Deut 24:2 and Luke 6:27 "Log In Your Own Eye" (March 30)

I saw an enemy this week...and what did I do? I looked the other way and glanced back to see if he cared. How sad that I missed the Grace of God. Jonah 2:8 Luke 6:27 says what to do with the enemies of our soul... Love Do Good Bless Pray Offer the other cheek and your other coat too Give Don't demand your stuff back. That's it...only by the power of God/ For we must purge evil from our midst. Cause there is a "log" in my own eye. Deal with your own stuff and leave your enemies alone. Before God they will stand or fall.

Deut 20:1 and Luke 6:8 "Excluded" (March 30)

I am smack dab in the middle of a battle. So, when I hear Deut 20:1 "When you go to war and see horses and chariots---an army way larger than your own, don't be afraid." And my mind immediately goes to our NT reading: "He knew their thoughts." Luke 6:8. God, you know... And yet You say: Don't panic. Don't be frantic. God is with you to fight for you. Deut 20:4. You know. So, what stirs in this frantic mess. A glorious mess. And so I ask the words penned by Dr. Luke in the Beatitudes: Am I poor? Am I hungry? Am I excluded? Am I weeping? He knows my thoughts...

Deut 17:12 and Luke 5:19 "Lowered Through The Roof" (March 29)

What does it take for me to not go beyond the limits of what is appropriate, what is permitted, what is allowed? Deut 17:12 says: You shall purge the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously. Don't go beyond the limits. Are we talking about behavior or heart? Aren't we always dealing with the motives of our hearts. Were the friends who lowered the paralytic down through the roof presumptuous? I think not. We actually know they were not---Jesus called them as having faith. He could see straight into their hearts. Wonder if He will see faith or fear in me today, wisdom or presumption. It's not about doing the right things---human do'ers. It's about being a better person than I ever have been---human beings who are a little more brave, a little more beautiful because we have lowered our husbands, our children, our family, our friends through the roof ~ Luke 5:19-20.

Deut 14:2 and Luke 5:9 "Beyond Human Comprehension" March 28

It is beyond my human comprehension that we are chosen to be treasured possessions out of everyone in the world. There is no language to describe the Matchless Beauty and Unparalleled Love that God has for each of us, no matter what we have done. He says: Deut 14:2 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. There. That's simply amazing. So where do I go with that? Luke 5:9 came to my mind this morning as I had such an evil thought toward a friend pop into my mind. "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." I'm awestruck that Peter would say that about his story. I mean, he had been fishing all night long and had caught nothing. Peter was the pro at fishing, right? Yet, he offered his poverty to his LORD who made something big out of it. May we give to God out of what we have with full hearts.

Deut 11:2 and Luke 4:34 "Consider His Mighty Hand & Outstretched Arm" March 27

Consider the Love of Christ. Can we even fathom the depth and breadth? Where do we find such language to consider today? Deut 11:2 And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), no, He is speaking to me and to you, to consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his Greatness, his Mighty Hand and His Outstretched Arm. And I have to ask the same question we find in our New Testament reading: What do you have to do with us, LORD? Luke 4:34 What do you have to do with us? Everything.

Deut 6:2 and Luke 4:18 "White Flag of Surrender" (March 26)

Our tests are always for our good, to reveal our hearts to live for Him or to live for myself or to live for you. Remember the whole way the LORD led you---Testing You---to show you what was in your heart. Deut 6:2. God already knew what was in our heart. He is committed to our holiness and showing us what it takes to follow Him. Luke 4:18 - The Spirit of the LORD is upon you. You are anointed to proclaim "good news" to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to recover the sight of the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the Year of the LORD'S Favor. Okay, I'm proclaiming: We are all called and God so wants to lay His Favor on our white flag of surrender.

Deut 5:29 and Luke 3:3 "Baptism of Repentance" (March 25)

Sometimes, I think that I don't know that I could be any lower than I am today.  How could I be more confused than I already am? Does that matter?  Sure it does.  But at the same time, same place, what matters more is that I find my God in the midst of my mess.  A baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. Luke 3:3.  Forgiveness for making life about me not Him. Forgiveness for ingratitude for what He has not provided.  Forgiveness for demandingness that life takes a turn in a different direction.  Forgiveness for jealousy looking into the lives of others.  Dare I go any further?  Hot blazing tears burn and blacken like charcoal. 

