek the Lord while he may be found,

call upon him while he is near

Isaiah 55:6

Today's lesson proclaims one of the mysteries of God.

On the one hand, one of the promises of God is "Emmanuel" -- which means "God is with us." Indeed, scripture proclaims an omnipresent, always available God.

On the other hand, scripture also cries, "Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?" (Ps 10:1). Even Jesus on the cross repeated the cries of Psalm 22, "1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so farfrom ... the words of my groaning?"

Scripture says, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted" (Ps 34:18). So why does he also -- and sometimes -- seem so far away?

The Psalms give us a hint of an explanation. Psalm 119 tells us that "155 Salvation is far from the wicked" and Psalm 138 tells us that "6 he perceives the haughty from far away." Sin causes the distance. Our sin erects a barrier between us and God. But the Psalms also tell us what God wants to do with our sins: "As faras the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12).

When God seems far, maybe we need to ask which sins are creating the distance.

Now, we can over-do that. We can beat ourselves up, searching our past for some unconfessed transgression. I that know for me the separating sin is usually much simpler -- "I've been too busy to turn to him often enough!"

So ... whenever you have one of those seasons when "he may be found" -- our verse for today -- "seek" passionately! "Call on him" actively! Ride this wave until it peters out on the shore. Then swim back out and try to catch the wave again.

Indeed, the more we practice his presence, the more continual the waves will seem to be.

In Christ's Love,

a surfer dude

September 19 - Proverbs 23:26

I will give You my heart and

let my eyes delight in Your ways.

Prayer based on

Proverbs 23:26

Sometimes when I come across the scripture I'll be writing on, I'll clip it from a source of prayers.

In the actual verse, we can almost hear God's call, "My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways."

In the prayer above, "will" may be the most important word. "I WILL give you my heart." "I WILL ... let my eyes delight in your ways."

What if we turned more of God's words to us into prayers? What if every "come to me," "follow me," "obey my commands," and "believe in me" was greeted with a quick and joyful "I WILL! I WILL come, follow, obey, trust, and believe!"

As parents, we all know how frustrating it is to have a child that ignores wisdom, scoffs at rules, and goes hisown way.

Oh, how we must frustrate God!

When we pursue our own way, scripture calls us foolish sheep. ("Fools think their own way is right" -- Proverbs 12:15 and "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way." -- Isaiah 53:6).

The alternative is love because as it says it 1 Corinthians 13:5, "love does not insist on it's own way." Love and respect causes us to honor, follow, and respect God our Father. And not insisting on our own way is also a positive way to love our neighbor.

In Christ's Love

a guy who knows that going my own way

is going the wrong way

September 18 - Psalm 119:81

My soul faints with longing for your salvation;

therefore, I have put my hope in your word.

Psalm 119:81

This morning I was reading about a nineteenth century educational philosophy that is gaining fresh momentum in many private schools across America.

Imagine a triangle, say its proponents, with teacher, text, and tot at the points.

The traditional model of education has the teacher at the top. We've all encountered the model of teacher as lecturer and teacher as authoritative interpreter of the text.

A more modern method has the student at the top with self-esteem and self-expression being the principal goals. And while student-oriented education sounds noble, children (humans) don't need any more encouragement to think the world revolves around them, that authority figures are there to cater to their needs, and that a text is waiting for their own interpretation to be authoritative.

This new/old style of learning puts the text at the top with students and teachers serving as partners in trying to understand what the text has to say.

In classical education the texts may be a novel by Dostoyevsky, a play be Shakespeare, or a painting by Renior.

In life, the text is scripture.

The Bible isn't about you (the glorified student on top), and it isn't about me (the authoritative teacher who knows better than the text), the Bible is about God who is revealing pieces of his nature through his Word. And when we put the text of God's Word at the top of our learning -- with you and I as partners in looking to understand -- then we learn infinitely more. In fact, we may even learn to see God.

