Matthew 21:10 "Who Is This Messiah of My Dreams?" (February 1)

Matthew 21:9 - "Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest!"  And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is This?"

Hosanna, Save Now, to their King
but the King of Kings came as Prince of Peace

Descending on this Triumphal Swerving Road
Overlooking the Kedron Valley with Tears
Oh, Man of Sorrows

A Suffering Savior on the Path to Death
Refusing to play Conqueror of Conquests

Fearful Pharisees watching & exclaiming
The Whole World Has Gone after Him (Jn 12:19)

Palms of Victory for..."Who is This?"
Riding a Donkey, a Symbol of Peace.

50,000 Triumphant Cheers turn to Crucify Jeers
Death.  Doom.  Deliverance.
Messiah Deliverer.

The point is that a king would come riding upon a horse when he was bent on war;
but he came riding upon an ass for he was coming in peace. 
This action of Jesus is a sign that He was not the warrior figure men dreamed of,
but the Prince of Peace. No one saw it that way at that time, not even the disciples...
They were looking for the Messiah of their own dreams and their own wishful thinking.               William Barclay

Do I look this day for the Messiah of my own dreams, my own wishful thinking? 
Or do I embrace The Deliverer Who Has Come to Save Me and Set Me Free?

Matthew 20:32 "What Do You Want Me to Do For You?" (January 31)

Didn't we just have this conversation in Capernaum---Who is the greatest?  Did the two disciple sons go home and tell their Zebedee mom who became involved in this Jericho conversation?  And are these verses written for every person in leadership?  For pastors and speakers?  Matthew 20: 26-28  "But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  The other 10 disciples were idignant over the Zebedee display. And along comes two blind men crying out loud for mercy...and Jesus asks in 20:32 - "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus knew, didn't He?  He could see their blindness. He knew their thoughts. In pity, Jesus touched their eyes. What parts of me are crying out this day for greatness, for His Touch. In pity, may He touch you deeply so that you may see with the eyes of your heart.

Matthew 20:15 "No Fair" (January 30)

Matthew 20:15  "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?"
Divine Sovereignty.

Do we cry, Unfair! over this story.  The ones who worked all day long under the sun were paid the same amount as those who came at the end of the day to labor.  So what is unfair?  Was anyone cheated?  No.

But wait, if we are paid on the basis of what is fair to enter the kingdom, not one of us would be paid according to what we earned.  Nobody comes even close to satisfying all of God's commandments, God's requirements to live a good life.  So, if we base it on what's fair, then we would all wind up in hell.  Besides, what do I deserve in front of a Holy God?   I am unworthy of the least of all of His Mercies.  LORD, have mercy!

Matthew 19:16 "We Are All Seasick Together" (January 29)

Matthew 19:16 "Good Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" G. K. Chesterson once said "We are all seasick together."  Just tell me what I have to do to obey you, God, and I'll work out a way to go do it.  I'll crawl on glass for you. I'll walk a tightrope.  Oh my.  We so want the Bible to be a road map to get us there. We silently scream: Give me the plan and we will do it. Along comes a very young wealthy ruler.  He kneels and addresses the Son of Man as "Good Teacher," a very respectable title.  Jesus' answer jolts me.  He didn't rebuke him! My mind goes to raising my children and how way-too-quickly I would rebuke them for what they said wrong, did wrong. Rather than love them by finding out what is really going on in their hearts. The Gospel of Mark says that Jesus looked and loved the Young Fella.  Oh for eyes to look and love not rebuke our young people.  Jesus looked past his measured dutiful obedience and asked the Young Fella to "let go" of his wealth.  Let go of your worldliness.  You see, the problem was not owning wealth but the ruler's demanding love of the wealth.  What is it that we cannot "let go" of?  What does God bring to our minds? We don't have to dig for it. Let's be more concerned about loving well than seeking out sin. Let Him speak to the recesses of our mind, the creases on our face.  What must I do?  Why do you ask about that? 

       You and I have need of the strongest spell
       that can be found to wake us from
       the evil enchantment of worldliness which
       has been laid upon us for nearly a hundred years.              
                               C. S. Lewis The Weight of Glory

Matthew 18:35 "I Forgive My Brother's Footsteps" (January 28)

Matthew 18:35  Forgive your brother from your heart. 

