PERSISTING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

The peonies are popping and boy are they gorgeous this year!  Those big, snowball looking blooms, ranging in color from white to dark pink or a mix of both, are for some reason super beautiful this Spring.  There are tons of them in town and they are in full bloom on every block.  Ours out here at the foot of the mountain are just beginning to open up.  The ants move slower out here, I guess.

I love these flowers, they remind me of my Grandma.  She used to call them pinies.  We have a row of pinies between our house and the barn that were planted by another Grandma many, many years ago.  I pass by these peonies often and their sweet smell hits you before you even get close to them.  Oh my goodness, the smell of a good peony is intoxicating.  It does something to my brain that makes me want to eat it up – I don’t, of course?

If you take your nose on a smell tour of my row of pinies, you will notice though that they all smell different.  Some smell wonderful, some smell yucky and some have no smell at all.  Have you noticed that too?  Every peony is gorgeous to look at, but they don’t all have the same smell.  On my walks in town, I can’t resist the urge to stick my nose in a piney bloom hanging over a fence and it’s a little disappointing when it has no smell.  It’s even more disappointing when it has a yucky smell.  Those gorgeous big blooms are a little deceptive, aren’t they?  They look like they’d smell delicious, not all do.  It’s deceptive.  You can’t tell the smell until you stick your nose into it.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather fragrant spices—resin droplets, mollusk shell, and galbanum—and mix these fragrant spices with pure frankincense, weighed out in equal amounts.  Using the usual techniques of the incense maker, blend the spices together and sprinkle them with salt to produce a pure and holy incense.  Grind some of the mixture into a very fine powder and put it in front of the Ark of the Covenant, where I will meet with you in the Tabernacle. You must treat this incense as most holy.  Never use this formula to make this incense for yourselves. It is reserved for the LORD, and you must treat it as holy.  Anyone who makes incense like this for personal use will be cut off from the community.”  Exodus 30:34-38

Ahhh, the sweet perfume of holiness.  An aroma so sweet placed in front of the meeting place with God.  Think about that.  A pure and holy scent.  An incense so full of holiness that we can never make it for ourselves.  A fragrant formula reserved only for the Lord.  A fragrance never to be duplicated, or brought to human level lest it smell sour or have no fragrance at all.  What does holiness smell like?  A fragrant  peony, perhaps?

I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God.  You must therefore be holy because I am holy.  1 Peter 1:16

Ahhh, the sweet perfume of holiness – not a suggestion, not a request, but a command.  Holiness, not because of who we are, but because of who He is. An aroma so sweet presented at the altar of our Lord.  An aroma that says we are set apart, no longer influenced by sin.  A fragrance produced by total devotion to God to be used for His special purposes.   A pungenceness so strong that you can’t tell where it is coming from – you can  smell it without visualizing the source.  We are to exude holiness.  It’s not a suggestion or a request, but a command.  Do we smell different?  Do we stink from sin?  Are we smell-less because of complacency, are we too comfortable?  Do we smell as if we are set apart or do we smell like everyone else?  God is close enough to tell.  How do we smell?  Like a fragrant  peony, perhaps?

We live in the country, down a lane, off a main road.  We have a couple of outbuildings and the side of one faces the main road.  About a year ago we built a cross out of scraps in our yard, strung some tiny lights on it and hung it on the side of that building.  My husband strung this ever so long extension cord, yep, bright orange, from the garage, across a side building and then around to the cross.  And there was light!

I love that cross.  It’s a comfort cross for me – home, peace, hope.  The way to and through the cross for Jesus was anything but comfort.  In three seasons you can see this cross on the building from the main road.  I hope passersby find it comforting, thought provoking, or at least notice it.  Yesterday morning, while out walking one of the many four legged loves of my life, I noticed that the cross was nearly hidden by blooming trees and branches.  The cross was barely visible.  In fact, if you didn’t know it was there, you might miss it.  It made me think…

Do I miss the Cross?  Is the Cross hidden?  Do I hide from the Cross?  Has it been hidden for so long that I have forgotten it?  Forgotten that my sin was on that cross?  Forgotten that I’m the reason for the Cross?  Forgotten that my sin was nailed to that cross?  I do miss the Cross.  At times, I do hide from the Cross.

While studying 1 Peter the other day, I stumbled onto Isaiah 49:16.

Amen!  That’s about all you can really say to that.  What  else can you say when the God of the universe has carved my name on the palm of His hand?  He said “I will remember you.”  My name engraved on His hand.   Firmly fixed – never to be forgotten.  Even when I forget Him.  Even when I hide from Him in my sin, He remembers me.  Even me.  He remembers me, sees my brokenness, sees me in disobedience, in ruin; yet still, my name is chiseled into His hand.

