June 30....the thorns and the good soil

(This is a two part lesson to finish the parable)

Luke 8:7,14 “Some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it stifled (choked) it…….the seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures and they do not mature.”
“….the life is choked out of them, and in the end they produce nothing.” (Phillips)
“….choked with cares, riches, pleasures of this world.” (KJV)
“….crowded out…..” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

The seed among thorns: Stifled, choked, crowded out. This one is pretty obvious. Three things choke us and crowd out the Word: worries, riches, pleasures. The ground here is the ground most of us see and are part of every day. Ordinary people living ordinary lives in this world. The world is full of thorns that grow up beside us and surround us and threaten to take over. Anyone who has ever weeded a garden knows that the weeds are somehow stronger and more aggressive than the good seeds and plants! It takes very little time and neglect for the weeds and thorns to take over. Life is full of these thorns. Worries : everyone has them. Some are trivial and mostly of our own making, but others are very real and threatening. All have to be dealt with. Money worries, health worries, safety worries, job worries, family worries….pressure after pressure, stress after stress. They wear us down, they push into every moment we have. Riches ; Most of us live in a world of abundance….too much food, too much money, too many things. We don’t look at it that way, but it is true. How many TV’s do we need? How many phones? How many pairs of shoes? How many cars? How many knickknacks? These “things” take over our lives and the acquisition of them becomes a necessity to our “way of life”. Keeping up with the Jones and storing up riches for tomorrow (there are those worries again!) Pleasures : we surround ourselves with attempts to escape from our worries and riches! We seek vacations, hobbies, entertainment, drugs, excitement, alcohol, sex, anything to distract us and gratify us. It is all about us. Me, me, me. Am I happy yet? Am I fulfilled? Am I having fun yet? The thorns of life. We are stifled, choked, crowded. The Church often adds to the problem and encourages it. Life comes from Jesus Christ. Life is in the seed, if we keep at these weeds and thorns. Stop them before they start! Fight back! Prune and weed regularly! Take action! Be accountable! Avoid the weeds! Resist the weeds! Kill the weeds! Tear them out one by one. Help us weed our lives of all that crowds us, stifles us, cokes out the good seed of your kingdom! Amen.

Luke 8:8, 15 “But some fell on good soil, grew up and yielded a hundredfold……But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering, produce a crop.” (NAB and NIV combined)
“….seize the word and hold on no matter what.” (MSG)
“…with an honest and good heart, keep it…..” (KJV)

Heavenly Father,

I’ve had a poem in my mind all through this, called “Planter’s Charm”. It tells about a woman planting corn and as she plants she chants: “One for the buzzard, one for the crow, one to rot, and one to grow.” She sees it as her own life….her husband, herself, and her 2 sons. I wonder if she is thinking about this parable? I wonder if that is where the author of the poem got the idea? The buzzard is the devil on the path, the crow scavenges among the rocks, the choked out seed rots, but one kernel falls in good soil and grows. Only 1 out of 4. Poor odds! I hope our odds are better. You broadcast the seed….your Son, the Word, Jesus Christ. You chose to throw it out to everyone….good and bad soil alike. We all have the opportunity to be saved, to keep the seed, to nourish the seed, to weed the seed, and grow. Some soil is naturally more fertile than others, but all soil can be made to produce with help. Digging, watering, weeding. It all comes down to first wanting the Seed. Desiring it enough to soften up and let it penetrate. But roots won’t go deep unless we have food and water as well as loose soil. Jesus is the Bread of Life and the Living Water. He is a Seed with built in nourishment. We have to retain that, hang on to it, be aware of it…….persevere. We fight the weeds. We have to make choices. We have to choose to know You, so our trust will choke out the worries rather than vice versa. We have to let go of the world’s riches and trade them for the riches of your kingdom…..grace, hope, peace, love, forgiveness, salvation! We have to tune out the world’s pleasures and distractions and concentrate on You so that we see that You are good and all that we need or could want. All this leads to a crop, to fruit, to producing for your kingdom. When we feed ourselves on Jesus and mature, we automatically began to grow, to spread, to produce, to soften the soil for others, to provide nourishment, to push back the thorns. The Church becomes the hardy perennials and the evergreens that flourish. I like the MSG translation : “seize the Word and hold on no matter what!” Our life depends on it……and the lives of others who will eat our fruit, and become the soil for our seeds once we mature and continue the cycle of kingdom life.” Amen.

June 29.....rocky ground

Luke 8:6, 13 “Some fell on rocky ground, sprouted up, then withered through lack of moisture……those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy, they have no root; they believe for awhile, but fall away in time of temptation.”

Heavenly Father,

The seed on rocky ground: There seems to be several problems here. Rocks don’t make very good planting areas, but some persistent plants that are shallow rooted can grow among rocks. Roots are a key. It says these plants never develop much root. The roots are what hold a plant firmly in place. The roots also soak up the moisture for the plant. Here in the rocks we have a lack of moisture. I see an area like the southwest. My sister lives in Arizona and I hate the rocky, dry ugliness of the place! She has several oasis of greenness, which she works hard and pays much to keep watered. Water is precious and expensive when little is available. There are plants among the rocks, and some produce beauty and provide shelter for animals, but it is a hard and fragile existence and very dependent on water from some source in adequate amounts. Who are the rocky ground, who first “receive the seed with joy” and begin to grow, but because of poor roots and little water, they “wither” and eventually die when trials appear? I think these people are everywhere and many have been in our churches. They are leading rocky lives….many trials and troubles, but they still have a hopeful attitude, a belief that there is something good out there if they look for it. They want to change their lives. The seed looks exciting, even fun, full of hope, “Good News”…..so they try it out. At first they hear what they need….the Word is going to make them happy and solve all their problems. But that doesn’t happen. The rocks are still there. They don’t understand it all. They don’t fit in. It’s easier to stick with what they know. The fun and excitement die down. The shallow roots of a beginning faith wither and the Church doesn’t provide enough water. We don’t actively pursue them and keep providing water of encouragement and hope. We don’t stand with them in their trials. The easy way out wins. Temptations win. The Church loses. Where is the “living water” to pour on them? How have we failed to provide it? Did we bury it in rituals, traditions, cliques? Did we fail to notice the withering plants through self-absorption? Forgive us! Teach us to water the withering plants. Amen.

June 28....the path

Luke 8:5, 12 “In the sowing, some fell on the footpath where it was walked on (trampled on) and the birds of the air ate it up………Those along the path are the ones who hear, and the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved.”