Forgive our husbands.  Forgive our children.  Forgive our friends.  Forgive our pastors.  Forgive our neighbors. "Forgiveness is not the absence of anger or sin.  It is not feeling good about what was bad"  (John Piper).  Some of you have friends and family who have treated you very wrongly.  We are commanded by God to forgive them---the command doesn't say we have to trust them again, does it?  "We are not bound to trust an enemy but we are bound to forgive him." (JP)  I stood at the grave of my brother and one last time, I asked God to forgive me for all the ways that I had wronged this disturbed deranged guy.  Six people showed up for this Mississippi funeral.  I almost didn't make it as I boarded the wrong plane out of Washington DC.  I so wanted to stand there in the Presence of my Good God and put to rest the demons that haunted me through the years.  My brother's footsteps!  My brother's death didn't bring me the closure I thought it would and he still haunts me even to this day.  And I forgive him, once again.  But, fear has no power over me.  My God's Love is casting out the fear, day by day, little by little.  Nothing went away and died in that funeral procession, but I die daily.  And I forgive him from my heart, this day forward.  By the Grace of God!  2 Cor 12:9 - His Grace is enough.  My haunted hunted self is too much for people.  Doesn't matter.  He is enough.  May I never forfeit the Grace of God and shut it down because of the pain.  (Jonah 2:8).  I forgive my brother's footsteps from my heart!

      We forgive (our husbands, our children, our friends)
       when we strive against all thoughts of revenge,
       and wish well to them,
       and grieve at their calamities,
       and pray for them,
       and seek reconciliation with them,
       and show ourselves ready on all occasions to relieve them.
                                                                    Thomas Watson

Matthew 18:1 "Pick Me" (January 27)

Matthew 18: 1 The Twelve disciples, after a long discussion, came to Jesus from Peter's wide-open house in Capernaum, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Wonder which disciple froze within awaiting His nod--- hoping Jesus would call his name.  Instead, calling to Himself a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Who serves Him best?  What do I have to offer Him?  My name is known by just a few.  My story is read within walls contained by friends. My little life is a drop in the seas of almost 7 billion sets of eyes.   What is greatness in our America?  Our businesses, our sports teams, our entertainment industry, our medical arts, our education----isn't it all about being the grandest, the greatest?  If there is anything that I value more than the Love of my Christ, anything, then I must turn and become like a child.  A child who has no authority over anyone.  The owner of not much; the dependent on just about everything.  A carefree child in the face of friends and fame and fortune.  Little ambition.  Immense capacity to joy!  A screaming child: "Pick Me" ---just for the joy of it all.  A screaming disciple: "Pick Me" --- for his life depended on his own greatness. 

       "The surest work of true conversion is humility."  J. C. Ryle

Matthew 17:21 "Move Forward" (January 26)

Matthew 17:14-15 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before Jesus, said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly."  What anguish of soul for a Dad to watch his son t.o.r.m.e.n.t.e.d. physically by demons. LORD, will you do anything?  Jesus replies in 17:21: With a tiny grain of faith, say to your mountain: 'Move Forward,' and it will move!  Nothing will be impossible for you. 

A Son of Adam, bothered by Satan, not only spiritually (like us all) but also physically.  Followers of Christ, not able to do anything about it.  Do the things of God rest on our hearts with deep conviction? What am I truly convinced of? The Truth will set you free.  How can the Truth, which we know not from conviction, be instrumental in our own hands of becoming faith in others?  Help us all, dear LORD, to deal with our own stuff.  By our tiny faith, we will draw out from others the people God intended for them to be.  What am I drawing out of those closest to me?

