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Linking Your Persistence To God’s Generosity

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke11
Meditation: Luke 11:11-13

“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Shift Your Focus… Persistence plus generosity—that is the equation not only for answered prayer, but for the life of abundance, fruitfulness and power God desires each of his children to experience.

That is what Jesus is teaching here. The context is a request from his disciples to teach them how to pray.  They had witnessed first hand Jesus’ unusual connection with his Father and the amazing spiritual power that freely flowed it.  And they wanted that for themselves.

So Jesus taught them his secret: Prayer. From that, we get what has been termed “The Lord’s Prayer.”  But right after he teaches them this model prayer, he begins to talk about the need to persist in prayer.

He tells the story of a friend who goes at midnight to a neighbor’s home to ask for a loaf of bread in order to feed a guest who has just arrived.  The lesson there was that the friend’s persistence overcame any reluctance the neighbor felt at that inconvenient hour to meet this need.

That is quickly followed up with Jesus’ admonition to therefore “keep on asking…keep on seeking…keep on knocking (verse 9, NLT) in prayer because you are not coming to a reluctant neighbor, or to an earthly father (verse 11) who, because of the limitations of his sinfulness, can only do so much. Rather, you are coming to a willing and generous Heavenly Father.  And this Heavenly Father will not only provide what you desire (a fish or an egg in this story—symbolic of daily necessities), he will provide what you truly need—the Holy Spirit (the spiritual power to live as Jesus lived).

The secret to living as Jesus lived: We must learn to persist with the Father in prayer, not to overcome any reluctance on his part, but to overcome our own reluctance to come to him in daily dependence and tap into his willingness to provide what we desire and what we need.

Prayer, then, is not overcoming God’s tight-fisted reluctance; it is accessing God’s open-handed liberality. Our persistence plus God’s generosity equals the release of divine provision and spiritual power—the kind of life God has planned for every one of his children. That’s why we must pray!   So today, pray, and keep praying—a generous God is waiting!

“Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. If you may have everything by asking in His Name, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is.”  ~Charles Spurgeon

Prayer… Lord, you have taught me how to pray.  Now work within me by your Spirit, providing both the will and the power to connect daily to your willing generosity.

 

 

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Choosing The Good Part

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 10
Meditation: Luke 10:41-42

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Shift Your Focus… Jesus was a real champion of women’s rights—perhaps the first. The religious rules of that day prohibited a woman from being a disciple to a rabbi. But Jesus not only allowed Mary to “sit at his feet”, he praised her for it

Allowing her to “sit at his feet” was accepting Mary, a woman, as his, a rabbi’s, disciple. Jesus was giving her the same right as men to be schooled in his theology, to do his work and minister in his name. He was breaking with the long-held customs of the time, something akin to the emancipation of slaves to full rights of citizenship in the deep South in the 1800’s.

By welcoming Mary as his disciple, Jesus sent a clear signal that all the barriers preventing intimacy with God had been removed. Everyone in Jesus’ community of disciples now had equal freedom, equal dignity and equal access to God. Gender, ethnicity, background, or any other man-made qualifications aside, to “sit at Jesus’ feet” was to accept his invitation to a life of purpose and significance in his kingdom.

Not only did Jesus accept Mary as his disciple, he went out of his way to praise her: “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.” Literally, the text says that Mary chose “the good”.

Jesus praised Mary’s openness. She was demonstrating total receptivity to Jesus. While her sister Martha had received Jesus into her house, Mary had received Jesus into her heart.

Moreover, Jesus praised Mary’s daring devotion. She did what only men were allowed to do—sit at his feet to learn. Verse 39 says, “Mary…sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.” This wasn’t the only time Mary had done this. It was a pattern in her relationship with Jesus. In John 11:32 we see that Mary fell at his feet in prayer when her brother had died. In John 12:3 she fell at his feet in worship—an act, by the way, which cost her a keepsake worth a year’s salary as well as the criticism of the other disciples.

If you read those passages, you will notice that each time Mary fell at Jesus’ feet there was an associated fragrance: In Luke, the meal brought the fragrance of hospitality. When her brother died, it was the smell of death—and with her grief, the fragrance of unmitigated supplication to the One who claimed to be the resurrection and the life. When she fell at his feet and anointed them with outrageously expensive perfume, it was the fragrance of sacrificial worship. Each time she fell at his feet, Mary was demonstrating that she was a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

Along with Mary’s total receptivity and daring devotion, Jesus praised her for her outstanding courage. Her willingness to sit at his feet was a costly choice! In a Jewish writing called the Mishnah, a commentary on the Law of Moses that had been elevated to equal status with the Law, it was written, “Let thy house be a meeting house for the Sages and sit amid the dust of their feet, drink in their words with thirst, but talk not much with womankind.”