In Christ's Love,

an autograph seeker ...

my hope is in God's Word

and I want to get close enough

to the author to get

his signature

September 17 - Psalm 119:67

Before I was humbled I went astray,

but now I keep your word.

Psalm 119:67

This verse is my life story.

Until I was unemployed, underemployed -- and totally humbled -- I always played cut and paste with the Bible. I would say, "I like this ... but I can't agree with that." My concept of God was based totally on me, myself, and I.

Do you see the problem with this? In basing my religion on my philosophies, my priorities and my politics, I was creating God in my own image.

When I was humbled, I finally hit my knees. I let God be God. And I was set free.

Psalm 119 puts it this way: "Before I was humbled I went astray, but now I keep your word."

In Christ's Love,

a lost sheep who's found The Way

September 16 - 2 Corinthians 13:11

Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal,

be of one mind, live in peace.

And the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:11

In sports, all of my athletic ability was in my legs. I could run fast and jump high.

But what I couldn't do was shoot, throw, or aim straight. Therefore, I've often joked, "Don't worry. I'll just aim straight at you."

Now, that may work for me tossing softballs, but it's not a very good philosophy for life. In general, we become whatever we aim at.

The problem is that too many of us are aimless. We're so busy trying to make it through each busy day, that we haven't taken time to aim at all.

How many of us are so busy that we're like this race car driver? A race official proclaims, "Today's race is going to be five hundred miles." And before the official can say anything else, one of the drivers rushes out the door, fires up his car, peels out of the parking lot, and when his odometer hits 500-miles, shouts "I win!" Did he win? Well, if the finish line was in the other direction, he was simply going nowhere fast.

Do you ever feel like you're going nowhere fast? In today's lesson, scripture tells us where the finish line is: "Aim for perfection."

+ Now, many of us aim for good -- and we settle for alright.

+ Some of us aim for great -- and are happy if hit pretty darn good.

+ But what would happen if we aimed for perfection?!

Yes, we'll all sin and fall a little short, but I'd rather my trajectory be in the neighborhood of Christ and holiness rather than distracted mediocrity.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to aim to be like Christ

(and will settle for being a fraction of him

than looking like a lot of the world)

September 15 - 1 Chronicles 22:19

Now devote your heart and soul

to seeking the LORD your God.

1 Chronicles 22:19

In this passage, David is commissioning his son, Solomon.

God didn't allow David to build the temple. David was the warrior king with too much blood on his hands. So David is commissioning his son with this important piece of advice.

Whatever you are building (attempting, hoping, planning) in life, this is a magnificent starting point: "Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God."

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs to re-start today

with that goal in mind

... and everyday hereafter.

September 14 - Exodus 33:17

And the LORD said to Moses,

"I will do the very thing you have asked,

because I am pleased with you

and I know you by name."

Exodus 33:17

In a verse like this, the temptation is to turn it around -- if we're not getting what we ask for, is God displeased with us?

Have you ever done that?

Please rest assured that this converse is not true. There's a million reasons why prayer is sometimes not answered. Nevertheless, here's a good indication for why and when extraordinary prayer is answered: Look at what Moses and God are doing.

What are Moses and God doing? They're talking together. Personally. Deeply. Wonderfully. There is a remarkable relationship.

Now, we could be tempted to say that the relationship that Moses has with God is a once-in-a-millenium-type-of-relationship ... and you'd certainly be right. But God is more generous with himself than most of us take advantage of. God wants a deeper relationship with you. That will give him great pleasure. And you'll find more answers to prayer.

Your answers to prayer won't be because God is a genie in a bottle who is just waiting to grant his buddy's wishes. Nor will the answers you receive be a sign that God likes you more than the next guy. Rather, it will be because you've learned more about your heavenly friend. And suddenly you're asking -- based not on what you want to accomplish -- but on what God wants to accomplish already.

