August 30, 2012 - Acts 26:15

            “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’  ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.”  Acts 26:15.

            As Paul explained to King Agrippa and his court the story of how he came to be a follower of Jesus, he spoke this somewhat strange phrase.  When he asked who it was who had caused this blazing light around him, stopping him right in his tracks, the voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  Paul had been attacking and arresting many of the followers of Jesus, but he certainly wasn’t involved in actually killing Jesus.  So what did Jesus mean by saying this.  Jesus so identified with those who chose to follow Him that if any harm came to any of them, He – Jesus – felt that harm.  What Jesus stated to Paul was that when Paul did anything against one of Jesus’ followers, he was actually doing it to Him.

As I thought about this verse, I was struck with the words that I use when talking to others, and I thought of my attitude toward others.  I became convicted that some of my words were harmful and have had a negative effect on others.  Then I took it another step to realize that when I say negative, harmful words to others, I am actually harming Jesus, as well.  I realized that when I speak against another person, believer or not, I am speaking against the Lord.  I have the choice to bless or curse.  Paul, in another place said, “whatever is true or noble, right or pure, lovely or admirable, excellent or worthy of praise; think of these things.”  Maybe these are the type of words that could come out of my mouth.

Questions to consider: How does it make you feel when someone says negative, untrue, or awful things about you?  Do you recall when you have used negative or hurtful words to another person?  It helps me to realize that when I do such things, I am really doing them against Jesus, who I say is my Lord.  What does that say about my thoughts and my speech?  What does it say about yours?

Prayer: Father, I don’t have to think very hard to realize how it hurts You when I treat others – Your own image-bearing beings – badly.  Please forgive me for hurting You and help me to form new habits of thinking, speaking, and being a person who praises.  Amen.

August 23, 2012 - Matthew 6:9-12

            “This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven,

                                      Hallowed be Your name,

                                  Your kingdom come,

                                      Your will be done

                                          On earth as it is in heaven.

                                  Give us today our daily bread.

                                  Forgive us our debts,

                                      As we also have forgiven our debtors.

                                  And lead us not into temptation,

                                      But deliver us from the evil one.”

                                                            Matthew 6:9-12

                                 

                                 

“When you breathe your thoughts to me, say this:

                                 

Loving Father who resides in pure perfection,

                                      We are awestruck by Your holy and all-powerful name,

                                  May Your dominion be current and at hand,

                                      May Your perfect will be started and accomplished,

                                          Here on this planet, today, in our present world,

                                     As it is being lived out in Your presence.

                                  Provide all the daily needs that we may have.

                                  May we realize Your forgiveness and cleansing,

                                      When we forgive and release those around us.

                                  Guide us to that narrow way that leads to Your life,

                                      And free us from the bondage of the deceiver.”

Take some time today to consider Jesus’ instruction to us to pray this prayer from Matthew 6.  It is not His prayer but a prayer given to us.  It may be so familiar that we could possibly take it for granted.  You may take some time to do as I did by writing it out in your own words.

                                  Questions to consider: If you did this exercise, what did you experience?  How overly familiar is this prayer to you, and what was it like to slow down enough to consider – really consider – Jesus’ words?

            Prayer: Take some time to pray this prayer.....now please pray it again…this time slowly.  Amen.

August 16, 2012 - Acts 26:11

            “Many times I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme.  In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”  Acts 26:11.

            In telling his story, Paul painfully recounted his zealousness against the followers of Jesus.  He called what he had an “obsession” against these people.  This was the harsh truth about the life he lived while he was a young Pharisee.  At that time, he honestly thought that he was following God’s will, so he felt justified in his attempts to keep his religion pure.  The only way he could do this was by arresting them, harassing them, and killing some of them.  In relating this story, he was demonstrating the dramatic change that occurred in his life.  In telling his story, he didn’t “candy-coat” the story, nor did he glorify his misdeeds.  Instead, he spoke directly and with only brief detail about those times he was most ashamed of in his life.

            There have been times in my life when I have been tempted to embellish my story.  I wanted to change the details of my life because I didn’t think that my story was dramatic enough.  I thought that I needed to tell of some amazing transformation that occurred when I became a follower of Jesus.  Fortunately, I don’t think that I ever gave in to that temptation.  Each of us has a story to tell, and each is uniquely ours.  My story is unique, and there is no reason for me to feel the need to change it.  I don’t need to go into great detail about how bad I was in my old life.  As Paul modeled, I only need to state briefly to describe the  darkness that I was caught in and to state how Jesus brought me out.  Telling our true story is the clearest way that we can share about Jesus, and there is no need for us to change what God has done.

            Questions to consider: What is your story?  Have you ever been tempted to add or embellish your story?  Have you ever spent too much time talking about your old life and not enough time on how Jesus changed you?  What changes do you need to make to your story?

            Prayer: Father, I am so grateful to You for sending Jesus to show me the way out of my old, destructive lifestyle.  Help me to share my story of Your great love in a manner that gives glory to You.  Amen.

August 9, 2012 - Acts 26:7b-8

            “’…it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me.  Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?’”  Acts 26:7b-8.

