306 - "Waiting 38 Years...Arise & Walk to The Temple" John 4-5

     

The sun will rise this morning

on the sick, the blind, the lame.

On all of us withered in our souls.

Will we rise and walk?

38 years is a very long time not to be well. By our sinful nature, we are all--- 

Sick. Blind. Lame. Withered in our souls. And. 

Cured by this Christ. All.  

I cannot fathom this crippled man, waiting & hoping it will happen to him

for almost four decades of his life.  Did he just live by the pool?

And look at his response to Jesus' question: "Do you wish to get well?" 

He believed it would happen if just someone were there to help him. 

No relative. No friend. No passer-by. No Good Samaritan.

For 38 years. 13,870 days.  

God kept this man; kept account of his every day.  

Yet, the hurting man's response is not a demeaning one. 

Humbly spoken: "I have no man to put me in…" John 5:7. 

"Arise and walk."

And the lame man walked straight to the temple

even though he did not know who this Healer was.

When our good friends do not respond to our well wishes; when our family stiff arms us in distance; when our community passes us by unnoticed; let us pick up our pallet, rise up and walk, and go to the temple. For that's where you'll find cured, healed, whole souls. The temple. They go to Jesus so that they may have life. They search the Scriptures to find Jesus not to worship the Word, not to worship the temple. John 5:39-40. "Come to Me, so that you may have life."  Arise and walk.

PRAYER FROM PSALMS
Psalm 105:4 - Father, we seek You LORD and Your Strength. We seek Your Presence continually!

305 - "Grace Upon Grace Upon Grace" John 1-3

The Word that became flesh and blood moved into John's life in John 1:14. God-begotten. John saw the glory with his own eyes. This is the One, says the thunder in the desert...Make the road straight for God! John 1:23.

By the way that I act today, will I share that I care more about God?  Today, God sent someone to me who spoke like a messenger from God.  An affirmation beyond words.  All these things that we think are so important in our day---how important are they in light of eternity?  Trying to wrap thoughts around the Philistines take on such holy things.  We cannot treat lightly the things of God and be able to rest. 

We open the book of John. John presents a Glory that "though dimly visible now" will one day fill the earth.  Everything was created through Him!  "The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness (John 1:5)."   And John pointed the way for those who will believe. God will make you your true selves begotten of God.  John 1:13. Most people are living to make themselves a better version of who they are. God is making us our true self.

In the world you now inhabit, communion wth Me is not defined by an experience of Me.  Nor does it depend on blessings from Me. To really live is to release My Son's life through yours, in any circumstance, no matter what you feel, to relate as He related, giving when no one gives back, loving when no one returns love, forgiving when no one deserves forgiveness, suffering in the place of those who should suffer."  66 LL

"Don't look at your inability.  Look at My Son's ability." 66 LL

John presents a Glory that "though dimly visible now" will one day fill the earth.  Everything was created through Him!  "The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness (John 1:5)."   And God sent a man named John to point out a way to the Life-Light.  

"We all live off His Generous Bounty, Gift after Gift after Gift (John 1:16)."  Grace Upon Grace. 

"Come, see for yourself (John 1:46)."

PHOTO:  Ezri Joy. Blood moved into your life. Inhabit the earth and become your true self. You are. You will. 

304 - “Be Killing Sin or It Will Be Killing You” Luke 23-24

                             

The Thief on the Cross gave pause: "Have you no fear of God? You're getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this. (Luke 23:40)"  We all deserve death for if we are guilty of one sin, guilty of all.  

"Those who have the knowledge of Christ crucified, should seek to spread that knowledge. Our Lord Jesus reproved them for the weakness of their faith in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Did we know more of the Divine counsels as far as they are made known in the Scriptures, we should not be subject to the perplexities we often entangle ourselves in."  Perplexities of Life. Luke 24:14. They engaged each other to know Him more. And where two are gathered, here He comes. 

Because of the Resurrection, it changed everything.  In Luke 24:45-49, God shares:  Jesus opened their uderstanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way.  He said, "You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations---starting from here, from Jerusalem!"

Praise God that He made provision for our sins.  In John Owen's book Overcoming Sin and Temptation,  Owen writes:  "Be acquainted then, with your own heart:  though it be deep, search it; though it be dark, inquire into it; though it give all its distempers other names that what are their due, believe it not.  Don't justify your own particular sin, but seek to recognize it so that you might fight against it with all your strength.  Christians are called to wage war against this enemy, knowing that there are only two points:  Be killing sin or it will be killing you."  John Owen.  "The only hope John Owen can promise in his book comes not through further self-examination but by embracing the Love and Provision of God."  Open our eyes this day to see your Wild Love and Undeserving Provision.