And God says in Deut 5:29, Oh that they had such a heart as "this" always --- to fear Me and keep all my commandments...

Be careful, Deut 6:7, when you sit, lie down, walk, rise... Be careful.
God has brought me to cities that I did not build.
God has brought us to a house full of good things that we did not fill.
God has given us cisterns that we did not dig.
And vineyards and olive trees we did not plant. Deut 6:11

Take care, lest you forget the LORD Who brought you out of slavery.
And I sit here typing wanting something more than what God has provided.
Oh my LORD, have mercy.  A Baptism of Repentance. 

Deut 4:9 and Luke 2:35 "Take Care" (March 24)

Take Care.
Keep your Soul Diligently.
Lest your Eyes Forget What You've Seen.
And your Heart Remembers Never Ever No More.
The Israelites are called to a Promised Land of such Beauty.
They must fight to get there, but wait, the LORD fights for them.
They need only learn to Rest in the One they Trust wildly.
Because HE has been appointed as their Savior.
He alone reveals the intentions of hearts.
So watch carefully what stirs in you.
Keep your Soul Diligently.
Take Care.

Deut 1:30 and Luke 2:7 "No Room in the Inn" (March 23)

Sometimes I wonder if I belong on Mars.  I think so upside down these days.  It's not about who is right, who is wrong. Not about the pro-Calvinists, the diehard Charasmatics, the  For me, life is all about who is experiencing the Presence and Rest and Beauty of God? 

Simply amazing to think that there was "no room in the inn" for a pregnant mom to deliver the Savior of the world.  Luke 2:7.  It so shows what God values that he planned the birth of low estate. 

Moses recounts the Goodness of God.  It is our Lord God who goes before us in all our wilderness experiences.  It is He Who will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,  and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place. Deut 1:30.  So, am I at the place God wants me to be?  Am I willing to move on with the light that I have?

God will take care of us but it actually may look like a distorted picture of what I hoped for.  Oh, but arriving at His Place, there is room in the inn.  It's a place of rest like we've never known before.

Numbers 34:2 and Luke 1:79 "Light in My Darkness" (March 22)

Here it is...the Promised Land.  Over 2 million Israelites swayed and swooned in the wilderness.  Even 603,550 soldiers marched on Canaan with confidence and never made it.  Here stands a few thousand who did, who trusted in their darkness.  Caleb and Joshua were two of them.  They didn't trust in a cloud to lead them by day and night.  They trusted a Person Who was committed to making them holy, way down deep inside.  Luke 1:79 ~ "The sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”   This was more about a place in their hearts than a piece of land.  The sun rises this day and may our Good God show us what emanates from deep within us. 

Num 33:52 and Luke 1:53 "God Fills The Hungry" (March 21)

I wonder if we sometimes think that God's reputation is at stake and we need to make the Christian life look really super inviting.  Make life intriguing, interesting, invigorating.  Don't complicate things and, for sure, don't make things way-too-serious or people won't want to read your stuff, they won't want to know your life.  Be positive.  It's all good.  No, not at all like that. Sometimes I feel like I am from another planet as I observe how others approach life. 

In the context of these verses, the Israelites had just been numbered and pointed in the direction of the Promised Land. Well, go!  No brainer, right?  Wrong.  They were invited to step into this new land flowing with God's Goodness but FIRST, Numb 33:52,  "When they pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then they shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.  And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it."  Maybe God gave them the Land, but they still had to fight for it.  They were hungry and God promises to fill them up. 

Luke 1:53 "God fills the hungry with good things."
What am I really hungry for in my life at this point?
Am I hungry enough that I'm willing to suffer?

Num 28:2 and Luke 1:38 "God Is Always Right On Time" (March 20)

Only once in Zechariah's career of priesthood may he enter the Holy of Holies.  This is it.  Zechariah receives a grand manifestation of what God will do for the community of believers and for Zechariah and his wife.  Zechariah receives the news he was not expecting or should I say that now he is expecting.  And wait, his son will be a Forerunner to the One.  God is always right on time---it's just we who have different plans, crazy ideas.  We think it's a shame, a sham, if we end up childless.  Reproach.  What does God think?   