Seven hundred years later, we are told the same thing, at the Cross.  Jesus remembered us at the Cross.   With outstretched hands our names were etched with a nail onto His hands.  Jesus will never forget us.   He has the scars to remind Him.  Remember, Thomas saw them.  They are there.  Those scars permanently affix my name on Christ’s hands.  My name written with nails.  I am pardoned by that writing. Wow. Intense.  The message is that sometimes the Cross is hidden from us.  We either choose to hide from it, we choose to allow other things to get in the way, or we simply forget the Cross.  God does not forget us.  Jesus does not forget us.  Lest we forget.

Today’s blog is a repost from my very first official blog from June 1, 2018. I think this time of year people are frantically trying to get plants in the ground in between rain showers. Last night, that’s what we were doing. Slowly but surely we’re trying to build a perennial garden — you know, add a few each year. Since I’m not very good at tending the flower garden, that’s the best kind for me — tend free. One of those perennial’s that has taken hold and flourished are my Irises, or some older timers call them Flags.

Irises have really heavy stalks and blooms, they tend to slowly bend down so the other day I tied them together to a piece of lattice to the right of them for support. I noticed last night that part of my white wooden lattice is now deep royal purple. It’s beautiful. You see, whatever the bloom touches is permanently stained purple. It reminded me that the stains of my sins have been washed away and replaced with the stain of royalty, I’m marked as a child of the King. You too?

June 1, 2018 –

I love Irises.  They are so regal.  So stately.  The thick green stem that extends skyward is so smooth and straight.  Waving these big, funny, beautiful, bubbly, bearded blooms back and forth.  Irises come in a variety of colors but the ones in my yard are purple, deep purple.  The color of royalty.  I look at the iris blooms as they wave back and forth in the breeze and they remind me of the billowy robe of royalty worn by my Jesus.  Jesus the Royal.  His Majesty.  Jesus the King.

Do we recognize His Royalty?  Do we think about Jesus being a King?  The King?  Do we treat Jesus as The King?  Do we honor Jesus as The King?  Do we honor Jesus as Our King?  Jesus the High Priest?

How we recognize Jesus tells us a lot about ourselves.   Do we need to look at Him differently?  Do we need to look at ourselves differently?

One of the best words in the Bible — “chosen.”  We are a chosen generation, a chosen people!  Chosen by God before time began.  Chosen by Him to come out of the darkness and into the light.  Chosen by Him to shrug off the cloak of darkness we have been wearing and wrap up in the royal robe of His light.  You see Jesus is the royal high priest. 

It’s a stark contrast to visualize ourselves standing before Jesus in his beautiful royal robe, and us standing before Him with our torn and tattered garb.  Satan would like us to archive that picture and save it forever.  Living life in the darkness, feeling afraid, unworthy, unskilled, uncommitted, undone, unloved, un, un, un would be Satan’s desire.

Our acceptance of Jesus as our Savior and King, and our acknowledgement of our sin and His sacrifice that pardoned us, land us right smackdab in the middle of the kingdom of priests, right in the middle of God’s holy nation.  Out of the darkness and into the bright light.  Is there any better place to be?

Every Spring, people trudge through the woods with their eye to the ground sporting a sack or a bucket in which to store these treasurers. They grow in the woods when the ground begins to warm. A true sign of Spring – Morels. Mushroom hunting is a yearly event. I say event as some take Morel hunting very seriously. Funny thing about Morels is you either love them or hate them. Dredge them in flour, fry them in butter and I’m a lover. As tasty as Morels are, not all mushrooms are edible, some are deadly and you’ve got to know the difference between the two. Did you know mushrooms are a member of the fungi family? Sounds gross, doesn’t it, fungus cannot be good for you. Technically, mushrooms are the fruit of the fungus – calling fungus fruit doesn’t make it sound any more appetizing, does it?

One thing I learned is that fungi is 90% of living things in forests and 50% of living things in farmland. Another thing I learned is that yeast and mold are mentioned right beside mushrooms as fungi. Weird huh? They are not in the same category but nevertheless they are all listed in the fungi kingdom. They all have their good qualities – think Morels for mushrooms, penicillin for mold and leaven for bread – and they all have their bad qualities – think poisonous mushrooms, inhaling black mold and tummy trouble from too much yeast. The thing about fungi is that no matter what form it comes in it quickly spreads. Mushrooms have spores that are dispersed by wind, water or animals, making more mushrooms. We all know how quickly mold grows, and yeast can completely permeate its surroundings.

Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 – KJV

That verse six is quite a tongue twister, isn’t it? Yeast is a symbol for sin, and here Brother Paul is talking about allowing sin to exist in the Church. To drill that down a bit, let’s look at where sin in the Church starts – with us individual Church people. Ouch, sorry! Sin is not a word we hear very much about and we’re okay not hearing much about it, right? But, Jesus died for our sins, so it is something we must take a look at. Why? Because it has an impact on absolutely everything around us. We think sin only affects the sinner, the individual, us, but that’s simply not true. You’ve heard folks say “you’re only hurting yourself” and that’s just never a true statement. Our sin touches everything we touch and since our lives are intertwined with others, our sin, in one way or another, touches everything or everyone we touch, directly or indirectly. We will never be sinless, only the Passover Lamb was sinless and He died so we could be sinless, but that doesn’t give us permission to sin. It’s not a pass.

Remember, when we came to Christ, we became a new creation, the old creation fell away. Sin lost its grip on us. We are no longer bound by sin. Hallelujah! It doesn’t mean we won’t sin, it means we are not slaves to sin. It means Jesus has broken our bondage to sin. Hallelujah! With God’s help, we need to look inward and identify the sin in our life – you know, that yeast that spreads. Ouch, sorry! Just as Moses told the Israelites preparing for the Exodus to sweep the yeast from their homes, we need to do the same. But sometimes, looking for the sin in our lives is hard to see, isn’t it? I mean it’s always easier to see the sin in someone else’s life before our own, right?

Biologist Joe Lacefield said: “Morels are pretty camouflaged. You have to develop an eye for it. You have to key in on what you’re looking for. It definitely takes experience.”

Rooting out the sin in our lives is kind of like looking for Morels. We must first identify the fungi. We have to key in on what we’re looking for in order to sweep it out of the house. But, we cannot do that if we don’t first pick up the broom.

Do you see these twisted trees?  They are in the woods by our house.  They fascinate me.  We have tiny little forests of these twisted trees.  I sometimes stand and stare at them for a minute (if they were people I’d be considered rude) trying to figure out how they got that way.  Was something in their way and they had to grow around it?  Why do they grow in groups like that?  Is it a certain species of tree?  What caused the twisting?  Is the twisting contagious?  Is it a nutrient problem?  Is the soil bad?  Some of you may already know the answer to these questions and actually wonder why I wonder about my forest of twisted trees.  I’m just weird.  Anyway, I’ve done a little research.  I’m no arborist, so I found no good answer.

My research found lots of twisted trees, but not many that exactly matched mine.  I’m pretty sure they are not the mysterious twisted trees of Poland for obvious reasons – we’re not in Poland.  They’re not the Saskatchewan trees for obvious reasons – we’ve not seen a Big Foot.  So what kind of trees are they?  I’ve come to the conclusion they are just what they look like, twisted trees.  They started out growing normally, you can see that from the trunk, but somewhere in their growth they started turning, started twisting, started wringing.  But the most interesting things about these trees is that because of the twisting, the roping, they eventually all point downward and they break off right above the twist.  For some reason, they just can’t get straightened out.  Is it a genetic flaw?  Is it because once the twisting begins, they can’t get untwisted?  Is it because of the trees around them?  Who knows, one can only surmise.  Why would you even care, you ask?  Because I think part of practicing the presence of God is looking for Him in absolutely everything He created and asking —  Is there a lesson to learn from Him?  A change to be made in me?    When I look at the twisted trees, I think, yes.

Could this mini forest of twisted trees be an illustration of how our lives are sometimes?  We get twisted, turned around, gnarled, tied up in knots, and that always leads us to point in the wrong direction, right?  I know this is strange thinking, but I hope you see where I’m coming from. Think about your life.  Are there times you have felt like the twisted trees?  All wrung out, twisted up so tight you’re heading in the wrong direction and ready to break off?  Me too. So how exactly do we get straightened out?  There’s only One Way…

Come…

Incline…

Seek…

Call…

Turn…

Isaiah 55

Wednesday Read Isaiah 55.  Make a list of all the verbs – the action words – that God tells us to do.  Beside each word note how we are to put each into practice.

Thursday Read Isaiah 55.  Make a list of all God’s promises if we put our list of action words into action.

Friday Read Isaiah 55.  Read from a different version today.  Make a note of what we are to turn from and what we are to turn to.  The only way we can untwist something that is twisted so tight that it can cause breakage is to turn it back.  What has us so twisted that we feel about to break?  Instead of continuing to turn to that which is causing us to be twisted, we must turn away from that which is causing us to be twisted.  How do we put that in action in our daily lives? 