Matthew 16:16 "1000 Days with Jesus" (January 25)

Matthew 16:15-16  "Who do you say that I Am?"  A very familiar voice over the past three years, Simon Peter, replies, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."  These disciples had walked and witnessed 1,000 days with Jesus.  They were there when lepers became new, when the blind saw their faces first, when hope against all hope vanished and the dead sat up, when demons flew headlong into pigs, when deceased sons awakened in the arms of their moms, when steel locks fell off of prison bars, when headless bodies were buried, when little lifeless darling girls jumped up to play. No Doubts. Humbled Hearts. Overflowing with Reasons Within.  Hope-filled Voices fell on the hallowed Son of Man's ears. "You are God!"  Wonder how He felt?   2000 years plus 1000 days later, it's January filled with carpools and casseroles and carpet cleaning.  What will He hear us whisper and wonder?  Will He hear your sweet voice this day, "You are My Christ, Oh Son of the Living God."  Kneel where you are and answer His question in ways only you can.  Best Answers?---The way we live and love and suffer. 

1 Peter 3:15
15but(A) in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,(B) always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and(C) respect,

Matthew 15:28 "The White-Hot Silence of Jesus" (January 24)

Matthew 15:22 A Canaanite woman cries out, O LORD, Son of David----this sobbing mother BELIEVES that He is God while she is living in a land of pagans. Desperate with a tormented daughter. This Gentile BELIEVES that HE has enough power left over from Israel for even a Canaanite child.  "Jesus did not answer her a WORD (15:23)."  This Gentile wouldn't take His silence as her answer.  That was a white-hot step of faith for her.  Jesus replies: "Great is your faith.  Be it done for you as you desire (15:28)." This passage stirs my white-hot silent heart.  I wonder if Jesus heard the Canaanite woman crying out and walked ALL THE WAY to Tyre and Sidon just to find her?  My God has been oh-so-silent over here in ATX for a very long time. I believe Jesus is walking to you and to me.  Wonder what a white-hot step of faith looks like for each of us this day?

       "God is not an employer looking for employees.
        He is an Eagle looking for people who will take refuge under his wings.
       He is looking for people who will leave anything
       that may hold them back from a life of love under the wings of Jesus."
                                                                                            John Piper

Matthew 15:18 "Incurvatus In Se" (January 23)

Matthew 15:18 - "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander."   Incurvatus in se----Latin for "curved inward on oneself."  Romans 7: 18-19 - "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." 

       Augustine coined the phrase "curved in on itself." 
       Martin Luther expounded on the phrase by writing:  
       "Our nature, by the corruption of the first sin,
       being so deeply curved in on itself
       not only bends the best gifts of God towards itself & enjoys them
       (as is plain in the works-righteous and hypocrites),
       but rather even uses God Himself in order to attain these gifts,
       and also fails to realize that it so wickedly, curvedly, and viciously
       seeks all things, even God, for its own sake."

Thank you God, Col. 1:29, there is Greater Energy at work in all of us, powerfully at work!  What Energy is greater in me this moment?

Matthew 14:33 "Do My Fears Cause Me to Worship?" (January 22)

Matthew 14:25 In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea:  Jesus didn't come in the 1st or 2nd, even 3rd watch.  The Romans divided the night into watches of 3 hours each.  Four watches to the night.  He waited til they were tossed and turned over 9 hours on the small sea.  He had instructed them to cross this very small sea to the other side.  Possibly a 2-hour ride.  But the experts (in fishing that is) were in the 10th hour, desperate, fighting for their lives.  "Take heart; it is I.  Do not be afraid." And it was Peter who answered:  "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to you on the water."  And Peter walked on water.  Friends, you know this doesn't happen in real life.  This man truly was the Son of God.  No ordinary man walking on water and helping his friend do likewise.  "And those in the boat worshiped Him saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.' " (Matthew 14:33).  Do my fears this day cause me to worship?  I spent lunch today with the One Who walked on water spilling out my tears and fears to Him.  He gave me Courage today.  Don't quite know how.  But it happened.  Truly HE is the Son of God.  Has He left you tossed and turned for 9 hours?  He comes when it is the darkest!  Hold fast!

Matthew 14:17 "5 Loaves, 2 Fish" (January 21)

Mathew 14:12  The disciples came to the prison and took the lifeless headless body of John, whom Jesus loved, and buried the body only...and then they went and told Jesus.  What a tender moment.  I wonder what the disciples thought about what Jesus did.   Jesus could have saved John from these wicked women who wanted his head on a platter.  What did the women do with John's head? Throw it away? When Jesus heard from his disciples, he withdrew to a desolate place.  Oh Father!  I'm so weeping for whom?  Myself? 