We hope our prayers are answered timely.  What are we thinking??  Sometimes, God's answers to prayer come way down the road of life.  God's timing not ours.  As one of 18,000 priests, Zechariah humbly walked into the holy place, fatherless, and came out with a baby and a name and a mission.  Zechariah is barren, one moment, and blessed with child, the next.  Oh, if we would only hold onto our dreams that God breathes in us.  Wonder what little prayer this Scripture will prompt us to hold onto? 

Meanwhile, back in Numbers 28:2, God commands the Israelites to do something for the good of their whole community---offerings at the appointed times.  Over One Million Israelites who have failed miserably, yet they offer what they have.  Hundreds of years later, Zechariah is chosen by lot to offer sacrifices for the good of the nation. 

And God intervenes after all these years of sacrifices that were never enough.
A Forerunner is coming. 
He belongs to you, Zechariah and Elizabeth.
You are going to have a baby.

Luke 1:37 "For nothing will be impossible with God."
Luke 1:38 "Let it be to me according to your word."

Num 27:13 and Luke 1:15 "Meet You in the Moment" (March 19)

The LORD heard the prayer of Zechariah.  Advanced in years.  Barren.  The prayer spoke through decades.  When the answer came, the brand new father could not figure out how God could or would make it happen. Isn't there a bit of Zechariah in you and me.  We want to figure things out.  Two plus two doesn't equal five, so help me with this, God.  A friend said to me this week that she needs to know why God did what He did in her life, a tragedy.  Will we ever really know?  The angel silences Zechariah.  No voice.  Wonder if we can hear better with no voice?

Welcome your new baby who will grow to be "great before the LORD." Luke 1:15.  He will turn many to the LORD.  He will turn hearts of the fathers to their children, the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.  Unbelievable young man named John.  And his head will end up on a platter while his LORD turns silent.  John will lay down his life for his Friend.

Someone said to me tonight that they hope that I see all my children walk the aisle, hope I see my grandchildren born.  I think there's so much more.  John lived for the Glory of God.  His parents buried him, a young man.  Something bigger here---why am I here.  The milestones are measured in minutes not monuments.  God says to Moses in Numbers 27:13 "when you have seen the Promised Land," know this---I won't let you "in," but I will meet you in the moment.

Num 23:12 and Mark 16:8 "Stunned, Swimming, Silent" (March 18)

Am I stunned when Jesus does something for me? What do I do with that?  Do I go silent?

Mary, Salome, and Mary Magdalene could not believe the stone was rolled away from the grave of Jesus. "They got out as fast as they could, beside themselves, their heads swimming.  Stunned, they said nothing to anyone." Mark 16:8. 

What an end to the Gospel story breathed through Mark.
The moment they hoped for...Resurrection..
.and the three women entered great confusion as to what to do.

This L-shaped tomb confirms verse 5---
they looked to the "right" and saw an angel. 
The body is atypically laid to the right in this rare tomb in the Holy City.
I gasped when I walked into the hallowed hole in Jerusalem
And gazed to the right, expecting to find an angel. 

Numbers 23:12 "Must I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"  How could the 3 women go silent???

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, you know, the woman who had 7 demons cast out. The disciples did not believe "her."  Nor did they believe that Jesus appeared to two unnamed fellas.  Jesus could have gone straight to John or Peter, the ones who look spiritual.  The ones waiting for Him to show up on their agenda.  No!  This verse means much to me because people don't give much stock to this no-name person over here---me. My head swims in disbelief like that demon-possessed girl.  Does what I have to say matter to anyone?

Mark makes a point.  Jesus comes to Mary Magdalene in the course of her daily life.  Peterson says that this is really hard for Mary and you and me.  It's not hard to applaud the making of a miracle--- cheering blind eyes that now see, shaking dead girls and boys back to life--- but this...

"Resurrection turns the tables.  No longer am I doing something for God; He is doing something for me.  No longer am I drawn by my needs to God; He is drawn by His compassion to me, whether I'm ready for Him or not, whether I feel anything for Him or not.  That means you and I are not in charge; He is.  That means that you and I aren't coming to God; He is coming to us.  We never expected that.  Like the 3 women at Christ's tomb, we are beside ourselves, our heads swimming, stunned.  For it means the end of one way of life in which we know where we stand, and the beginning of another in which we don't know what will happen next."  Eugene Peterson

Num 22:15 and Mark 15:27 "Standing in the Darkness, Take A Hand" (March 17)

Numbers 22:15 ~ God told Moses that Moses didn't uphold HIM as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel ... so, Moses will not be assigned to bring his assembly into the land God has given them. I don't hear Moses throwing a frightful fit that he lost the privilege.  What does Moses know about God that I do not?  Probably, a lot!  But when Moses fails, what does it look like?  How does Moses handle his loss of leadership?