Saturday Read Matthew 13:1-23.  So, do we get twisted up because of our soil?  Four soils, four responses to God’s message.  Which one are you?  Which one do you want to be?  Which soil should we be?

Sunday Spend some time in praise and prayer today.  Praise God for the power to untwist our lives and pray God’s power on the untwisting of our lives.

Monday Read Mark 4:35-41.  When the waves of life are crashing around us, do we rely on Jesus to keep His promises and calm the waves, or do we automatically twist into knots and only rely on Him when we’re about to break?  Do we need to change our reaction to the storms of life?  It may be difficult, but it is certainly doable, with the Holy Spirit’s power.

Tuesday Read Acts 3:12-26.  Our twisting may be a result of sin.  It could be our sin or another’s sin.  It could be our sin or our reaction to sin in our life or another’s.  Verse 19 tells us what to do – you may have that on your list from Monday.  Verse 20 tells us the result of that action.

We have been washing our hands a bunch more lately, right?  I was washing my hands at work the other day for the umpteenth time with soap and water and had an interesting discovery…as I stood in front of the white basin with hot water running, massaging the antibacterial soap into my hands while singing Country Roads or Stayin’ Alive, hmmm, I noticed that no matter how many times I wash my hands in a day, they are always dirty.  When I rinse my hands after scrubbing them, the water is always brown, every time, even just a tinge.  Now I’m not a dirtaphobe, I mean I can eat breakfast while mucking a stall, but the dirty basin was striking to me.  You see, I have been washing my hands in the sink about 15 times a day, they shouldn’t be that dirty, right?

Here’s another observation in hand washing – in between hand washings, I use hand sanitizer at least every hour, that’s supposed to clean hands too, but when I put my hands under the faucet and turn on the hot water and lather up with soap, the water is always brown, even just a tinge.  The hand sanitizer might kill the germs but it doesn’t remove the dirt, sanitizing doesn’t mean you’re clean.

Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,  “When a man shall have a rising in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests:  and the priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body: and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. Leviticus 13:1-3

Unclean.  Sounds harsh, doesn’t it?  I mean who can help the diseases the body contracts?  Leprosy in Biblical times was a word used for many different contagious conditions and was quite alarming.   Lepers were separated from their communities until they were considered by the community Priest to be healed, or clean.  It sounds so harsh and unloving but those actions were for the protection and health of the entire community.  Reasonable but disturbing.  Those diseases for which there was no cure could not be brought into their communities.

One of the diseases which requires one to be made clean, you know, one of those diseases that is contagious and has no cure, one of those diseases synonymous with leprosy in the Bible, is sin.  Ouch!  I’m a leper.  How about you?  It may not look the same today as it did in Biblical times although it is always active, causes great illness and symptoms, and is more deadly than any earthbound leprosy.  Unclean is unclean. No amount of washing or sanitizing on our part can rid  us of the leprosy of sin.  But my friends, there is a cure!

It happened as he was on his way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee.  As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance.  They lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Luke 17:11-12

Oh, couldn’t we all use the mercy of Jesus?  What is mercy?  Mercy is God’s attitude toward those in distress.  Who’s in distress?  Because we live in a fallen world, because we are sinful, because we are lepers, we are in distress.  The skin disease of leprosy actually destroys the nerve endings  in a body.  People with leprosy would often times unknowingly damage their fingers and toes. Again, sin is not so different.  Oft times our sin causes damage in our lives and the lives of others and we don’t even realize it.  The only cure for our distress is God’s mercy.   God’s mercy upon us that came through the grace of His Son.  Grace that can only come from Jesus.  His mercy makes the basin clean and by His abundant grace our sins are washed away, there’s no dirt in the sink, not even a tinge.

Wednesday Read Luke 17:11-19.  The lepers stood at a distance because they were unclean.  Do we stand at a distance from Jesus because we feel unclean?  Do we fail to approach Him?  Do we cry out for mercy?  Why don’t we? Maybe it’s because we don’t believe?  Maybe it’s because we don’t feel like we need mercy?  Maybe it’s because we don’t feel like we deserve mercy? 

Thursday Read Luke 17:11-19.  With a look from Jesus the lepers were freed.  Freed from the disease.  Free to reenter society.  Free to get back to life.  Free from the power of the disease.  The same is true for us.  With a look from Jesus we can be freed of our leprosy.  Free from the power of sin in our lives.