Heavenly Father,

Seed sown along the path: Pathways are hard, packed solid from 100’s of feet walking on them. Sowing seed on a path is foolish because the ground is already too hard to receive it. Pathways are busy places where people constantly move to and fro. No one is stopping, they are headed somewhere else with the minds on something else. We can throw seed on a path, but with little expectation that anything will happen. Then there are the birds. Birds know where to find easy food……seed lying on top of the ground, food dropped by people at outdoor eating areas, unguarded fields and orchards. The birds wait at these places to snatch the food the minute it hits the ground. Even if there was a tiny soft spot in the path where a seed might start to grow, it won’t happen because of the birds. These birds are scavengers….living off whatever is easy to find and unwanted. Because it is already hard, already walked on heavily, this ground….the path….does not want the seed. The birds can have it, for all the path cares. So who are the path, the hard packed, well-trampled ground, where feet are busy going to and fro and the scavengers are grabbing anything that is not nailed down? This sounds like the poor, the homeless, the uneducated, the overcrowded millions who are struggling just to survive. They are used to being walked on. They are hard because they have to be. They are in the midst of chaos all the time. They are infertile and unreceptive because it isn’t anything they can take the time to understand. It is foreign to their purpose and existence. The birds are anxious to take anything that comes their way. It is easy pickings because they are too hard, too closed up to know what to do with the seed anyway….so let the devil have it. The path can’t receive seed unless it is broken up and the traffic stopped and the birds killed. Show us how to break the path and give it a chance to become fertile! How do we change a pathway into a fertile field? Some try, many fail. The Church should be a detour to a new pathway. It’s not easy. Help us. Amen.

June 27....are you listening?

Luke 8:8 “Let everyone who has ears attend to what he has heard.”
“Are you listening, really listening?” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

I feel like this verse can’t be separated from the next two, and I am always a bit confused about his comment that : “the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘though seeing they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand’.” It always sounds like some are given the answers or insights while others aren’t…..and I always ask “Why?” Jesus is quoting Isaiah 6:9 which is the message to the people telling them they are calloused and have closed eyes and ears. Not much changes in this world or with people. The frustration God had with the people of Isaiah’s time is no different from what Jesus feels with these people. Many will “listen” but they won’t “hear” or see. He is standing before them with all the answers they will ever need, but they don’t ask the questions needed to hear or see. The disciples asked. We are told to “ask, seek, knock.” The disciples didn’t just show up for a Sunday afternoon lesson on the hillside…..they were “following” Jesus. They were committing their lives and time each day to being with Him. And they asked questions. Sometimes their questions or comments are “way off base”…..but at least they asked! And they have chosen who they will ask, who they think has the answers. I think this is the difference. They show a desire to understand who Jesus is and what his words mean. This is what we all need to do. Jesus is “the Door”. We can knock and enter or we can just stare at the door like my cat does, and hope someone else will come along and open it for us. We can ask questions, we can seek, we can study the Word, we can persist until we have the answers. We can simply “ask Jesus”, just like the disciples did……and wait for the answer. He wants us to know, to understand! Use our ears…use our eyes! Keep listening! Keep following the One with the answers! Thank you. Give me patience to persist and keep asking. Amen.

June 26....the seed is the Word of God

Luke 8:11 “The seed is the Word of God.” Heavenly Father,

The devotional book pointed out something that I should have noticed for myself yesterday when I read this. That You, the Father wants to communicate with us! You spoke to us in the Word. You want to talk to us, teach us, have a relationship with us. Above all else, the scriptures give us a picture of a God who not only created us, but desires to be in touch with us at all times. You didn’t plant the seed on a whim and walk away……it is a deliberate act on your part to reach out to us. “The seed is the Word of God.” You planted your Word. I can’t see “word” without wanting to capitalize it……Word….Jesus Christ. Jesus is your Word spoken in human language, human form, so that we can hear it, understand it, follow it, be saved by it. You took your only Son, and in an attempt to communicate with us and save us from ourselves, You “broadcast” him over the entire field of earth. “Here is My Seed……what will you do with Him? What will you make of Him? Will you receive Him?” The seed…..the Word…..Jesus Christ has been sown. Your part is accomplished. The seed contains all that is needed to grow and produce fruit with the same likeness. The genetic pattern to create sons of God is there. The seed contains the holy pattern of the Word. You have given all that is necessary or needed. The Word has fallen on the ground. A seed enters the earth and breaks open and produces a shoot that grows into life. Jesus was broken open on the cross and the shoot of eternal life began to grow. “I am the Vine….you are the branches.” We can graft onto this strongly rooted vine of life. We can become soil that it grows in. The seed has been sown. The seed has been broken. The seed is ready to grow. Are we ready? Search me, O LORD, for readiness. Amen

June 25....sowing THE seed

Luke 8:5 “A farmer went out to sow some seed.” (NAB)
“A Farmer went out to sow his seed.” (NIV, MSG)

Heavenly Father,

4 of the 6 translations I use say, “….went out to sow his seed.” Not just any seed, but his seed. Such a small word, but to me an important one for this story. It’s difficult to not get ahead to other parts of the story. The author of the devotional book suggests that while the people sat on the hillside listening to Jesus tell this story that they could actually see a farmer on a nearby hill scattering his seed. This would certainly bring the story to life for those watching and listening. The power of Jesus’ stories lay in the ability of the hearers to see themselves in the story, to see the story unfolding like a play in front of them. Living in the Midwest of the United States of America is much different from the barrenness of the hilly country where they sat. I can look out on lush fields of perfect rows of corn where the farmer sowed from a tractor in well-plowed, well-prepared, well-watered ground. Where the seed is in little danger of not growing. Abundant rain or other irrigation is available, pests are killed, weeds are plowed under or poisoned, and the ground is deeply plowed and fertile. This farmer of the parable is facing harsh soil full of rocks, weeds, hardness, lack of water, difficulties of all sorts. But still he sows his precious seed with hope of a good crop. Seed wasn’t nestled into softly dug perfect rows….it was broadcast freely onto whatever soil there was in hopes of a crop. I’m sure there was some preparation and an attempt to avoid the areas least likely to produce growth. The seed would be too precious to waste on totally unsuitable soil. But still the farmer was taking a risk, depending on the reception of the seed by the ground and the co-operation of other elements. You are the farmer, Father God. You broadcast your seed on the world and wait to see what the ground does with it. Will it grow? Will it survive? Will it bear fruit? Amen.

June 24....you will be saved

Rom. 10:8-9 “The Word is near you, on our lips and in your heart…..For if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Heavenly Father,

“Jesus saves! Jesus saves!”……I find this song echoing in my mind. The promise here is that we will be saved, if we confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that You raised Him from the dead. Two things needed: 1. Recognition of Jesus’ Lordship that leads to our confessing Him to others, and 2. believing that You, the Father, raised Him from death….resurrection power. Why these 2 things? If we don’t name Jesus as “Lord”, we haven’t chosen to follow Him, we haven’t given our will to become his, we haven’t made a commitment. Just listening, hearing the stories, admiring the words of teaching, isn’t enough. The words have to change us, the stories have to take up residence in our hearts, the teaching has to result in learning. Lips and heart….there is a connection. When we become passionate about something or someone, we generally talk about it/them constantly. It is human nature to “run off at the mouth” about whatever is holding our attention, whatever has us fired up with enthusiasm, whatever we are most interested in. This should be Jesus Christ. Everything else we do and say should have the theme of “Jesus Christ saves” running through it. Confession shows commitment. The second item: Resurrection….believing that You, the Father, raised Christ up from death, from the sins that he bore for us. Resurrection is life! The resurrection of Jesus means resurrection for all of us who believe in Him. If You didn’t raise Christ, You won’t raise us. If Christ doesn’t live, we won’t live. His resurrection assures our resurrection. This belief is key to who he is, who You are, and who we become. “The Word is near you!” “Jesus saves, Jesus saves!” Salvation is at hand….Jesus Christ lives! This is the Gospel, the Good News! We will be saved! Thank you! Amen.