Fast forward hundreds of years later.  Jesus becomes the Word made flesh and walks in the same places where Moses did.  And Someone forsakes Him?  Who you might ask?  God!  And there is Darkness everywhere ... until The Curtain is torn in two.  Symbolic of the New Kingdom for me, for you.  We don't have to live in the darkness because our Friend was crucified there between two robbers. Mark 15:27. Therefore, we can live, truly live  --- big lives, brave lives, beautiful lives.

We now hear That Voice calling:  Come unto Me.  And every day, we come to Him, not knowing if we are doing it right or even hearing Him right.  "Faith is standing in the darkness, and a hand is there, and we take it."  Will you reach out in your Darkness this day to the One Who can change you to make you fearless, courageous, faith-filled, and loving --- mothers and wives and daughters and friends who will be changed daily from glory to glory and leave, every day, a mark in this world. 

Num 17:12 and Mark 15:2 "He Is Coming To Me" (March 16)

I am in awe at the Compassionate God Who is coming to me this year.  I am surprisingly stunned, simply spellbound. 

Because of His Death in this chapter,
He moves.
He lives.
He comes.
Every day if I'll just listen, wait, relinquish control. 
I tried so hard to not lose control under anesthesia this week when it's ludicrous to even think that I was ever in charge to begin with. 

Mark 15:2 King of the Jews --- That's the Crime? 
Pilate knew this Man was innocent, but he crumbled and asked the crowd:
"What shall I do with this Man?" 
Wonder why popularity ruled his roost. 
Wonder why Pilate couldn't judge based on the standards of the Word of God and the community of those who were wise in his day, not a crowd who begs for an insurrectionist to be released.
Just like the Israelites in Number 17:12 who were undone, they were all undone.  I am undone.

And here comes a God of Justice to undo us all and end this old way of life.  It's all about Him coming to us, now.  He is in control and only He knows what comes next for each of us. 

What am I trying to keep alive that He is trying to put to death?  For me this day, it's what the crowd thinks, the popularity of Caesar who stood on the shoulders of the betrayers not The Betrayed. 

Num 16:16 and Mark 14:72 "Recipe Theology" (March 15)

My life is steeped in confusion right now. I want to dismiss it, dissipate it, drive it away. Does God want us to be confused? What happens when I am present in what I face this day? Number 16:16 ~ Be wholly present before the LORD.  There will be no room for "recipe theology" as Crabb calls it in The Second Adam.  He says that we should not look at the confusion as something to be solved but as something to be entered. But, how do I view the confusion in my life?

In Mark 14:72, there are two words I have never seen before:  Peter swore.  It's not something we are proud of when we breathe those hackneyed humphs.  My default mechanisms swore all-the-time when I was really young and didn't know the LORD.  But---this---this Peter is a follower of the Christ.  Wonder why Peter distances himself so much from the One he has been so attached to, every-single-day, for one thousand+ days, seeing with his own eyes one miracle-after-another. Watching Tabitha healed back to her mother's arms, witnessing demons cast out-of-control into a herd of pigs, seeing a blind man see for the very first time, hearing the scream of the Widow of Nain whose son rises from the dead,and on and on and on ... .  Unparalleled.  Unprecedented. Unbelievable. Yet, Peter swears to prove his piddly point.  And, really, what point am I trying to prove this day?  That I'm right?

And what happens as the rooster crows---Peter remembers.  Remembers what?  The words of his very own Christ---you will deny me and leave me.  It was Peter who pulled away, just like me and you.  God is always waiting wide-armed open.  We are all holy Sabbath breakers picking up sticks (Numbers 15:32).  A high-handed act in the middle of community---do I do the same things?  Playing it safe, distancing ourselves from life because the pain is too overwhelming. 