The crowds closed in and Jesus had compassion on them and fed them.  5 Loaves and 2 Fish.  During one of the most difficult moments of my life, a friend shared this story with me. Unless God shows up in our lives, there will be only 5 Loaves, 2 Fish.  But when He arrives in our day, He stirs and shakes and sends bread & fish to feed 5,000 families.  5 Loaves and 2 Fish for you this moment. Matthew 14:17-18   Jesus is still saying:  "Bring _________ (you fill in the blank with a name) them here to Me.

Matthew 13:43 "You Will Shine Like The Sun" (January 20)

Jesus told stories to invite them to come closer. Stories about how the tiniest Mustard Seed will one day be the biggest shade tree ever.  We can be a Psalm1 offering stability and shade to our friends. And how One Beautiful Day - Matthew 13:43  "The righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father."  That so stirs something within me!  There are longings in all of us for One Thing: 

       We are men & women in misery who want only One Thing
       Not relief from our misery (althought that would be nice)
       But HOPE ---
       Hope of Intimacy and Meaning and Joy Forever,
       in Relationship with Our God
       Who is redeeming our story.                                       66 LL

Matthew 13:23 "Nothing Matters More than Listening" (January 19)

Matthew 13: 23 - "As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it." So, how do we open our own ears? God has opened our ears to hear. No other explanation. What matters more to us than listening to our God?  My thoughts go to Lydia in Acts 16:14 - she was listening to the Word and God opened her heart to respond.  Oh Strong God, as we listen to You this day and what You are saying to each of us, change our hearts to be alive in You.  Open the eyes of our hearts to understand Your Word. Eph 1:28.  May we know this day a tad bit more the Hope you have called us to and the Incredibly Great Power toward each of us this day, no matter what.

       2 Cor 3:2-3You are a living letter written not in ink
       but on human hearts by the Spirit of God.             
       Would You write something today with our lives?

Matthew 12:25 "Jesus Knows My Thoughts" (January 18)

Matthew 12:25 - Jesus knew the thoughts of the Pharisees.  Does anyone know my thoughts---scary thought. Cause I'm way worse than you think I am. And He is way better than we all deserve!  I think that I'm alone and no one really knows what I'm thinking.  God does.  Always has.  And He is still moving toward me, calling me closer.  Even when the abundance of my heart comes out through my mouth, Matthew 12:34. So grateful I don't have to dig for my sin.  His Word reads me and I stand exposed.  Incredible.  Wonderful.  Holy Place - Gen 28:16.  God is in it.  Calling us to Come Near. 

       I don't want to underestimate either my sin and struggle
       or your Power and Love.
       I so naturally deny the evil in me and the pain I feel
       just to emotionally survive.
       And I have a hard time seeing Your Power and Love
       when so many things go wrong.
       The Promise of Restored Beauty stirs something deep.
                                                                                     66 LL

Matthew 12:20 "He Will Bring Justice to Victory" (January 17)

A prophecy fulfilled: 
Matthew 12:20 - A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench, until He brings justice to victory; and in His Name the Gentiles will hope.

And along comes a hopeless guy:
Matthew 12:22 - Couldn't see.  Couldn't speak.  Couldn't hear.  Tormented by demons.  Having one of those ailments is life altering but all of that at once?  What kind of life did this man have without God?  What followed him after Jesus healed him?  Did he ever live the same again?

       The center of the Good News
       is that you can know Jesus Christ and
       enter into the Relationship the Father and Jesus enjoy.
       You are empowered to serve God's Kingdom,
       to relate as They relate within the Trinity.
       That's the Dance, the dance you can enjoy in measure now & fully forever.
       That's the Good News.                                                                         66 LL

Matthew 11:6 "Not Offended By God" (January 16)

I don't remember which baby it was.  Maybe it was my 2nd or 3rd or 4th miscarriage?  But I have a letter tied in a roll of letters from a dear friend and author, Elisabeth Elliot, responding to my losing my baby.  In her beautiful script, the words jumped off the page: Blessed is the one who is not offended by God and whatever God chooses to do. 