June 23.....God's word is living

Hebrews 4:12 “Indeed God’s word is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword.” (NAB)
“The word God speaks is alive and active, it cuts more keenly than any 2-edged sword.” (Phillips)

Heavenly Father,

Your Word, Jesus Christ, is alive and active. Jesus’ death didn’t leave Him in the grave. Jesus arose, resurrected, reborn for eternity, victor over sin and death, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Lamb that was slain….he now reigns forever more. Jesus is not only alive but also active. He continues to work through the Holy Spirit, through all who believe on Him and abide in Him. Jesus came as God’s spoken Word, for us. He actively speaks to us still. John 17:26 says, “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them.” Jesus is within ……alive and active! Hallelujah! God’s Word, Jesus Christ, is described here as “sharper than a two-edged sword.” We don’t deal much with swords, so this can be a bit confusing. Ephesians 6 tells us to “take….the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Spirit, Son/Word, God…..triune power in one Sword. This Sword is all we need for a weapon. This Sword “is”….the Word of God. A two-edged sword is an effective weapon because it can cut in any direction or stab and pierce. Every part of it is meant for cutting, slaying, killing. What can be “sharper” than a two-edged sword? A 3-edged sword!…..Father, Son, Holy Spirit! Our Sword wields all of your power, all of your piercing ability, all of your death producing sharpness. Our sword is Jesus Christ, the Word. Our sword is “living and active”…it is effective, sharp, cuts more keenly. Hebrews 4:12-13 says this sword: “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” We can’t hide from this Sword, God’s Word! It divides all, penetrates all, judges all. It pierces the heart, the life of us, and sees and knows our thoughts and attitudes. The Sword, the Word of God, cleans and prunes, removes all evil. The Sword both protects and purifies. Jesus Christ is alive and active and sharper than any 2-edged man-made sword! Thank you! Amen.

June 22....clean, through the word

John 15:3 “You are clean already, thanks to the word I have spoken to you.” (NAB)
“Now you are clean, through the word, which I have spoken unto you.” (KJV)
“You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.” (MSG)
“Now you have already been pruned by my words.” (Phillips)

Heavenly Father,

This is Jesus’ message about “The Vine”. He is the Vine. You, the Father, are the Gardner or Vinedresser. We are branches. He speaks about how You prune/clean the vine’s branches. The purpose of the pruning is to increase the yield. If a branch yields nothing, You remove it from the vine. If a branch yields poorly, You “prune” or “clean” it, “so that it will be even more fruitful.” Pruning is for the benefit of the entire vine and the ultimate outcome (fruit). It isn’t meant to hurt the branch, but to make it even better. I do a lot of bush pruning and I hate to cut off the branches for fear they won’t grow back or I will not have any pretty flowers the next year. I know from experience that isn’t true. No matter how far back I cut them, if the roots and body of the bush are healthy, they come back with a flourish. Much more is said about remaining in Jesus in order to bear fruit. This verse says that the Word spoken through Jesus has already pruned or cleaned us. Jesus’ words, his life as The Word, have a cleaning effect and a fruit producing effect. If we have grafted onto his Vine, we are benefiting from this cleaning. Little by little he is stripping us of unclean thoughts, words and deeds. He is pruning away our self-absorbed attitudes and our self-directed wants. He is ridding us of things that interfere with our ability to produce fruit. We are “clean already” because he has removed the weight of sin that had us tangled and twisted. He set us free to receive Light, Living Water, and Bread. Now that we have come out of the darkness and can see the Sun, we turn our faces upward and begin to grow. The pruning and cleaning are necessary. We may wince when the clippers come close and do their work, but we will be stronger in the end and we will produce more fruit….love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. We are clean and growing and producing through Jesus Christ the Word. Thank you! Amen

June 21...will not return to me empty

Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (NAB)

“So is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

“So shall my Word be…” or “So is my Word…”. Jesus says, “I AM…..” just as You, the Father are. Father, Son/Word…..all being, existing at all times. When the Word went forth from Your mouth, it went forth with a purpose. The Word did your will and achieved your purpose. Your Word never returns void, never comes back empty. This verse is part of a comparison. The little word “so” at the beginning refers back to the previous verse which began….”as”. If Jesus is the Word….going forth from your mouth, not returning empty, doing your will, achieving your purpose….then it is He who is compared in verse 10 to the rain and snow that comes down from heaven and returns, but not without first “watering the earth, making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater.” Jesus came to water the soil and make it flourish and bud. He produced an environment for growth and producing a good yield. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection prepared the way. By wiping out the punishment for sin, by restoring our right to a relationship with You, He “rained” salvation everywhere on everyone. Now the environment is prepared for flourishing and budding and yielding seed and bread. Jesus was the first seed, planted in all types of soil to either grow or not. Now we are His seed planted to do the same. Jesus was Bread….the Bread of Life given for us, for our salvation. Now we are bread, made from His yeast, nurturing others. Jesus came to achieve your purpose….raining righteousness and grace so that this world would produce new seed and new bread. You are the Sower….plant us as seed, that we may grow like Christ. The world is the “eater”…..seeking the Bread we grow from Christ’s yeast…..feed the world! Thank you! Amen.

June 20....let the word dwell richly in you

Col. 3:16 “Let the word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you.” (NAB)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you….” (NIV)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom….” (KJV)
“Let the full richness of Christ’s teaching find its home among you….” (Phillips)
“Let the word of Christ…the Message…have the run of the house” (MSG)
“Let the Message about Christ completely fill your lives.” (CEV)

Heavenly Father,

Six translations and not all exactly the same! “Richly” is used to describe the dwelling of the Word in most…..an adverb to indicate that the Word of Christ should be completely settled into our hearts and lives. Two translations use it as an adjective to describe the Word itself, that should find its home in us. Both certainly are correct! The Word of Christ is rich beyond measure! It is the “pearl of great price” that we should sell all to own. Grace is described as God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. This is riches we can’t even comprehend in human terms! But the other translations are true, also. We need this rich Word of Christ to dwell richly or completely within us. I like Phillips: ”..find a home among you…”. Christ’s words are to find a home, to be welcomed, to move in and stay, to become part of us. Home is where the heart is. Finding a home is finding our heart. Christ’s words are to find our heart and dwell there. Somewhere in scripture it says that God will “write his words upon your hearts”. That is what we are talking about here. Jesus Christ….all the richness of the Father given to us for our salvation….written forever in the depth of our heart. No longer just inscribed on doorposts or tied to arms and foreheads, but taken into our hearts, internalized and allowed to change us, mold us, complete us. This verse is chopped off from the complete thought written here. It continues on to tell us that this rich Word, this rich indwelling is to help us teach and admonish with wisdom, as we sing and thank. As the Word becomes part of us, it goes to work through us. If has an effect on our thoughts, our words, our actions. The CEV says, “Let the Message of Christ completely fill your lives.” That sums it up pretty well! Filled up and overflowing to others. Such richness is our awesome gift through Jesus Christ. Thank you! Amen.