That's alignment. When you want what God wants, it's amazing how many more prayers will get answered.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs a chiropractor

(get it ... better alignment)

September 13 - Psalm 65:9

You visit the earth and water it,

you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water;

you provide the people with grain,

for so you have prepared it.

Psalm 65:9

Driving this morning, I saw a busy field. A big green combine was harvesting corn.

My grandfather and uncles are farmers. So I know these farmers worked hard for this season's crops. But God gave the growth.

In a purely human sense, I trust those farmers.

In a purely human sense, I trust the mills and the grocery stores.

Think about it. I don't grow a thing. So I must trust others to eat.

But God gave the growth.

Today's scripture reminds us that it's ultimately God who gives us the rain and the grain.

And here's my question for today. If we totally rely on the farmers and grocery stores for our sustenance, why is it so hard to trust in God -- totally, fully, completely?

God wants to take our fields, our families, and our lives and "greatly enrich [them]." So why do take back control, raise our own crops, and say, "Look what me, myself, and I did."

No ... Look what God does ... and trust what he wants to do.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who loves seeing

those big old tractors

(... but wants to see God more)

September 12 - 1 John 3:23

(side note from a hijacked post - today is Pastor Ed's birthday - wishing him a fantastic day full of things and people he loves!!)

And this is his commandment:

We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,

and love one another, just as he commanded us.

1 John 3:23

Which part of this commandment is easier for you: Believing in God? Or loving your neighbor?

Let me suggest that if you're like me, most days we do both halfway.

The problem with truly loving our neighbor is forgiveness. There's someone out there who's hurt you. And unforgiveness is like a cancer cell in your heart. It feeds on healthy cells -- slowly, gradually, silently. And sometimes before we even realize it's there, it's robbed us of much life and health.

Who do you need to forgive today?

Secondly, we believe in Jesus ... of course. And yet, how often do we take matters into our own hands. How often do we look for the approval of others, rather than trusting in God's love for us (a love so wonderful that he died for you and me). We confess with our lips that we believe in God, but in practice, why don't we trust him more?

What's one thing you can trust him with more today?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to

follow the commandments

September 11 - Jeremiah 17:13

O Lord ...

Those who turn away from you

will be written in the dust

because they have forsaken the Lord,

the fountain of living water.

Jeremiah 17:13

When I found this passage, I copied it down, and then thought to myself, "Wait! I can find a more positive passage on living water."

For example, to the woman at the well, Jesus equates living water with God's fullest blessings, saying, "If you knew the gift of God ..., you would have asked [me], and [I] would have given you living water" (John 4:10).

A few chapters later, Jesus says essentially that if your heart is filled with living water (God and his blessings), then out of you -- "out of the believer's heart [--] shall flow rivers of living water.' "

I like those. Positive. Uplifting.

So is Jeremiah 17:13. But it's also challenging.

It tells us triumphant that God is fountain of life -- indeed, "a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (John 4:14). But it also warns us not to forsake the wet and wonderful blessing of God and grace.

When (God-through-)Jeremiah says, "those who turn away from [the Lord] will be written in the dust," I imagine a vast and dusty desert. But then -- miracle of miracles to the heart that is parched -- a bountiful oasis. In the midst of this dry and dusty world, we can draw to God -- the true oasis, the fountain of life -- or we can ignore it, forsake him, and gradually starve ourselves to death (spiritual and terminal dehydration).

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants his name

written in the book of life

-- not by an old cattle skull

in the dust

Those who turn away from you

will be written in the dust

because they have forsaken the Lord,

the spring of living water.

Spetember 10 - 2 Corinthians 1:5

For just as the sufferings of Christ

flow over into our lives,

so also through Christ

our comfort overflows.

2 Corinthians 1:5

There've been moments in my life when I would have liked to adopt a La-Z-Boy chair. I would have taken him over a dog. Both are soft. Both are provide a warm welcome at the end of a day. But dogs you have to walk, while La-Z-Boy's invite us to put our feet up.