Friday Read Luke 17:11-19.   Jesus told the lepers to go show themselves to the priest, the only one who could declare them clean.  Look at Hebrews 4:14-16.  Who’s our great high priest.  When will we receive his mercy and his grace…when we need it.  He’s always there.

Saturday Read Leviticus Chapter 13.  The diagnosis of leprosy.  Read about leprosy in Biblical times.  How is this applied to spiritual leprosy?

Sunday Read Leviticus Chapter 14.  The cleansing of leprosy.  How is the cleansing of leprosy applied to our spiritual cleansing?

Monday Read Luke 17:11-19.  It’s interesting, check out when the lepers were healed.  Jesus healed the lepers “as they went.”  He didn’t heal them and then send them to the priest.  He didn’t make them wait until they were healed. Jesus healed them along the way. In what ways does He heal us as we go?  Are the effects of His healing always instantaneous in our lives?

Tuesday Read Luke 17:11-19.   Praise God, I’m healed!  Is that ever our response?  When Jesus has shown us mercy and grace and broken us from the bondage of sin and it’s consequences?  Do we then go to Him, fall at His feet, and praise Him?  What happened when the leper did so?  Jesus told Him he was not only healed from leprosy but He was healed from sin!  Praise always strengthens our faith!

I was driving home from work the other day and I had to smile. The world has come to a screeching halt and people are flipping out. We’ve gone from 100 miles an hour, every hour, to creeping, at best. I wonder if the Lord looks down on His children – that’s us – and says oh my youngins, and He smiles. We know full well that our God is not a God who is sitting on the throne laughing at the state of the world. He’s not saying haha, you got what you deserve. He’s not saying you should have, you could have, if you would have.

We know that when life is going smoothly and when life is in calamity, in every circumstance, our God is looking down with tender eyes, with a gentle heart and with pom poms in hand cheering us on. He’s saying – hey guys, I love you, I’m in charge, come over here, nestle right here under my arm. I will give you rest. I will give you what you need. I will give you hope. I will give you… I will give you…I will give you…Just come to me.

You see those are His promises and we know that God always keeps His promises. This is how it works. He makes a promise…He keeps His promise. He makes a promise…He keeps a promise. He makes a promise…He keeps a promise. He committed to us and when we commit to Him all those promises are fulfilled in our lives. Do we believe that? God makes a promise. We believe that promise. He fulfills that promise in our life. Easy-peasy, right? Maybe.

But, if you possibly can, have pity on us and help us.” “‘If I possibly can!'” replied Jesus; “why, everything is possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father cried out, “I do believe: strengthen my weak faith.”
Mark 9:22-23

Have you ever felt like this dude? Jesus, if you possibly can? Are you relating to this father or are you thinking to yourself this dude just didn’t’ know Jesus. How could he doubt Jesus? Come on for real? He must be a weakling in the faith. Before we go getting all Phariseeical and offering the should ofs, let’s be honest. We’ve all felt that way at one time or another, though we may not have said it out loud. How do I know that? Because, Jesus is the only perfect. There are times when our faith is just as imperfect as this worried father. Think about your life, I’m sure there are times you can relate to how this father feels. Maybe your child hasn’t been demon-possessed, but aren’t there other things in our lives that cause us to question, even unintentionally – Jesus, if you could possibly help us…

Here’s the thing, God does not demand us to have perfect faith. He knows we need help with our unbelief. He knows our faith needs strengthened. He accepts our faith, as small as a mustard seed and continues to work in our lives. As we continue to focus growing our relationship with Jesus, He helps our unbelief, strengthens our weak faith, helps us not to doubt. Through His power in our lives, through our surrender to Him, He gradually changes our unbelief, our doubt, our weak faith, bit by bit into a more perfect faith. You see, faith is complete, humble dependence on Him and obedience to His will.

Wednesday
Read Mark 9:14-29. Write down all the red-letters. Make a list of all of Jesus’s statements, one right after another. Do you get a sense of the whole story, just in the red letters? This story could be your story, right? Read the list of red-letters you made. Think about an occurrence or situation in your life and fill in the back story.

Thursday
Read Mark 9:29. What is the key to unlocking our faith? Evaluate your prayer life. Do you spend much time in prayer? Do you ask the Lord to fill you with faith and power?

Friday
Read Luke 17:1-10. Do you feel the same way the disciples did? What is more important, the amount of faith you have or the authenticity, or realness, of your faith?

Saturday
Read Romans Chapter 4 about the faith of Abraham. This faith is not just for Abraham and his children, but this kind of faith is for Abraham’s children’s children, for us today, and for those children of tomorrow. Focus on verses 20-24. Make notes about Abraham’s faith. How can we use Abraham’s faith as an example?