As we close the pages of Dr. Luke's book, what stirs in your heart?

PHOTO: Living 33,000 feet above the earth doesn't work. Why can't I live real?

303 - "The Word is my Oxygen" Luke 21-22

Fearless Courage to both of you! You have already shown it. May you live it fully.

One Day, the heavens and earth will pass away.  

White-hot stars will melt to a crisp, 

the stunning shimmering sun will melt forever. 

And it will happen in a blink. 

Another lovely generation of generations passes away.  

But, the Word of God will never ever pass away. Luke 21:32. 

We hold this Word in our hearts this day and forever more.  

It's the One Thing my anchor holds within the veil.  

This Word is my oxygen; 

the hammer that breaks the rock hard pieces of my soul; the snow that melts my heart;                            my very next breath. The Living Word. 

 

So, how do we stand before that? 

Go to Him now. Today. Move into Him. 

The One Who will ask all the right questions of us. 

Live the Word of God every day. Deut 32:45 - these words are our very life.

PHOTO:  Zeke & Ezri at Bristol's 4th birthday party in KC.  They really really liked each other at 6 & 7.         

Fearless Courage is my prayer for you both.  

302 - "A Sighting of Christ" Luke 19-20

                                                        

"Zacchaeuus, Today is my day to be. guest in your home." John 19:5-6.

"Those who sincerely desire a sight of Christ, like Zaccheus, will break through opposition, and take pains to see him." Oh my! That's it.  Do I really want a sight of Him?  Let's move through these barricades of distance and deceit and displeasure and discontent---such depravity. I'm surrounded by this opposition on too many sides but God knows.  He understands my frame.  He is passing by and looking to fill hearts that are empty.  Fills us with Good.  But we have to come down from our high places where we dwell.  So, come down, Zaccheus and you and me.  Come down.  

And let's see what is in our own hearts.  Luke 20:4 - Jesus asks:  The baptism of John, is it from heaven or of man?  Why do you look to revelation to excuse your behavior.  Sidetracked.  The scribes and Pharisees want to find the loopholes of life rather than deal with the sight of Him and how that changes our hearts.  

Oh! For a sight of You.  In this weary world of ours, let us find the wonder, the awe, the Ever-Present Savior.  Help us to come down.  Press in.  Stay long.  Fill us up, O God!

PHOTO:  A beautiful normal day. Today. The guest is knocking on our door. 

                  

301 - "We Are Living in End Times" Luke 17-18

                                                          

Luke 18 opens with an importunate widow grappling for favor with an unjust Judge.  And it ends with a poor blind man grasping for sight with an ever-present Savior.  

The Kingdom is present in both. 

Luke 17:22 is the context written to all who live in end times. That's us. And His Spirit is in you and me.  It's a "Kingdom set up in our hearts by the power of Divine Grace."  Planted in our hearts forever.  For, He is coming back and will find sinners on the earth waiting for Him.  The wicked will move on to their destiny according to Luke 17.  I studied Latin in high school.  One of the first words that you learned in the study of Latin was the verb porto, which means to carry, and the noun porta, which means a door or a gate. Importunate prayer means  persistent prayer, urgent prayer, annoyingly urgent. 

As we wait for His coming, we ought always pray. Luke 18:1

We beg you to hear our cries and answer us today.  For Your Kingdom is set up in our hearts and we cannot even comprehend nor convey our wonder and awe in rightful amounts.  Hear these humble words of ours carried to you, annoyingly but importunate, for Your Ear is kind and loving.  And we need You so.

PHOTO: The suns set tonite in ATX on some rough patches in my life.  Things I don't understand.  Words escape.  Divine Grace abounds.  Come Lord Jesus. 

 

300 - "Can the Younger Prodigal and Older Son Grow in Me to Maturity of the Father" Luke 14-16

                                                    

When you are invited to a wedding feast, do not sit in a place of honor. Humble yourself. We live in such a celebrity society. People long to be associated with high success. Drop that name. Squeeze into that friend circle. Believe that you have to have that friendship, that opportunity, that ministry, in order to feel good about your world. He who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 14:11. Free grace is always yours for the taking. Abundant mercy is ready to be delivered. "All found pretence to put off their attendance." M. Henry. Just put in your application while you put off the pretence and put on the attendance. Show up today. All in. Full force. Psalm 3:3. He is the Lifter of your head.