"Comfort overflows" is the gift of a La-Z-Boy. And it's the ultimate promise of our verse for today. The only problem is that 2 Corinthians 1:5 suggests that to get this river of comfort we must wade through pools of suffering.

From a purely human perspective, God has a warped economy -- suffering equals comfort, humility equals strength, sacrifice equals blessing, and death equals life.

How many of us would instinctively prefer a La-Z-Boy, but how many of us ultimately seen how focusing on ourselves leads to a life as healthy as an ingrown toe nail?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to humble,

healthy toe nail

September 9 - Matthew 4:4

People do not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes

from the mouth of God.

Matthew 4:4

I will often succumb to the temptation of a mid-afternoon candy bar.

Jesus fasted for forty days, and yet he still wouldn't succumb to the devilish temptation of earthly foods.

He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. Moses was preparing God's people to enter the promised land -- and while doing so, to live faithfully. The verse begins with these words, "[the Lord] humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna."

I would summarize that as, "he brought you to a place of need ... then he met your need."

What we know from the midst of the Exodus story is one more piece: He brought them to a place of need, THEY CRIED FOR HELP, then God met their need."

Do you believe that God will bring us to a place of need? I do! Because when we're dependent on him, our relationship with him grows. And that -- rather than a mid-afternoon candy bar -- is really the purpose of live.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs to live

by more bread and less candy

September 8 - Psalm 119:103

How sweet are your words to my taste,

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 119:103

In recent years, "SWEET!" has become a one-word exclamation of joy and satisfaction. The question is: When was the last time you yelled, "SWEET!" when reading God's word?

Isn't that a common problem in our world today? We have God's Word in history’s most easily digestible translations and we have more than enough of pages of accessible commentary to feed us richly, but too few of us take the time to feed on the Word.

With these daily devotionals, it's a treasure that you and I are snacking, but why isn't the whole church, our whole nation, the whole world feasting? Why? I think it's because most people don't like the digestion process.

For example, while God's plans are sweet and his victory eternal, some of God's purposes require a time and discipline to achieve. They occasionally require repentance -- a change of heart and habits. Therefore, rather than change, too many people put their fingers in their ears and refuse to hear. Some even put their their fingers down their throat, because a little regurgitation seems to taste better than change.

Isn't that awful ... but true? Think of the addicts who taste more and more poison rather than embrace the need to change. And the sad truth is that we're all addicted to something that's not of God.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who learned early,

that if you want to taste the sweet stuff (dessert)

you first have to finish the vegetables (the healthy discipline)

September 7 - 1 Kings 8:27

But will God indeed dwell on the earth?

Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you,

much less this house that I have built!

1 Kings 8:27

Solomon built the temple ... then asked this question.

The temple was supposed to be "the house of God," but as the last blocks were being laid in place and God's house was being furnish, Solomon was realizing how absurd this notion was.

"Even heaven ... cannot contain [God]," cried the earthly king.

That's why we are advised -- in Exodus 20 along with the ten commandments -- not to make "graven images" (pictures or statues) of God. No matter how great the artist, we can't paint the Lord whom the heavens cannot contain.

In fact, any picture or statue or mental image of God puts him in a box and limits him.

We need to quit putting God in a box -- even one that sounds good and holy -- and step back instead and just say, "Wow!" Actually ... just step back, bow down, and saying, "Awe."

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs

more servings of awe in his daily diet

than even additional servings of vegetables

September 6 - Daniel 4:34

When that period was over, I,

Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven,

and my reason returned to me.

I blessed the Most High, and

praised and honored the one who lives forever.

For his sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty,

and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

Daniel 4:34

One of the strange stories in scripture involves the old king of Babylon -- Nebuchadnezzer. He'd seen God's almight power when the Lord rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the furnace of blazing fire.

And yet kings can be proud. Nebuchadnezzer trusted in his own power and might, so the King of Heaven humbled a king of earth. God made Nebuchanezzer a little crazy in the head, and the proud man got down on all fours, wandered into the pasture lands, and ate grass like a cow.