This was something a woman just didn’t do. Making Jesus a priority was sacrificial. It cost Mary not only Martha’s anger and the disciples’ criticism, but also the religious establishment’s ire.

Mary made the better choice, however. She chose the good, and her story was recorded not only as an eternal acknowledgment of her devotion to Christ, but also as a perpetual challenge to followers like you and me.

You see, at the end of the day, this story is about the daily choices we face to either carry on with our regular, and in most cases, justifiable routines, or to make following Christ our highest priority—to sit at his feet in total receptivity, daring devotion and courageous worship.

Your highest priority today will be to make the time to sit at Jesus’ feet. If you do, you will have chosen the good!

“Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it.” ~Corrie Ten Boom

Prayer… Lord, throughout my day, keep me constantly aware of and fully connected to you. Help me to make you and keep you as my highest priority—because that is what you are!

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Entertainment Or Discipleship?

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 9
Meditation: Luke 9:4

“Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.

Shift Your Focus… I’ve got to tell you, I am more than a little bothered by the way we are doing Christianity these days! It seems a far cry from what Jesus had in mind. I think we are far more concerned with doing whatever it takes to attract people into our churches than in calling for the radical transformation of their lives, which among other things, requires total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Just think of how the typical church in America today makes its appeal to the community: You’ll love our music—the band sounds just like Coldplay. Our pastor is great—he’ll remind you of Jimmy Kimmel, only funnier. We’ve got some great programs, too—your kids will think they’ve died and gone to Disneyland; your teenager may win an iPad—we have a drawing for one every week; and we will help you improve you marriage, make you more successful in business, show you how to make money, and help you to feel really good about yourself…oh, and we’ll treat you to a latte from our Starbucks’ franchise in the lobby.

No kidding, I was sent an advertisement recently for a start up church on the East Coast that promoted itself as a church for the really busy. The outstanding feature of their advertisement was the half-hour service—10 minutes of worship, 12 minutes of the word, 3 minutes of application, and 5 minutes of fellowship.

Nothing like rearranging your life around the priorities of the kingdom, wouldn’t you say? Maybe their mission statement could be, “If you’re too busy for Jesus, just come to us—we’ll fix that!”

That is a far cry from the plan Jesus gave the disciples for building his kingdom:

Then Jesus called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. (Luke 9:1-6)

Building the kingdom is not a matter of entertaining people into your church. The more we do that, by the way, the more the world finds the church irrelevant. Rather, building God’s kingdom is about invading your neighborhood, workplace, school or social circle—“whatever house you enter”—in the power and authority of Jesus Christ, casting out demons, healing diseases, and declaring to those who have been under Satan’s dominion that there is a new Sheriff in town.

Maybe I sound a little grumpy today, but come on, don’t you think it’s time we start depending on the power and authority of Jesus rather than being hip to build the kingdom of God?

“[Jesus] was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly three results—Hatred—Terror—Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild admiration.”  ~C.S. Lewis 

Prayer… Lord, forgive me for entertaining people into the church. Empower and embolden me to call people to the radically transformed life that you offer through the preaching of the cross. Rather than being funny and likable, authenticate my witness with signs, wonders and miracles. Make me a true kingdom agent—for your glory I pray.

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Relaxing In A Cyclone

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 8
Meditation: Luke 8:24

And the disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.

Shift Your Focus… Jesus and his disciples were in a boat in the middle of a fierce storm. And the disciples were frantic, but Luke says that Jesus was sleeping. Sleeping in the midst of a raging storm!

Now that is an interesting detail the writer throws in. Why is that bit of information so important? Because Luke wanted us to know what Jesus knew about life in the hands of his Father: That given the care and the competence of his Heavenly Father, the world was a perfectly safe place to be, including a boat in the middle of a storm.

A raging storm is about to capsize their boat, and the disciples are screaming and struggling for their very lives. They think they are going to die. But Jesus is living in this settled assurance of the Father’s competence and care, so he sleeps right through it.

In their frantic state, the disciples went to Jesus, since they trusted him to be able to do something to help them. They had faith in Jesus—and that is a very important thing. But what they didn’t have, not yet anyway, was the faith of Jesus. They did not live in the settled assurance, like Jesus did, that they were safe in the hands of God.

The Apostle Peter, who was in that boat, came to know what Jesus knew. He later wrote in I Peter 5:7, “cast all your anxieties upon him because he cares for you.” He too, had come to know that when your life is in the Father’s competence and care, this world, no matter what is going on around you, is a perfectly safe place to be.

Do you realize that the Father cares for you? Sure you do! So why not practice a little casting today—especially if you are in the middle of a storm. Cast your anxieties back to the One who cares for you, and don’t be surprised if you fall asleep in the middle of your storm.