June 19....welcome the word

James 1:21-21 “Humbly welcome the word that has taken root in you, with its power to save you. Act on this word. If all you do is listen to it, you are deceiving yourselves.” (NAB)

Heavenly Father,

Once again “the Word”. We are to “humbly welcome” the Word, Jesus Christ. He is to “take root in you.” This is an abiding relationship. When there is “abiding”, something has rooted itself securely, moved in, taken up residence, lodged, has no plan to leave. Christ, the Word, takes root in us. We in turn take root in Him. For the Word to take root and grow we have to provide good soil and nourishment. This is the “humble welcoming” part. A growing plant needs to be watered and tilled and protected and cared for. We can’t allow Jesus to fall lightly on top of the soil in our hearts and minds and not do anything with Him or the words of life He brings with Him. This Word has “the power to save you”. We draw our life from this Word. He will save us…..all the more reason to “humbly welcome “ Him. When we are humble we show an eagerness, a desire to accept, a desire to serve, a recognition that we need and want this Word. We recognize His importance and the necessity to be thankful for Him. We welcome His presence and open ourselves as an abode for Him. Finally we act on this Word. Jesus calls for a response. We welcome Him in humbly, but than further action is needed to let Him take root. We, the soil, have to break down and allow Him to penetrate. The roots don’t form until the soil is broken. Jesus has to penetrate our defenses, our self-reliance, our free will, our self-importance. We act by becoming pliable and usable and ready. Just listening isn’t enough. We have to accept and be changed. We have to become a partner with the Word. When He is rooted He will flourish throughout and take over our will with His will. Our actions and words will began to reflect His. If we hear the Word, but don’t allow it to take root and take over……”we deceive ourselves.” Make me fertile, welcoming soil. Amen.

June 18.....the WORD

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was in God’s presence, and the Word was God.”

Heavenly Father,

Why is Jesus described as the “Word”? Why not, “In the beginning was the Son…” or “In the beginning was the Light….” or “In the beginning was the Truth…” or “In the beginning was the Way….”? The Word becomes a cross-reference not only to the person Jesus Christ, but to scripture. When you find a term that refers to God’s “word” (statutes, law, precepts, commands, etc.) you can substitute “Jesus” and get some interesting and true statements. Psalm 19 is a good example of this. Anything that God speaks is summed up in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus stepped into our world and fulfilled God’s law. He became the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He became the Word to live by and obey. This Word, this Truth of God always existed with God, present from the beginning. The Word is not new. The Word is not different from what God always was and is. The Word just manifests God more clearly to us. The Word is someone we can hear and listen to….spoken to each of us personally. We can’t see God. We can see and hear the Word. The scriptures bring us the story of the Word, the words spoken by the Word, the actions of the Word. The Word flows throughout the words of scripture. A word comes from a source, flows from a mouth. The Word flows from God, speaks for God, speaks of God, presents God’s thoughts, God’s will. The Word and God are One. The Word is a voice we can hear with human ears. The Word translates the thundering voice of God into human speech, human understanding. The Word became a Life…..took on form, wrapped itself in human flesh, lived a human life, died a human death. But the Word didn’t cease to exist….it arose to continue speaking, still speaks, still rules, still contains God’s will for us. The Word saves. The Word tells us how to get home. The Word is God’s love spoken, God’s truth expressed, God’s peace restored to us. Thank you Father, thank you Word, thank you Holy Spirit! Amen.

June 17.....Everyone listen

Matthew 13:9 “Let everyone heed what he hears” (NAB)

“The man who has ears to hear should use them.” (Phillips)

“Are you listening to this? Really listening?” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,
“Everyone”…..I’m always drawn to the word everyone in scripture. I want everyone saved. I want no one lost or left behind. It seems like such a hopeless task….how do we help “everyone” to be saved? How do we get past the heartache when someone we love might not be saved? I know it begins here. If “everyone” is to be saved, than “everyone” needs to listen to Jesus and really hear what he has to say. The Words of hope are there! The words of salvation come from Him! The words of forgiveness and mercy and grace are just waiting to be “heeded” by everyone! We have to be willing to put our ears to use. Just having ears doesn’t guarantee hearing. I should know, since I am 50% deaf. We don’t always value our hearing as much as our sight. Eyes seem more important than ears……until you lose them. I would be very sad without my hearing. I love music and would hate never hearing it again. I am an introvert, but without hearing I would feel totally cut off from other people…..no daily interaction of thoughts or simple communication. You have to know something to miss it. You have to lose something you once had. I guess that is why teaching the gospel of Jesus can be hard. How do you help someone hear what they have no awareness of missing? To find what they don’t know they lost? You have to convince them of how bad they are in order to offer them redemption and grace! We don’t have the awareness of sin, the awareness of our separation from You, that we should have. Help us to really listen, to understand our sin, so that we may better understand your grace. Show us how to teach this to others, that they may heed Your words and be saved. Thank you! Amen

June 16.....prayer is listening

Mark 4:3 “Listen carefully to this.” (NAB)

“Listen! What do you make of this?” (MSG)

Mark 4:9 “If you have ears pay attention.” (CEV)

Heavenly Father,
I know that the parable of the sower is being covered in later days, so I will resist getting into it now. We’ve had so many verses that just say, “listen” and little else, that it is hard to see something new at times. Two translations here go beyond the word “listen”. One adds the adverb “carefully.” The other uses the phrase, “what do you make of this?” I also looked at verse 9: “If you have ears pay attention.” Just like any other words, Jesus’ words can “go in one ear and out the other”. These phrases stress the idea that we are to “stop” the words, rather then letting them fly right through our head. We are to give “care” to hearing them, “pay attention”, “make” something of them. Hearing without meditating or thinking about what we hear, is wasted. The parable of the sower will illustrate that. We tend to listen to Jesus’ words and pick out the most obvious thing that is there….the easy meaning, the surface interpretation. That is a start…..at least it didn’t pass through totally unheard! I find myself wanting to go to someone else….someone wiser…..and let them interpret for me. I think Jesus means for us to try harder on our own. He may speak a word to us in the scriptures that is different than what he speaks to someone else. The Holy spirit is our interpreter. We all have different levels of learning, different life experiences, different perspectives to filter the Word through. Jesus spoke to many individuals, as well as crowds. He focused his words on their lives, their need. We have to sift scriptures with the Holy Spirit’s help to see what we each “make of it”. “If you have ears pay attention!” Does Jesus have our ear? Are we paying attention? We may miss something life-changing, something to feed our hunger, something to help us grow. Help me listen more carefully, to invite the Holy Spirit to teach me, to spend enough time listening with attention to what you say, that I might learn from You and grow more Christ-like. Thank you! Amen

June 15.....This is my Son...listen to him

Luke 9:35 “This is my Son, my Chosen One, listen to Him.”