Matthew 11: 2-6 - Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, "Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?" And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see:  The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me."

Tell my beloved John of whom I think there has arisen No One Greater, that I am giving eyes back to the blind, putting feet back on the lame, restoring health back to the lepers...and raising up the dead too.  But you, Beloved John, will remain in prison to your death, beheaded on a whim.  My Beloved John, you can find rest for your soul even in a prison.  Jesus promises.  Matthew 11:28 - "Come to Me and I will give you rest."

Matthew 10:39 "The Hunted" " (January 15)

Matthew 10:39 - Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  It's the first verse I heard that called me to follow Christ.  My besetting sin then was fear and I still face my fears to this day.  So what does it mean for me to lose my life, lose my fear?  God's Perfect Love will cast out that fear.  Love Much, Love Well (Phil 1:9).

Matthew 10:26 - Have No Fear of people for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
Matthew 10: 28 - Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:30-31 - The hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear Not, you are of more value than many sparrows.

       "She's the sort of woman who lives for others -
            you can tell 'the others' by their hunted expression."  C. S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters)

Matthew 10:1 "Jesus Called A Betrayer to Come" (January 14)

Matthew 10:1 - And he called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.  Amazing to me that Jesus called a Betrayer to be part of His Story.  Who wants a betrayer on their team? The Son of God wanted Judas. The disciples went into villages and towns not to take but to give---healing and freedom, reaching out to their world of about 800,000 people.  Fast forward about 100 billion people later (all the people who have ever lived on earth).  We are still talking about His Fame, still praying for healing from strokes and cancer. Six billion plus people alive this day and we still cannot stop talking about Him.  Eleven disciples turned the world in a good direction offering healing and hope.  Real Hope.  His Story. 

       True Christianity turns the possible into the actual.
       As the biblical ax breaks the frozen sea within us...
       we become the persons we were meant to be.
       We can live the New Way of the Spirit that
       values loving God and loving others above everything else.
       The New Way that lifts First Things into First Place and puts
       Everything else into second place where everything else belongs.66 LL

Matthew 9:36 "Harassed & Helpless" (January 13)

Matthew 9:36 - Have mercy on the harassed and helpless.  That includes all of us.  Oh, how I love the story of Jairus, the Ruler in Matt. 9:18, kneeling before Jesus, asking Him to come heal his dead daughter.  This ruler had little hope other than a miracle from God.  His girl was gone!  Jesus agrees to go with him to the girl.  But, WAIT, he is stopped by a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years.  A woman who simply touched the hem of His Garment and He felt the power come out of Himself.  So Jesus stops.  What did the humble ruler think at that moment?  What are you doing, Jesus?  What's most alive in Jairus?  Trust.  God is not on our timetable.  What is most alive in me?  Am I reaching out just for comfort or relief from my pain?  Or am I touching the Hem, believing and not knowing quite what He will do.

       God, Who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you
       to go through it, not without pain but without stain.  C. S. Lewis

Matthew 9:2 "Healed Because of Your Friend's Faith" (January 12)

Matthew 9:2 Some people brought to JESUS a paralytic lying on a bed.  He healed THE PARALYTIC because of the faith of this paralyzed man's friends.  This so makes me want to pray for my friends like Joanne in Colorado who lies helpless in a hospital bed this morning.  Calling out to Him for our friends.  Bringing our friends to Him.  He'll take us ALL just as we are.  He invited sinners and tax collectors like Matthew to dinner (Matthew 9:9).  Matthew, who then went on to author one of the books of the Bible.

       Matthew heard My Son's invitation to all whose lifestyle of grasping
       had left them tired, burnt out, disillusioned, empty (Matt 11:28-30 Msg).
       Matthew responded.  He learned the unforced rhythms of grace---
       from grasping for life as a Roman Tax Collector
       to giving life to others as a follower of My Son. 
       66 LL

Matthew 8:24 "Little Miss Much Afraid" (January 11)

Mathew 8:24 - 26 - Jesus slept through the great storm battering this small Great Sea of Galilee. He was right there present in the boat with them but not responding as the followers had hoped.  So, the disciples woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?"  Reminds me of the story, Hinds Feet on High Places.  Reminds me of me.  Little Miss Much Afraid in the boat with the very Presence of God. But, no more. Jesus is changing me and you; He is casting out fear. It's why He showed up in the Book of Matthew---to change us. His followers were riddled with fear and ambition.  But, wait.  The Book of Acts is coming.