“With complete consecration comes perfect peace.”.”  ~Watchman Nee

Prayer… Lord, you care for me more than I will ever realize.  And you are competent to take care of all of my needs.  So I cast my anxieties back to you, and in exchange, I receive your peace.

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We’ve Been Forgiven Much

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke 7
Meditation: Luke 7:47

“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

Shift Your Focus… It was a pretty dramatic scene: A woman of questionable character interrupted the dinner party of a high-minded Pharisee named Simon. Jesus had been invited to the party as the honored guest. This “woman” fell at Jesus’ feet and began to do something that made everyone there very uncomfortable: She started washing Jesus feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair, kissing the very spot that would soon be pierced and nailed to a cross for her sins. Finally, she broke an expensive jar of alabaster and anointed the beautiful feet of the One who had brought the Good News.

The people watching this “lady’s” drama were put off. How could Jesus allow this kind of woman to become so intimate with him? Why would he even give her the time of day? Didn’t he understand her background? She was a woman of loose morals—how could he…how dare she!

But Jesus not only knew what he was doing, he clearly knew what she had been doing. So he shot a little laser-guided parable at Simon:

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” (Verses 41-43)

Simon fell for it, and walked right into Jesus’ trap: “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

It is not in the text, but I can imagine Jesus’ next words to Simon were, “Exactly! You’ve made my point, Simon. Case closed. Next!”

Have you ever wondered why people who have been so dramatically converted out of a life of sheer debauchery have such passionate testimonies—and why we are so enamored with them? This encounter between Jesus and the woman of loose moral character is precisely why.

Sometimes we who don’t have such a dramatic story of spiritual rescue often assume that we don’t have a testimony worth telling—so we don’t. We don’t seize opportunities to speak of our B.C. experience—life before Christ. We kind of feel left out in the testimony department.

If that is you, you have missed the whole point of this exchange. You see, you are that woman! Just as Nathan the prophet said to King David in a different dramatic encounter, “You are the man”, Jesus would say to you, “You are the woman.”

In fact, your sins had separated you from God. Your sins were no puny little matter—they had the power to send you to hell just like the immorality of the woman whom Jesus forgave. You, too, because of your sins, were offensive to a holy God, deserving of judgment, headed for a Christ-less eternity.

But God, in his mercy saved you and forgave you through the death of another, his Son, Jesus Christ. And when you stand before Jesus on that final day, you too will fall at his feet and shed tears even more rare and more costly than alabaster—tears of sheer gratitude for his grace.

You, too, like the woman, have been forgiven much. You just don’t realize it yet! Perhaps you would be wise to ask God for a fresh revelation of your true condition B.C., and the indescribable gift of amazing grace that he has freely given you.

When you come to the realization that you, too, have been forgiven much, you will love even more! So don’t be afraid to tell your story.

“Turn to God from idols. For the sword of His wrath that had been aimed at you has been sheathed into the heart of His Son. And the arrows of His anger that had been put against your breast were loosed into the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He has died for you, you were forgiven.” ~Paris Reidhead

Prayer… I was once a sinner headed for an eternity without Christ. But you saved me, due to no righteousness or goodness of my own. It was your mercy and grace that lifted me out of my hopeless condition. I deserved hell, but you gave me heaven. Lord Jesus, I fall at your feet and offer you the best gift I have—my undying gratitude.

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Independence Day: A Day To Declare Your Dependence!

Declaration of Dependence

There are two freedoms: the false where a man is free to do what he likes; and the true where a man is free to do as he ought.” ~Charles Kingsley

July 4th—the day the citizens of the United States celebrates their most treasured national holiday—the signing of the declaration of our independence from England. Our chests swell with pride as fireworks fill the sky to the music of John Phillip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” and our eyes moisten with gratitude as we remember the sacrifice of countless numbers of patriots who gave their lives to give us what we now enjoy—our freedom. What a great holiday—Independence Day.

But as much as we enjoy the Fourth of July, there is something better than celebrating Independence Day once a year, and that is declaring our dependence every day of the year. You see, the best freedom, the strongest security and the highest happiness comes from the practice of acknowledging Father God as the Lord of all creation and the rightful ruler of our lives. National independence is an amazing thing, but it doesn’t even come close to comparing to spiritual dependence! And it is through declaring our dependence on God that we discover what it truly means to be free.

That’s why in the world’s most powerful prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray these simple words, “give us this day our daily bread.” Simply put, to pray this prayer is to declare our dependence daily.