That's a tough way to teach a person to "lift[ their] eyes to heaven."

In light of this passage, I'd recommend that all of us get rid of our foolish pride and lift our eyes to heaven, before God turns us into something that needs to be milked.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's thankful he's not a cow

(though some days deserves to be)

September 5 - 2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin

to be sin for us,

so that in him we might become

the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

My favorite football games as a child were the ones in the mud. But I'm not sure they were my mother's favorite games. My clothes would be caked with dirt.

Imagine that sin is like muddy clothes.

What this passage says, in effect, is that Jesus puts on our muddy clothes so that we can put on his clean, white robes.

Do you see that? Jesus who is clean and white ("had no sin") was "made ... to be sin [muddy] for us" "so that" "we might become ... righteous [pure and white] in him."

"He's better than Clorox," says a guy who lives like a pig.

In Christ's Love,

a pig in white robes

September 4 - Romans 5:8

God proves his love for us

in that while we still were sinners

Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

In youth group a few weeks ago, we studied God’s love. One of the first questions I asked was how they would define "love."

One wise youth said, "I think love is actions not emotions."

He said, "Think about it. Feelings come and go. But actions often show your true heart."

In fact, we talked about the disrespect that youth can show their parents, and said, "Aren’t you glad your parents don’t base their love on feelings?" "Yeah," they said, "They’d probably disown us by now."

Our parents, they began to understand, prove their love for us in this — that while we’re angry, disrespectful, and disobedient, they still clothe us, feed us, help us, and forgive us.

And God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who likes to wear red

because 1) I’m an N.C. State guy,

and 2) because I’m a sinner

with a bunch of "scarlet letters"

and blood red scars

but you can’t see them any more because

they covered by God’s big red heart.

Yes, I like wearing God’s red!

September 3 - John 15:13 part 2

Greater love has no one than this,

that he lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

We used this verse in Bible Study with the youth last week.

And we asked, what if someone walked into church right now and pointed a gun, what would you do?

I was impressed. The kids were honest. They knew the "right" answer, but they were honest enough to say, "I’d probably duck for cover."

But then they thought about it for minute. They said essentially, "Ducking is reflex. You can’t help it. You see a gun. You freak. You duck for cover. But after I thought about it for a minute," said one youth, "I’d probably charge the gunman." Why? "Because I wouldn’t want anyone else to get hurt."

It was honest. It was sincere. No one has great love than this.

And there was suddenly a bond in this group. Maybe we could start caring for one another like that.

In the last few years, we’ve sent out a few of our Spirit of Joy youth into the military. One of them right now is in Afghanistan. He’s literally being shot at everyday. And he’s literally watching friends get sent home injured on a regular basis.

Before he went, he got his first tattoo. Do you know what it said? "John 15:13."

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s praying for Adam in Afghanistan

and for all our service men and women in harms way

September 2 - John 15:13 part 1

Greater love has no one than this,

that he lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

I’m going to do two days in a row on this verse. Why? Because I have a story I want to tell. But first there is an insight that came in looking it up.

In my Bible Browsing Software (I love www.crosswalk.com!) I remembered enough of this verse to search for "lay," "down," "life." Did you know that Jesus — who would obviously lay down his life for us — used this theme several times in his ministry?

For example, in John 10, Jesus was comparing himself to a good shepherd. He said a hired hand will run if he sees a wolf approaching. But I am the Good Shepherd ... and "I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:15).

Two verses later, Jesus uses these words again to express a completely different thought. In saying "I lay down my life," he’s expressing his willingness and intention. He’s essentially saying, "I choose to do this out of love." And then comes the new thought ... essentially, "and after I lay it down, I am going to ‘take it up again.’" In essence, I have both the power of choice and the power over death.