What kind of man is this? They row to shore and he performs yet another miracle. And verse 34 baffles me:  "All the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region."  He wasn't welcomed. I guess, they didn't want to be disrupted.  Don't touch anyone's sick mother.  Don't save us from a fierce storm at sea.  Don't cast out demons!  Unbelievable!

Matthew 8:2 "Drawn to the Heart of God" (January 10)

Matthew 8:1-3 Jesus came down from the Mount of Beatitudes. A leper heard that sermon. You're blessed if you are at the end of your rope (Matt 5:3). "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." The leper was drawn to the heart of God, not knowing if He would heal him or not. I just started weeping. If you will, God, you can do for me what I so need in my heart. And Jesus did the unthinkable, He stretched out His Hand to touch the leper. Touch me, God, this day where I kneel before you feeling outcast like a leper. About a mile or two away stands the seven-foot gate to enter Capernaum. A centurior approaches Him in this tiny town:  Lord, my servant is suffering terribly..."As you believe, it will be done." LORD, I believe, help my unbelief. It's amazing that you do anything for us...we are so unfaithful. 

       Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. (4:17).
       The words of Matthew empower me to stop grasping for
          what I mistakenly think will meet my needs.
       Instead, Give what God has already placed in my heart
          [whether I am healed like the leper or not.]
       The Kingdom is Near...                                  66 LL (206)

Matthew 7: 24-27 "Fill My Emptiness" (January 9)

Matthew 7: 24-27  Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.  And great was the fall  because "God never knew you."  What still stands in my life after the storm passes? 

       The center of the Good News is that you can know Jesus Christ and
       enter into a Relationship with Him that transforms you from
       Grasping for life for your sake to Losing life for Christ's Sake.
       Any time with prioritized energy you do anything, anything
       designed to fill your emptiness or protect yourself from more rejection,
       you are serving the wrong kingdom. 
       What kingdom do I serve today?
       Am I building my house on the rock or on sand?
       66 LL

Matthew 6:33 "Transformed in Suffering" (January 8)

Matthew 6:33 - Seek first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness...  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (6:21).  What needs to change for me to really seek God as my Supreme Treasure?

       What most needs changing is not your circumstances.
       Blessings in the short term are dangerous to your long-term joy.
       If I used My Power to make your life work in ways that you found
       easily and quickly satisfying, you would become less aware
       than you already are of what I designed you to enjoy
       and more stubborn in your pursuit of everything else ...
       Your naive self-centeredness can only be transformed in suffering...
       And no suffering you will endure in this life is worthy
       to be compared with the joy that awaits you in the next.  Live in Hope!
       66 LL

Matthew 6:5 "Shut The Door" (January 7)

Mattthew 6:1 Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you when you give to the needy in secret (6:3), when you pray in secret (6:5), when you fast in secret (6:18). 

      Though I may feel empty even this day, I am filled with His Spirit. 
      I will Give in secret from Trusted Fullness rather than
      Grasping for visible Demanded Fullness.
      No matter how I feel or what goes wrong today,
      I can Live to Give in secret and Not to Grasp.
      I can bring a taste of Heaven to Earth.
      Paraphrased from 66 LL

Matthew 5:48 "Be Perfect" (January 6)

"Be Perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48
God means what He says.
So what does this mean?
We'll never reach perfection in this life. It will be completed in our death. That's true. But God reveals in this chapter what it looks like to follow Him from our hearts not from our behavior choices. I mean, if you are angry or insult your brother, you are guilty, not only if you murder. If you look with lustful intent, you've committed adultery in your heart. Convicted! All of us. Christ came not to abolish the law that tells us we are sinners but to fulfill it and offer grace (5:17). Praise God there is hope for my sin and God will give us what we need.  We are all "curved in on ourselves." (Augustine). "