Sunday
Read Psalm 86. David’s faith grew in times of trouble because he knew the character of God. David prayed to God. God responded. David’s faith grew.

Monday
Read 1 Corinthians 1:8. Write down the promises. Read Philippians 1:6. Growth. God promises that He will complete the work He started in us. Look back over your life with Christ. Do you see those completions of His good works in your life, those growths?

Tuesday
Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. His grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. Spend time in prayer today thanking God for keeping His promises, thanking God for planting a mustard seed within, thanking God for using His power to grow the seed of faith in our lives and perfecting our faith in and through Him. Amen.

So, I was reading a book the other day and the author was relating how she had been struggling with something (she didn’t even remember the details of what it was) she went to a Christian counselor to help her sort things out.  After relating whatever it was that was bothering her, the Christian counselor said “Grow Up!”  Ouch!  Doesn’t seem like something you’d hear from a professional counselor, does it?  I mean after all, she’s paying for this advice.  Now she didn’t say, oh grow up, like we would say when we’re impatient or frustrated with someone.  It was said with the kindest intentions – with the intent to encourage someone to, well…grow up, move on, get over it, rise above.  I don’t know about you, but when I read that, I thought to myself, yep I could use me some growing up.  You too?

How do we grow up from the many things that bother us in a day that we can’t even remember the next day, but we spent so much time and energy on the previous day?  How do we mature ourselves?  We get into the Word of God.  Therein lies the secret to growing up.  Getting into the Word of God and then applying the Word of God to our lives.  I know this is a common theme, imagine that, a Jesus blog that encourages spending most of your life in the Word of God, but that’s how growing up is done.   Without food there is no growth.

Spending time in the Word is not an exercise in self-improvement.  The Word of God was not written about us, it was written about God.  The Word was not written so we can be better people, it was written so that we may become Godly people.  Spending time in the Word is really about growing up.  Growing up is completely dependent on Whose you are, not who you are.

Spending time in the Word of God leads to the adoration of God.  If it doesn’t, it is pointless.  Growing up, maturing, is a process of development.  Growing is about becoming.  If we are not growing we are declining.  If we aren’t knowing more, we are knowing less.  Why so?  Because the world is constantly moving, life is constantly changing, we grow or we are left behind.  Grow we must in love, in the Spirit, in knowledge, in Christ.

The world we live in right now is crazy.  Our daily lives look different than they did a month ago.  But, Praise God for the amazing blessing – more time on our hands.  For those of us who have always said if I had more time I’d read my Bible more, you’ve got it!  No excuses.  Here’s the thing, take just a minute to imagine what the world would look like in 30 days if we all committed to reading the Word of God daily.  What would our lives look like if we shifted our focus from self adoration to God adoration?  What if we allowed our love for God to change our lives? Sometimes our life circumstances require us to grow up faster than we expected or even wanted.  Maybe now.

So, with the kindest intentions and the intent to encourage you, I say  (and I hope you say to me) grow up, move on, get over it, rise above, no more excuses.

Wednesday – Matthew 26:1-13.  You think Jesus ever wanted to say to people, grow up?  Those who knew Him, had heard His teachings, had witnessed His healings and still needed growing up, didn’t they?  From Caiaphas to the disciples.

Thursday – Passover ends this evening.  Read Matthew 26:14-30.  Although the disciples may not have realized it, this was no ordinary Passover meal.  How would this Passover meal look different than those celebrations in the past?  How did the disciples prepare for Passover?  What is communion?

Friday – Read Matthew 26:31-35.  Look through the scriptures and right down each instance of Peter’s denial of Jesus.  Peter’s story is a beautiful story of love, forgiveness and growth.  It’s also our story, right?  Peter was not perfect, neither are we; however, Peter grew up because His faith was tested.  Look at Peter’s life.  Look at our lives.  Have we grown?  Are we growing in Christ?

Saturday – Read Matthew 26:36-46.  I can so relate to Peter, James and John.  How so, you say?  Hasn’t your faith ever fallen asleep?  Jesus told Peter to keep alert and pray or temptation will overpower.  Isn’t that the same for us?  Growing up means being alert, keeping our eyes open for overpowering temptations.

Sunday – Read Luke 2:21-40.  Simeon and Anna.  They had been waiting for the promised King.  Jesus was brought to the Temple in Jerusalem as an eight-day-old to be circumcised.  In an instant they recognized Jesus, at eight-days-old.    Simeon prophesied that Jesus would  be the light of the world.  Anna told everyone the King had come.  Simeon and Anna were grown up, mature in the faith, folks who were unusually close to God.  Where did they spend their time?  What did they spend their time doing?  How else did they know that Jesus was the Messiah?