Heavenly Father,

“Listen to Him.” This lesson is repeated over and over. We must focus our whole being on Jesus….what he said, what he did, what it means, what we are going to do with what he hear. In order to listen to Jesus, we have to commit time….something most of us feel we have too little of. We are a driven people, caught up in a fast-paced world. Every second of our day seems to be planned for us or full of things to do. If we keep reading chapter 9 of Luke, we see a world similar to ours. The crowds gather around Jesus to listen, but get side-tracked by seeking his healing powers. The disciples argue over how high they’ll rank in the kingdom…..Jesus tells them to look at a child and that welcoming this child in His name is what will make them “great”. They counter with a tale of a man who is preaching in Jesus’ name but he isn’t “one of them”. So they try to stop him. Jesus must have shook his head in exasperation over that…..if the man isn’t “against you, he is for you!” This unknown man was preaching Jesus and they were worried about his “connections” to their inner circle (which denomination?) The Samaritans reject Him and the disciples want to destroy them. Jesus rebukes this desire to destroy in his name, rather then teach and heal. Then we have the two half-committed followers….not willing to leave the world behind to follow Jesus. The closer Jesus came to Jerusalem the more frustration he must have felt that no one was “listening” to Him! He taught, he healed, he lived an example, and everywhere he went people….including his disciples……continued to see, hear, and act through worldly eyes, rather than through the “Word” that he was speaking and living out right before their eyes. They weren’t “listening!” Mary sat at Jesus feet to listen….Martha bustled about “doing”. Jesus loved and died for both. My devotional book says, “Jesus is not so much concerned about what we are trying to accomplish for him, but rather what we are.” Listening to Jesus will make us what he wants us to be. Listening precedes doing. Listening forms our actions. Tuning our inner ear to Jesus at all times, will mold us, but we must take time to do it and listen.” Amen

June 14....the fields are shining for harvest

John 4:35 “Listen to what I say: open your eyes and see! The fields are shining for harvest.” (NAB)

“Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (NIV)

“But I tell you to open your eyes and look at the fields….they are gleaming white, all ready for the harvest.” (Phillips)

Heavenly Father,
Much of this focus on prayer has been “listen” or “open your ears.” Now we are told to “open our eyes.” To pray effectively in your Spirit, we need an awareness of the world around us, and the condition of the people we meet each day. We are to see the fields that are “ripe for harvest”. Seeing is more than just being intellectually aware of something. It is experiencing it first hand. To see as well as to hear, we have to get close. We have to use our senses. I always thought the philosophical question about….”if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around, does it make a sound?”……was a silly question! Of course it does! Not hearing it, or closing our ears to something, doesn’t stop it from happening. Sight is the same….we can “close our eyes” to God’s work, but the harvest is still there. Jesus says, “open your eyes”…..look at it! See and understand what is there to be done! Jesus also tells us in Luke 10:2 and Matthew 9:38 that “the harvesters are few, pray to the Lord of the harvest…….”. We often are overwhelmed at the sight of the fields of harvest. We feel defeated before we began….too many of them, too much to do! But we don’t work alone an aren’t responsible for the entire harvest by ourselves! We are to “pray to the Lord of the harvest”. God is in charge….it’s His field, His harvest. Our duty is to pray to the Lord of the harvest for workers. He will provide what is needed. He will equip those who he sends to harvest. He will allow us to “see” our field and how to work in it. We can hack a patch here and there or we can systematically work a large section…..either way the Lord of the Harvest is directing things. Jesus says that the sower and the reaper work hand in hand. Our job as the Body of Christ is to first “look” and “listen”…..than pray. Move into the fields, get close, see the possibilities, share Christ’s vision, work in Christ’s power, bring in the gleaming fields of spiritual grain. Jesus saw ripe fields…..acres and acres of souls…..and he guarantees the harvest with his blood of redemption. Thank you, Lord of the Harvest! I pray for workers and a full harvest! Amen.

June 13....wait with courage

Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the LORD with courage, be stout-hearted, and wait for the LORD.” (NAB)

“Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (NIV)

“Stay with God, take heart, don’t quit. I’ll say it again, stay with God. “ (MSG)

“Wait on the LORD, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say on the LORD.” (KJV)

Heavenly Father,
Courage…..not something I’ve ever felt I had a lot of. Being shy and lacking self-confidence doesn’t make one feel courageous about anything. Things that are simple to others are a huge battle for me. We are to wait for You with courage. Courage involves a willingness to try, to take a stand, to stay in one place no matter what is happening around us. Our courage is meant to keep us rooted in You…..standing on the one thing we know and can trust beyond a shadow of a doubt…. Your love for us. There is no lack of evidence of your love. You loved us enough to send your only son to die for us, to take the punishment that should be ours. When we believe in Him, we receive the courage that rests on a sure foundation of love…..grace forgives us, grace washes us clean, grace gives us confidence and courage to stand in Your presence. I like the KJV translation of the middle of the verse: “…..and he shall strengthen your heart.” Our strength comes from You, from Jesus Christ, from the Holy spirit. We don’t produce strength from our own personality, we gain it as a by-product of trusting in Jesus Christ and “waiting “ for him. Our strength is really His strength. Our courage is His courage. It is our “heart” that he will strengthen. The heart is the source of life….when the heart quits, we die. Jesus strengthens our heart with His own life….He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. In Him we are as strong as we need to be. Sometimes we feel very weak, very lost, and our courage falters. There is a prayer vigil going on today for a women with cancer. We don’t feel very strong when we battle deadly foes that we can’t even see. We don’t feel strong sometimes when we pray for those who battle illness. We lose our focus and we feel defeated. Help me to wait on You, to draw strength from You, to be courageous and stand on the foundation of Your love. I trust your strength when I have none of my own. Amen

June 12.....wait for the LORD

Psalm 37:34 “Wait for the LORD, keep his way.” (NAB)

“Wait passionately for GOD, don’t leave the path.” (MSG)

“Trust the Lord and follow him.” (CEV)

“Wait on the LORD, and keep his way” (KJV)

Heavenly Father,
“Wait for the LORD.” How do we wait for the LORD? Most ways of waiting don’t seem to make sense to my knowledge of You. Wait for You to “catch up”? NO!….You are everywhere at all times and way ahead of me in planning! Wait for You to “show up?” NO!…again, You are omnipresent so anywhere I am, You are! The phrase “wait for the LORD” makes me think of kids telling each other, “we have to wait for so-and-so”…..with a deep sigh of reluctance and impatience. The sense of waiting for a slower sibling, a slightly unwanted tag-a-long. Isn’t that how we sometimes treat You? We have made our own plans and are rushing off to “do” all the things we are sure we should “do”. Very reluctantly we ask for You to approve our plans, bless us with power to do what we want, and sort of tag-a-long for the ride. Then when our plans fail we turn to You and say, “where were You! " We assume that any blame lies in Your slowness or Your lack of cooperation. The Message says, “wait passionately for God”! What a difference! Instead of impatience there is eagerness. Instead of reluctance there is desire. Instead of blame here is trust. We are so accustomed to operating within our free will and depending on our own cleverness and strength that we don’t know how to “wait for the LORD.” The last part of the verse is a key…”keep his way”…..”don’t leave the path”…….”follow him.” We have to stop leading. The choice of the path is Yours. The person to follow is You. The way is already chosen…..Jesus Christ said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” We are to walk the path together. We “wait for the LORD” to show us the Way, to walk beside us, to shine Light on the Way so we won’t stumble or get lost. We need his presence on the path with us, so we “wait for Him.” The KJV says, “wait on the LORD.” We are along to do your will, to serve you, to obey. If we are yoked to You, if we are abiding in You, waiting will come naturally and easily. We will “keep His way”. Thank you. Amen