And Seek Peace. Peace on earth? Luke 14:51. Peace in your heart. I read tonight the book, "Peace Child." A beautiful story of courageous couples who moved thousands of miles away empty-handed with fists unclenched. Just to make friends with the Sawi Nation who held fast to treachery as an ideal. Matthew Henry said: "It is our interest to seek peace with God, and we need not send to ask the conditions of peace. They are offered to us, and are highly to our advantage." Seek Peace.

I've thought a whole lot this year about the story of the Prodigal Son.  In his book about the prodigal, Henri Nouwen writes:  "Can I let the younger and older son grow in me to the maturity of the compassionate father?"  The father is who I must become, he writes.  As the father deals with his own anger and loneliness, his anger turns to solitude and his loneliness turns to gratitude.  I am that younger and older brother.  Frustration.  Anger.  Pain.   Can you grow both of my sides into a compassion that moves into the lives of others in the midst of my own mess?

PHOTO: Standing on this shore. So many things wrong in my life. Didn't think I would end up here. Even today, a harrowing experience. But we need not put any conditions on the peace. He gives. And He gives good.

299 -“The Great Reversal—-from Strangers to Grace” Luke 12-13

 

Luke 12:2   "You can't keep your true self hidden forever; before long you'll be EXPOSED. You can't hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can't whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public..."

Luke 12:5  Save your FEAR for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. 

Luke 12:15. Life is not DEFINED by what you have, even when you have a lot." 

Luke 12:22 "Don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer APPEARANCE than the clothes you hang on your body.

Luke 12:29  "What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so PREOCCUPIED with getting so you can respond to God's giving. ...Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. ...

Luke 12:53 Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to DISRUPT and CONFRONT! 

PHOTO: A little bird landed on the cross just as I clicked the camera of this little country church that I passed a thousand times in my life in Fort Worth. Used to live smack dab across the street from this little country church. It's a Beautiful God Who has done an incredible work in my heart as I remember the thoughts I had when I would pass this little country church. And those thoughts are no more.

298 -“Only One Thing Necessary” Luke 10-11

 Choices. Martha was anxious and troubled about more than one thing. Jesus told her: "Only One Thing is Necessary." Mary chose the good portion. So, what's the good portion? If this is just about making good choices, we can "work" on our salvation but that's called works righteousness. The choices must come from a good portion, a good place in our hearts. It's about making choices for His Glory not mine, His Goals not my comfort. our LORD reveals our motivations in our choices---the intentions of our hearts---and thus, even choices may look really good, but are we controlled by the Love of our Christ. I may choose to say a good word to you this day and sin horribly in the midst. Man looks on the outward appearances; God looks into our hearts. Only One Thing Necessary. As long as we have breath, we may choose to do what's right and the piercing of our soul will be found out. Choose this day the God you serve or you choose another god. Only One Thing is Necessary.

PHOTO: Bob and Bev at Fred‘s graduation from the university of Texas. Circa 2014. We both tried with all of our heart to instill on you, the values of the most necessary thing in life. 

297 - “The Finger of God” Luke 8-9

 

A crowd.  A hurry.
A ruler.  A worry.
A woman. A scurry.
A daughter.  A bury.
It's a Beautiful Word from Jesus offering to heal this girl, this woman, this crowd.
"The hand of Christ's grace goes with the calls of His Word, to make them effectual. Let us not complain of a crowd, and a throng, and a hurry, as long as we are in the way of our duty, and doing good."  Matthew Henry. 
Fear Not.  Only Believe.  Luke 8:50

And the woman saw that she was no longer hidden in the crowd.  Luke 8:47
When we are no longer hidden.
May we come in faith, trembling. 

Oh! The compassion of this Christ raising sons of widows and daughters of rulers;
finding women hidden in a crowd.
Let the trembling be felt. 
The word has come.

Life presses in on us this day.  Pictures of friends who've grown distant.  Hearing of success of others not our own.  Knowing of healing happening around us, not in us.  Oh Father, let us not complain of the crowd, let us live to do good today.  Always.

PHOTO:  Who touched me?  No longer hidden.  And the trembling began.  And this trembling is felt all over the earth.  Such faith.