And what happens when Peter remembers?  He breaks down and weeps. What will my tears be for this day? Living a present life?  Not trying to minimize the confusion of why Peter (or even me) would distance himself from the LORD but entering into the confusion and looking deeply enough at what's really stirring inside of me.  Finding tearful repentance for lives lived distant, not fully present before God NOR before my husband, before my children, before my friends, before my world.  So, who am I distancing myself from this day? Will I enter this confusion or find a way to make it stop and shut down a piece of my heart?  I'm so deeply moved in hope for my high-handed sin. 

     "Recipe theology, that collection of practical biblical principles that tell us what to do in every situation, treats confusion as something to be solved rather than entered. It reduces the mysteries of life to things we can manage."                The Silence of Adam p. 66

Num 14:24 and Mark 14:30 "White-Hot Courage" (March 14)

Do I know what faith or fear resides deep within my heart?  Do I recognize the words that come out of my mouth as coming from a good place or not?  Do the red flags fly when my thoughts dance down the corridor of discouragement?  When the tears fall way too easily.  Give us white-hot courage to face this moment, this day. 

For before the rooster will crow twice, you and I will both deny Him, just like Peter did.  Peter didn't know what was in his own heart.  A few yards away, Peter's Master prayed alone in a garden for Jesus knew what stirred in His heart.  Mark 14:30. What do I think I see?  I feel terribly alone this day in what I face. 

The words of Numbers 14:24 invite me to be like Caleb not Peter and have a different spirit, to follow my LORD fully.  Even when the reality of relationships seems like I am a grasshopper in the eyes of others. Numbers 13:33. When I lack the power to subdue my enemies.  What stirs deep in my heart?  Is the LORD with me in this?  Numbers 14:43.

Num 9:23 and Mark 14:6 "A Beautiful Thing for Me" (March 13)

Numbers 9:23 When the LORD commanded them to move, they did.  When the Cloud hovered, they stayed like nursing babies attached to their mothers.  They didn't question whether it was for their own good or not, did they?  Tonight, my waiter asked me about this religion thing?  Why not follow what makes your heart happy?  Why follow a God and His rituals? He was balking at all the Lenten hoopla.  Why sacrifice?  My, oh my.  More than ever, I want to move only when my God tells me to move.  Just like the woman who poured the extravagance over her LORD, Mark 14:6---"She did a beautiful thing for Me."  My world may not recognize the beauty but my God loves it...and He says to my world:  "Leave her alone."  Yes, leave me alone, o world of mine, for I am taken up by a Good God Who loves me so.  So taken up with His Beauty!

Numb 8:24 and Mark 13:27 "Stay Awake" (March 12)

Stay Awake.  Mark 13:27.  Jesus is coming back to gather His elect from the four winds.  What we do matters only inasmuch as who we are.  We can outserve everyone but if it is not coming from a good place in our heart, it's clanging cymbals.  Whether we are like the Levites in Number 8:24 who faithfully did their duties of service from the time they were 25 years old up to 50 years old or if we are waiting to age 65 to retire, do what God has called you to do.  We have this moment to become the person God is calling us to be.  Every day.  Fresh new slate.   So what does it look like to stay awake today?  In a couple of hours, I'll be under anesthesia.  No way I could stay awake.  Oh, it means so much more.  Alive in our soul.  Leaning on the One Who holds all things together.  So, what does staying awake look like for me? 

Numbers 5:6 and Mark 13:8 "For Whom Did You Carry the Stone?" (March 11)

I heard my friend, Elisabeth Elliot, share this story many times.  It's not in the Bible, just a legend.  It goes like this...   Jesus was walking one day with His disciples and He asked each of them to pick up a stone and carry it for Him. They all picked up stones, some big, some small. Peter picked up the smallest stone possible and placed it in his pocket. (Wonder why?) They walked to the next town, arriving tired and hungry. Jesus immediately turned the stones into bread and said, "Eat up."

Of course, Peter grew frustrated at the size of his tiny piece of bread. (Numbers 5:6 And don't we do the same kind of things, breaking faith with the One with Whom we walk, carrying out stone going after what we think we need).  Jesus again asked His disciples to pick up another stone and carry it for Him. Peter, being a quick learner, picked up a huge boulder and placed it on his shoulder.  They all traveled to the next town. Arriving at a river bank, more tired and more hungry than before, Jesus asked them to throw their stones into the river and they obeyed. They looked at Him, waiting expectantly for the stones to be turned into bread. This time, Jesus did nothing. When Peter and the disciples began to grumble, Jesus said with Great Compassion, "For Whom did you carry the stone?"  The pains of childbirth, Mark 13:8, from Creation to character to Compassion.  Groan inwardly.  Why do we do what we do this day?