June 11....come...listen

Isaiah 55:3 “Come to me heedfully, listen that you may have life.” (NAB)

“Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words. (MSG)

“Give ear and come to me; hear me that your soul may live.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,
Two things to do….come and listen. We are to come heedfully. Heedfully indicates a willingness to obey, to get something out of what we hear. If we come with our minds already made up and our agenda already set, we won’t learn anything new. This is how the Pharisees came to Jesus. Not in a heedful attitude but in a pre-set critical, correcting one. They thought they were in control and that they had all the right answers. Their goal was to prove Jesus wrong, to trip him up. They listened with closed minds and stopped up ears. We aren’t much different from the Pharisees. We make plans in our lives and in our churches and then we ask You to bless them. We let our denominations interpret scripture for us and then we twist anything that doesn’t fit to make it agree. We don’t spend enough time being “heedful”…..having an attitude of hearing with the intent of learning and obeying. We sift everything through our free will to determine if we like it or not, rather than if it is truth. Many people in the scriptures did come to You heedfully, with an open mind and the intention of learning, changing. They saw a glimmer of hope in Jesus, they saw the long awaited answer to their prayers, they saw the fulfillment of the promise. If they hadn’t been “heedful”, they would have seen none of that. Coming heedfully leads to listening and then to life….eternal life. The Message translation says, “Pay attention, come close”. We need to get close enough to hear every word, to ponder those words and seek their meaning, to hear the individual messages that You have for each of us. I think of churches where everyone sits in the back. Why?? Where is the eagerness to get “close”, to be sure not to miss a single word, to look for something new and life giving? If Jesus wants us to “come close and listen carefully” we should anticipate words of life, something of great importance, something we’ll always regret if we miss it! “Life-giving, life-nourishing words”! Wow! Pay attention! Listen up! Heed these words! “Speak, LORD, your servant is listening. Amen

June 10....Speak, LORD, your servant is listening

1 Samuel 3:9 “Speak, Lord for your servant is listening.”

Matthew 11:29 “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.”

Heavenly Father,

“Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” This is the perfect posture for prayer…..listening for Your voice. When we hear You calling us, we are to become silent and wait for You to speak. We invite you to speak to us by our response to your call, by making ourselves available to listen. Most of us find it very difficult to get quiet enough to hear You. The noise of the world is so loud. Our lives are tuned to so many things that we can’t shut our minds down to just listen. The posture here is not only one of listening, but also of a servant. We are ready to obey what we hear, to act on it, to follow through. We acknowledge that our LORD, the One who is speaking to us is supreme. We aren’t waiting to listen and than decided how we feel about it…..but to listen and than obey. Listening is readiness to serve. The companion verse is Jesus speaking to us about taking “his yoke” upon us. He says, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” You spoke to us in the person of Jesus Christ…..the Word. We are meant to listen and learn from all Jesus said and did. To be yoked to Jesus is to be tied to him, sharing the weight of the burden. Jesus is “gentle and humble of heart”, and assures us “you will find rest for your souls.” Being yoked to Jesus not only shares the burden, but shares the strength to bear it. We will take on Jesus’ humility and gentleness. Jesus obeyed Your will always. Jesus always had the attitude of, “speak, Father, for your servant is listening.” Learning while yoked to Jesus will help transmit this gentle humble posture to us. Once again….abiding….oneness of heart, mind, spirit. Resting in Your presence, finding peace there and “rest for our souls”. You speak, we listen with a spirit ready to obey, we learn from Jesus and yoke ourselves to him to share and lighten the burden, we find rest for our souls. I haven’t learned to listen and obey You perfectly yet, but I know You will continue to teach me if I continue to listen. Thank you! Amen

June 9....devoted to prayer

Col. 4:2 “Pray perseveringly, be attentive in prayer, and pray in a spirit of thanksgiving.” (NAB)

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (NIV)
“Always maintain the habit of prayer, be both alert and thankful as you pray” (Phillips)

“Pray diligently. Stay alert with your eyes wide open in gratitude.” (MSG)

“Never give up praying. When you pray keep alert and be thankful.” (CEV)

Heavenly Father,
Over and over scripture stresses how important prayer is and the need to do it…..”perseveringly”…..”devote yourselves”……”maintain the habit”…..”diligently”…..”never give up”. These are phrases that cry out for an exclamation point following them and heavy underlining as a reminder. Urgency is a keynote of prayer. To be diligent, to devote ourselves to something takes it out of the realm of casualness and into the realm of serious work. We live busy lives in a fast paced world and we tend to treat prayer like we treat everything else. We dash off quick sentences at odd moments while occupied with other tasks, we race through lists of intercessory requests, we hurl bits of scripture and words of quick thanks as we head for our next “chore.” Always “doing”, never waiting….listening….”devoting ourselves to prayer”. Prayer is too important to treat as nothing more than “duty”. Prayer is relationship, connection, soul food, abiding. I started this book to learn to abide. Abiding is living in something or someone. Abiding is finding “home” and remaining there forever. Prayer is a key to abiding. If I devote myself to prayer, if I am diligent in my praying, if I always “maintain the habit of prayer”, if I “never give up praying”…..than I will have learned to abide. I will find that blessed state that Jesus found….”I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” This type of prayer, this abiding relationship requires alertness….watching. It is so easy to lose focus, to drift in apathy, to become distracted by other things…both good and bad. We are to be “attentive” in prayer…..eyes wide open. And lastly we pray “in a spirit of thanksgiving”…..grateful. Prayer is a privilege that Jesus paid for in blood…..direct access to our Father in heaven, free from our sin and sentence of death. Children coming to their loving Father. Children abiding in the house of grace, now our “home”. Thanks in Christ floods over all our praying…..wells of gratitude, springs of eternal hope! Thank you! Amen.

June 8....watch and pray

Matthew 26:41 “Be on guard, and pray that you may not undergo the test.” (NAB)

“Watch and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation.” (NIV)

“Watch and pray all of you, that you may not have to face temptation.” (Phillips)

“Stay alert, be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you are in danger.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,
"Watch and pray".....words to live by. Jesus prayed these words while facing his own greatest temptation in the Garden of Gethsemame.......the temptation to not obey Your will, to not go the cross for all of us. Our greatest temptations always involve not obeying Your will for us. Often we don't even seek Your will. We wander through life with an "out-of-sight-out-of-mind" or "don't ask, don't tell" sort of attitude. If we ignore checking whether our will is in accord with Your will, than we feel we can plead ignorance and innocence. But You see into our hearts and You will not conform to our will, but patiently wait for us to conform to Yours. Jesus warns us to be on guard, alert to the danger of not seeking Your will. We are to "watch".....keep our eyes open for the subtle ways that evil will tempt us away from Your will. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." We really want to be in right relationship with You, and to obey your will, but as humans we still falter, still hesitate, still try to operate within our own "free will". Is our free will better than Your will, bought and paid for with Christ's blood? NO! Your will cost Jesus everything. No wonder he urges his sleeping disciples to "watch and pray!" Jesus knew first hand the danger of temptation, the weight of trials, the burden of obedience. He died to save us from ourselves, from our much prized "free will", from our apathy to our danger from the Evil One. Our alertness, our watching and praying, is necessary to protect us from dangers that creep up on us from all sides. Jesus indicates here that prayer can keep us from "falling into temptation", just as it kept him in Your will. Praying unlocks the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Praying keeps our lifeline securely fastened to the throne of heaven. Praying keeps us alert, forewarned, armed for danger, and within a heartbeat of all the help we ever need. Amen

