June 3, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:55-56 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION “This has happened so that…” Jesus has a sense of destiny and purpose. He sees His life as a part of God’s big story, of what God is doing in and for the world. My purpose is not the exact same as Jesus, and yet it is similar to His. I…
Seeing myself in God!
June 2, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Psalm 36 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION God is the standard for goodness and love, and we need to see ourselves in His light. We were made to be like God, so any self-assessment needs to be made on that basis. This Psalm is echoed by Jesus in His famous Sermon on the Mount: You have heard that…
Judges 13-24
May 31-June 1, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Judges 13-24 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION What do you sense the Lord saying to you? PRAYER
Overcome evil with good!
May 30, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:47-54 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION This past Sunday the reading was Psalm 35, where David feels betrayed: “They pay me back with evil, even though I was good to them.” (Psalm 35:12) This is what happens to Jesus too, He is betrayed by a kiss, at the hand of someone He has loved and served. Yet…
Even my spirit is weak!
May 29, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:40-46 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION The line that speaks to me today is ‘the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’ I can relate to this, my heart wants better than my life is realizing. This reminds me of Paul in Romans 7:18-20 — “I want to do what is good, but I can’t….
To want what God wants
May 28, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:36-39 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION The line that jumps out at me today is His final prayer: “But let what you want be done, not what I want.” He is sad, troubled, suffering, feeling close to death, and this is what He prays. I try to find a comparison in my own life, to…
I deny Jesus too!
May 27, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:31-35 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION This passage makes me think of songs that we sing as Christians: I surrender all, Stand up, stand up for Jesus, I love to tell the story, Blessed be Your Name (read these words carefully, do we really mean them?). Or Peter’s version of ‘I have decided to follow…
Believing is seeing
May 26, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Psalm 35 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION Some people say ‘seeing is believing’, but David models ‘believing is seeing’. David is in crisis mode, he is being unfairly targeted by people he thought were friends. He is desperately calling upon God to intervene, to make these false friends taste their own medicine. But even though he…
Ignoring God, blaming God
May 24-25, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Judges 6-12 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION As I read about Gideon and Abimelech, I am reminded that these are not stories about great moral leaders, but about how God uses weak, immoral leaders to accomplish His good purpose. God doesn’t stop working for good when His people do; even though He lets them taste the…
He’s looking me in the eyes too
May 23, 2014 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26:17-30 OBSERVATIONS/APPLICATION The point of this passage seems to be Jesus’ amazing kindness despite betrayal and rejection… Jesus still wants to be in covenant with them. Judas is not kicked out or refused, He is welcomed, loved, served, Jesus even washes his feet to show them how much He lives them…