Monday – Read Luke 21:41-52.  These last thirty one verses (including yesterday’s) take us from an eight-day-old Jesus in the Temple, to a 12 year old Jesus, to an adult Jesus.  Where was Jesus found?  In the Temple.  Sitting among the religious teachers, discussing deep questions with them., growing up – trying to grow them up.  What were Jesus’s practices?  Spending time with the Father.

Tuesday – Read Hebrews 4:12-6:12.  What do these verses say about growing up?  Are we reluctant to move beyond the basics?  What’s holding us back?  Growing up is the process of obedience, even when it’s hard. Jesus was obedient unto death.  His death for our life.

Now I’m not an English major, that’s probably more than obvious if you’ve read any of this stuff. I stink at the rules of grammar and punctuation. I don’t use commas well (should that be good?) – way too many. I’m one big run on sentence – that’s why I use so many commas. I love dashes – they separate my thoughts. I just can’t stand quotes – where do they begin? where do they end? one mark or two? punctuation inside or outside the quote mark? – that rule seems to be ever changing. I do love me some dot-dot-dots…because many times my thoughts are left hanging because I’ve moved on to my next thought already and just don’t have time to complete the last thought…What brought up this subject? Sinclair Ferguson:

In the grammar of faith, all the imperatives in God’s word (commands: “this is what you are to do”) are rooted in indicatives (statements of fact: “this is what God has done, or will do, for you and in you”). Gospel grammar works like this: it is because of what God has done that, therefore, you are to be this or do that.

I read this the other day and immediately thought about my own use of grammar and punctuation. Of course, I was looking at his quote and thought he may have broken a few of the rules too. But the two things that jumped out at me were the words indicatives and imperatives. It’s good for us to learn new words once in a while and today’s the day.

Imperative means absolutely necessary. I think we can all agree that God’s Word is filled with imperatives. Things we must absolutely do. Things that are absolutely necessary. Requirements. Commands. Indicatives are demonstrations, indications, to point out, to show. Sinclair explains it perfectly – because of what God has done we are to be this or do that.

Sinclair calls these words the logic of the gospel. Each command given by God has reasons. So how does the logic of the gospel work? I think it goes something like this:

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Luke 6:37-38

Imperatives – what we must do – NOT JUDGE, NOT CONDEMN, FORGIVE. Indicatives – what God has done – He has not judged, not condemned, He has forgiven us.

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
Luke 23:34

That’s logical, right? Let’s try another…

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:16-17

Imperatives – what we must do – BELIEVE. Indicatives – what God has done – LOVED, GAVE, SAVED. God has demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son to save us. The logic: We Believe because God says His Son will save us and we will not be condemned. We can see that in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection on the cross. That’s logical, right?

Wednesday
What must we do because of what God has done?
Read 1 Peter 1:13-21
What must we do? What has God done?

Thursday
What must we do because of what God has done?
Read Romans 5:1-11
What must we do? What has God done?

Friday
What must we do because of what God has done?
Read Isaiah 53
What must we do? What has God done?

Saturday
What must we do because of what God has done?
Read Hebrews 13:15
What must we do? What has God done?

Sunday
Pray the Lord will open your mind to the Word of God. Pray that He will give you understanding of His Word so that you can apply the Word to your life.

Monday
What must we do because of what God has done?
Read Romans 12:1-2
What must we do? What has God done?

Tuesday
Read Matthew Chapters 5 and 6. Pick two logic lessons and write down what must we do and what has God done?

I love that term, don’t you? A baker’s dozen. Who doesn’t want a baker’s dozen of anything, especially donuts, homemade rolls, loaves of bread, you know, bakery stuff. I’m a lover of all things carb and when I’m given a baker’s dozen, I feel compelled to indulge – I must eat it! All 13. I was interested in where that term came from after my prayer time the other day.

So what exactly is a baker’s dozen other than yummy? In medieval times, bread was sold by weight. Just like today many of our foods are sold by weight. A stroll around the grocery store proves it. Farmers’ Markets affirm it. Meat is priced per pound. Fruits and vegetables are priced per pound. Canned food is sold by ounces. Dried foods like spaghetti and rice are sold by pound. Ice cream used to be sold by the gallon – there are some tricksters out there though who have kept the gallon price but not the gallon size – check it out. Anyway, you get my drift.