June 7....Pray in the Spirit

Ephesians 6:18 “At every opportunity pray in the Spirit, using prayers of every sort. Pray constantly and attentively for all in the holy company.” (NAB)

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,
Pray in the Spirit…..this is how we should pray. Jesus left us the Holy Spirit as a guide, a counselor, to teach us, to help us, to pray when we can’t pray. Most of us are somewhat confused by the Holy Spirit. We understand “God the Father”…..high in heaven, Creator, Almighty!” We understand Jesus…..the Son of God/Son of Man who walked and talked like us. We sidestep the Holy Spirit quite often because we can’t see him or imagine him or know exactly what he does in us and for us. Leading up to today’s verse we are told to “take….the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God”. The Holy Spirit uses God’s Word as a weapon in battle against Satan and the world. This is Father (God), Son (Word), and Holy Spirit working in great unity to protect us. God’s Word is our one offensive weapon. The Holy Spirit helps us wield it effectively . If we “pray in the Spirit” we are open to his guidance, his truth (Spirit of Truth), his power, his will. I don’t pretend to fully understand how the Spirit works in me to use my will in accordance with Your will! But I long to be fully controlled by the Holy Spirit to do Your will always! Our prayers, with the Spirit’s guidance are to be at “every opportunity” …..”constantly” …..”on all occasions” …..”of every sort”. This is another prayer habit to form. Being totally open to the Spirit to work in us. We are to be “alert” and “attentive” as we pray. Your will is found in Your Word. Your Word is found in scripture. We arm ourselves for battle when we are heavily armed with scripture….knowing it, understanding it, living it. Our prayers are for “the holy company” or “all the saints”. We pray in Spirit for all who are Yours and doing Your work. We pray for those who plant, who water, who reap. We pray for those who “prepare the soil”. We pray for pastors, teachers, disciples, apostles, evangelists, leaders, and believers. The entire family of the Church needs constant prayer and vigilance and the protection of the Holy Spirit with the sword of the Word leading us onward. Thank you, Holy Spirit! amen

June 6....constant thanks

1 Thes. 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, never cease praying, render constant thanks, such is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NAB)

“Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

“Be cheerful no matter what, pray all the time, thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you, who belong in Christ Jesus to live.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

Three elements of living in Christ Jesus….rejoice, pray, give thanks. Each of these is commanded, not only to do them, but to do them “always”….”constantly”….”continually”…..”never ceasing”…..”no matter what”…….”all the time”. They are to become habits, or a natural part of our life. If we “belong to Christ Jesus” it should be reflected in how we live. This is “what God wants”. You want us to be so identified with Jesus Christ and the life we have in him because of grace, that we are always happy, always praying, and always thankful. Every Christian struggles with the question of “what is God’s will?” Here we are clearly told that these 3 things are “God’s will for you”. We don’t have to struggle and question these things…..just do them! But…..You can’t force happiness, prayer shouldn’t be just a duty, and thanks isn’t just a learned response. These are things You will for us, as part of our walk with Jesus. You designed us to be happy, to rejoice. You created us to pray, to have a relationship with You. You want us to feel thankful because we know we are blessed with all we need and that our future salvation is secure in Jesus Christ. If we don’t have evidence of joy, prayer, and thanks in our lives, than we need to question exactly what is the state of our relationship with You. Do we really believe and trust? Have we truly recognized what grace is and its impact on our personal life? Do we really desire heaven and You? Who do we really say Jesus is? If our response to these questions is in line with Your will and purpose, we will abound with joy, “babble” all day in prayerful thoughts, and learn to see the blessings we should be thankful for in all of our circumstances! We “ask, seek, knock” so that we will “rejoice, pray, give thanks.” You are our God! Jesus is our Savior! Holy Spirit abides within us! Thank you! Hallelujah! Praise the LORD! Amen

June 5....Listen to him!

Matthew 17:5 “This is my Beloved Son on whom my favor rests. Listen to him.” (NAB)

“This is my son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

Jesus is your beloved Son….”on whom my favor rests”. Jesus did everything You wanted him to do. He fulfilled his purpose in accord with your will. No one else has done that ever. No other human has reached that perfection level. No other human abides that closely with You, the Father. You tell us very plainly here….”Listen to Him!” We aren’t perfect, can never be perfect on our own…but we can learn, we can change, we can come to know Jesus is an abiding relationship that will make us more Christ-like. He makes us what we aren’t and can't be on our own. Listening is always the starting place. Listening to Jesus means hearing his voice as he speaks the words of scripture. Letting him direct his teachings at us, just as he did his disciples, the crowds, the Pharisees. We are all of those people! We are the woman at the well, weary from our daily grind, carrying heavy bags of sin, seeking to find one who will give us “living water”, so we will never be thirsty again!. We are Zacchaeus climbing a tree eagerly to see the One who might come home with us and change our lives. We are the blind man begging to see. We are the lepers wanting to be made clean. We are the rich ruler wanting heaven, but not quite willing to pay the price of all he have. We are the Pharisees closing our ears and placing burdens on others. We are the worriers in need of watching the lilies and the birds and learning that You will provide for us. We are the fisherman minding our jobs when you suddenly say, “follow me” and draw us toward something life-changing. We are the ones who beg you to save our dying sons and daughters. We are the ones sitting on the hillside wanting to learn, to hear words of hope. We are the woman caught in sin, ashamed, condemned…..pardoned! We are Mary, we are Martha, we are Peter, we are Nicodemas. We are hungry and thirsty for righteousness and need to listen to the One who can give us rest from our burdens, hope of salvation, peace……words to heal us, save us, change us. “LISTEN TO HIM!” Only He, has the words of life! Amen.

June 4....ask, seek, knock

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks, receives, the one who seeks, finds, the one who knocks, enters.”