Numb 4:49 and Mark 12:44 "Superabundance or Poverty" (March 10)

A good friend of mine wrote a book on organization and spewed out: The average household has about 10,000 things in it.  Probably a meager average. Who knows the life of poverty like the widow who gave to God everything she had to live on.  She gave out of her want. None of us know that kind of life. She put God to the test in the immediate moment. We may not know poverty of the pockets but do we know what it means to live out of our own poverty of soul?  Giving all our wants to Him.  Letting go of all that consumes us this day.  All because we are "listed" in the Lamb's Book of Life.  Numbers 4:49 - Listed for serving and carrying.  I am rather low this day and I surrender out of poverty of soul.  Why am I doing all of this anyway?  What's left of me?  Immediate Need ... falling forward ... with tears to the plow ... I need Him so. 

Number 1:1 and Mark 12:24 "Do I Know the Scriptures & The Power of God Today? (March 9)

I'm living smack dab in the midst of confusion.
Trusting a Good God to show up.
He hasn't yet.
Wait!

God told Moses in the wilderness to take a census of the Israelites. 
Number the people from #1 to #1,000,000+.  Numbers 1:1
God knew the exact number of children He owned.
Why would He want the people to know how many neighbors they had?
It is to show the Power of God. Mark 12:24
It is to fulfill the Scriptures. Mark 12:24
And I'm wrong if I do not know the Scriptures
And the Power of my God.

Be ready in your own wilderness as God counts you among His faithful
while you face the storms of this life and the sneers against your soul.
Maybe you think all is good
Maybe you know there's much confusion
as you are numbered every day and kept by a Good God!

Will you wait in the midst of confusion
in the middle of your own wilderness
Not for a change of circumstances
but for a change of your own
for a Good God to show
That you stand tall
and be counted
No matter
What!

Lev 26:1 and Matt 11:25 "If You Have Anything Against" (March 8)

Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone.  As I read this passage, I thought that maybe I just might have some little thing against someone:

* I recently saw an old friend who had not been kind to one of my children
* I pondered today on a rainy 3-hour drive about how unfair life is
* I read a tweet from someone who is not on my side
* I bumped up against someone's sin this day
* I didn't like what I heard this day
* I still remember ...

There is not one of the above that is sin...
unless I stand in unforgiveness and ponder, wonder, flounder.
If I carry these things in my heart, unforgiving,
Lev. 26:1 - I've set up an idol of appreciation, recognition, support, ministry, kindness ... idols are anything that keep us controlling our circumstances, steering our own lives.

Lev 25:2 and Mark 11:17 "Standing Invitation" (March 7)

Mark 11:17 ~ My House shall be called a place of prayer.  It's not something we "do" but it's who we are.  People who are attached to the Living Word and living in a relationship where you want to talk with Him and walk with Him.  More than you want the pleasures of this world.  More than you want the satisfaction of this present life.  More than you want the freedom to just be whatever works best for you.  "Keep the Sabbath Day holy." Lev 25:2.  Keep our lives holy.  Open our mouths like Hannah in the temple and start murmuring, mumbling, muttering.  There is No One Who can help us, meet us, care for us, love us like Our LORD, Friend, Father, Lover.  He is knocking on my heart this day, Rev 3:19, hoping I will open up and let Him in.  A standing invitation to pray always, about everything. 

Lev 23:3 and Mark 10:51 "What Do You Want God To Do For You?" (March 6)

   “What do you want me to do for you?” Mark 10:51

James & John ~ They want to be above.
The ones to whom everyone looks up to.

The Blind Man ~ He wants eyes that see.
His Faith in a Good God makes him well.

What do you want God to do for you?
Significant Lifestyle?
Security?
Success?
Stability?
Successful Ministry?

Do I want to find a Rest I know not?
Lev 23:3 ~ On the 7th day
They rested from work...
Rest within and rest without all day.

 What do you really want God to do for you?

Lev 22:31 and Mark 10:19 "What Must I Do?" (March 6)

How do we really know we are on the right course?  What must we "do" to become fully alive in Christ.