      Where we've made a wrong turn and are heading 
      toward relational failure, loneliness, and hatred-filled frustration, 
      May we see this day our wrong direction and turn around."
      66 LL 

Matthew 5:3, 6 "Am I Ruled by Fear or Broken by Failure?" (January 5)

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee (4:12).  This is so upside-down to what I think He would do.  Why would he not go to see John and help him?  Why does He not come to help me at times or so I think He doesn't? I know Jesus is writing a Larger Story than just my life, John's life.  Instead of going to John, He stood at the bottom of the Mount of Beatitudes (His Voice carried up the mountain where thousands came to listen) and He opened His mouth and said you are blessed if you are down to your last dime. You are blessed when you are at the end of your rope. (5:3). You are blessed if you hunger and thirst for righteousness (5:6).  You are the salt of the earth.  He didn't say "honey," He said "salt."

      ...Your friend is still ruled by fear, not broken by failure. 
      He has not come to the end of his rope. When he does,
      there will be less stubborn self-protection in his motives
      and more room for the Spirit of My Son to take over. 
      My Son made that exact point in His first sermon: 
      'You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. 
      With less of you there is more of God and His Rule.'
      Matt 5:3 Msg
      66 LL

Matthew 4:1 "Rise Up, My Love, Come Away" (January 4)

Matthew 4:1  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In the lonely scorching desolate wild wilderness.  Alone.  Led by the Spirit of God.  Yes, I want to be led by the Spirit of God. Yet, I don't want to be led into the wilderness to be tempted. Who does? If my LORD was, what does that say to my life?  If I was led to the Mount of Temptation, I would struggle immensely with:  Hunger after 40 days/40 nights of no food.  Fear after 40 days/40 nights of terrifying treacherous existence in a wilderness. Powerlessness after 40 days/40 nights with no followers, no feedback, no nothing.  And these were the 3 areas where Satan tempted Jesus.  Deut. 8:2 says that God tests you so that you can know what is in your heart.

      We are painfully conscious and ashamed of our lack of desire;
      Yet He calls to each of us:
      "Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One, and Come Away with Me"
      A.W. Tozer

Matthew 3:16 "Holy Spirit Rest on Me" (January 3)

Matthew 3:16 "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him." The gentle dove rested on Him. The Holy Spirit wants to descend in the midst of my mess this day and rest on me.

      The people in this day were blinded by their self-centered understanding
      of what should come next in the story.  They thought I should send
      the Messiah to bless them.  John knew the Messiah woud come 
      to change them, to restore their souls before I restored their blessings.
      66 LL

"Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." Matthew 3:8  Change me this year, this day, O God!

Matthew 2:16 "Evil Runs through All of Us" (January 2)

 Matthew 2:16  ^"Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem."  But Herod wanted to worship the baby.  How quickly his resolve to worship melted to evil.  Real Evil.  How way-too-quickly in my own life does my good intentions melt into dark actions?  Solzhenitsyn said that it's not just the communists that are evil, it runs right through all of us. Lord, have mercy on us!

      God never underestimated how thoroughly you'd mess up your life
      or how painfully you would struggle & suffer.
      God doesn't want you to underestimate your failures or struggles, either.
      They are all part of the story God is telling.
      66 LL

Matthew 1:19 "Resolve to Be Holy" (January 1)

Matthew 1:19 - "And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly." Before Joseph even knew that there was a Divine Appointment here, Joseph resolved to act in holiness. May my resolve to be holy this coming year be greater than any other resolve.  God give us eyes to see the resolve of our hearts.

      God wants me to be holy in any situation more than
      He wants me to figure out what to do to improve my situation.
      66 LL

An Invitation to Read 27 LOVE LETTERS

You are invited to journey with us through the 27 Books of the New Testament in the ESV this year.  We will read one chapter (sometimes even fewer than one chapter) every day of the week.  The reading plan is attached on the right margin.  Join us in reading the corresponding chapter of the devotional book 66 Love Letters by Dr. Larry Crabb.  Share with us what God stirs in your heart. No pressure.  No checking off the boxes. It's just about that one thing that lingers with you from your reading.  Oh LORD, please speak to us this year for your servants are listening.  Joshua 3: 15-16.