The best things in life are sold by the dozen! The most precious things in the world, think about it, it’s downright true, are sold by the dozen. Donuts – by the dozen. Breads – by the dozen. Cookies – by the dozen. Muffins – by the dozen. Nowadays you only occasionally stumble across a baker’s dozen – 13 of something! When bread was sold by weight, bakers used to throw in an extra to be sure they complied with the weight standards. You see, a baker could be fined or flogged for cheating customers out of their fair share. In those medieval times, it was a little more difficult to be precise. Temperature control, air flow, baking conditions, yeast quality, moisture control (especially in England), etc. made it difficult to make sure that a roll was a roll was a roll. Size and density varied. No two rolls were alike – I’ll take the big one! In order to avoid the harsh penalties, a baker would throw in an extra just in case there was shortage.

So, what’s all that rambling got to do with my prayer list? You know how my mind works, it makes weird connections and here’s another. I have a baker’s dozen on my prayer list – oh, it’s not a written list, it’s a mental list. A list of 13 people, my baker’s dozen, that I love who either don’t know Jesus, outright reject Jesus, or are just dabbling in Jesus. Not a criticism, just an observation. Thirteen precious people! Thirteen sweet, wonderful people who I want to meet in Heaven – no time soon mind you. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are tons of folks I want to see in Heaven, but the Lord has imprinted these people on my heart for some reason for right now. You see it’s personal for me – these are the people Jesus has entrusted to my prayer care. Sure, there may be other pray-ers praying for my baker’s dozen, and sure there are others that I am praying for outside my baker’s dozen. The point is the prayer.

And remember, the Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved.
2 Peters 3:15

Just think what the world would be like if every believer committed to adopting a baker’s dozen. You’re thinking great, add one more thing to my to-do list, add 13 more things to my prayer list that I can’t get through already. Why yes, yes I am. You see the most important thing we can ever do for someone is to pray for their salvation. Sure there are many things on earth to pray for, but everything here on earth is temporary – everything. Everything here on earth can be taken care of by Heaven. Salvation. Every hurt on earth can be healed by Heaven. It sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. So, how am I going to find time to do this, you say? Easy, I say. We waste away how many hours a day with mindless mind-chatter. You know, those conversations we have in our heads – I’d say this, I’d do that, I’m gonna – Preparing for this, preparing for that. Those moments of wasted time and energy can be captured. Thirty sincere seconds without the radio or TV, or whatever else it is that pulls us away from presenting someone to God for eternal life.

Here’s the thing, our prayers for others don’t have to be novel sized. A thought, a whispered prayer, a moment. Lord, turn their hearts to you. Lord, fan the flame. Lord, open their eyes to you. Lord, draw them close to you. Just…Lord.

Praying for others sometimes seems like a daunting task – just be honest. That’s because when we pray, we try to tell the Lord all the things wrong that need fixed. Oh yeah, then we try to tell Him how to fix them in the way we want, or in the way we think would be best for them. Who are we? Our job is simply to present them to Jesus and allow Him to work it out with them. We cannot save people, only Jesus can. We cannot heal people, only Jesus can. That takes the daunt out doesn’t it? We offer them up to Him, The One, The Way, The Only.

Look at it exponentially. My baker’s dozen, if even one of them eventually has a baker’s dozen, and then even one of their baker’s dozen has a baker’s dozen. Think about it. That’s how the Good News is spread, one person at a time.

Wednesday
Read 2 Peter Chapter 3. Peter notes how we should live each day until Christ returns. Write down what Peter says about how we should be living. Let’s compare that with how we are truly living. What are we doing while we are waiting?

Thursday
Read 2 Peter 3:13-15. Read Romans 2:4. Both passages talk about God giving us time. List the reasons in those passages.

Friday
Read Ephesians 3:-1-13. What is the secret plan revealed. Write it down. As Followers of Christ, we have been given the responsibility, the task, the honor, the joy, the courage, the power to spread the Good News. How are we doing?

Saturday
Read Ephesians 3:14-21. Paul’s prayer. Could this be a prayer for our baker’s dozen? Are there folks for whom we would fall to our knees on a regular basis petitioning the Lord to open their hearts to Him?

Sunday
Think about the folks around you. If you were to commit to praying for a baker’s dozen, who has the Lord laid on your heart? Children, parents, friends, coworkers, neighbors, family, folks you may not yet know? We have an opportunity to be part of God’s divine plan for others – Salvation.

Monday
Read Ephesians 2:8-10. We were not saved for our own benefit. We were saved to glorify God and bring others to Him.

Tuesday
Read Ezekiel 12:19-20. Read Jeremiah 29:11-14. Read 2 Corinthians 5:15-21. Use these verses as the base for our prayers for our baker’s dozen. Search for more scriptures to use as prayers.