            Paul presented a case that any good Pharisee would have agreed with: that their great hope was in the resurrection of the dead.  The Pharisees were living in the hope that God would send a Messiah, similar to how God sent Moses to deliver the nation from slavery.  This Messiah would lead them to new life through the resurrection of the dead.  The difference was that Paul believed that this hope had been fulfilled in the carpenter’s son, Jesus of Nazareth.  The Pharisees could not believe that their Messiah would come as Jesus came, as a servant-leader.  Because they viewed Paul’s preaching as false and heretical, they sought to seize, muzzle, and ultimately kill him.  Even though Paul was demonstrating how Jesus fulfilled all that they were waiting for, the Pharisees made their own judgment and accusations without fully weighing the evidence.

            While I have not killed anyone (yet!), there have been times when, in my mind, I wanted harm to come to others.  I have had many times when I accused others of wrong-doing, and instead of weighing the evidence and turning all of it over to God, I stewed on it and cast my own judgment.  When I realized what I was doing, I was quick to change my direction, asking the Lord to forgive and cleanse me.  I have come to realize that I have a tendency towards making quick judgments of others, accusing them of things out of my own perceptions, instead of praying for God’s grace to be with them.  It is humbling to realize that I tend to be this way, yet I am thankful that God has shown me a positive way to move forward.

            Questions to consider: Have you ever been accused anyone unjustly for doing wrong to you?  What was that like?  Have you ever made judgments of someone, accusing them of wrong-doing, and you have been wrong?  What was that like?  How would God have you respond when you begin to accuse others?

            Prayer: Father, forgive me for making quick and incorrect judgments of those around me.  Help me to pray for them instead of accusing them.  Help me to have grace instead of judgment.  Amen.

August 9, 2012 - Acts 26:7b-8

            “’…it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me.  Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?’”  Acts 26:7b-8.

            Paul presented a case that any good Pharisee would have agreed with: that their great hope was in the resurrection of the dead.  The Pharisees were living in the hope that God would send a Messiah, similar to how God sent Moses to deliver the nation from slavery.  This Messiah would lead them to new life through the resurrection of the dead.  The difference was that Paul believed that this hope had been fulfilled in the carpenter’s son, Jesus of Nazareth.  The Pharisees could not believe that their Messiah would come as Jesus came, as a servant-leader.  Because they viewed Paul’s preaching as false and heretical, they sought to seize, muzzle, and ultimately kill him.  Even though Paul was demonstrating how Jesus fulfilled all that they were waiting for, the Pharisees made their own judgment and accusations without fully weighing the evidence.

            While I have not killed anyone (yet!), there have been times when, in my mind, I wanted harm to come to others.  I have had many times when I accused others of wrong-doing, and instead of weighing the evidence and turning all of it over to God, I stewed on it and cast my own judgment.  When I realized what I was doing, I was quick to change my direction, asking the Lord to forgive and cleanse me.  I have come to realize that I have a tendency towards making quick judgments of others, accusing them of things out of my own perceptions, instead of praying for God’s grace to be with them.  It is humbling to realize that I tend to be this way, yet I am thankful that God has shown me a positive way to move forward.

            Questions to consider: Have you ever been accused anyone unjustly for doing wrong to you?  What was that like?  Have you ever made judgments of someone, accusing them of wrong-doing, and you have been wrong?  What was that like?  How would God have you respond when you begin to accuse others?

            Prayer: Father, forgive me for making quick and incorrect judgments of those around me.  Help me to pray for them instead of accusing them.  Help me to have grace instead of judgment.  Amen.

August 2, 2012 - Acts 26:6

            “’And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.’”  Acts 26:6.

            Standing before King Agrippa, Paul began to tell his story of his upbringing as a Jew who always followed his beliefs very strictly, having become a Pharisee as a young adult.  As a Pharisee, he had a deep hope in the promise of God that all Pharisees held: a hope in the resurrection of the dead.  For many, this was a great point of interest, thought, and discussion, but had no real-life experience.  None of the Pharisees had known anyone who had been raised up again after dying, and it didn’t take much faith to intellectualize about whether or not there was an actual resurrection.  Yet, Paul’s belief in a resurrection was founded firmly on his very real and very alive relationship with the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth.  Paul staked his life on his hope in the resurrection.

            In being removed from Jesus’ resurrection from the dead by over 2000 years, I am challenged to consider whether or not I am staking my life on my hope in the resurrection of the dead.  Jesus appeared to Paul at least once, and perhaps more than once.  I have strong impressions of being in the presence of Jesus, yet I cannot say with certainty that He has ever appeared to me.  My hope, though, is as strong as ever, yet I think it still doesn’t have the conviction it would have if Jesus had appeared to me.  My hope is not based solely on the fact that the Bible tells of the resurrection; so it is not built just on intellectual findings.  It is built on experiencing God’s presence through the work of the Holy Spirit, as well as being built on His Word.  My hope in God is not just in words but also in action; the way that I live my life.  That was certainly Paul’s example.

            Questions to consider: What is your hope built on?  Is your hope built on something or someone that is solid enough for you to put the weight of your life on it?  What does it mean to have hope “in what God has promised our fathers?”

            Prayer: Father, I hope that the weight of my life can be supported by the hope I have in Your resurrection, and in my own resurrection.  Because Your Spirit resides within me, I hope in what was promised by our fathers, the hope in the resurrection from the dead.  Amen.