The next time these words are used, they reflect that while Jesus may have power and choice, we humans don’t fully have that gift, power, and ability — at least as much as we’d like to think. A prideful Peter says essentially, "Jesus, you’re saying that you’re going to be captured, beaten, and die in these next hours ... but ‘I [will] follow you ... I will lay down my life for you.’ (John 13:37)" Jesus reflects, however, our ultimate powerlessness compared to his ultimate power: "[Peter,] will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!" (John 13:39).

In Christ’s Love,

a powerless guy who’s awed

by the love of a savior who for

some reason calls me friend

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

September 1 - Psalm 103:13

‘As a father has

compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion

on those who fear him.’

Psalm 103:13

God is like a father. It’s a good analogy. But not for everybody. Sin has a way of destroying God’s intent. For example, some people simply don’t have good fathers, and their earthly pattern of abandonment and abuse make it hard for some people to joyfully pray "Our Father who art in heaven."

Most of us, however, can look around and find a good enough model of human compassion and discover a glimpse of God. But if you want to catch the best glimpse, look to Jesus and his relationship with the One he called his Father.

The hallmark of this relationship was two things.

The first was time. Even though God was "up in heaven," Jesus’ regularly spent hours with his Father.

The second was trust. It seems to be a child’s natural habit to push the boundaries and rebel — at least occasionally. But Jesus opted for trust. Even when the Father’s mission would lead the Son to the cross, the Son chose obedience and trust.

In what ways — earthly and heavenly — can you devote a little time and trust to your father/Father today.

In Christ’s Love,

an imperfect guy who nevertheless

wants to try to give his kids

a picture of a bigger Father

August 31 - Mark 8:38

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words

in this adulterous and sinful generation,

the Son of Man will be ashamed of him

when he comes in his Father's glory

with the holy angels.

Mark 8:38

Let's think for a moment about the difference between "shame" and "ashamed."

Shame, it could be said, is a synonym for sin. For example, when Adam and Eve at the apple, they covered up their sin and shame with an inadequate fig leaf.

Ashamed, on the other hand (and at least in this context) is more of a synonym for faith ... or really the lack thereof. For example, is our faith and Christian witness a) bold and vibrant, or b) timid and ashamed?

Now ... use these definitions to ask one of the big question in life: What keeps us out of heaven?

It's not shame. After all, as it says in Romans 3:23, "we've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Rather, it's being ashamed. A confident faith testifies. But if we're justified by faith, then what is a non-testifying faith? If Jesus is saying, "if you're ashamed of me, then I'll be ashamed of you," then maybe we need to be a bolder in our witness.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's often been tempted

to be a boulder (silent as a rock)

than bolder.

August 30 - Hebrews 10:35

do not throw away your confidence;

it will be richly rewarded.

Hebrews 10:35

If confidence is the oppositive of pride, and pride is one of the seven deadly sins, then why does Hebrews advise us hang onto our confidence.

Well ... there are two kinds of confidence. One is self-confidence. And it's just a hint, but any phrase that begins with "self-" is not likely to bring a very big blessing. And any confidence that begins and ends with "self-" is only as strong as we are on our worst and most vulnerable days.

The other kind of confidence is in someone or something else. Generally speaking, I have great confidence in my automobile's brakes, in the elevator cables, and in our nation's food supply. But ... brakes can fail, cables can sever, and food can be tainted.

What, therefore, is the one thing that will never fail us?!

God's love, grace, and power is obviously the confidence that Hebrews advises us to not throw away. And yet, how many people throw it away? Setbacks occur, and we blame God. Trials happen, and we blame God. Illness and deaths creep into our families, and we blame God.

The reward that is promised in this verse is not one that we have to wait until eternity to grasp. Hope, light, courage, and joy are the daily fruits of confident faith. Darkness, despair, sandness and fear are the wages of doubt.

May we place our true trust in the creator of heaven and earth.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who likes this paraphrase of Isaiah 31:1

Woe to those ... who rely on horses,

Alas for those ... who trust in chariots

[Trust instead in] the Holy One of Israel.