 People in the NT are asking what we should do to inherit real life? Mark 10:19

People in the OT are asking, "What must I do?" Lev 22:31 Do these commands.

Isn't it about "being" and not about "doing."  We are human beings not human doers, someone once said. 

Dan Allender once told me:  "If you told people to crawl across glass to find real life, they would do it."  People want a system.  Easy-to-follow; easy-to-read. A set of rules---that's what the Pharisees wanted.   With No Fine Print like the Rich Young Ruler sees.  Don't require my heart---what I possess.  We are all "self swindlers" wanting to have what we want, wanting to call the shots.  Self-obsessed. 

God, make me care this day, this moment, this circumstance, more about being holy than being comfortable or safe or healthy or any side issue.  In the Great Scheme of Things, there is only one issue---following God, no matter what the cost.  Instead of asking "what should I do?", should we be asking "who are you calling me to be?"

Lev 19:2 and Mark 9:34 "Let Questions Sink Deep" (March 4)

Lately, questions intrigue me deeply, dearly. "What were you discussing on the way?" Mark 9:34-35. "But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest."  Jesus knew. He didn't make them feel like less of a person even though they were thinking shallow about true greatness.  Thinking earthly.  He made them want to be holy as He is.  Lev 19:2. Make Me Holy for you are Holy and I am not.  May my silence be out of reverence not condemnation.  May I think hard and long and deep on how my words impact others.  Let the questions sink deep within me.  Psalm 51:6 ~ May Truth sink into deeper places of my soul.  I so want to be somebody.  Thank you for making me more want to be holy than significant.  What if that was what You wanted more than anything---to be significant in the eyes of others? 

Lev 18:30 and Mark 9:24 "If Jesus Walked Into Your Room" (March 3)

If Jesus were to walk into the room right now where you sit, what would He say to you?  Am I too concerned about how others interpret my life?  I think my God would wrap His Loving Arms around me and have compassion on me right where I am.  You see, I am a mess right now, but make no mistake about what I say, I am a glorious mess!  My tears are hot and flowing and repentant.  And I cannot be more pleased with what I am seeing in my own life---how a Gracious God is allowing me to deal with what's going on inside of my heart when others are mistreating me. He is giving me a heart to move into their lives and so want to do it!  I need to deal with me and my doings not theirs.  Mark 9:24 ~ LORD, I believe, help my unbelief!
Lev 18:30 ~ Make me clean, for you are Holy and I am not.

Lev 16:33 and Mark 8:24 "I See Trees Walking" (March 2)

Exactly 6 years ago, an ordinary day dawned.  On our way to watch my 8th grader play in his first ever high school varsity basketball game, a phone call came that I never dreamed would ever happen to me.  I remember the spot where we sat at Panda Express; I remember the song playing above on their radio; I remember what I was wearing; and I still remember how I felt that somehow God would sustain me.  Mark 8:24 came to my mind as my God revived me in my disbelief.  I cried through every single play at Grapevine High School Gym watching my son as I sat in the front row of the fan benches.  I see...but it all looks like trees, walking.  Funny that no one noticed my incessant, white-hot tears flowing from the first through the fourth quarter.  I don't know that I've ever had such a public display that I couldn't turn off.  One of the most horrible moments for me, ever.  And yet, amazing!  For my God touched my heart, once again, so that I could really see.  It took a bit for me to come around.  My God made a way for me and I cannot thank Him enough.  We're still in the midst of the backlash---but weightier things grab my heart and I'm so attached more than ever to my Good God, Who is always doing us good!  Who do you say that He is?  Mark 8:29.  I know that I know!

Lev 16:33 ~ They made a way, atoned for all their sins...no more, He has done it for us.  Amazing!  Simply unbelievable! 

Lev 14:57 and Mark 8:18 "Guess Who Is Coming to Dinner?" (March 1)

Mark 8:18 ~ Do You Not Remember?
I fed 5,000 last month.
I can feed 4,000 this month.
We know you can
but do we know you will?
Not really. 
Do I demand a better life?
Or do I command a better me?
How quickly I forget
how You have picked me up
when I was lifeless in body & soul
And breathed into me
the Very Breath of God.
You have made me so alive!
Married to you and not to the law ~ Lev 14:57
I would have despaired
unless I had believed
I would see Your Goodness ~ Psa 27:14
Would you feed just this day?  I believe.