You might find it interesting that this the only time in the entire Bible that this particular Greek word translated as “daily bread” is used. In fact, this word baffled scholars and translators for years because they couldn’t find any record of it in any of the ancient manuscripts of Greek literature—sacred or secular. Then in the 1940s the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and in those fragments—both biblical and secular documents—this word, “daily” was found. And scholars learned that the word was used for a daily shopping list of that which was perishable and would only be good for today. It literally meant “the bread that suffices for this day.”

That brings up an important point to what Jesus was saying: That even though God is our provider, his promise to provide is provisional. In other words, his promise of provision is not a blank check. Jesus deliberately chose this word “daily” not because God likes to hear us beg, but to teach us the importance of coming to God and expressing our dependence on him day-by-day.

Asking for daily bread is hard for us to relate to because most Americans have today’s food and tomorrow’s food and next week’s food sitting in the freezer. Our need for daily bread has been forever skewed by the age of Costco. We no longer go out to the garden to pick dinner, or to the market to buy that night’s meal. We go to Costco!

Costco is not a place; it is an experience. It is not the size of a grocery store; it’s the size of a small town. Employees there don’t use box cutters; they drive forklifts. Your grocery cart is the size of a Volkswagen. You don’t walk down an aisle, ground control crews guide you down a runway. You don’t pick up individual items, you pick up a pallet. When you check out, you make a payment similar to a car payment. Then you haul it home and think, “Where are we going to put this stuff?” Do we really need to buy toilet paper 48 rolls at a time? Then sometimes when we get down to, say, like 36 rolls, we go buy another 48 rolls. 84 rolls of TP…seriously, are we really ever going to need that much?

The point is, in 21st century America, daily bread is not much of a felt need. But even still, that daily bread comes from God and it can be taken away in a heartbeat. We should never forget that, nor get into the habit of taking God’s provision for granted! Go look in your refrigerator, or freezer, or cupboard, or closet…that came from God!

And even if daily bread is not your need, you have other needs that are pressing: A difficult marriage, a wayward child, a financial meltdown, an addiction, an emotional disorder, a life-and-death battle with cancer.  It may not be for food, but your need for God’s daily provision is still just as great.

Remember in the Old Testament when God provided manna for the Israelites to eat—but only a day at a time. They could only collect enough manna for that day—they couldn’t store it in Costco size cases. Why did God do it that way? So that every 24 hours they would have to trust God to meet their needs. That’s where the verse came from, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deut. 8:33)

What does that mean? That God has designed it so that we must come back to him daily, because he is the source of all that we need. That’s why Jesus taught us to ask God daily to keep us ever mindful that God himself is the source of our life.

What is your manna? What is it that every 24 hours drives you to say, “God, I’m going to trust you for this because you are my only source”?

Let me remind you that whatever your need is today, God has promised to meet it. So go ahead—boldly, gratefully and expectantly declare your dependence on God today! Then do it again the next day and the day after that. Declaring your dependence daily on God is not only a great way to honor  him, it is the best way to live!

Prayer: Lord, today I happily declare my dependence on you. You are my source and my provider. I look to you to give me every good and perfect gift. You have always supplied my every need, and for that I am grateful. And because you are covenantly faithful, I have no doubts that you will take care of tomorrow’s provisions as well—so I thank you in advance for them. Today, I pray that you will give me everything I need to live the abundant life that you sent your Son to provide. Supply all of my needs according to your riches in glory, and in your rich supply, may I be living proof of a loving, generous, faithful Father. And if the thing that I request today is in your plans for me to receive in heaven instead, your will be done!

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Imagine What Could Happen

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Luke6
Meditation: Luke 6:31

“And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

Shift Your Focus… It has been called “The Golden Rule.”  It is the ethic of reciprocity, the basis of all human rights.  You can find its roots in the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:18 & 34) and it appears in various forms in practically every culture and religion known to man.

The Golden Rule is so universally embraced, at least in theory, because it originated with God.

So what if we actually began to live our lives by that ethic?  Can you imagine how life on Planet Earth might change if enough of us got together and bound ourselves to this rule for living?  Think of how your own private world would drastically improve if you treated everyone as you would want them to treat you!

Re-read verses 28-43 and you will get a glimpse of the kind of things that would happen:

  • You would encourage and edify even those who irritate you
  • You would pray for those who hurt you
  • You would offer reconciliation to those who have injured you
  • You would do good to those who have done bad
  • You would be generous with everyone—friend, foe, and those in need
  • You would criticize others less and work on you more
  • You would be kind even to those who are ungrateful and evil
  • You would prove yourself to be a true child of the Most High in word and in deed

What would happen if you did that?  The world would be a much better place, that’s what!

Sounds like a good plan to me!  How about you?

“Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.”  ~Samuel Johnson

Prayer… Lord, it is so easy, especially with this rule for life, to be a hearer of the word only, and not a doer. Help me, O God, to fully live out The Golden Rule in my every waking moment.