Heavenly Father,

Ask, seek, knock. Three things to do in prayer. How do we ask, seek, and knock? What does it mean? We are given assurance that if we ask, seek and knock, that we will receive, find, enter. We all ask for many things in our prayers everyday……..but we don’t receive all that we ask for. So what does it really mean? Perhaps, I need to go further in this passage. It continues: “Which of you, if his son asks for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?” What we receive are “good gifts” from our Father. When we ask, You give us “good gifts”….perhaps they are not the gifts we ask specifically for. You know our needs. You won’t give us a stone if we need bead. You won’t give us a snake if we need fish. You won’t give us what is of no use. When we ask we are trusting in your wisdom to provide what is needed. When we seek, you promise that we will find. Seeking will always allow us to find You, no matter what else we seek. The act of coming to You is a basic form of seeking. We have made a choice to call on our God for answers. We have directed our seeking towards someone. If we seek You, You will be there for us to find and we will be aware of your presence. Knocking requires a door. Jesus is “The Door”. Once we reach a point of knocking on “The Door”, we will definitely enter! Jesus has come precisely for that purpose….to help us enter into salvation and eternal life. There is a progression here from just asking, to actively seeking, and finally knocking on the only Door that we must enter. The nuances of “asking” still elude me, but I know if I seek and knock that nothing else will matter! Entering is the goal! Your presence is where I long to abide! When I ask, seek, knock, I draw closer in trust and faith to that abiding relationship I want! Thank you. Amen

June 3....faithful in prayer

Romans 12:12
“Rejoice in hope, be patient under trial, persevere in prayer.” (NAB)
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (NIV)
“Base your happiness on your hope in Christ, when trials come endure them patiently. Steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer.” (Phillips)
“Be cheerfully expectant, don’t quit in hard times, pray all the harder.” (MSG)
“Let your hope make you glad, be patient in time of trouble, and never stop praying.” (CEV)

Heavenly Father,

Three things to focus on: a joyful hope, patiently enduring trials, and faithfully praying. The order seems backwards to me…if we faithfully pray, never stopping, than we can patiently endure our trials and afflictions, our “hard times”. This will than lead us to a joyful hope, a cheerful expectancy, happiness, gladness. I guess the three things are so well intertwined that we can’t really separate them or put them in an order. Praying, patiently enduring, and joyful hoping are all important to our daily walk with You. To take them in Paul’s order, we began with hope and rejoicing. Hope is a very Christian word. Hope is faith with expectation, based on a solid foundation and focusing on a sure future. We are told to rejoice in hope! Joy is another Christian word and is part of the fruit of the Spirit. When Christ is our Savior and the Holy Spirit is within us, we will know joy….joy that comes from grace, joy that knows we are loved and accepted, joy based on Jesus Christ. Our joy and hope are mixed together in Jesus Christ. Because we have a solid foundation for our hope, than we can be patient in trials or afflictions. Nothing will stand between us and our sure future! We know trials will come, but our hope in Christ, will help us endure. Patience is another fruit of the Spirit, another result of our indwelling by the Holy Spirit left us by Jesus Christ. Prayer is both a result and a source for both patience and joy. We pray to strengthen our joy, our hope, our patience. We also pray because we have joy, hope, patience. Prayer keeps us focused on You, the Father, on our heavenly home, on building a relationship with You. It also opens us up to the Holy Spirit and his leading. Prayer acknowledges our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and offers thanks for his grace. Prayer is worship. Prayer is our permanent connection to You. Prayer is our offering. “Never Stop Praying” says it all! Prayer is food and life for our souls. Thank you! Amen.

June 2....climb the mountain side of prayer

Matthew 14:23 “When we had sent them away, he went upon the mountain by himself to pray.” (NAB)

Or “With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain, so he could be by himself and pray.” (MSG)


Heavenly Father,
Jesus climbs the mountainside to pray. He sends everyone else away….even his disciples….to find time alone with You. The number one thing Jesus may have taught us about prayer is that it is a solitary habit. Our praying is meant to be time alone with You. The words we speak are words to share with You. The praise and thanks we bring are for You. The petitions we ask are directed to the source of our provision and protection…..You. The forgiveness we ask is between You and us. The sins we confess, are personal and private, but we share them with You because You are the one we have wronged. No one else can truly share the experience of prayer with us. We can pray together with others, but each of us brings a personal heart condition into our prayers. Our personal relationship with You overshadows all that we do and say. Prayer is the time to build that relationship. Alone on the mountainside, there are just the two of us….my Father and myself. No one else to hide behind, no one else to distract, no one else to speak for me. No one else to listen for me, when You speak. It is quiet on the mountainside….I should hear You clearly if I listen. Getting to the quiet of the mountainside is a journey upward. We climb towards our Father to be with Him. It takes effort, it takes time, it takes a desire to do this. We have to choose to make the journey. We have to “send away the crowds” that keep us away. We have to be willing to face You all by ourselves, with no friends, no “back-up”, no distractions. Climbing the mountainside to be with You, is moving out of our territory, and into yours. Jesus will always climb the mountain with us to bring us to You. He died for the privilege of being our guide. The Holy Spirit will tell us of Jesus and guide us to follow Him up the mountainside and into the Father’s presence. Thank you, Father, Jesus, Holy Sprit! Amen

CLIMB THE MOUNTAINSIDE OF PRAYER

Jesus climbed the mountainside to be alone with God,
To find a place of quiet with no one else around.
He climbed to leave the world behind, to find a place to pray
Where he could meet his Father, and kneel on “holy ground”.

We too must leave the world behind, the worry, stress, and woe,
And find a quiet time with God to listen to him speak.
To rest our weary bodies, to rest our troubled minds,
And find our Father’s peace and love….his “kingdom” there we’ll seek.

We cannot learn our Father’s will or find the strength to fight and win
Until we leave it all behind and climb that mountainside.
We have to get alone with God, and bow our heads in prayer
And there we’ll open wide our hearts and in his love abide.
(6-2-2007)

June 1....Teach us to pray

June Theme: Lord Teach Us To Pray!


Luke 11:1 “One day he was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Heavenly Father,

This is the preface to the Luke version of the Lord’s Prayer. The disciples specifically ask Jesus to teach them about prayer. He gives basically the same prayer as found in Matthew….calling on the Father, acknowledging his holiness by honoring his name, seeking Your coming kingdom and the kingdom work here to be done, asking for the day’s provision, asking forgiveness for our wrongs while also forgiving others, praying for safety from temptation. The disciples had just observed Jesus praying. Something about watching or listening to Jesus’ prayer makes them want to know more about praying. I think most of us feel that if we just find the “magic formula” for prayer that we’ll get everything we ask for and have the power we feel we need to take control of the world we live in. We see prayer as a way to our own ends. Jesus’ prayer focuses on several things. First recognizing who we pray to….You, the Father are the One we speak to in prayer. This is a conversation with our Father, our Creator, our God. We are to “honor your name”….see Your holiness, Your supremacy, Your righteousness. We are praying to One who is both loving Father and Almighty God! There is no other. We are to ask for our needs for the day….provision for physical needs, but we also have needs that are emotional, spiritual, mental. You are concerned about all our needs. Perhaps our need to talk about these things with You is one of our greatest needs. It is the way we “lay our burdens down” and give them to You. We are usually embarrassed to ask so many things, but we do it in trust, in the knowledge that You love us and the knowledge that no one else can help us. We pray for your kingdom to come….for Jesus to be King of all, for Your work of salvation, for the spread of the gospel and the Church. We pray for forgiveness….continued recognition on our part that Jesus Christ’s grace is all that brings us to You and is needed each day for ourselves and others. We pray for protection against our own free will giving into temptations and against the Evil One. Jesus is the one who can teach us to pray. He knew You perfectly and spoke with You always. He is our example and our teacher. Help me to listen to Him as he speaks to me. Thank you! Amen